Poster #30 - Who Enters the Police Academy? Establishing a Profile of Police Recruits from a Cohort Study

• In Event: Poster Session I (posters 1 - 79)

Abstract

Addressing persistent police staffing challenges has historically been characterized by initial recruitment and retaining current officers. Less attention has been paid to the intermediate career stage: academy training. Based on 1,639 surveys collected from 39 cohorts on the first day of South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy training, we provide baseline characteristics of recruits’ moral foundations, resilience, prior trauma exposure (via adverse childhood experiences; ACEs), mental health status, and sociodemographic. Recruits were resilient and demonstrated an affinity toward binding moral foundations. Vulnerabilities included elevated ACEs (18%), posttraumatic stress symptomology (22% probable PTSD), depression (11%), and anxiety (14%). Greater mental distress and resilience were inversely related, and demographic differences were observed. Organizational characteristics showed weaker effects, though recruits from smaller agencies reported higher PTSD and depression. Accordingly, we highlight the need for mental health screening and related support at academy entry, resilience-building programs targeting subgroups, and academy environments, avoiding compounding moral injury.

Authors

• Hunter Boehme, University of South Carolina

• Gabrielle O'Keefe, Independent Researcher

• TJ Geary, University of South Carolina

• Sohee Jung, University of South Carolina

• Scott M. Mourtgos, University of South Carolina

• Ian Adams, University of South Carolina