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Abstract
Well known is the fact new hires of police agencies must complete a program of basic law enforcement training (BLET) before they can become sworn officers and this training usually occurs at police academies. Less well known is these academies can be grouped into two types: law enforcement agency academies (LEAAs) and academic institution academies (AIAs). Using national-level police academy data (N = 591), this study compared the two groups on (1) characteristics of the academies (e.g., size and scope) (2) characteristics of BLET instructors, and (3) features of BLET (e.g., influences on curriculum development). Our results showed significant proportional or mean differences existed between the groups in ∼62% of comparisons made. Implications of these results for understanding and reforming BLET around guardian-type principles are discussed and suggestions made for further research.
Disclosure statement
In accordance with Taylor & Francis policy and our ethical obligations as researchers, we are reporting no financial or other interests involving this research.
Notes
1 Peace Officer Standards and Training agencies, commissions, or councils are state-level regulatory bodies responsible for licensing police officers, promulgating standards for officer training and continuing education, ensuring agency compliance with the standards, and engaging in other activities as stipulated by law or custom. For example, see: https://dps.mo.gov/dir/programs/post/.
2 Prior waves of data collection were completed in 2002 and 2006. A fourth wave has been collected and is currently being processed. Federal law enforcement agency academies were excluded from consideration as were academies that only provided specialized training.
3 One reviewer expressed concern that CLETA data fail to reflect actual BLET curricula and/or requirements since each state establishes their own. While we accept that states establish their own BLET requirements, CLETA surveys are developed by panels of subject-matter experts – including police practitioners. As a result, one could reasonably assume consensus existed that curricula items contained in the survey cover BLET training commonly required in most, if not all, states. CLETA items thus capture cross-academy commonalities in BLET training regardless of a particular state’s actual requirements.
4 We originally intended on using an academy’s total operating budget and equipment budget for 2011–2013 as two additional indicators of academy size. However, after inspection of the data revealed questionable responses and large numbers of no responses (i.e., missing data), we excluded the budget variables.
5 The Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies is a credentialing authority whose primary mission is to accredit law enforcement agencies and training academies, communications centers, and campus public safety agencies (https://www.calea.org/)
6 An academy “class” is a term of art that refers to a group of trainees that began and completed BLET together in a particular year at a specific academy. Depending on how many hours of BLET hours are required, an academy may have 2–3 classes begin and end training annually. On average during 2011–2013, across academies a class consisted of 198 recruits who began BLET and 170 (89.5%) recruits who completed it (results available from corresponding author).
7 Simunitions (“simulated ammunition”) are special, paint-filled cartridges used in firearms training that mark a target when struck
8 We replicated the t-test analyses using MANOVA due to the general consensus the more t-tests one estimates, the greater the probability of making a Type 1 error (e.g., Rymaszewski & Breakwell, Citation2013). MANOVA results echoed those found in the individual t-tests and indicated that statistically significant marginal mean differences existed in the four dependent variables by academy type (results available from first author).
9 Academies typically hire civilians to serve as full- or part-time trainers/instructors in a variety of courses (e.g., law-related, physical fitness, CPR/first aid, etc.) and would thus have no experience in law enforcement. We thank an anonymous reviewer for reminding us of this fact.
10 BJS estimated it would take an average of two hours to complete the survey including necessary attendant activities (https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/CLETA2013.pdf).
Additional information
Notes on contributors
John J. Sloan
John J. Sloan III is Professor Emeritus of criminal justice at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) whose work has been funded by the National Science Foundation, Bureau of Justice Assistance, the National Institute of Justice, and the COPS Office and appeared in such outlets as Criminology, Justice Quarterly, the Journal of Criminal Justice, Criminology & Public Policy, Social Forces, and the Journal of Criminal Justice Education. He is also author or coauthor of eight books, most recently (with Bonnie S. Fisher) Campus Crime: Legal, Social, and Policy Perspectives (4th edition) forthcoming from Charles C. Thomas. His research interests include crime and security issues on college and university campuses; police recruitment, training, and ethics; criminal justice policy; and undergraduate education. He received a Ph.D.in sociology from Purdue University.
Eugene A. Paoline
Eugene A. Paoline III is a Professor and Graduate Director in the Department of Criminal Justice at the University of Central Florida. He holds a Ph.D. in criminal justice from the University at Albany, State University of New York. His research interests include police culture, police use of force, and occupational attitudes of criminal justice practitioners. He is the author of Rethinking Police Culture (2001, LFB Scholarly Publishing) and Police Culture: Adapting to the Strains of the Job (2014, Carolina Academic Press).