Police Officers Job Analysis

Becoming a police officer is a job that has many significant risks as well as enormous responsibilities. There is a lot that goes on within the law enforcement field. A lot of the things that goes on in this field can affect a person’s mind.

So, it is very important for a person that may want to apply for a police officer’s job to know exactly what is involved in the job. It is also important for the person to know that a police officer has to deal a lot with different stresses while on the job.Before a person begins his or her job as a police officer, he or she must go through a number of extensive assessments in order to find if an individual is mentally competent and physically capable to endure the stressors that come along with the job. These assessments will assure the organization in which the applicant is trying to become a part of that he or she is competent enough to handle the job both psychologically and physically.

There are many organizations that will use a job analysis for describing a specific job.When an individual starts a new job, the individual should receive a detailed list of job duties that are required for that particular job. A detailed description of the job and what the job involves will leave little chance for any errors or the required responsibilities of the job. The job selected belongs to that of a police officer and the work-oriented job analysis will be utilized.

The work-oriented analysis gives an examination of the knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics (KSAO’s) (Spector, 2008). The duties of a police officer consist of a multitude of responsibilities.Most of the job duties that are required of a police officer consist of many physical duties. When the KSAO’s method is utilized to perform a job analysis in an organization, it will typically weed out any potential candidates who do not have the skills that are needed to be a police officer.

A job as a police officer will require that the individual be physically fit. A potential candidate for police officer must have the ability to pass a physical examination that will consist of different monotonous activities. One has to be able to pass a written assessment.The job requires that each applicant must have the capability to be able to of stand and walk for long period.

They would even have to lift objects that weigh up to 200 pounds, pushing and pulling in emergency type conditions. The individual would even have to bend from waste down in all types of conditions (Job Analysis- Police officers, n. d. ).

Evaluate the reliability and validity of your job analysis. According to the job analysis a police officer has other duties that include using special equipment that includes a two-way radio, a gun and material to write their reports.Police officers also uses a night-stick, tape, handcuffs and a lot of other material to assist them in making the job a lot safer and easier (Job Analysis- Police officers, n. d.

). The KSAO’s will provide all the qualifications that are required for a police officer to complete their job (Job Analysis, n. d. ).

Supervisors, employees, and job analysts execute the tasks of analyzing and collecting employment information. Job incumbents have the most accurate and complete information; however, being sure the results are dependable and obtaining this data requires for one to be attentive to data-collection methods (PAQ, 2010).An employee’s approval of the results is a main concern, and employee’s participation in data analysis and collection tends to support this. * A supervisor may know or may not know their subordinate’s jobs sufficiently to be reliable and valid sources of job information.

A job analyst has been trained to assemble job information. They job analyst know what questions should be ask and what information to look for. The job analyst also knows how to control the information and the verbal communication employed. Individuals with diverse educational backgrounds have been thoroughly trained as being a job analyst (PAQ, 2010).

There are a lot of organizations that will educate their own job analyst. This is done by having the job analyst work with a more experienced analyst. Experience proposes that limited training suffices to offer these skills (PAQ, 2010). This helps significantly with evaluating the reliability and validity of the police officer job analysis.

* * Performance Appraisal Methods and their benefits and vulnerabilities In the law enforcement field, there a lot of methods that can be utilized to evaluate a person who wants to become a police officer.Any person who wants to become a police officer will be evaluated in a physical manner. He or she has to be physically fit to be productive in the law enforcement field. In addition, one must have great eyesight and hearing as both of these are imperative in helping keep any officer in safe hands.

The potential candidate must have a great level of physical conditioning. He or she must have the strength and the ability to do sit-ups, push-ups, run 1. 5 miles, a leg endurance test and much more (Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-11).All potential candidates must be able to pass a cycle of physical tests to confirm their endurance, dexterity and strength, as they have to be physically fit to excel in this position (Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-11).

Any potential police officer candidate will have to be physically fit all the way through their career because this is a significant characteristic of this job. This method that is set in place will prevent any potential candidate from getting hurt on the job whether it is emotionally or physically. Another performance appraisal method is the communication assessment.This method is used when assessing a person who has a desire to become a police officer.

This is a vital key factor when it comes to dealing with the public. Communication and writing skills are a must for the police officer. This is because the police officer will need to write reports and these reports have to be detailed regarding confrontations, arrests and questioning. In addition, exceptional writing skills will come into play when cases are tried in court so there will not be any misrepresentation (Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-11).

A person who wants to become a police officer must have good decision-making and judgment skills.Also, when dealing with the public this potential candidate has to have good listening skills as well as interpersonal skills. This will be needed when dealing with difficult situations. This method is enforced so that the potential candidate will be able to communicate effectively whether it is verbally or manually.

There are two more methods that are used to properly evaluate a police officer’s performance. The first one is objective measures, which is used to count specific behaviors. An example of this is the number of times the officer will respond to service calls.The second one is subjective measures, which is identified and evaluated by a person who may have the knowledge of that individual’s job performance (Spector, 2008).

The objective measures for evaluating performance are found in the collection of information from a computerized dispatch in which the police officer’s actions are statistically kept for future reference. The subjective measures for evaluating a police officer’s performance would include the appraisal of a supervisor based on the known acceptable performance as dictated by common practices. ConclusionThe responsibilities of a police officer are quite demanding psychologically as well as physically. Due to the psychological impact the job may have, it is imperative that the police officer candidate undergo all the performance appraisal methods that are provided.

The physical tests will make sure that the individual will be able to react in a way that will protect and help the public. The results of these assessments will help establish whether or not a person is offered a position as a police officer. It is important that each of these performance appraisal methods are set in place.