NCJ Number
12074
Date Published
1969
Length
77 pages
Annotation
ATTEMPT TO DEMONSTRATE A SYSTEMATIC RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN A POLICE OFFICER'S USE OF HIS DISCRETIONARY TIME AND CERTAIN MEASURES OF HIS JOB EFFECTIVENESS.
Abstract
A QUESTIONNAIRE WAS ADMINISTERED TO 118 COLUMBUS, OHIO POLICE OFFICERS WHO WERE REQUESTED TO RESPOND TO THE QUESTIONNAIRE ITEMS IN TERMS OF THE TIME THEY SPENT PERFORMING THE TASKS DENOTED BY EACH ITEM. SUPERVISORS WERE ASKED TO RATE EACH OFFICER IN TERMS OF (1) OVERALL PERFORMANCE, AND (2) RELATIVE NUMBER OF COMPLAINTS VERSUS COMPLIMENTS MADE BY THE PUBLIC OR BY OTHER POLICE. PEER RATINGS WERE ALSO COLLECTED. THE ITEMS ON THE QUESTIONNAIRE WERE INTERCORRELATED AND THE RESULTING MATRIX WAS STATISTICALLY ANALYZED. NINE FACTORS WERE EXTRACTED - A GENERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT FACTOR, DETERMINING CONTINGENCIES BEFORE TAKING ACTION, GENERAL PROCEDURES ALLIED WITH ARREST, SEARCH AND SEIZURE, ROUTINE TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS, LEGAL SEARCH AND SEIZURE, CONTROLLING DANGEROUS AND/OR UNPREDICTABLE NON-FELONS, BELLIGERENCE IN DEALING WITH OFFENDERS AND POTENTIAL OFFENDERS, HARASSMENT VERSUS SERVICE, AND TRAFFIC CONTROL RELATED TO PUBLIC GATHERINGS. FURTHER STATISTICAL ANALYSES WERE MADE AND THE INTERRELATIONSHIPS AMONG THE ITEMS AND FACTORS DISCUSSED. THE MAJOR CONCLUSIONS WERE (1) THAT THE FACTORS WERE CLEAR AND REASONABLE IN THE CONTEXT OF THE POLICE OFFICER'S JOB, AND WERE CONSISTENT WITH FACTORS FOUND IN PREVIOUS RESEARCH, (2) THAT THE USE OF TIMESPENT DATA COLLECTED BY SELF REPORTS WAS HIGHLY EFFECTIVE IN CONCURRENTLY PREDICTING POLICE JOB PERFORMANCE EVALUATIONS, AND (3) THAT THE TECHNIQUE OF USING TIMESPENT DATA FOR PERFORMANCE EVALUATION HAS HIGH FACE VALIDITY. SUGGESTIONS WERE MADE FOR FURTHER RESEARCH. APPENDED MATERIAL INCLUDED THE QUESTIONNAIRE, RATING INSTRUCTIONS TO VARIOUS GROUPS PARTICIPATING IN THE PROJECT, AND A BIBLIOGRAPHY.