NCJ Number
175874
Date Published
1997
Length
76 pages
Annotation
As part of a job analysis of the patrol officer position in a representative sample of 99 agencies across Michigan, this report presents the findings for one of the eight agency types categorized in the analysis: "Small Sheriff's Departments."
Abstract
The findings are intended to assist this agency type in the personnel administration process and in maintaining compliance with State and Federal fair employment regulations. Information on the job of a patrol officer in Michigan was obtained by administering a comprehensive Job Analysis Inventory (JAI) to patrol officers and first-line supervisors. The JAI includes three main sections: a background information section that solicits information about the demographic characteristics of the respondents, as well as information regarding the type of department in which they work, their work shifts, and their attitude toward the basic training they received; checklists that solicited information about the equipment officers use, the complaints and incidents to which they respond, and the sources of information they read; and the task inventory section. The 427 tasks that comprised the task inventory section were grouped under headings and sub-headings that correspond to the mandated basic training curriculum: investigation, patrol procedures, detention and prosecution, police skills, traffic, special operations, general administration, and physical activity. The sample for the Small Sheriff's Departments consisted of 105 patrol officers and 30 supervisors. A table of the patrol officers' primary responsibilities in the last 6 months shows the following ranking of tasks by frequency: patrol, criminal investigation, traffic enforcement, community relations, warrant service, evidence and property control, civil processes, dispatching, identification, bailiff/court officer, vice investigation, narcotics investigation, and "other." 26 tables, 7 appendixes with supplementary lists and inventories, and 7 references