NCJ Number
85398
Date Published
1981
Length
199 pages
Annotation
A questionnaire survey of law enforcement agencies throughout the United States formed the basis of an analysis of law enforcement selection requirements among agencies with 100 or more sworn personnel.
Abstract
The study population included State departments of of public safety, county sheriff departments, and municipal police departments. Three-quarters of the 675 agencies receiving questionnaires responded to the survey. Different types of agencies were found to have different uses of four selection requirements: intelligence tests, psychological tests, physical agility tests, and residence requirements. Although a majority of departments required a minimum age of 21, departments with 2,000 or more sworn personnel reported greater use of minimum ages of 18, 19, and 20. Geographic variations were found in the use of several selection requirements, including minimum age, vision, the oral interview, the structured oral interview, the performance test or work sample, the polygram examination, the psychological test, the physical agility test, and the residence requirement. Over the past 10 years, specific physical requirements have been relaxed, while the use of intelligence and personality assessments has increased. The ranges in minimum and maximum ages have broadened. The minimum education requirement has remained at the high school graduate level. Only a small portion of agencies require college coursework at the entry level. The oral interview is still widely used. The study's findings support the continued and expanded use of the cooperative law enforcement selection model involving municipal, county, and State law enforcement agencies which are geographically close or in the same State. Footnotes, a list of 138 references, and an appendix presenting the study instrument are provided.