NCJ Number
83645
Date Published
Unknown
Length
0 pages
Annotation
A New York City police officer discusses minority recruitment and retention techniques. An educational psychologist explains the nature of intelligence, measures of intelligence useful for police selection procedures, and ways of reducing anxiety when tests are taken.
Abstract
Obstacles that police must overcome in recruiting minorities are the latter's low esteem of the police and lack of interest in police work. The commitment to minority employment must be widely publicized, positions must be made available for those found qualified, and qualifying criteria must be unbiased. Objectionable criteria include irrelevant tests, background checks, and use of the polygraph. In the time between announcing and initiating recruitment, credibility in the community should be built up through advertising and outreach. Special retention efforts should be geared to qualified candidates while they await placement. THe psychologist suggests that social skills might have validity as predictors of policing success, particularly for minority individuals in relaxing to their own social environment. Anxiety experienced during test-taking is a defense mechanism against fear of the future that arrests psychological and physiological functioning. Techniques to alleviate it can be taught at pretest orientation and counseling, where the concept of test failure can also be put in perspective.