Personnel Work with the Los Angeles Police Department - Grace M.Fernald and Ellen B.Sullivan - Original Survey of 1923

Sep 21, 2026

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Personnel work with the Los Angeles Police Department documents an intelligence testing program initiated at Chief August Vollmer’s request as part of a broader re-organization effort. The report describes the survey design for multiple groups, testing men from the police force, students at the police school, civil service applicants, and university students. It reports the results of 1923, discusses score distributions, test correlations, variability under unfavorable conditions, and the handling of cases where retesting was not feasible.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages14

Reading Time35 min

AccessFree to download

Original Survey of 1923

Discussion of distribution of seores of total group

97-84149-30Fernald,Grace Maxwell Personnel work with theLos Angeles Police Dept.[Whittier,California] [1926] # COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARIESPRESERVATION DIVISION BIBLIOGRAPHIC MICROFORM TARGET ORIGINAL MATERIAL AS FILMED·EXISTING BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD RESTRICTIONS ON USE: Roproductons may not bomado wihout pemkson hom Coumbia University branes TECHNICAL MICROFORM DATA FILM SIZE: 35mnREDUCTION RATIO: 12:/ MAGE PLACEMENT:IA IA IB I INITIALS: B DATE FILMED: 下31-97 TRACKING \#: 26283 可 FILMED BY PRESERVATION RESOURCES,BETHLEHEM,PA. PERSONNEL WORK WITH THELOS ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENTGRACE M.FERNALD AND ELLEN B.SULLIVAN 3032 0(1In8 9174uiudlwft NM Bad S·24·26 PERSONNEL WORK WITH THELOS ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT GRACE M.FERNALD AND ELLEN B.SULLIVAN In 1923,August Vollmer,Chief of Police at Berkeley,was pre-vailed upon to undertake the re-organizntion of the Los AngelesPolice Department.Chief Vollmer's initia plan included a surveyof the three important factors of the situntion;namely,(1)phy-sical equipment including buildings,ete,(2)personnel includingthe quantity and quality of the man power of the department and (3)the crime situation faced,ineluding place,time nature ete.of.offenses which had to be handled by this department. This survey which was planned and carried out in a scientifiemanner became the basis for recommendations to the City Councilfor necessary changes in the directions mentioned. The present study was started at Chief Vollmer's request,to as-sist in the survey of personnel.The report includes rcsults of workdone first under Mr.Vollmer's administration and later continuedunder the administration of Chief Lee Heath. In the course of the investigation tests were given to the follow-ing groups: a.1712 men comprising the entire Police Department in 1923. b.824 students at the Police School. (This school was crented as part of the re-organization pro-gramme of Mr.Vollmer and was conducted by Captain Fin-linson.) e.625 Civil Service applicants for entrance to the Police School.(The Police Department requested of Civil Service that testsbe made a requirement for entrance to the Police School. d.1760 students entering the University ofCalifornia,SouthernBranch in Scptember 1923. (252) ## I.ORIGINAL SURVEY OF 1923 At Mr.Vollmer's request,1712 men comprising the entire policeforce were given an intelligence test.This test was conducted bythe writers at the University of California,Southern Branch. Each man was given two forms of the Army Alpha Test.Laterthe Terman Group and National Intelligence Tests were given toevery man whose score was less than fifty on the second ArmyAlpha Test. RESULTS OF 1923 SURVEY OF POLICE PERSONNEL. ## A.Discussion of distribution of seores of total groupTable 1 shows the distribution of scores of total police force 1.The total range is very wide showing a group practically un-selected.The range on the first test includes scores from 3 to 2C1and on the second test from 6 to 198.The mean on the second testis 102.The probable error of the distribution on Test IIis 25 pointsindicating that approximately 50 per cent of the cases lie betwenthe score 77 and 127.** 2.The results show that,according to the first test,73 per zercscore less than B;on the second test 55 per cent score less than B. 3.The correlation(Pearson product-moment)between the scoreon the first Alpha and the score on the second Alpha is very high,÷96.The individualvariability inscore on first and score on secondLest ranges from—35 points to+66 points with a mean variation of+17.8.This shows that even with this high correlation the ralia-bility for individual diagnosis,in certain cases,might be questionqd. In cases in which men took the test under unfavorable conditicns,as extensive loss of sleep or i

FAQs

What prompted the 1923 personnel survey for the Los Angeles Police Department?

The study was started at Chief August Vollmer’s request to assist in the survey of personnel as part of the department’s re-organization.

Which groups received intelligence tests in the investigation?

Tests were given to the police department men in 1923, students at the police school, civil service applicants for the police school, and students entering the University of California, Southern Branch.

How were the test scores analyzed and interpreted?

The report discusses the wide range of scores, distribution percentages, the high correlation between the two Alpha tests, and how unfavorable testing conditions could require retesting or lead to discarding records when retesting was not arranged.

Sep 21, 2026

Uploaded by Eden