NCJ Number
135639
Date Published
Unknown
Length
213 pages
Annotation
A survey of all 50 States was used to study police professionalism and the standards used by each State in certifying police personnel; the questionnaire consisted of 10 questions covering various aspects of the certification process in each State.
Abstract
A literature review focuses on professionalism, police roles, police education, and police training. The standards discussed in this paper are categorized as minor standards and major standards. They are evaluated in terms of how strongly they are related to the cumulative criteria of sociological definitions of professionalism, recommendations of governmental reports and recognized experts, and standards of publicly recognized professionals. The data are presented in terms of the general study results, a State-by-State review of standards, a geographic comparison of the four census regions in the U.S. and an overall comparison of how well each State ranks using major recommended or defined professional standards. In addition, the results of a pilot study conducted in Missouri, New York, California, Texas, and Minnesota are presented. Specific recommendations are offered, covering standardized certification, minimum basic police training, reciprocity agreements, inservice training, police instructor certification, State comprehensive exams, college education, management certification, multiple levels of certification, and national Police Officer Standards and Training (POST). 60 references and 4 appendixes