questions and scenarios are based on common sense. Others deal with integrity and ethical behavior. Psychological Screenings examine many individual traits that could lead to future liability cases. These liabilities might lead to costly law suites; destructive behavior that might effect the appearance of the department. Prior to the oral psychological screening, each applicant generally is given the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) evaluation, which takes approximately one hour. The results of this test are used by the screening psychologist in the evaluative positions (Champion 124). Background interviews require an officer to meet with the background investigator, who may ask several questions to clarify points on the application. The final step in the selection process is the ground investigation. Internal investigators perform thorough background checks by contacting an applicants previous employers, neighbors, friends, teacher, professors, and anyone else who can verify the applicants employment record, performance, and selected character traits (Champion 124). References are used to expand the investigative process. This is because applicants tend to provide references only from people who will give them good evaluations. Polygraph tests are also used to clarify any information that is doubtful or unclear. While specific tests may be developed to meet the unique needs of a given department, a contemporary perspective of recruiting must be conceived. The intent of this perspective is to ensure that the best quality police officers are employed who not only have the desired qualifications but also reflect the demographic characteristics of the community (www.wsurcpi.org/papers/policy_papers/hr_com_police.html).Training in community policing can be very difficult. Training needs may very even within a given department depending on the types of communities in which officers are working. A few of the i...
