Chapter 4 Key Terms Authoritarianism psychological trait Black officer vs black officer Some community members may be skeptical because these minority officers Some police officers may be skeptical because these officers are minority members Bona fide occupational qualification BFOQ a particular hiring practice is needed to operate the business safely and efficiently Consent decree The remedial plan the agency submits to the presiding judge that addresses the current and any anticipated future inequities uncovered by plaintiffs Defeminization to not look at as a woman but as a coworker and an equal Domino effect upward shuffle something must happen to someone on top and then people get promoted Minimum standards must at least meet requirements to even consider applying Over representation too many of a certain racial group Pathology of power what power can do to a person turn them into evil people Policewoman vs policewoman o Policewoman views herself first and foremost as a law enforcement officer Her efforts are aimed at defeminization She wants to be accepted as a competent professional o Policewoman downplays her job identity and emphasizes her femininity Adapts to occupational pressures and sex role expectations by pursuing service calls Prima facie discrimination exists when an employment prerequisites disproportionately excludes a protected group from being hired Screening in implies that the agency is looking for people who match a profile of what a good police officer should look like Under representation too little of a certain racial group Weed out investigators approach each application looking for grounds to disqualify that person from further consideration to eliminate Chapter 4 Outline Introduction Police Officer Selection Most important ingredient in any law enforcement agency is its people Women and minorities began getting jobs Private sector lured talented women and minority away from local police department Process consists of a series of hurdles and stumbling at one at any point means applicant is eliminated If you mess up at the end of the process you are still eliminated even if you were perfect before The funneling process is practice of weeding out unacceptable applicants as oppose to choosing or screening in acceptable candidates Weeding out means that investigators approach each application looking for grounds to disqualify that person from further consideration Screening in implies that the agency is looking for people who match a profile of what a good police officer should look like Agencies that this approach because 1 They have a huge field of prospective candidates 50 or 60 for every advertised position if they mess up on eliminating someone its ok because they have cushion 2 Most agencies have no identified the qualities that make a good police officer Admin knows what they don t want to see but they have not isolated the traits that distinguish superior from inferior candidates Picking potential officers can be more of an art than a science There is no perfect answer to what are the ingredients to a perfect office Vollmer composed for a police officer is provocative Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action The 1964 Civil Rights Act and its 1972 Title VII Amendment are federal directives that monitor unfair labor employment practices The act specifically prohibits employers from refusing to hire someone because of that person s race color religion sex or national origin o An employer cannot limit segregate or classify his employees or applicants solely because of race color religion sex or national origin Civil Rights Act of 1964 The 1972 Amendment established the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission EEOC as the federal agency in charge of overseeing compliance o Major task of EEOC is to identify and to eliminate unfair and discriminatory hiring practices o EEOC monitors hiring patterns involving minority and female applicants Gender specific hiring practices can continue one basis That is the employer must show that a particular hiring practice is needed to operate the business in a safe and efficient manner This exception is known as a bona fide occupation qualification BFOQ o Ex Many law enforcement agencies use to have a height restriction so if someone was shorter than quota they automatically failed but height had no demonstrated connection between the height restriction and job performance stature was not legally valid BFOQ o A task can be a valid BFOQ in one jurisdiction but an invalid BFOQ in another location Ex by beach an officer must satisfy a swim test by beach and by desert area There is no reasonable connection between the swim test entrance standard and type of duties an officer will face by desert o The key is to make sure the job standards match the duties incumbents are expected to One limitation of the 1964 Civil Rights Act was it did not define what discrimination was o Federal supreme court decision Griggs v Duke Power Company 1971 clarified the undertake limitation o If an employment restriction was related directly to job performance it would be a valid selection criterion On the other hand if requirement didn t reflect how employees performed job tasks then it was discriminatory o Griggs decision introduced the notion of prima facie discrimination o Prima facie discrimination exists when employment prerequisites disproportionately excludes a protected group from being hired Must satisfy 4 criteria to prove prima facie discrimination 1 Person filling complaint must be a minority member or female to establish that they belong to a protected class 2 Must meet minimum entrance requirement for position 3 Must have been rejected even though they satisfy requirements 4 Employer must have continued to interview other people after making decision to not hire the individual who is complaining The Selection Process The Application Written application written psychological background polygraph psychological interview oral board interview eligibility list and medical check General info Minimum standards must at least meet requirements to even consider applying As part of the weeding out approach an investigator reviews the entries on the application to determine whether the applicant measures up to both state and departmental requirements Min requirements are 19 years old U S citizen have H S diploma or equivalent hold honorable discharge if previously was a member of the armed forces pass finger print pass medical health exam no