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The aim of this report is to assess Thompson Valley’s new police Commissioner,
Jason DeVillian’s, proposal to increase police strength (increasing the number of police
officers) He proposes that to double police recruit intake numbers over the next three years,
two changes will be made to the current selection process. Firstly, police recruit applicants
will no longer require completion or partial completion of tertiary education upon entry. The
second change is psychological testing will be removed from the selection process. This
report will analyse these two proposed changes and, using empirical evidence, assess the
validity and likely impact of these changes on the police recruitment selection process. This
report will also assess if there would be any unintended consequences that emerge because of
these policy changes. This report will also use empirical research to examine whether these
changes will help the Commissioner’s intended goal of doubling the size of the police recruit
intake. Lastly, this report will summarise the evidence presented and give recommendations
based on the findings of this report and about whether these proposed changes will have a
There has always been debates and arguments surrounding the topic of police officers
having tertiary qualifications before they join the police force. Tertiary qualifications among
police recruits have had a positive impact on the community and the police officers
themselves. In a study conducted by Paoline and Terrill (2007), They found that police
officers with tertiary qualifications were found to use significantly less verbal and physical
force than their co-workers with only a high school education. The officers with a tertiary
education would use verbal commands more often and use threats of force less often than
those without tertiary education. Terrill and Ingram (2016) found that out of 8 police
departments, excessive force and discourtesy was the most frequent complaint, with 42% of
citizen complaints were for allegations of excessive force. Furthermore, the officers that
citizens complained against stating excessive force, were found to have little experience in
ANALYSIS OF POLICE SELECTION 2
the police, and their highest education attained was a high school diploma. Not only does
tertiary education improve the communities experience with dealing with officers, but tertiary
education improves life and professional skills for police officers. As Roberg and Bonn
(2004) point out, perhaps tertiary education among police officers wasn’t required 30 years
ago, but in this day and age, with rapid technological advancement, increased threat of
domestic terrorism and a quickly changing social landscape, police are now having to deal
with issues that were not around 30 years ago. Modern-day police officers have to deal with a
dynamic and complex role, dictating that the benefits of tertiary education are required to
manage the demands of everyday policing. Christopher (2015) stated that police officers with
tertiary education prepares them for this diverse role and concluded with tertiary education
produces future officers who are competent and capable in this ever-changing challenge of
policing.
The impact of having tertiary qualifications within the police force is positive,
enhancing communities experience and increasing police professionalism. There are far more
benefits of having tertiary educated officers than those without qualifications. These officers
tend to outperform their co-workers with no qualifications. While the impact of not needing
tertiary qualifications among police officers would not be noticeable to begin with, as Flores
and Matkin (2012) discusses, with the exponential growth of mass casualty threats and events
effectively dealt with, these critical thinking skills are more apparent in those with tertiary
qualifications.
Unquestionably, police officers do have a unique job role; not one case is exactly like the
other. Police often do encounter stressful and often challenging situations, so when seeking
out candidates for the role, there must be strong and compelling reasons for the careful
ANALYSIS OF POLICE SELECTION 3
testing. Police can use psychological assessment to screen unfit candidates, searching for
mental illnesses, being prone to violent outbursts, an inability to deal with stressful situations
and potential for substance abuse (Varela, Boccaccini, Scogin, Stump, & Caputo, 2004) The
most common test is known as the five-factor model (FFM) (Ono, Sachau, Deal, Englert, &
Taylor, 2011) the five-factor model contains five personality characteristics which include
were those with high levels of conscientiousness and extraversion, average levels of
agreeableness and openness and low levels of neuroticism. Detrick and Chibnall (2006)
found using the results from an FFM test; the findings concluded that the best entry-level
police officers were emotionally controlled, slow to anger, socially assertive and highly
Ashkanasy, Bowen, Rohde, and Wu (2007) who assessed employees test scores from
different organizations. They found that those who score well on these tests will receive
fewer complaints, involved in fewer incidents at work. They were also highly regarded by
their superiors. As mentioned previously, psychological testing in the selection process can
also highlight those who would be unfit for the police force, as they have personality
tendencies that would not work well with the policing role. Corruption within the police force
is a severe problem for many police departments with researchers suggesting the best way of
behavioural tendencies within recruits. (Arrigo & Claussen, 2003) Furthermore, Arrigo and
Claussen (2003) conclude that the five-factor model would greatly improve the selection
process within law enforcement. They suggest that if the FFM was utilised, and police
ANALYSIS OF POLICE SELECTION 4
recruiters found recruits who were high on the conscientious measure and low on antisocial
tendencies, then the overall rate of corruption within police would decline.
The impact of not requiring psychological testing in the selection process would have
a detrimental impact on the future of police. By using psychological testing in the selection
process, recruiters will be able to assess future police officers by comparing their personality
characteristics against high-performing entry-level recruits and thus being able to assess
testing in the recruitment stage is needed for officers to be able to deal successfully with the
psychological and emotional stressors that the police role entails. (Arrigo & Claussen, 2003)
upon entry and removing psychological testing from the selection process, would the number
of police recruits be doubled over the next three years? When looking at tertiary
qualifications, if they are not needed to join the police force, more women and minority
candidates are more likely to be included in the recruit intake. A study from (Kay Decker,
2002) found that raising educational requirements for police would eliminate a large number
recruits needed to pass a physical, have a high school diploma and pass a
eliminated because of the lack of a degree. Additionally, the effect on racial diverse groups
would be higher as 76.9% of them did not have a degree. Females would be affected with
67.6% not having a degree. In 2015, 25% of police officers were female, and only 5% of
police were Aboriginal (Sarre & Prenzler, 2016) Australia has taken significant steps forward
in the policing of diversity, however as proven above, if police require tertiary qualifications
the diversity among police recruits would be negatively affected. As such, by not requiring
ANALYSIS OF POLICE SELECTION 5
tertiary qualifications, the police recruitment numbers would be increased, and diversity
What impact does psychological testing on recruits have on recruit numbers? A study
from Ryan, Sacco, McFarland, and Kriska (2000) found that from an extensive study of 3,550
applicants, 42% withdrew themselves after being presented with a form of psychological
testing. A further 20% failed the psychological testing, and only 38% of the original
applicants passed the testing (1,351). From this study, it is clear to state that physiological
testing does have some impact on recruitment numbers. In 2018, in New Zealand, there were
22,993 people who applied to join the police force. Out of those who applied, only 1503
applicants were recruited as the rest either failed the initial vetting or psychometric and
personality testing. (Stewat, 2018) It can be clearly seen that the psychologic testing does
have a negative impact on the number of potential recruits. Thus, by removing the
psychological testing in the selection process, while it would be quite hard to confirm exactly
if it would double the police force in three years, it has been proven that by removing this
Recommendations
It can be stated then, as logic suggests, that as the requirements are raised, the
opportunity for becoming a police officer would be available for fewer people. By removing
these requirements, it would have the opposite effect, and more people would have the
opportunity to join the police force. However, if the proposed changes are put into place, it
can be expected that there will be an increase in police recruit numbers. However, there is a
reasonable chance that due to the lack of requirements, the quality of successful applicants
would be decreased.
ANALYSIS OF POLICE SELECTION 6
stage. Based off evidence from Detrick and Chibnall, (2006) Ashkansey et al. (2007) and
Arrigo and Claussen (2003) psychological testing can screen unfit candidates, find best entry-
level candidates faster and more efficiently, have a better impact on the community and
significantly reduce corruption in police. Thereby, going off from the evidence, removing
If tertiary qualifications were to be obtained before joining the police force, evidence
suggests that police have a better impact on the community by using less physical force and
rely more on verbal commands. (Paoline & Terrill, 2007) more likely to have a better citizen
satisfaction with the police (Terrill & Ingram, 2016) and having the ability to be competent
and capable in the face of new and emerging threats that occur frequently due to rapid
technological advancement and changing the social landscape. (Roberg & Bonn, 2004)
However, evidence also suggests that removing tertiary qualifications from the recruitment
process will improve diversity (Sarre & Prenzler, 2016) which is much needed in
communities.
testing and tertiary qualifications should be a requirement when in the recruitment selection
process. By removing these requirements, it increases the chances of poor policing and
ultimately will damage the reputation of the police force and negatively impact the wider
that the tertiary qualifications requirement would be removed, as it also brings more diversity
be removed. Without definitive numbers, it could not be confirmed that the number of
recruits would be doubled in the next three years. However, it can be confirmed that the
overall number of recruits would increase somewhat. Regardless, as this report has identified,
the removal of both tertiary education requirements and psychological testing would be
imprudent. With what both bring to the police force, in terms of improving the overall quality
of the police and removing the possibility of damaging the police reputation are valid enough
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