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A Police Officer’S Tacit Knowledge Inventory (Potki): Establishing Construct Validity And Exploring Applications, T. Z. Taylor, P. Elison-Bowers, E. Werth, E. Bell, J. Carbajal, K. B. Lamm, Efren A. Velazquez

Psychological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Research summarizes the construction of a Police Officer’s Tacit Knowledge Inventory (Inventory), a situational judgment test comprised of knowledge gained on-the-job by experienced police officers, and examines if it can play a role in the development of expertise. Correlation and regression analysis was done to establish the Inventory’s ability to predict post-Academy graduation performance. Results show that Inventory response patterns correlate with Supervisor ratings; and the Inventory responses correctly predict significant differences between novice patrol officers and experienced police officers.