Course Details

Course TitleSPCP 2023 - Session 7: Pre-Employment Screening - Study on Police Candidates: What is the Desired Competency Profile?
Date 9/21/2023
ProviderSociety for Police and Criminal Psychology Annual Conference
Phone 
Emailbrewstja@jmu.edu
Website https://www.policepsychology.org/page-18139
LocationArlington, TX
Credit Hours0.25
Instructor(s)Annie Gendron, Ph.D.; Yanick Aubert, M.Psy.; Rémi Boivin, Ph.D.; Andrée-Ann Deschênes, Ph.D.
Method of InstructionWorkshop/Seminar
Approving AgencyAPA
Course Syllabus

Course Description

Given the police-training model in Quebec, candidates must first go through the college selection process in order to be accepted to the police technology program and then to the Quebec police academy program. In theory, these processes ensure that the candidates hired by police forces correspond to the desired competency profiles. However, police forces claim that graduates do not correspond to what they want, and that recruits show dissatisfaction quickly at work. This is worrying given that low satisfaction is a determining factor in the risk of reduced well-being at work and absenteeism among employees (Belmouffeq, 2020; Judge, Zhang, & Glerum, 2020; Labrague et al., 2020; Safy-Godineai, Fall, & Carassus, 2020), in addition to affecting the services offered to the population. To explain the problem, two hypotheses are put forward: the selection bias hypothesis (candidates selected by CEGEPs, essentially on their academic performance and physical condition, are not the right ones) and the the generational bias hypothesis (the problems observed among recruits are also observed in other professions). Given the key role of the parties in charge of police training in meeting the needs of organizations, it is therefore essential to return to base and to define the profile of characteristics sought in candidates for the police profession. Within the framework of a mixed research design combining a quantitative and a qualitative component, we surveyed parties in charge of police training. Analysis of the data obtained from a survey of police supervisors (n = 365) and group discussions with police managers (n = 25) clearly shows that certain characteristics stand out. We also observed that two trends emerge in terms of the desired competency profile of future patrol officers. This conference will present the main results obtained and will initiate a reflective process on the targets to be prioritized in terms of candidate selection and police training.

Course Objectives