NCJ Number
107164
Journal
Law and Contemporary Problems Volume: 47 Issue: 4 Dated: (Autumn 1984) Pages: 35-59
Date Published
1984
Length
25 pages
Annotation
Progress in police training will occur by focusing on the particularities of police work as experienced and performed by veteran officers and by analyzing that experience as the basis for training future officers.
Abstract
On-the-job police experience contributes to learning about goals (which ones are reasonable), tactics (which ones ensure the achievement of different goals in varying circumstances), and presence (how to cultivate a career-sustaining personality). Training can help apprentices become master craftspersons faster and with direction. To achieve this, formal training programs should give more attention to the problematic nature of police work, and master craftspersons should be used as field instructors for rookies. Learning can also be continual and cumulative based on analyzed experience. Assuming that experience is valuable in learning about police work, departments should reward advancement in skill development. The benefits of yoking formal training and policing experience are improved morale among patrol officers, the development of techniques for measuring degrees of skill, and the professionalization of policing by objectifying degrees of proficiency. 38 footnotes.