Leadership Personnel Issues and Rule of Law

Leadership Personnel Issues and Rule of Law

Best Practices Being Employed by Law Enforcement Agencies in the United States

The hiring of police officers in the United States has evolved significantly in the past few decades. Today, agencies are increasingly incorporating diversity into the hiring practices of police officers. Police officers with morals and values that reflect those of the communities they will serve are becoming more attractive candidates for hiring agencies (U.S. Department of Justice, 2017). Transparency in hiring practices has also increased considerably in the past decade, with more police officers being hired for their academic and value alignment to community standards qualification. Further, today, more minority groups are being hired as police officers as opposed to past decades when policing was a reserve for Whites. For hiring agencies, sourcing police officer candidates with characteristics that appeal to community members and social values is paramount compared to their physique. Our assignment writing help is at affordable prices to students of all academic levels and disciplines.

Hiring agencies are increasingly seeking to rebuild the legitimacy and trust community members have had concerning police officers in the past, which has been eroded by controversial videos of brutal police at work and staff dying while in the line of duty. Hiring agencies have begun perceiving their candidate selection decisions as core foundations of good policing that are considerate of the communities they serve. The mentioned agencies ensure the police officers they hire can fight violence and crime and handle issues, such as mental health challenges and drug abuse among community members they serve (U.S. Department of Justice, 2017). Further, hiring agencies are aware they can train police officers but cannot impart desirable human qualities in them. As such, hiring agencies are centralizing their attention on potential candidates who have pre-existing skills that will enhance their ability to execute fair policing actions while on-call. Therefore, today, hiring practices for agencies in police officers have evolved significantly, as explained.

Skills That Need to Be Imparted Upon Recruits During Their Training

Police officers undergo intensive training to be able to handle their duties responsibly. Core skills that police officers are taught in academies include service orientation, integrity, self-control, and empathy. Additionally, police officers are taught skills such as effective communication, team orientation, problem-solving, and human relations. In the past, police officers were selected based on their “warrior” qualities, which they leveraged to curb crimes and handle distress calls in the community. Police officers were subjected to written tests and on-the-field examinations, which they passed and were inculcated in the force immediately. However, today, skills are more important for police officers to have compared to physical qualities, even though these help them in their policing efforts significantly. Many hiring agencies agree that the “warrior” aspect of a police officer can be trained in police academies, but skills mentioned above are human characteristics that cannot be imparted in trainees.

The above skills are important as they help police officers to have close relationships with the community members they police, an effective factor that enhances the quality of policing significantly. Police officers are taught skills such as interpersonal communication, which expresses their human ability to sustain positive communication with others. Most hiring agencies identify the above personality traits during interviews, giving candidates scenario-based questions and then observing and documenting their responses (U.S. Department of Justice, 2017). During these interviews, police officer candidates are asked how they would handle challenges in the community and then their potential to engage in fair policing using the mentioned skills are assessed. Further, candidates are evaluated while on rounds with expert police officers, and then these skills are noted and areas of improvement identified. Therefore, during training, police officer candidates are trained on the identified skills to help them execute their policing duties effectively.

How Police Academies Are Preparing Police Recruits for the Various Duties and Assignments That They Will Be Responsible For

When hiring police officers, other qualities, such as their education levels and physical fitness conditions, should be evaluated. Today, hiring agencies are increasingly emphasizing college education as a minimum requirement for police officers serving communities. Many agencies insist that if a police officer serves in highly populated communities of at least one million people, they should have attended higher education facilities. The reason for having a college education as the minimum entry qualification for a police officer is that these candidates have a high ability to handle diverse communities (U.S. Department of Justice, 2017). If a community consists of a mix of Whites, Blacks, Hispanics, Indians, and other ethnic groups, it will have a variety of cultural practices that may clash occasionally. College-educated police officers are perceived to have a higher susceptibility to handling challenges in multicultural environments, as they have already experienced them in school. Many colleges have diverse students from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds, and their interaction reinforces the ability to manage multicultural contexts in the future quality of learners. As such, hiring agencies believe that having a college education makes police officers better compared to the previous minimum requirement of a high school diploma.

Furthermore, police officers should be hired based on their physical fitness, as it indicates their ability to handle challenges, such as arrest control and resistance. Policing is a strenuous career that involves a lot of engaging in dangerous activity. The physical fitness of a candidate aspiring to join the police force can be tested by asking the officer to do a minimum number of push-ups within one or two minutes. If the police officer candidate is able to complete the above physical fitness test within the timeline mentioned, then they are fit to attend police academies. Physical fitness is also an essential quality for police officers because it indicates if they can handle people who resist arrest by handcuffing them forcefully. Therefore, hiring agencies should subject police officer candidates to pre-agility tests and then base their selection and recruitment decisions on the outcomes of the mentioned examination.

Constraints Placed on Police Officers

As mentioned, policing is a strenuous and challenging career that requires social, emotional, intellectual, mental, and physical fitness excellence. Police officers are trained to handle firearms, how to engage in self-defense, legal contexts, and techniques for self-improvement. As such, police academies prepare police officers to handle turbulent and problematic situations in the community by educating them on how to use several skills under the mentioned category. Essential aspects, such as stress management and stress prevention, are taught to candidates to help them remain effective in turbulent community situations. In the classroom, police officers receive intensive education concerning penal codes, law basics, radio codes, and procedures they should observe even in strenuous environments in the community. Further, police officer candidates are subjected to on the field-training, where they learn skills that help them manage challenging situations in the communities they will serve, such as using tactical firearms, arrest and control, and driving. During this training to help the police officer remain resilient in turbulent community situations, the candidate is expected to maintain high discipline standards.

Punishments, such as writing reports, extra running, or push-ups, can be meted out to the police officer recruit if they violate resilience training rules. Other skills that police officers can learn include emotional intelligence, critical thinking, being fair-minded, benevolence, and remaining objective in turbulent community scenarios. Additionally, police officers can learn high ethical standards, diversity, excellent planning, a performance-driven attitude, and unmatched organizational skills (Blumberg et al., 2019). The police officer is also trained on impulse control and how to manage knee-jerk reactions they may want to exhibit in highly stressful situations in the community.  The officers learn how to avoid engaging in risky behaviors, being cautious, and ensuring they are safe in turbulent environments. Further, police officers learn to be conscientious, logical, task-oriented, and flexible as job demands keep shifting.

Lastly, police officers are taught to remain stoic in stressful community scenarios, maintain a calm temperament, and manage their emotions successfully. Police officers learn to communicate tactfully and respectably and how to express sensitivity to community issues even in challenging contexts. Further, police officers learn to be honest, impartial, trustworthy, assertive, and how to be team players. Furthermore, police officer candidates receive training on handling moral dilemmas while remaining ethical, which is essential for successful policing in a turbulent context in the community. These social, emotional, moral, and hands-on skills help police officers manage stressful situations whenever they encounter them while on duty.

Best Practices Used by Police Supervisors to Ensure That Officers Are Performing Professionally

Today’s police force experiences several challenges, expressed as concerns about the hiring of women, recruitment of ethnic minorities, minimum educational candidate education levels, appropriate training modules to undertake, and use of technology. Concerns about hiring women into the police force may be perceived using aspects such as their policing qualities compared to men and sources of these differences. Issues such as the effectiveness of strategies female officers use in policing compared to their male colleagues and the anticipated behavior of female leaders in the police force continue to challenge today’s policing workplace (National Institute of Justice, 2019). Secondly, there are concerns about the recruitment of ethnic minorities into the police force, which affects police work significantly. For many decades, policing has been perceived as a reserve for Whites, with ethnic minorities hesitating to join the career. Other issues, such as the possibility for a predominantly White community to accept ethnic minority police officers, continue to challenge the police force operations (U.S. Department of Justice, 2016). Lastly, the police force operations are challenged by concerns, such as whether community policing would be better if Black officers were assigned African American neighborhoods or not.

Thirdly, police force operations are challenged by concerns about the minimum education requirements for recruits. Today, many hiring agencies are making it a mandatory requirement that police officers have a minimum of a college degree to handle diverse communities better, and these choices are not well-received by the police force. Concerns, such as whether attending college improves police officer performance, continue to abound in the police force, and there is a need to have programs to sponsor college education for hired staff. Fourthly, there are increasing concerns about training protocols used in police academies and if they are sufficient enough to produce excellent recruits. Concerns, such as the effectiveness of post-test and pre-test performances, pedagogical techniques to use, minimum requirements to meet post-training for successful induction into the police force, and innovative training practices, challenge police operations today. Lastly, there are increasing concerns about the use of technology, such as bodily cameras, for ethical reasons, which continue to impact officer operations. Issues such as the use of technology to respond to 911 calls and the effectiveness of technological tools used affect police operations today.

Best Practices Utilized by Supervisors When Officers Are Found to Be In Violation of Their Oath, Training, and Organizational Rules

Practices such as innovativeness and supportive leadership continue to positively impact the quality of policing today. Excellent supervisors have close relationships with subordinates, always perceiving them as friends instead of people to dominate. Further, good supervisors help officers perfect their problem-solving skills through coaching and mentoring. Furthermore, a good police officer shields subordinates from administration harassment, encourages them to engage in fair policing through recognition and praise, and exhibits concern for the personal and professional well-being of followers (Warren, 2019). Lastly, in the event that a police officer engages in unscrupulous actions that violate the code of ethics of the force, the supervisor ensures the issue is investigated and the officer is punished. Therefore, good supervisory skills in the police force entail the behaviors identified above, as explained.

References

Blumberg, D. M., Schlosser, M. D., Papazoglou, K., Creighton, S., & Kaye, C. C. (2019). New directions in police academy training: A call to action. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(24). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16244941

National Institute of Justice. (2019). Women in policing breaking barriers:. https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/nij/252963.pdf

U.S. Department of Justice. (2016). Advancing diversity in law enforcement. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 1-81. https://www.justice.gov/crt/case-document/file/900761/download

U.S. Department of Justice. (2017). Hiring for the 21st Century Law Enforcement Officer: Challenges, Opportunities, and Strategies for Success. Police Executive Research Forum. https://cops.usdoj.gov/ric/Publications/cops-w0831-pub.pdf

Warren, G. A. (2019, April 18). Great leadership drives high performance. Police Chief Magazine. https://www.policechiefmagazine.org/great-leadership-drives-high-performance

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For this assignment, keep in mind that for law enforcement agencies to be successful in the future, it is more important than ever for municipalities and departments to identify, recruit, and employ a well-trained and professional police force. From making arrests to using proper force to understanding technological devices to dealing with individuals with mental issues, police officers are increasingly performing many different roles. In their efforts to provide their citizens with a properly trained and professional police force, municipalities need to know that officers are adhering to their training and operating under established policies and procedures.

Write a 6–8 page paper in which you answer the following questions:

Identify the best practices being employed by law enforcement agencies in the United States to attract and hire those candidates who will be successful in meeting the demands of police officers in the changing future.
Identify the skills that need to be imparted upon recruits during their training in order for them to be successful in all roles of law enforcement. What additional training and/or changes would you recommend?
Identify how police academies are preparing police recruits for the various duties and assignments that they will be responsible for in turbulent and changing conditions.
Identify five constraints placed on police officers and examine how these constraints affect how officers conduct their operations and perform their duties.
Identify best practices used by police supervisors to ensure that officers are performing professionally and within department guidelines. Also, the best practices utilized by supervisors should be identified when officers are found to be in violation of their oath, training, and organizational rules.
Go to Basic Search: Strayer University Online Library to locate and use at least four quality sources for this assignment.
Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

Be typed, double-spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references should follow the Strayer Writing Standards (SWS).
Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.
This course requires the use of Strayer Writing Standards. For assistance and information, please refer to the Strayer Writing Standards link in the left-hand menu of your course. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.