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The impact of COVID-19 on police training academies

David R. White (School of Criminal Justice, Ferris State University, Big Rapids, Michigan, USA)
Joseph Schafer (Saint Louis University, St. Louis, Missouri, USA)
Michael Kyle (Criminology and Criminal Justice, Missouri State University, Springfield, Missouri, USA)

Policing: An International Journal

ISSN: 1363-951X

Article publication date: 21 September 2021

Issue publication date: 8 February 2022

547

Abstract

Purpose

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

Design/methodology/approach

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.

Findings

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.

Originality/value

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.

Keywords

Citation

White, D.R., Schafer, J. and Kyle, M. (2022), "The impact of COVID-19 on police training academies", Policing: An International Journal, Vol. 45 No. 1, pp. 9-22. https://doi.org/10.1108/PIJPSM-06-2021-0078

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited

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