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Chapter 4
Becoming a Police Officer
Learning Objectives
LO1 Find information on jobs in law enforcement agencies.
LO2 Describe the standards in the police selection process and explain the arguments for and
against requiring higher education for police officers.
LO6 Describe the police training process for new officers.
Lesson Plan
Correlated to PowerPoints
I. Finding Information on Jobs in Policing
Learning Objective 1: Find information on jobs in law enforcement agencies.
A. Where do you find information about available jobs in policing or criminal justice in
general?
Class Discussion/Activity:
When looking for a job in law enforcement, where would you look for information on job
opportunities and information regarding departments and their requirements and testing process?
See Assignment 1
1. Media
3. Internet
5. College intern programs
7. The most convenient way to find out about law enforcement jobs, department
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standards, and the testing process is through law enforcement websites.
Media Tool
“Tustin Police Department Recruitment Video”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLPA4APYMWw
o Tustin Recruitment Video
o Discussion: Discuss what you see on the video. What jobs are available to the recruit?
Does watching this video give you an idea of what an officer does?
II. Standards in Police Selection
Learning Objective 2: Describe the standards in the police selection process and explain the
arguments for and against requiring higher education for police officers.
Class Discussion/Activity:
Explain the typical selection process most police departments use to identify and select qualified
police officers.
See Assignment 2
A. Physical Requirements
1. Height and weight requirements
2. Vision requirements
B. Smoking
1. In an effort to respond to rising medical costs for personnel and to keep officers
2. This prohibition applies on or off duty, and it is a condition of employment.
C. Age Requirements
1. The percentage of departments with maximum age limits has declined, and police
departments are finding older, more mature candidates to be excellent police
officers.
D. Education Requirements
2. Tuition reimbursement
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4. Higher education requirements will limit the applicant pool.
6. In an effort to have the largest possible applicant pool, many departments are not
requiring a college degree; however, education is valued, encouraged, and often
required for promotion.
Class Discussion/Activity:
How much education should a police officer be required to have, and why?
E. Prior Drug Use
2. Challenge is to screen out candidates whose past drug use would affect their
performance while accepting otherwise strong candidates who have used
marijuana recreationally.
What-If Scenario
You are a new applicant and one of the questions on the background questionnaire is, “Have you
ever used, sold, or possessed marijuana?” How will you answer these questions knowing drug use
is one of the disqualifiers for most law enforcement agencies?
F. Criminal Record Restrictions
1. Most departments will reject a candidate with a felony conviction.
III. The Recruitment Process
Learning Objective 3: Describe the recruitment process, particularly the recent changes and
current challenges.
A. Challenges
2. Police–community relations at low point
4. Shrinking pool of candidates age 16–24
B. Police Cadet
1. Position is generally a nonsworn, paid, part-time position for young adults 18
years of age and older who are interested in a law enforcement career.
C. Civilianization
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2. A way to assist departments in increasing staffing to help combat the temporary
IV. The Job Analysis
Learning Objective 4: Discuss why the job analysis is such a vital phase in the police hiring
process.
A. Identify Important Tasks
1. Job relatedness: Concept that job requirements must be necessary for the
performance of the job a person is applying for.
B. Identify Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
2. A job analysis is conducted by the law enforcement agency to determine the
knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) needed for the job, and these are
incorporated into the selection process. The selection process is lengthy.
V. The Selection Process
Learning Objective 5: Describe the characteristics of a good police officer and the typical
selection process most police departments use to identify and select qualified police officers.
Class Discussion/Activity:
Explain the standards most police departments use to select qualified police officers.
A. Selection Process
1. Screening Procedures
a. Written aptitude test
b. Personal interview
2. Adverse impact
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B. Characteristics of Good Police Officers
1. Maturity
3. The ability to communicate well with all types of people
5. Emotional intelligence (EI)
a. The ability to interpret, understand, and manage one’s own and others’
C. Written Examination
1. First step of the selection process
3. Often subject to litigation
4. Private companies providing written and physical agility testing for many
agencies
D. Physical Agility Test
2. Rather than lose an otherwise quality candidate, departments often provide
training or guidance before the agility test.
3. In the past, physical agility tests were often found to keep minorities or women
Class Discussion/Activity:
What type of physical agility test do you think is most relevant to the police job? What physical
tests should the candidate be asked to do?
E. Polygraph Examination
2. Accuracy depends on the subject, the equipment, and the operator’s training and
experience.
4. Ongoing discussion about its appropriate use
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F. Oral Interview
What-If Scenario
You are asked in your oral interview if you would report your field training officer, a 20-year
veteran, for taking a candy bar from the local mini-mart during a late night security check. The
mini-mart clerk said nothing to the officer when he left. What would you do?
1. Used to examine a candidate’s characteristics that might be otherwise difficult to
Media Tool
“Police Oral Board”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wA7202zBQUQ
o Discussion on how to pass a police oral board
o Discussion: Discuss what questions are asked. How should you prepare to answer the questions?
G. Background Investigation
1. A candidate’s past life, past employment, school records, medical records,
2. The background investigation that candidates go through is extensive in an effort
See Assignment 3
See Assignment 4
3. Investigators are looking for officially documented incidents as well as unreported
or undetected questionable activity and deception.
a. Background interview
b. Background investigation form
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H. Psychological Appraisal
2. Considers issues such as substance abuse, self-management skills (anger
management, team functioning abilities, impact of prior experiences and traumas),
1. The short-range purpose is to ensure that candidates can do the police job.
3. Requirements of the American with Disabilities Act (ADA)
VI. The Police Training Process
Learning Objective 6: Describe the police training process for new officers.
A. Recruit Training
1. The initial training a recruit receives
3. Recruits will then complete a probationary period usually lasting from 12 to 18
months.
What-If Scenario
You are a new police recruit and your probationary period is 18 months. During your probation
you are called upon to serve a subpoena on a fellow officer senior to you. While at her house, you
can smell marijuana smoke coming from the residence. What should you do?
B. The Police Academy
See Assignment 5
See Assignment 6
1. Provides most of the average police officer’s formal career training
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3. May be residential or commuter
4. Academies moving toward philosophy of training community guardians rather
than warriors
Media Tool
“Gloucester County (New Jersey) Police Academy”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_g1dmEElJDI
o Gloucester County Police Academy
o Discussion: Discuss what this video shows about a police academy. Do the tasks appear to
be job related? What must be done to prepare you for an academy?
C. Field Training
2. Provided by specially selected patrol officers and designed to supplement the
theory taught at the police academy with the reality of the street
3. Field training officer (FTO): an experienced officer who mentors and trains a new
police officer.
Class Discussion/Activity:
Why are field training programs and probationary periods vital phases in the police training
practice?
D. Probationary Period
2. Probationary officer can be dismissed at will without proof of specific violations
of law or department regulations.
E. Firearms Training
2. Computer-controlled visual simulations provide enlightening and realistic
training.
3. Departments are reviewing shooting incidents to provide realistic training.
F. In-Service, Management, and Specialized Training
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2. Management training programs teach supervisory and management skills to
newly promoted supervisors and managers.
VII. Summary
Lecture Notes
1. How does one go about finding a position in policing?
There are several ways to find a position with a police agency. All government entities have
human resource or personnel departments. These departments usually have job postings at the
2. How does the police selection process work?
The selection process starts with the application. Many police departments utilize a written test.
Once the written exam is passed, the applicant continues on to some form of physical agility
3. What are the minimum standards for police employment?
Each police department sets standards for prospective police officers. The standards cover
education, criminal history, age, physical abilities, psychological standing, and vision. Some
4. What type of police applicants are departments looking for?
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5. What are the training requirements for police service?
The police academy provides most of the average police officer’s formal career training. Each
state requires a different number of training hours in the police academy, but generally the
Key Terms
adverse impact A form of de facto discrimination resulting from a testing element that
discriminates against a particular group, essentially keeping members of that group out of the
Americans with Disabilities Act Signed into law in 1990, the world’s first comprehensive civil
rights law for people with disabilities. The act prohibits discrimination against people with
background investigation The complete and thorough investigation of an applicant’s past life,
including education, employment, military, driving, and criminal history, as well as relationships
and character. It includes verification of all statements made by the applicant on the background
form and the evaluation of both detected and undetected behavior to determine whether the
emotional intelligence (EI) The ability to interpret, understand, and manage one’s own and
others’ emotions, which encompasses the competencies valued in law enforcement such as self-
field training An on-the-job training program that occurs after the police academy under the
field training officer (FTO) An experienced officer who mentors and trains a new police
Guardians Association of New York City Police Department v. Civil Service Commission of
Hogan’s Alley A shooting course in which simulated “good guys” and “bad guys” pop up,
in-service training Training that occurs during a police officer’s career, usually on a regular
basis and usually within the department; often required by department policy or state mandate.
job analysis Identifies the important skills that must be performed by police officers, and then
job relatedness Concept that job requirements must be necessary for the performance of the job
knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) Talents or attributes necessary to do a particular job.
Law Enforcement Education Program (LEEP) A federal scholarship and loan program
operated by the DOJ between 1968 and 1976. LEEP put money into developing criminal justice
programs in colleges and provided tuition and expenses for in-service police officers to go to
physical agility testing A test of physical fitness to determine if a candidate has the needed
police academy The initial formal training that a new police officer receives to learn police
procedures, state laws, and objectives of law enforcement. The academy gives police officers the
police cadet A nonsworn law enforcement position for young adults over 18. Generally, these
positions are part-time, paid, education-oriented positions in police departments, and the targeted
candidates are college students interested in moving into a law enforcement career. (p. 112)
polygraph Also called a lie detector; a mechanical device designed to ascertain whether a
probationary period The period in the early part of an officer’s career in which the officer can
selection process The steps or tests an individual must progress through before being hired as a
tuition reimbursement Money a police department will pay officers to reimburse them for
tuition expenses while they are employed by the police department and are pursuing a college
Assignments
1. Use the Internet to research a state police agency and a municipal police department. Are
the hiring requirements similar? Which one has a stricter process? [LO 2]
3. Using the Internet, obtain the background “packet” of questions that are used in your
state and/or local agencies. Are the questions asked of prospective employees thorough?
4. Access and complete a background investigation questionnaire from a local or state
agency. Complete the questionnaire. Are there any questions that you found hard to
5. The Gloucester County Police Academy demonstrates tasks that recruits must go through.
Research the standards needed to gain admission to the academy and if the academy
6. Find a police academy in your area and discuss whether it is a residential program or a
commuter program. Note the number of training hours required and what the physical
demands of the program are. Which type of academy would be more attractive to you, a
