A competency analysis of law enforcement training and its linkage to recreation as intervention in youth crime prevention

Abstract

The increase in the occurrence of juvenile crime has become a major concern for most communities throughout the United States. As a result, law enforcement efforts have been intensified, thus bringing the policing authority closer to the daily existence of all youth. The focus of this study was how police are trained in the area of human relations. It was the purpose of the study to investigate whether community relations aspects of police training are addressing community recreation issues as they relate to youth crime prevention. A total of 525 police academy training administrators were selected via a stratified random sampling process. A validated questionnaire, the results of a Delphi, was administered to elicit the importance placed on twenty-two competencies in the community relations area of police training. A total of 232 (44.2 percent response) respondents were used in the data analysis. It was revealed that highest priority is given to those elements of human relations training directly related to law enforcement. Police administrators noted the lack of sufficient priority placed on this area of training. There appeared to be little consensus as to the role of human relations training for anything beyond direct law enforcement. It was concluded that the leisure service organization and the police department should address the way that the linkage can be effective in addressing recreation as intervention. Further study as to the future of collaborative relationships between these two functions is suggested.