The Changing Police Recruit: A Mixed-Methods Evaluation of Instructional Preferences Following COVID-19 Educational Disruptions

Today's police academy recruits enter training with varied educational experiences, readiness levels, and instructional expectations. This mixed-methods study examined recruit development and instructional preferences within a California basic law enforcement academy, with particular emphasis on the relationship between foundational instruction and experiential learning. Quantitative analyses examined changes in emotional intelligence and decision-making confidence from academy entry to completion, as well as recruits' perceptions of lecture-based and problem-based instruction. Qualitative analysis of open-ended responses explored recruits' instructional experiences, readiness, and perceptions of professional development. Results showed significant increases in emotional intelligence and decision-making confidence, along with strong support for problem-based and scenario-based learning. Qualitative findings further indicated that recruits valued structured foundational instruction before participating in increasingly complex practical exercises, viewed learner readiness as extending beyond academic knowledge, and associated increasing confidence with repeated practice and instructor feedback. Collectively, the findings suggest that foundational and experiential learning serve complementary purposes and that instructional sequencing and learner readiness are important considerations in police academy instruction.