BASIC ISSUES IN TRAINING: A Foundation
for Community Policing
Making the Transition to Mission-Driven
Training
Ron Sloan
Robert C. Trojanowicz
Bonnie Bucqueroux
National Center for Community Policing
Michigan State University
560 Baker Hall
East Lansing, MI 48824-1118
1-(800) -892-9051 (517) 355-9648
INTRODUCTION
Now that Community Policing is rapidly becoming the standard by which
police departments are judged, police managers are facing the challenge
of dealing with the changes that a switch to Community Policing demands.
Community Policing requires major internal changes, and it also requires
rethinking the ways in which the department relates to other individuals
and groups in the community. The shift to Community Policing therefore
has major implications for training, and this paper will focus primarily
on the changes in internal training procedures and content that can assist
police managers in providing a smooth and effective transition to Community
Policing in ways that allow everyone in the department to make full use
of this approach.
The bulk of this paper will focus on training line officers, since they constitute the foundation that, over time, can change the culture within the department in ways that can allow Community Policing to flourish. At the same time, however, it is important to emphasize the need to provide effective training in Community Policing to sworn and non-sworn personnel at all levels in the department. Far too many departments have learned, at painful costs, that the "user friendly" reputation of the entire department can be undermined, for example, by a civilian dispatcher who has not been trained properly in explaining to callers why the shift to Community Policing can mean a delay in the response to non-emergency calls.
Training in Community Policing detailed in this paper refers primarily to three areas: academy training, field officer training, and on-going in-service training. Obviously, changes in training must also be part of other internal changes in: recruitment, selection, evaluation, and promotion; however, these issues will not be addressed directly, but only as they impinge directly on training. Important as well is that academy training is critical to set the tone for Community Policing department-wide, and Community Policing must therefore inform all aspects of training - it must not be reduced to a single "two-hour block" of instruction.
The primary goal of this paper will be to show how the philosophy and mission of Community Policing can drive all aspects of training, so that training becomes the key to promoting and institutionalizing the shift to Community Policing. This requires analyzing all aspects of training to ensure that they promote the mission of Community Policing, which is to provide decentralized and personalized police service that empowers the community to participate as partners in the process of making their neighborhoods better and safer places in which to live and work.
Free Patrol Time
If Community Policing is to become a department-wide commitment, it
must be expressed by all line officers, not just Community Officers. Experience
shows that if Community Policing is viewed internally as a "specialty"
assignment, handled by a few, then the rest of the officers will quickly
revert to business as usual.
This means motor patrol officers must be required to leave their automobiles to interact, face-to-face, with citizens. While this means that officers need "free" (uncommitted) patrol time to be able to leave their cars and work with the community on problem identification and problem solving, many complain that they do not have enough free patrol time to do so. However, we have found that the real challenge lies in convincing them to use the time they have, and this is an example of the kind of problem that can and should be addressed by training.
The solution requires consistency all the way from recruitment through in-service training that will last through the officer's career. If academy trainees have been recruited with the understanding that they will be expected to leave their automobiles on free patrol time, then they will be more amenable to doing so once out on their own. Academy training can reinforce this expectation by pointing out how face-to-face contact is essential in gaining the trust of citizens, so that the officers can work with people on problem solving.
Then the Field Training Officer (FTO) program should reinforce what was emphasized in academy training. For instance, the FTO can teach by example by exiting the auto whenever possible, so that trainees learn to see this as "normal" behavior.
On-going in-service training after the academy and the FTO program should not only reinforce the two previous training experiences, but it can be expanded by encouraging officers to share examples about how they solved problems as a result of their involvement with the community. Officers can also talk about how those experiences enhanced their job satisfaction and their perceptions of personal safety, since peer group support is extremely effective, especially among police.
Benefits of Interaction
Experience shows that officers enjoy their jobs more when they can
see that their efforts in working directly with law-abiding people produce
concrete, positive results. Decentralized and personalized police service
encourages residents to think of officers who patrol their areas as "our"
officers, and citizens become protective of their officers. Not only does
this make officers feel safer, but experience shows that residents will
indeed come to the aid of an officer in trouble where they might not have
before. Exchanging real stories about how Community Policing enhances problem
solving and job satisfaction and safety is a potent training tool, even
more powerful and positive than any kind of formal training through the
academy, the FTO program, or in-service training.
If the support and rewards for "out of auto" interactions are long term and consistent, fewer officers will suffer psychological relapses that will make them want to retreat to the confines of their "office" - the patrol car. Officers who "whine" about leaving their cars can be reminded that this was clearly stated as an integral part of the job when they signed on, and this requirement was emphasized all the way through training. In other words, there is no excuse for officers and their supervisors to grumble about this important aspect of the job.
Parallels to Undercover Work
It is interesting that many officers who are reluctant to leave their
autos are also officers who have worked undercover or want to do so, and
there are many parallels between both activities. Successful undercover
officers are rarely in the office - they are out communicating and interacting,
using their verbal skills to gather information. When they "make a case,"
they credit their interpersonal skills with helping them achieve success,
and their peer group applauds them for those skills. Over time, as peer
group support builds for community involvement, this can legitimize community-based
problem solving, just as it legitimized undercover operations.
BASIC JOB ASSESSMENT
Deficiencies in Traditional Productivity
Standards
Job assessment is an important first step in fashioning an effective
training program, since you need to know what it takes to perform the job
well to outline a suitable training program. All complex organizations,
including and perhaps especially the police, face a major problem in developing
productivity measures that adequately evaluate actual performance. At General
Motors, for example, there is little doubt that most of the people in the
organization worked hard and tried to work smart, yet they face a massive
reorganization if they are to regain market share, because effort and intelligence
alone are not the sole indicators of whether the organization is meeting
its goals for success.
Typically, what is missing from most productivity standards is a thorough job analysis. Unless you know what the job really entails, gauging performance at any organizational level is virtually impossible. Crucial as well is that the job analysis must be informed by the mission and goals of the organizationa. In the case of General Motors, everyone in the organization understood that the goal is to make cars, yet the organization lost sight of the overarching goal, which is meeting the needs of the consumer - making cars that people want to buy. The same holds true for police departments; the job is to provide police service to the community, but the overarching goal is to provide people the kind of police service that they want and need.
Complications in Job Analysis
Analyzing the job of policing officers is difficult because their relationship
with the community is so complicated and varied. So instead of actually
discussing what officers do on the job, most police performance literature
instead tends to focus on innate character traits - intelligence, analytical
ability, sensitivity, moral character. As a result, police administrators
who rely on such criteria tend to dismiss poor police performance as stemming
from a lack of training or from the failure to recruit the right types
of people. This kind of system risks being dangerously subjective, since
it is so difficult to assess fairly. If we think of GM, there is little
doubt that they tried to hire the best and brightest at all levels of the
company, but those qualities alone do not insure success unless the environment
of the organization allows those talented individuals the opportunity to
work together to achieve the overall mission.
On the other hand, administrators with a quantitative bent argue that removing subjectivity from performance evaluation requires focusing on objective criteria - the number of traffic tickets issued, arrests made, convictions, security checks, etc. The obvious flaw in this system is that the most easily countable items may not be the best indicators of an officer's effectiveness, and they may not provide the greatest benefit to the community. Again, using GM as a frame of reference, we can assume that everyone in the organization, from executives to designers to workers on the line, worked hard to produce as many cars as they could as quickly as possible, yet the end products failed to meet the test of the market - the community of consumers.
Communities and neighborhoods are complex social structures, with varying normative patterns. An evaluation system that relies on simplistic assessments, such as tickets issued and arrests made, ends up focusing on activities that may have little to do with what is actually required to do a good job - activities that account for only a fraction of an officer's time. Such a system also risks promoting abuses. Officers can feel pressured to fulfill arbitrary "quotas," if they are to earn raises and promotions. The job becomes distorted to fulfill the expectations of supervision, rather than the wants and needs of the community.
The critical issue is how police performance standards and productivity measures can be structured to relate to actual job functions, so that these can be used to project realistic training guidelines. The police role must be defined in ways that can serve as a foundation for effective evaluation. Even more specifically, the role of the officer in a Community Policing department must be defined, keeping in mind that this approach differs from traditional policing, because it is a special effort to create a symbiosis between police officers and the communities they serve.
Comprehensive Training
Most often mentioned as a potential solution to this challenge is the
development of a comprehensive, in-depth training program for new officers.
Specifics about such training, especially basic training, remain the subject
of debate. An ideal system would also include identifying basic characteristics
required to be an effective officer, so that these characteristics could
be codified into a model that could then be used in the selection process.
Standardizing training is also widely accepted as a valid goal.
If we look at the auto industry, the two obvious success stories are Saturn and Chrysler's second comeback, and both were driven by teaching personnel to harness the entrepreneurial spirit, through teamwork, to the mission of producing cars that people want. As David Osborne and Ted Gaebler point out in their provocative book Reinventing Government, comparing private enterprise to public service has its pitfalls, especially since the "consumers" of government services cannot, in most cases, shop elsewhere. However, government can adapt the lessons of private enterprise to the public sector, including the need to focus on outcomes, not inputs.
In the case of the police, inputs such as character traits and "productivity" (tickets written, arrests made) are irrelevant unless tied to the mission of empowering police personnel to making the community a better and safer place in which to live - the ultimate outcome. The authors propose transforming rule-driven organizations into mission-driven organizations that focus on empowering communities rather than serving them. Thus, an in-depth look at the forms that training will take is imperative in police organizations that adopt Community Policing.
As author Robert Pirsig wrote about the auto industry, the lesson that
German and Japanese automakers teach is that quality is not something tacked
on at the end, like chrome. Instead, a commitment to quality must infuse
every step of the process, and that requires that everyone must work together
as a team. Not only is this philosophical shift at the heart of Community
Policing's new approach to interaction with the community, but it must
be integrated into the internal dynamics of the department and everything
it does, including training. As this suggests, the commitment to quality
demands rethinking every aspect of the training agenda, to ensure that
the philosophical underpinnings of Community Policing are woven into every
element of the training approach.
VARIETIES OF TRAINING
Mission-Driven Training
In a Community Policing department, focusing on the mission of the
department rather than its rules requires a dramatic shift in training
from a focus on mastery and obedience to a focus on empowerment. This philosophical
shift has profound implications for everything that is taught in training,
from the academy, through field training, to lifelong in-service training.
As this suggests, teaching police officers to follow orders and master
skills is no longer an end in itself. They are important only if they can
be harnessed to empowering personnel to fulfill the overarching mission
of the department, which is to work as partners with people in the community,
so that they, too, can be empowerd to help make their neighborhoods better
and safer places.
Any police organization that attempts to institute such a significant philosophical change must establish a comprehensive approach to training that provides the foundation for that change. As expected, many within the department will resist such sweeping change for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to:
Philosophical mission-driven training, which forms the conceptual basis for the individual's role as well as the overall organization's collective goals, is often viewed, in contrast, as too theoretical and not useful in any practical sense. The reality, of course, is that most of any officer's daily routine does not include use of deadly force, high-speed pursuits, and physically engaging or restraining unruly citizens. Most of an officer's time is instead spent on taking cold reports, settling civil disputes, motor patrol of assigned areas, or other similar tasks.
As this suggests, if training is to help officers do their best in a Community Policing department, it should: (1) mirror what it takes to do the actual job well, (2) be informed by the philosophy and mission of Community Policing, and (3) be structured to maintain the interest of trainees. This is not to say that training should therefore ignore teaching skills such as survival of officers and those they are sworn to protect. But traditional training has tended to place less emphasis on skills that might help to de-fuse potentially dangerous situations before they escalate.
A shift to Community Policing implies balancing reactive efforts with initiatives that emphasize proactive and positive interaction with the community, and this means that skills training must reflect the balance of these priorities, for example, by including more focus on improving interpersonal skills. Fulfilling the imperatives listed above means that the entire training area must be informed by the philosophy and mission of the department. A comprehensive approach to training can therefore serve as a foundation for Community Policing, with the term "comprehensive" used to indicate department-wide training that touches on:
Introduction or Orientation Training
Implementing the shift to the Community Policing philosophy must begin
with an introduction or orientation to:
Basic Academy Training
It is when entry-level police officers join the organization that they
are the most open to adopting a philosophical mindset for the police role.
Even in situations where recruits have prior experience, they are usually
willing to consider subtle changes in their role as they enter a new environment.
This is especially true if recruitment, screening, and testing are designed
to select individuals with the desire and aptitude for Community Policing.
We believe that the basic academy setting should offer two tracks for Community Policing training:
OTHER NEW HIRE TRAINING
When new non-sworn employees are hired into the organization, special
attention should be paid to orienting them toward the mission and role
of the department. New support and technical employees need to understand
early on that the department is committed to the ideals of Community Policing.
This can help them see how their jobs can support operational efforts to
translate the Community Policing philosophy into practice.
Any new employee who has direct contact with the public (report technicians,
dispatchers or complaint clerks, records clerks, receptionists, property
and evidence clerks, etc.) should be trained in customer service, and all
should be introduced to the concept of community organization and empowerment
and problem solving of community priorities. Many of these employees interact
directly with line officers, so it is absolutely imperative that they understand
the changing role of the police officer, since they must be able to provide
assistance and support.
POLICE OFFICER FIELD TRAINING
Setting the Tone
The most profound impact on how a police officer works and acts during
the early years of his or her career comes from the direction and the example
set during field training. Indeed, field training may well be the single
most crucial element in changing the culture within the department toward
a Community Policing approach. This "on the job" training tends to override
whatever trainees learn in academy classrooms, and it sets the stage for
what is and is not considered acceptable behavior. Mentoring provided by
training officers shapes the strategies, techniques, and, most importantly,
the role that recruits embrace. This is particularly true the longer that
field training lasts, and when it involves daily evaluations and feedback
to the trainees.
Because of the tremendous impact that field training has on the entire organization, the philosophical orientation and skills of the training officers are crucial. Therefore training the trainers in Community Policing deserves special attention. Trainers must be committed to Community Policing themselves if they are to transmit that message to others.
Teaching by Example
Put bluntly, if an FTO does not both believe in and practice the principles
of Community Policing, it will be virtually impossible even for rookies
who are enthusiastic about Community Poliicng to withstanding field training
that ill prepares them for the job or which undermines their commitment.
Since field training is the crucible in which rookies learn what they need
to launch their careers, trainers who subvert the principles of Community
Policing, whether consciously or because of lack of proper training themselves,
can end up perpetuating the ineffective and outmoded strategies of the
professional policing model. For example, trainers can talk all they want
to about the virtues of "out of automobile" experience, but unless rookies
learn by seeing field training officers do this whenever they can, the
chances are that rookies will follow the negative example rather than the
positive advice.
Job Task Categories
Among the most important changes that must be made in a structured
field training program is that the job task categories of the daily evaluation
should be assessed to ensure that they reflect the philosophy and practice
of Community Policing. Rectifying problems can require either a redefinition
of performance standards under existing job categories (i.e., field performance,
investigation, officer safety, interaction with the public, etc.) or even
the devising of new job task categories (with corresponding performance
standards) that reflect the Community Policing philosophy, such as:
IN-SERVICE TRAINING
Maintaining and Reinforcing Momentum
Achieving change is difficult, but maintaining change and empowering
employees to use new techniques or skills is impossible without a mechanism
for continual reinforcement. Formal in-service training provides a way
to maintain momentum and to build new skills. Unfortunately, many organizations
provide little refresher training, or such training is directed only at
sworn officers. We believe that not only should training be provided to
both sworn and non-sworn personnel, but it be infused with and devote sessions
to the principles and strategies of Community Policing.
Workshops on community organization and empowerment, problem solving,
special projects, performance evaluation guidelines, and local and national
updates on police strategies can be structured to suit the needs of both
sworn and non-sworn personnel, depending on the needs and constraints of
the organization. Of overriding importance is that police managers understand
that in-service updates are critical to institutionalizing Community Policing.
OTHER SPECIALIZED TRAINING
Educating Supervisor and Managers
Overlooking the need to provide specialty training risks dooming attempts
to institutionalize Community Policing. Not only must first-line supervisors
be able to recognize and reward community empowerment and creative problem-solving,
but they must be trained to encourage risk-taking and innovation among
subordinates. At issue as well is that risk-taking and innovation depend
on mutual trust between supervisors and line officers. Without such trust,
line officers will stick with the status quo, which typically rewards those
who do not make any waves (which means they take no chances).
Supervisors and managers must be willing to accept honest mistakes, or line officers will continue to rely on conventional strategies that ultimately lead to stagnation. Accountable risk-taking emphasizes responsibility, not license, and it examines failures or mistakes as a means of learning how to do better in the future, not as a means of assigning blame. Managers in a Community Policing department can specifically benefit from skills training in redirecting, leading by example, and constructive criticism (coaching and faciliation).
Managers and command officers should also be given the opportunity to understand and facilitate the philosophical change to Community Policing. Without repeated training, top leaders in the department can see Community Policing as a threat to their status and power. Again, training must emphasize that Community Policing means that all functions in the department are driven by the mission, not by the rules, and this means that the role of police managers must change from that of "controller" to "facilitator." Unless this problem is addressed, top-level support can wane, undermining and even sabotaging the entire effort.
On-Going Information Sharing
As efforts to shift to Community Policing gain momentum, the department
should explore methodologies for sharing information on strategies and
projects with others inside and outside the department. This is important
for many reasons: First, disseminating this information can make it possible
for others to borrow useful ideas. Second, it can help reinforce the message
that Community Policing works. Third, it provides an "attaboy" for individuals
and groups who deserve praise for their initiative. Fourth, documenting
success to groups outside the department can help to build broad-based
support among civic officials, business owners, community leaders, taxpayers
and voters, other government agencies, non-profit groups, and average citizens.
Many departments have produced newsletters and videos, and some have
established computerized databases. A database accessible throughout the
department can make it easier to avoid the need to "reinvent the wheel"
each time someone is looking for possible solutions to community problems,
but departments that cannot afford that luxury must find some way to gather
and disseminate this kind of useful information.
CONCLUSION
The Function of Training
Training is crucial for the adoption of any significant change, and
it is the foundation for how we respond to challenges, both individually
and collectively. A comprehensive training approach is essential in institutionalizing
the philosophy and practice of Community Policing within a police agency.
Community Input
Also important is the need to solicit the community's input into training
of line officers, since their help can be invaluable in designing training
that meets their needs and expections.
Training and Selection
The new role expectations for Community Officers have obvious implications
for selection and training. For instance, considering only the superior
communication skills that Community Officers need raises the issue of whether
such skills should be a precondition of employment or whether training
should be targeted to remedy any deficiencies after hiring.
If the decision is that these skills should be dealt with in training after the candidate is hired, that raises a new set of issues that must be resolved: If communication skills training is added to basic training, what other subjects should be dropped or reduced to make room? Should such classes be offered in addition to the existing program? If so, what are the cost implications?
Perhaps such training should be offered as part of advanced training. Again, this leads to other questions. Should classes be conducted in formal classroom sessions? Or should they be part of roll call, with trainers brought in or with lessons on video or computer? Another option might be to offer self-paced home-study materials. And again, what are the cost implications?
Other Subject Areas
As this shows, dealing with even one skills area raises questions about
others, and Community Officers need many new skills. A case can be made
that Community Officers would benefit from additional training in:
The challenge requires balancing traditional and non-traditional training and ensuring that the Community Policing philosophy infuses both. If all the worhtwhile skills cannot be added to basic training, there may be ways to provide them in advanced training or through self-paced studies, by assigning trainers to roll call, or by providing training through new technologies like video- and audiocassettes and computers.
The Importance of Community Policing
Training
Policing is under intense pressure and scrutiny today, because of everything
from the Rodney King incident and the riot in Los Angeles, to the constraints
of a criminal justice system overwhelmed by rising arrests, to the myriad
effects of a nationwide recession. As a result, police must employ innovative
training strategies to inculcate the Community Policing philosophy as the
prevailing mindset among everyone in the department. When the pressures
on police are the greatest (as they are now), we must be creative if we
are to survive. If we approach training as a means of reinforcing the tenets
of Community Policing, not only do we enhance our chances of survival,
but we can succeed in addressing many of the challenges facing police today.
References:
Publications
Books
An Evalutation of the Neighborhood Foot Patrol
Program in Flint, Michigan
A Manual for the Establishment and Operation of a Foot Patrol Program
Articles
Perceptions of Safety: A Comparison of Foot Patrol
Versus Motor Patrol Officers
Job Satisfaction: A Comparison of Foot Patrol Versus Motor Patrol Officers
The Status of Contemporary Community Policing Programs
The Impact of Foot Patrol on Black and White Perceptions of Policing
Uniform Crime Reporting and Community Policing: An Historical Perspective
Performance Profiles of Foot Versus Motor Officers
The Foot Patrol Officer, the Communtiy, and the School: A Coalition Against Crime
Community Policing: Defining the Officer's Role
Foot Patrol: Some Problem Areas
An Evaluation of a Neighborhood Foot Patrol Program
National Center for Community Policing
School of Criminal Justice
Michigan State University
560 Baker Hall
East Lansing, Michigan 48824-1118
800-892-9051 or (517) 355-9648