Police officer performance appraisal and overall satisfaction

Although the level of dissatisfaction with police officer performance appraisal systems in many agencies is substantial (Hughes, 1990; Lilley, 2002), a recent nationwide survey of six hundred police organizations indicated that overall satisfaction was significantly higher among agencies with greater levels of community policing implementation (Lilley & Hinduja, 2006a). Given that research has suggested that dissatisfaction with the appraisal process may impact future employee performance and retention (Daily & Kirk, 1992; Deming, 1986), the focus of this analysis was to examine differences among police agencies that might explain this variation. Utilizing structural equation models, results indicated that agencies with a high level of community policing implementation were not automatically associated with increased satisfaction. Rather, these organizations differed from their more traditional counterparts with regard to evaluation procedure in that they provided substantially more training to raters, emphasized the use of performance appraisal for officer development, and evaluated a broader range of performance criteria.     

Patrol officer arrest rates: A study of the social organization of police work

The study discussed in this paper examined the variation in felony arrest rates among patrol officers performing similar duties in the same patrol area. Data were obtained by records review, self-administered questionnaires, unstructured interviews and participant observation during a two-year field presence in a New York City Police precinct. Analysis of the data led to the conclusion that the patrol officers control their enforcement patterns through a process of role adaptation. This functional division of labor serves the individual needs of the officers as they mediate conflicting demands of police bureaucracy and community.     

Compulsive traits and police officer performance

As a general rule, pathologies tend to impair job performance. In a study involving performance criteria and the Personality Assessment Inventory in a sample of Louisiana police officers (N=800), OCD characteristics correlated significantly in a negative direction with several performance criteria, such as involvement in an on-duty or off-duty at fault moving violation, number of on-duty or off-duty at fault moving violations, any citizen complaints regarding unprofessional conduct, number of unprofessional conduct, and accusation in any way of racially offensive conduct, behavior, verbalization, or complaints. It has been found that the traits of obsessive-compulsive disorder, in moderation, may actually improve performance in police officers. This agrees with the Yerkes-Dodson law, which states that peak performance occurs when a person experiences mild to moderate levels of stress. Authors' Note: Emily DeCoster-Martin was an undergraduate psychology major at The University of Evansville at the time this paper was written. William U. Weiss, Ph.D., is a professor in the Department of Psychology, The University of Evansville, 1800 Lincoln Av., Evansville, IN 47722. Robert D. Davis, Ph.D., is executive vice-president and director of science, research, and development for Matrix, Inc., Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Cary Rostow, Ph.D. is president of Matrix, Inc.     

Stress and police officer performance: An examination of effective coping behavior

Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology -     

Race and repeats: The impact of officer performance on racially biased policing

This study explored the impact of the repeat phenomenon on racial disparities in police motor vehicle stops. The repeat phenomenon is the existence of a small proportion of people or places (officers, citizens, places, victims) that account for a much larger proportion of events. While this phenomenon has been identified and discussed in other areas of criminal justice and criminology, little attention has been given to its existence in officer behavior. This study examined the impact of repeat officers on the level of racial disparity in a population of motor vehicle stops in a midwestern city during a portion of the year 2001. Results indicated that officer performance has a significant impact on the level of racial disproportionality in motor vehicle stops. Areas of future research addressing possible theoretical explanations for racial disparity in motor vehicle stops are also explored.     

Evaluating programs for men who batter: Problems and prospects

The uncertainty and controversy that surround batterer programs beg more systematic evaluation of program effectiveness. The current national surveys and limited evaluations of batterer programs point to several methodological improvements that include comparisons of program modalities, observation study of the group interaction, and more sensitive measures of abuse. Therefore, suggestions for future evaluations are posed, and continuing problematic areas, such as access to the victim, sensitized responses, selectivity of clients, and community context, are discussed.     

The American jail: Problems,politics, prospects

Discussions of America’s local jails inevitably center around their plethora of problems. Not only are these problems pervasive, but they are also enduring. Numerous proposals have been advanced to improve jail conditions and operations. Most have failed to such an extent that some scholars have speculated that jails are simply immune to reform. It is the contention of this article that most of the problems facing contemporary jails are rooted in the uniquepolitical nature of the jail as an organization. Consequently, serious efforts to affect change in jail conditions must recognize the limited options placed upon jail reforms by the political environment, or they must originate from outside the local political setting.     

Prediction of police officer performance with the inwald personality inventory

The Inwald Personality Inventory (IPI) was administered to police officer applicants during pre-employment psychological screening. Scores were used to predict applicant performance, as rated by supervisors, after one year of active duty and change in performance over a 10-month period. Performance was significantly predicted by IPI scales, including Family Conflicts, Guardedness, and Driving Violations. These findings support the predictive validity of the IPI and identify specific characteristics of applicants that may influence performance in the field. Author's Note: Paul Detrick, PhD, Florissant Psychological Services; John T. Chibnall, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Saint Louis University School of Medicine. The authors thank Sarah Crank, Mariann Luther, and Dinah Michael for their helpful assistance with this project. Special thanks to Captain John Roach of the St. Louis Conty Police Department for his valuable support and contributions. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Paul Detrick Florissant Psychological Services     

Predicting patrol officer performance from a psychological assessment battery: A predictive validity study

The psychological assessment battery is an integral part of the selection process used to select patrol officer applicants. Unlike all other procedures used in the selection process, the psychological assessment has not been adequately validated. The purpose of this study was an attempt to provide validation data for a psychological assessment battery. The battery consisted of the Nelson-Denny, Shipley-Hartford, MMPI, and the Motivational Analysis Test (MAT). Performance measures included various measures of training academy performance and field training performance. A stepwise regression and MANOVA/Discriminant Analysis indicated that the psychological tests did predict performance, although an exact predictive equation could not be developed due to the high intercorrelations between predictor variables. This research was sponsored in part by a grant from the School of Applied Arts and Technology, Southwest Texas State University.     

Determining Patrol Officer Job Satisfaction:

The central issue of this study involves determining the importance of various demographic and job specific attitudes in predicting job satisfaction among patrol officers. Findings contradict much of the previous literature that suggested a predictable association between specific factors and officer attitudes. Instead this study supports a Situational approach to predicting job satisfaction. In addition, the impact of affirmative actions was shown to be highly associated with job satisfaction under certain circumstances.     

输血与丙型肝炎因果关系鉴定及相关法律问题探讨

丙型肝炎病毒（ＨＣＶ）已成为输血后非甲非乙型肝炎的主要致病因子，但是要确定患者所感染的丙型肝炎与某次输血有必然的因果关系仍很困难。本文通过对一个案例进行研究，提出鉴定方法，即收集病人的所有住院病历，查阅病人输血前、输血后或者以后一段时间转氨酶的变化情况，尤其是伤后近期查出的转氨酶水平，基本上可代表伤前的水平。结合抗－ＨＣＶ抗体的变化，确定输血与肝炎间的因果关系。作者还结合我国法律，提出输血后感染丙型肝炎的患者可以“严格责任原则”起诉医院或者血库，医院或者血库承担举证责任，举证的内容包括其所提供血液的献血员来源合法，已作了法定的筛选检测，同时提供所有法定的记录档案，否则血库或者医院将承担败诉的民事责任。