ABSTRACT

Some police departments are responding to changing community needs by promoting a departmental cultural shift, which may involve their training programs. Reliable evaluation tools are needed to capture policing preparedness of graduating probationary officers (P1s) in line with evolving policing theory. The current study examines a multisource evaluation tool that includes P1 self-report and the observed ratings from their field training officers (FTOs) for 679 dyads. Results indicated that both raters grouped items into analogous factor structures, allowing for direct comparisons. P1’s and FTO’s ratings neither agreed nor covaried, and P1s tended to over-rate their preparedness. The psychometric properties of the developed scales were discussed as well as implications for program evaluations. Specifically, P1s and FTOs functioned as unique sources of information who could provide non-redundant perspectives on police preparedness and competency resulting from training. Review of both raters in concert may provide an additional level of potentially useful interpretation.

摘要

一些警察部门通过促进部门文化转变来应对不断变化的社区需求，这可能涉及他们的培训计划。需要有可靠的评估工具，以根据不断演变的警务理论来掌握即将毕业的缓刑官员（P1）的警务准备情况。当前的研究检查了一种多源评估工具，其中包括P1自我报告以及从他们的现场培训官（FTO）观察到的679个二等分的评分。结果表明，两个评分者将项目分组为类似的因子结构，从而可以直接进行比较。P1和FTO的评级既没有达成共识，也没有协变量，而且P1倾向于高估其准备工作。讨论了已开发量表的心理测量特性以及对计划评估的影响。具体来说，P1和FTO充当独特的信息来源，可以提供关于培训产生的警察准备和能力的非冗余观点。共同审查两个评估者可能会提供更高级别的潜在有用解释。