ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses how police departments select, train, and supervise their police officers. The qualifications for being hired by a police department typically include only a few absolute requirements. The hiring process is described as a 'screening out' process rather than a selection process. Police officers receive training in departmental or regional academies. Patrol can be considered both reactive policing and proactive policing. Typically, patrol officers spend time responding to dispatched calls for service, which is obviously reactive policing; however, they also interact with the citizenry, develop relationships with key community members, and follow up on tips which can be considered proactive policing. Crime mapping is as old as using push-pins on a wall map, but computers have made the process much more sophisticated. One of the most publicized police management strategies has been the CompStat program. Racial profiling occurs when a police officer makes a stop based entirely on race or ethnicity.
