The impact of COVID-19 on police training academies
Policing: An International Journal
ISSN: 1363-951X
Article publication date: 21 September 2021
Issue publication date: 8 February 2022
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
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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