The relationship between police training and police officers' attitudes toward the courts

Abstract

This thesis has explored the relationships that exist between the police and the courts. It hypothesized that a relationship existed between the amount of training police officers received and their attitudes toward the courts. The study traced the history and training programs of the police. It explained the judicial process in criminal cases and examined recent United States Supreme Court rulings of concern to police officers.The basic analytical device was a two part questionnaire. The first section of 23 items attempted to measure officers' attitudes toward the judicial system, court officials, and United States Supreme Court rulings. The second section of 14 items gathered background information about the officers stressing the amount of training they had received. The responses of the 420 officers surveyed and their importance were discussed. No strong statistical significances were obtained to substantiate the hypothesis.