Individual and Academy Level Influences of Openness to Evidence-Based Policing

• In Event: Law Enforcement Academy Training

Abstract

Within the evidence-based policing movement, law enforcement agencies are being asked to be more accountable, cost-effective, and research-based in their everyday practices. What the research fails to show is what individual attitudes may contribute to evidence-based policing. This study explores the attitudinal dimensions that may be related to evidence-based policing, as well as the possibility of these attitudes changing over the course of the academy. These attitudinal dimensions are composed of Research Receptivity, Proactivity, Communication Skills, Procedural Justice, and Low Cynicism toward the community. Specifically, this presentation offers regression findings, predicting openness of police cadets at the beginning and end of their academy training using individual and academy-level predictors.

Author

• Julie Grieco, George Mason University