Within the scope of their professional activities, law enforcement officials constantly handle violent crimes, accidents, thefts, burglaries, mass riots, and critical incidents. Moreover, police officers are frequently exposed to distressing conditions and circumstances immediately dangerous to their life and health. Therefore, the process of hiring law enforcement officers entails requirements for their education, physical fitness, and moral qualities (Lievens, De Corte, & Westerveld, 2015; Paoline III, Terrill, & Rossler, 2015). This paper will explore the applicable requirements of the Chesterfield County Police Department for the position of an entry-level law enforcement officer.
The official website of the Chesterfield County Police Department provides easily navigable information related to hiring entry-level law enforcement officers. Specifically, an applicant can know about available vacancies, scheduled recruitment, and local testing procedures, execution of documents, training programs, and benefits provided to employees. Applicants have to pass physical ability and written tests and complete the 34-page Background Investigation Packet (Chesterfield Police Department, 2018).
According to the recruitment advertisement, the Department will select individuals with the most relevant education, previous job experience, and qualifications (Chesterfield Police Department, 2018). The minimum requirements of the Department for applicants’ basic qualifications are as follows:
- The United States citizenship;
- Successful completion of a written and physical ability testing;
- Appropriate education level (a high school or a General Education Diploma);
- Possession of or eligibility for a driver’s license;
- Good eyesight; binocular vision should be of 20-25 corrected (Chesterfield Police Department, 2018);
- Relevant proportion between weight and height;
- Absence of conviction of crime or violence;
- Successful completion of background examination, including a polygraph examination, medical, drug, and psychological screening;
- Compliance with the Chesterfield Police Department’s requirements for police personnel’s appearance and dress code;
- The minimum age of applicants is 21 years before the completion of the training program.
Given the fact that “law enforcement officers require strength, agility, speed, and power” (Crawley, Sherman, Crawley, & Cosio-Lima, 2016, p. 1422), the Chesterfield County Police Department provides recommendations for applicants’ appropriate clothing and comprehensive information that clarifies procedures included in physical ability testing. Candidates’ physical fitness and abilities are assessed by their results in performing six exercises, including vertical jumping, agility running, 1.5-mile running, 300-meter running, squats, and push-ups. Standardized requirements for physical abilities are freely accessed via the Department’s site so that applicants can evaluate their preparedness level and train prior to testing. For instance, if an applicant performs 22 or fewer sit-ups, he will receive “0” points (Chesterfield Police Department, 2018).
In accordance with the Chesterfield County Police Department’s Appearance and Dress Code Policy, all applicants should be neat and clean. Requirements are specified for such categories as head and facial hair, makeup and fingernails, jewelry, dental ornamentation, personal hygiene, tattoos, and mutilation. Female officers are allowed to wear appropriate makeup. Applicants should specify and describe any deviations from the Department’s policy while filling in the Background Investigation Packet.
Thus, an applicant can obtain useful information concerning the position of an entry-level law enforcement officer via the Chesterfield County Police Department‘s site. All requirements are provided either with videos or in a printable format, facilitating the application procedure. Downloading comprehensive guidelines and instructions, a person can assess his/her correspondence to the Department’s requirements for physical abilities, appearance, and legal issues. However, the site does not involve information about what psychological screening entails for applicants and what personal characteristics will be examined.
References
Chesterfield Police Department. (2018). Now hiring. Web.
Crawley, A. A., Sherman, R. A., Crawley, W. R., & Cosio-Lima, L. M. (2016). Physical fitness of police academy cadets: Baseline characteristics and changes during a 16-week academy. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 30(5), 1416-1424.
Lievens, F., De Corte, W., & Westerveld, L. (2015). Understanding the building blocks of selection procedures: Effects of response fidelity on performance and validity. Journal of Management, 41(6), 1604-1627.
Paoline III, E. A., Terrill, W., & Rossler, M. T. (2015). Higher education, college degree major, and police occupational attitudes. Journal of Criminal Justice Education, 26(1), 49-73.