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The purpose of this study is to explore the impacts coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) had on US police academies’ production of police recruits.

The study used a national online survey of police academy directors in the USA, followed by purposive, semi-structured interviews of select academy directors. A combination of quantitative and qualitative data is combined in a mixed methods approach.

The findings suggest that academies experienced a range of impacts related to COVID-19. These impacts lead to more questions concerning how academies and state-level governing boards responded not only to pandemic-related challenges, but also to their willingness to accept more online and alternative curriculum delivery strategies.

Police academies are a required step in the production of new police recruits in the USA, but researchers have paid little attention to how academies operate. While exploratory, this study provides some insights into how this aspect of policing weathered the COVID-19 pandemic, and offers suggestions for future research, as well as policy implications.

This study aims to address two interrelated research questions. First, to compare the academy performance of police recruits trained under a traditional academy curriculum with the performance of those trained under a new academy curriculum based on community policing. Second, to investigate whether a different “type” of recruit performs better in the community policing curriculum compared with the traditional curriculum.

Regression analysis is used to estimate the effects of independent variables on three dependent variables that indicate academy success: average academy scores, failure experiences, and post‐academy employment.

Results suggest that more highly educated recruits and female recruits fared better in the community policing curriculum but that, overall, recruits in the community policing curriculum performed similarly to their traditional counterparts.

The findings suggest that newer police training models may be rewarding skills consistent with the community policing philosophy, such as education. This is a study of one police training center that has instituted a new training curriculum, so results cannot be generalized to other training centers. The community policing curriculum was in the early stages of implementation when data were collected and was therefore not yet standardized. Finally, the analysis is limited to predicting the success of police recruits in the academy, rather than predicting their job performance.

Few studies have examined academy training in community policing. This study is a first step to broadening understanding of the impact of academy training in community policing on police recruits.

The purpose of this paper is to determine if a police academy using adult learning techniques instills higher levels of perceived competence in recruits than an academy using traditional pedagogical methods.

The study took advantage of a timeframe when two academy models using different approaches to learning were employed in Massachusetts. Recruits (N = 97) were surveyed before entering the academy and just prior to graduation to assess their levels of perceived competence across three domains of training topics (i.e. “Policing in Massachusetts,” “Investigations” and “Patrol Procedures”).

Results were mixed in terms of the academy model's effects on recruit competence levels. In terms of investigations, participants experienced a greater level of growth in an adult-learning setting. Regarding general topics grouped into the “Policing in Massachusetts” category, such as constitutional law, recruits taught with traditional pedagogy experienced more growth. For patrol procedures, taught using similar hands-on methods, results showed comparable levels of growth for all recruits over time. Overall, recruits in both the traditional and adult-learning-based academy experienced similar growth trajectories in self-perceived levels of competence. Findings suggest that a mixed approach to training may provide optimal results for police recruits.

Prior research on academy curricula has been limited to cross-sectional analyses. Further, little effort has been made to analyze the impacts of academy training from an andrological and/or “adult learning” theoretical lens. This study evaluated the effects of a new, overhauled recruit academy curriculum over time to expand the literature in both of these areas.

The purpose of the current study is to expand the existing knowledge base that seeks to determine which pre‐employment factors can predict which police candidates will successfully complete the training academy.

The data for this study were collected from application and personnel records of 503 police recruits accepted into the Baltimore County police academy. The dependent variable, success in the academy, was measured as a dichotomous variable (1=graduated; 0=not graduated). The independent variables were routine employment factors.

A key finding was that general work experience was better at predicting successful completion of the training academy than prior police experience and prior military experience.

In this particular study it was determined that police recruits who had a prior arrest record or prior illegal drug use and also had prior work experience could successfully complete the police training academy. However, these results are limited to those police organizations that give individuals who had a negative encounter with law enforcement a second chance.

Few studies have examined the relationship between background characteristics and successful completion of the police training academy. This study broadens the understanding of the need for police applicants to have a solid record of general work experience.

Police recruit training has come under scrutiny recently by both practitioners and academics who question the quality of education recruits receive prior to beginning their jobs. Past researchers have questioned whether the training adequately prepares recruits to be effective police officers. This study analyses the content of one police academy to determine if the training is sufficient. This was done by actually attending an academy training program as a recruit to determine what occurs within the academy setting. By comparing the content of this academy to the required elements identified in academic and practitioner’s literature, it was determined that this police academy is providing quality training to potential officers within time and budgetary constraints.

The purpose of this paper is to examine perceptions of police departments and instructors regarding academy‐based pre‐service firearm and deadly force training.

Surveys of department‐based instructors (n=175) and state and local police departments (n=116) in Washington State provided ratings and other data on pre‐service academy training and included department‐based training provided before and/or after attending the academy.

The paper found academy graduates' skills generally were rated as adequate. Ratings for tactics and decision making were lower, and many departments noted that these areas needed more attention. Some departments also provided extensive post‐academy training before allowing their new officers to work armed. Nevertheless, many departments used BLEA's handgun qualification course‐of‐fire for in‐service requalification and, in some cases, training.

The research setting was one state and the study focused on firearm and deadly force training.

The paper shows pre‐service firearm and deadly force training is crucial for officer and public safety at the outset of officers' employment. It also lays the foundation for department in‐service training. Because departments exercise considerable latitude over the content, techniques and instructional methods of their own programs, the nature and extent of academy training has implications for officers' skills and abilities in the long term, too.

This paper shows prior research has concentrated on the perceptions of academy graduates and the full spectrum job tasks associated with policing and/or taking their certification examinations. It provides detailed insights into a specific training job‐task area, as well as from important stakeholders such as departments and their instructors, not previously available.

Police officers are frequently confronted with moral dilemmas in the course of their job. The authors assume new police officers need guidance, and need to be taught at the police academy how to deal with these situations. The purpose of this paper is to obtain insight into the impact of socialization on police recruits’ knowledge of the code of ethics and their moral reasoning skills.

The study applied a longitudinal mixed methods design, using two methods. The first method was a qualitative observation of integrity training sessions at five police academies in Belgium. The second method was a quantitative survey-measurement of recruits’ knowledge of the code of ethics and their moral reasoning skills at three points in time: the beginning of their theoretical training, before their field training and afterwards.

The analyses show differences between the police academies in their integrity training sessions. Some of these differences are reflected in different levels of knowledge of the code of ethics. As for the development pattern of recruits’ moral reasoning skills, the study found almost no differences between the academies. Perhaps this is because recruits already have relatively high scores when they start, leaving little room for improvement during the one year training program. This suggests an important role of the police selection procedure.

Previous research on socialization and police culture has focussed on recruits being socialized in a negative police culture where misconduct is learned. This is a negative interpretation of police integrity. A positive one refers to ethical decision making generally, and moral reasoning specifically. The impact of the socialization process on recruits’ moral reasoning is empirically understudied.

Staff at Idaho Peace Officer Standards and Training developed a 70‐hour problem‐based learning exercise (PBLE) and integrated this program into the existing Basic Patrol Officer Academy. This paper aims to examine the effectiveness of PBL in developing subject‐specific policing knowledge as well as decision‐making, problem‐solving, and collaboration skills.

Following the PBLE, students completed an in‐depth survey prompting feedback on the ability of the program to develop various skills known to be important to policing. These self‐reported data were collected from 122 students over three academy sessions and evaluated by Chi‐square statistical analysis.

Results indicate that the pilot PBLE is significant in helping students develop new policing skills, demonstrating how information learned in class applies to field work, aiding in recall of class material, developing problem‐solving skills, and learning skills needed to work in groups in the law enforcement field (p<0.01).

This research demonstrates that PBLEs can be effective in developing difficult‐to‐teach skills. The pilot program also helps students discover how material presented in class applies to fieldwork. A program able to bridge the gap between information recall and application would be a significant addition to any training.

Research demonstrating the effectiveness of programs based on PBL philosophy is difficult to find, particularly in relation to law police training. The experience of students who have been through the Idaho program is a valuable step towards filling this void. The program also demonstrates that some of the purposed benefits of PBL can be achieved without necessitating a rewrite in training curriculum.

The purpose of this study is to examine the nature of the code of silence among police recruits in an effort to provide recommendations to reduce its occurrence and harm to society.

Data analyses are performed on a multi-agency sample of 645 police recruits in the United States. Specifically, analyses are conducted on pre- and post-academy panel data to assess changes in recruits' perceptions of code adherence over time as they begin their immersion into the police culture.

Results demonstrate that police recruits' willingness to report a fellow officer is reduced by the end of the academy and that several individual and organizational factors impact recruits' code adherence attitudes over time.

This study contributes to the policing literature by exploring changes in recruits' code adherence attitudes over time.

The Academy of Wine service was founded in 1988 to raise the standard of education and skills in the service of wine in the hotel, restaurant and catering industry. In September 1991, the Academy launched its ‘Professional Wine Service Training Package’, which was specifically designed to satisfy waiters' wide‐ranging needs and time constraints. The programme provides a single, open and flexible learning package to develop trainees competence and thus help them secure a national vocational qualification (NVQ). Following extensive field trials, the success of the Traning Package is clear to see: volume sales and average spend per head rose substantially, with sales up +18% in participating Forte Hotels and +16% in participating independent hotels and the investment in training was recovered with an avarage 15 weeks. Additionally, the Academy of Wine Service has organised an annual programme of tutored tastings, produced a bi‐monthly newsletter, “Wine Line”, set up awards, scholarships and national competitions, and expanded its membership benefits. Five years on, The Academy of Wine Service is now recognised as the national education and training authority for professional wine service and is now being developed into The Academy of Food & Wine Service to provide a total training package for the entire industry by the beginning of 1994.