RT Article
T1 A signalling theory of law enforcement hiring
JF Policing and society
VO 27
IS 5
SP 508
OP 524
A1 Hilal, Susan
A2 Densley, James A. 1982-
A2 Jones, David Squier
LA English
YR 2017
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1762299011
AB Using qualitative interviews with 31 police chiefs, the present study explores the police hiring process in Minnesota. This is the only US state that mandates law enforcement candidates earn at least a two-year degree from a regionally accredited college or university and successfully complete a programme of professional police officer education before being hired. This system creates a large pool of ostensibly identical licence-eligible candidates, hence this article examines how hiring managers separate the high quality ones from their low quality counterparts, including methods of screening and, eventually, selecting them. Through the novel application of signalling theory, it demonstrates how the quality of any given licence-eligible police officer is assessed by evaluating observable signs of him or her that chiefs believe to be correlated with unobservable trust-warranting properties, such as honesty, loyalty, and cultural competency. Quotes from the chiefs are employed throughout the article to illustrate these themes. Implications for research, policy and practice are discussed.
K1 Hiring
K1 Millennials
K1 Recruitment
K1 Screening
K1 signalling theory
DO 10.1080/10439463.2015.1081388