Content and Adequacy of Specialized Police Training to Handle Youth-Related Incidents

• Published date: 01 December 2009
• Date: 01 December 2009
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/1057567709340403
• Subject Matter: Articles

Content and Adequacy of

Specialized Police Training to

Handle Youth-Related Incidents

Perceptions of Trainers, Supervisors, and

Frontline Officers

Jennifer L. Schulenberg

University of Waterloo, Ontario

Deirdre M. Warren

Sam Houston State University, Texas

Examinations of specialized police training to handle youth-related incidents are typically

approached with researcher-defined concepts rather than key concepts derived from the per-

ceptions of police officers. In response to disagreements in the literature on the usefulness and

applicability of training for specific law enforcement functions, this research builds on previ-

ous literature by investigating the content and perceived adequacy of specialized training

received based on their duty assignment. A grounded theory analysis of 59 interviews con-

ducted in 2002, with 67 Canadian police officers who received training from one of the two

training facilities (Justice Institute of British Columbia and the Royal Canadian Mounted

Police [RCMP] Depot) finds similarities and differences in the perceptions of training content

and adequacy for training, supervisory, and frontline personnel. The differences are most

pronounced between the trainers and practitioners than they are between supervisors and front-

line officers. Definitions of training adequacy are considerably conditioned by the informal

socialization process in the police culture. The data suggest that the academy focus on training

generalists has the effect of increasing the impact and importance of informal socialization by

field training officers on officer perceptions and procedures for handling youth-related

incidents.

Keywords: police training; police perceptions; youth-related incidents; police work; law

enforcement

The law enforcement profession is complex and entails a multitude of roles and duties.

Aside from knowledge of specific laws and procedures, and their applications, police

officers are expected to be proficient in a myriad of special skills and in handling all types

of populations. To accumulate the knowledge and skills necessary to perform their job

effectively, police officers rely on training received both pre-service at a training academy

and in-service once employed and on active duty. As a result, academy training is typically

geared toward training generalists and in-service training focuses on recertification (e.g.,

firearms) or skills required for promotion in rank or duty assignment.

The law enforcement profession has progressively evolved to better address crime

prevention initiatives and targeted responses to crime (e.g., school liaison/resource officers

International Criminal

Justice Review

Volume 19 Number 4

December 2009 456-477

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often act in both capacities). In both these areas, attention has been paid to preventing and

responding to youth crime. As Sir Francis Bacon stated many years ago, ‘‘knowledge is

power’’ so too is specialized training for police officers to equip them with various skills

and resources to respond to special populations such as children and youth.

The difficulty in assessing the efficacy of specialized training for handling youth-related

incidents is the paucity of research on the (a) perceptions of officers who have received this

type of training, and (b) its utility in their day-to-day work. The current research looks at

these very issues by examining the form, extent, and adequacy of specialized youth training

that Canadian officers have received both at the training academy and in-service. Specifi-

cally, the analysis explores the perceptions of trainers, supervisors, and frontline officers

looking for descriptive information as well as similarities and incongruence between offi-

cers in different duty assignments and ranks. Employing a grounded theory analytical

framework, this research highlights the voices of police officers in terms that are meaning-

ful within their police culture to better understand their views on the effectiveness of train-

ing outside the classroom environment. The results provide a snapshot of how the informal

and formal socialization process affects police decision making in youth-related incidents.

Review of the Literature

Research on police training is primarily researcher defined (i.e., a priori concepts and

operationalization), quantitative, and divides training into two primary categories of acad-

emy and in-service. Several studies address the effectiveness of police academies, either in

totality or in regard to specific courses (Charles & Copay, 2003; Conti & Nolan, 2005;

Cuttler & Muchinsky, 2006; Haarr, 2001; Lonsway, Welch, & Fitzgerald, 2001; Morrison,

2006). Other studies focus on the impact of specific courses and seminars received after the

completion of academy training on topics such as anger management, child abuse, problem-

oriented policing, and mental health training (Abernathy & Cox, 1994; Herz, 2001; Patter-

son, 2004; Quinet, Nunn, & Kincaid, 2003; Stewart & Smith, 2004; Van Hasselt, Baker, &

Romano, 2006; Vermette, Pinals, & Appelbaum, 2005; Wells & Schafer, 2006). However,

these studies do not address training using a respondent-driven definition that allows offi-

cers to describe their experiences in terms that are meaningful to them. Respondent-driven

research involves a research design and analytical strategy that does not establish a priori

the definition of concepts and related terms. This emergent design is flexible allowing the

respondents to identify, describe, and assign meaning and the importance of the concept in

their own words based on their personal work experiences.

Two studies break from this tradition by investigating specialized police training from a

respondent-driven perspective. Colwell, Miller, Lyons, and Miller (2006) find that officers

state their formal and informal training for detecting deception occurred at the police

academy, training seminars, ‘‘on the job,’’ through college or university courses, and based

on ‘‘life experiences.’’ Similarly, the research by Qureshi and Farrell (2006) on training for

vehicle stops and searches finds training on this aspect of police work occurring in formal

classes, daily briefings, as well as ‘‘practical’’ types of training (i.e., informal guidance

received from fellow officers). Researcher-driven studies discuss police training within

the categories of academy and in-service training (i.e., refresher, requalification,

advanced, and career development training for promotion purposes). In contrast, these two

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