The police department has faced numerous changes in its recruitment process of personnel. However, the Greenfield Police Department’s hiring process has not changed over the past decades. The outdated hiring process has its consequences on the overall performance of police officers. One of the effects of relying on the outdated process by the hiring manager is the lack of selection of personnel that meets the current trends in society.
The criminal activities have changed, and most of the criminal acts are undertaken through the internet—commonly known as cybercrimes. The hiring manager should hire individuals who are technologically savvy. On the side of the department, the police organization cannot realize its strategic objectives of combating crimes, as most of the finances will be directed to educating the recruits on the need to enhance effectiveness and technological know-how.
In addition, an outdated hiring process necessitates biases in the recruitment process. As such, the department would not realize the strategic objective in its operations.
Greenfield Police Department requires that an applicant should possess a degree in law for him/her to be considered for an interview. Although the requirement ensures that qualified personnel is selected into the system, it possesses a negative effect on society. Individuals from remote areas, who are not able to access higher education, are discriminated against from employment opportunities in the sector. Consequently, learning institutions cannot accommodate a large number of individuals who are taking a degree in law.
Most of the institutions provide a limited number of individuals admitted to undertake law. Maintaining the police officers in the sector would be a tedious act, as they would want to practice law in given law firms. This would be a challenge especially when the law firms provide high remuneration unlike the police department; therefore, employee turnover would be high. As such, it is vital for the department to provide law education to the officers when they are already recruited into the system.
Although written exam ensures that the police officers’ understanding of the general knowledge is tested, changes need to be undertaken in the test in order to enhance its reliability. Some of the changes to be incorporated include the use of language that is specific to the Greenfield Police Department. It may be argued that the test should be standardized and used by all police department across the region, but the structure of the questions and its content should be practical.
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The intention is to determine the intelligent quotient (IQ) of the applicants, not to discriminate them. As the test was developed decades ago, the society has changed and there is need to update the structure and content of the questions. The focus should be on the current affairs that affect the society, and the nature of criminality that the current society faces. Providing outdated knowledge to the applicants shows that the degree they possess is irrelevant.
The objective of written test cannot be achieved without the applicants being tested by writing an essay. Some of the operations in the police department require an officer to provide a written report on the activities undertaken. Essay writing enhances the recruitment manager to ascertain the critical and creative thinking abilities of the applicant. For instance, writing argumentative essay on topic relating to community policing requires an individual to criticize the issues pertaining to community policing. Essay writing also enhances an individual to discover new knowledge concerning a particular field.
It is a sure way of researching on a subject that is currently being tackled in the society. Finally, essay writing improves the applicants writing skills. The applicants would be able to sharpen their grammar and spelling conditions in order to be considered for employment. Indeed, police officers are not only required to have knowledge on guns and ammunitions, but also understand the challenges that face the society. This will be achieved through writing a coherent report when given the mandate to oversee the activities of a given region.
Most of the organizations, police department included, have relied heavily on interviews to ascertain competent employees among the applicants. Though it is vital, the interview should not be rigid, and the interviewing panel should consider interviews that are interactive. The main objective of an interview is to understand the applicant’s background, and his/her competitiveness in the job applied.
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Therefore, having a set of guidelines or structured questions to ask the interviewee will not be a distinct way of achieving the desired results. In order to get vital information from the applicant, there is need for follow-up questions.
In addition, the reception of the applicant should be cordial. This will ensure that the selection team will get the right information from the applicant without any bias or misappropriation of facts. Ideally, when the interviewing panel is not friendly, the applicant will always answer the questions with an intention of pleasing the panel. The panel should not have preferred answers to the questions, as they will be rigid. They should listen to the applicant’s version of answering the questions and assess him/her on the quality of the answers provided; though in a different version.
Physical fitness test is vital for any police officer. When entering the law enforcement profession, strong physical fitness programs that prepare the officers to perform their duties are enacted. The test for physical fitness ensures that officer comply with the minimal requirements of daily demands without subjecting him/her to undue fatigue in the process of undertaking his/her duty.
As such, it will also enable the officer to actively participate in other recreational activities without compromising with the police department’s duties. Physical fitness has a direct impact on job performance. Officers are usually entitled with tasks like running, climbing, lifting/carrying, pushing, dragging, and use of force, which requires an individual to be physically fit.
Ideally, being physically fit ensures that the officer is not prone to attacks from offenders. As such, it reduces the liability of the officers, as they can undertake the tasks issued to them without any hindrance or risks. When the officers are subjected to physical test, they can determine whether the newly recruited officer has health problems like diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol level.
Hiring process constitutes the qualification, interviewing, and physical test for one to be hired into the police department. The process cannot be changed, but the way in which the applicants are handled or questioned should be in accordance to the changes imminent in the society. Therefore, the police department should follow the current trends that the criminals have fostered; for instance, the cyber crimes. Officers recruited needs to understand how to track a suspect or offender who is well-versed with internet crimes.