NCJ Number
87469
Date Published
1979
Length
65 pages
Annotation
Although the Recruit and In-Service Education Program of the New Haven Police Department (Connecticut) showed no significant improvement in participants' sensitivities and skills relevant to police-community relations, it did expose some needs that should be met in future training and recruitment.
Abstract
The objectives of the program were to increase understanding about conflict situations encountered in daily citizen interactions, communicate the importance of neighborhood problems and the differences between neighborhoods, develop increased sensitivity to citizens and the dynamics of interaction with them, and develop a mechanism for transferring the knowledge and skills acquired to police agencies. The 3-week training program consisted of lecture, discussion, and audiovisual presentations, as well simulation exercises that reflected actual community problems. Data on the level of development of the participants focused on attitude toward the law, punishment of offenders, attitudes towards others, community knowledge, and social sensitivity. A battery of questionnaires was administered at the start of the workshop, and one questionnaire, Chapin's Social Insight Test, was also administered at the conclusion of the training. The Chapin test showed no significant change in social insight among the participants. Both the initial testing and staff observation indicated that the recruits and officers were ill-equipped in attitudes and knowledge to deal effectively with community relations conflicts, particularly when such conflicts involve minority citizens (blacks and Puerto Ricans). Future workshops should only include officers oriented toward the urban community so as to permit dealing with common experiences of policing. Findings further suggest that police management should focus more on the conflict-management aspect of the police role. Appended are descriptions of the simulation exercises and the evaluation instruments and tabular data.