The philosophy of community policing emphasizes interpersonal communication
skills for police officers. However, trainee police officers may be wary of training
conducted by someone outside of law enforcement. This article lends support for
using a needs assessment that helps trainers overcome organizational and personal
boundaries in such a training class. In teaching interpersonal communication for
groups of 8 to 12 police officers in two-hour training sessions, I learned that strate
gically using the results of a needs assessment could encourage trainees to have a
vested interest in the class and help the trainer feel competent and comfortable.
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2.
Bickham, T., & Rossett, A. (1993, November). Diversity training: Are we doing the right thing right? The Police Chief, 143-147.
3.
Breci, M.G. (1994, January). Higher education for law enforcement: The Minnesota model. FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, 1-4.
4.
Chiu, W., Thompson, D., Mak, W., & Lo, K.L. (1999). Re-thinking training needs analysis: A proposed framework for literature review. Personnel Review, 28(1&2), 77-90. Emerald Intelligence + Full Text, www.emerald-library.com/brev/
5.
Nowicki, E. (1993, January). Training the trainer. Police, 38-41 &. 87.
6.
Overman, R. (1994, March). The case for community policing. The Police Chief, 20 & 23.
7.
Richmond, V.P., & McCroskey, J.C. (1992). Organizational communication for survival. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
8.
Thweatt, K.S., & McCroskey, J.C. (1998). The impact of teacher immediacy and misbehaviors on teacher credibility. Communication Education , 47(4), 348-358. Ovid Full Text Record, accession number 03951294.
9.
Trojanowicz, R., & Bucqueroux, B. (1994). Community policing: How to get started. Cincinnati, OH: Anderson Publishing Co.
