Police officers’ role orientations

2019 ◽  
Vol 42 (5) ◽  
pp. 944-959 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacinta M. Gau ◽  
Nicholas D. Paul
Keyword(s):  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Work Environment ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Community Policing ◽  
Ordinary Least Squares ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Order Maintenance ◽  
Role Orientations ◽  
Maintenance Activities

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine police officers’ attitudes toward community policing and order maintenance, as well as the facets of the work environment that impact those attitudes. Design/methodology/approach Survey data come from a sample of officers in a mid-sized police department. Ordinary least squares regression modeling is used to examine community-policing, order-maintenance and law-enforcement role orientations. Findings Officers endorse community partnerships, but are less enthusiastic about order maintenance. They also display mid-level support for traditional law enforcement. Work–environment variables have inconsistent impacts across the three role orientations. Research limitations/implications This was a survey of attitudes in one department. Future research should examine officers’ involvement in community-policing and order-maintenance activities and any impediments to such activities. Practical implications The findings have implications for police leaders seeking to implement community policing and ensure street-level officers are carrying out partnership and order-maintenance activities. In particular, top management must foster a positive work environment and personally model commitment to policing innovations. Originality/value This paper adds to the currently sparse body of literature on officer attitudes toward community policing and order maintenance, and incorporates traditional law-enforcement attitudes as a point of contrast. This paper advances the scholarly understanding of police officers’ role orientations.

Community policing and the organizational structure of campus law enforcement agencies

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sherah L. Basham
Keyword(s):  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Organizational Structure ◽  
Community Policing ◽  
Ordinary Least Squares ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Least Squares Regression ◽  
Law Enforcement Agencies ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Campus Law Enforcement ◽  
Reported Crime

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which community policing within campus law enforcement agencies is influenced by the organizational structure, agency characteristics and campus characteristics.Design/methodology/approachThis study utilizes ordinary least squares regression modeling to examine community policing implementation. Data were drawn from a sample of 242 US colleges and universities included in the 2011–2012 Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) Survey of Campus Law Enforcement Agencies (SCLEA).FindingsFindings show that within-campus law enforcement agencies, greater levels of community policing are associated with more formalization, larger numbers of employees, a higher task scope and higher rates of on-campus property crime.Research limitations/implicationsUse of secondary data and reported crime rate limits the study. Future research should implement specialized surveys and qualitative methods to identify the specific needs and implementations of community policing.Originality/valueThis paper adds to the limited body of literature on the community policing in campus law enforcement through more recent data and the inclusion of campus community variables.

Campus law enforcement: the relationship between emergency preparedness and community policing

2020 ◽  
Vol 43 (5) ◽  
pp. 741-753
Author(s):  
Sherah L. Basham
Keyword(s):  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Community Policing ◽  
Emergency Preparedness ◽  
Ordinary Least Squares ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Least Squares Regression ◽  
Law Enforcement Agencies ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Campus Law Enforcement ◽  
The Relationship

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between emergency preparedness and community policing within campus law enforcement agencies, as well as agency and campus characteristics that impact the level of emergency preparedness activities.Design/methodology/approachUsing data from the 2011–2012 Survey of Campus Law Enforcement Agencies, this study employs ordinary least squares regression modeling to examine emergency preparedness and community policing relationships within 298 campus law enforcement agencies.FindingsCommunity policing is the greatest predictor of emergency preparedness in campus law enforcement agencies. This finding refutes arguments that emergency preparedness and community policing are incompatible policing innovations.Research limitations/implicationsThis study is limited by the use of secondary data. Future research should utilize survey measures to better isolate the roles and functions of community policing and emergency preparedness.Practical implicationsThe findings have implications for campus law enforcement agencies to view emergency preparedness and community policing activities as interrelated. Specifically, agency administration can benefit by taking a holistic approach to campus policing and preparedness.Originality/valueThis paper extends the current research in municipal policing to the campus police environment. This paper also adds to the limited body of literature on the relationships between community policing and emergency preparedness.

Chinese police cadets’ attitudes toward police roles revisited

2015 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 250-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven Jay Cuvelier ◽  
Di Jia ◽  
Cheng Jin
Keyword(s):  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Community Building ◽  
Police Training ◽  
Academic Education ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Order Maintenance ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Chinese Police

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between Chinese police cadets’ background, motivations and educational perceptions and their attitudes toward common police roles. Design/methodology/approach – Self-administered questionnaires were collected from 382 Chinese police cadets. Based upon predisposition and socialization theories, personal background, career motivation and attitudes toward education were examined as statistical explanations of cadets’ attitudes toward order maintenance, preventative patrol, law enforcement, and community building as elements of the police role. Findings – Cadets who recognized more value in their practical and academic education also significantly favored the transitional and contemporary police roles (preventative patrol, law enforcement, and community building), which are taught as part of their college curriculum. But educational perceptions had no effect on order maintenance, which is a more historical role, and not emphasized by the police college. Cadets from lower SES backgrounds and those receiving outside influence to select a policing career tended to support traditional police roles whereas cadets with a relative in policing tended to show greater support for contemporary policing roles. Research limitations/implications – This study is limited by being a cross-sectional study of a single police college. Future studies should incorporate a longitudinal element to follow the perceptions of cadets from their school experience into the policing profession and should be conducted in other settings to assess generalizability. Practical implications – The impact of higher education on police cadets appears to be better measured as a function of their perceived importance of education (engagement) rather than measuring their exposure to it. The effectiveness of police training and education may be enhanced by adopting teaching methods that better engage learners. Social implications – Better alignment between police officers’ attitudes toward their roles and duties and contemporary police standards and practices will assure more effective and responsible police action and delivery of police services to the community. Originality/value – This study is among the first to demonstrate that Cadets who hold higher regard for practical and academic education are significantly better aligned to the policing roles emphasized by their educational program.

Shared workplace experiences of lesbian and gay police officers in the United Kingdom

2015 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 333-349 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roddrick Colvin
Keyword(s):  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Lesbian And Gay ◽  
Gay Male ◽  
Workplace Experiences ◽  
Barriers And Opportunities ◽  
The Uk

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explores the contemporary workplace experiences of lesbian and gay officers who serve across the UK. Design/methodology/approach – Using an online survey, the research asked lesbian and gay officers to share their experiences in law enforcement environments. Acknowledging the changing climate in many law enforcement environments, this respondents here were asked to focus on both positive and negative experiences in the workplace. Findings – The responses of 243 police officers revealed that lesbian and gay officers face barriers to equal employment opportunities similar to those faced by women and other minorities in law enforcement, but lesbian officers appear to experience and witness lower levels of discrimination than gay male police officers. Attitudinal bias against lesbian and gay officers remains a significant problem in the force. Lesbian officers report feelings of tokenism at higher levels than gay male police officers. Research limitations/implications – Future research endeavors should analyze any differences between the experiences of different lesbians and gay men at different levels of visibility within law enforcement, including “out” and “closeted” officers. Research about when officers come out as lesbian or gay – during training, on the force, after they retire – would be insightful in understanding officers’ perceptions. Practical implications – The research suggests that police departments in the UK have made good strides in opening the law enforcement workforce, but continue to face on-going challenges in creating fair, diverse, and representative work environments for lesbian and gay officers. Specifically, agencies should review policies where supervisor have discretion over the employment-related actions. By not meetings the challenges of a more diverse workplace, agencies risk lower job satisfaction, and decreased police effectiveness, especially on community policing environments. Originality/value – This research joins a small, but growing body of research that offers specific barriers and opportunities – as perceived by the officers. As other agencies engage in efforts to recruit and retain diversity police forces, the results of this research can enhance policies and practices, with regards to lesbian and gay officers.

Police supervisors' work-related attitudes in China

2016 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 419-438 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianhong Liu ◽  
Ivan Y Sun ◽  
Yuning Wu ◽  
Yugang Chang
Keyword(s):  
Police Officers ◽  
Community Policing ◽  
Use Of Force ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Police Supervisors ◽  
Role Orientations ◽  
Legal Restrictions ◽  
Research And Policy ◽  
Major Chinese City

While the past two decades have witnessed a fast growing of policing literature in China, officers' job-related attitudes remain severely under-researched. Using survey data collected from 212 police supervisors in a major Chinese city, this study examined the patterns of Chinese police officers' occupational attitudes toward selective enforcement, legal restrictions, community policing, and use of force, and factors that influence such attitudes. About half the respondents were in favor of legal restrictions, and the majority of officers supported the notions of selective enforcement, community policing, and use of force. Male, older officers, those who had no military experience, and officers who worked at field stations favored selective enforcement than their counterparts, whereas supervisor who were younger and worked at nonfield stations were more supportive for legal restrictions. Supervisors' role orientations toward law enforcement and order maintenance influenced their preference for community policing. Implications for future research and policy were discussed.

Community policing in Danish “ghetto” areas: Trust and distrust between the police and ethnic minority youth

2021 ◽  
pp. 174889582110173
Author(s):  
Tobias Kammersgaard ◽  
Thomas Friis Søgaard ◽  
Mie Birk Haller ◽  
Torsten Kolind ◽  
Geoffrey Hunt
Keyword(s):  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Procedural Justice ◽  
Ethnic Minority ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Community Policing ◽  
Minority Youth ◽  
Ethnic Minority Youth ◽  
Challenges And Strategies ◽  
The Way

Recent years have seen trends within police to use different forms of “community policing” strategies that aim to foster closer relationships and trust with citizens, as well as an orientation toward “procedural justice” in law enforcement practices. Based on 25 interviews with police officers in two different police precincts in Denmark, this article explores the policing of ethnic minority youth in so-called “ghetto” areas from the perspectives of police officers. In doing this, we describe the specific challenges and strategies in implementing such policing methods in neighborhoods where some residents display low trust or even hostility toward the police. The article sheds light on the emotional, organizational, and practical challenges involved in doing community policing in marginalized neighborhoods and the way in which this shapes how community policing is being organized in practice.

Social media engagement tactics in U.S. community policing: Potential privacy and security concerns

2020 ◽  
pp. 0032258X2096858
Author(s):  
Alexander E Carter ◽  
Mariea Hoy ◽  
Betsy Byrne DeSimone
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Community Policing ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Online Relationships ◽  
Privacy And Security ◽  
Research Directions ◽  
Personally Identifiable Information ◽  
Future Research Directions

Despite law enforcement’s best efforts to use social media as a means of community policing, some engagement tactics may lead citizens to disclose personally identifiable information (PII). We coded 200 tweets with the popular #9PMRoutine that tagged @PascoSheriff (Florida) for participant PII. We found numerous postings of adults’ and children’s PII that are problematic including pictures, health information and security-related comments about their routines or vacations. Implications for law enforcement to protect their communities are discussed as well as opportunities to continue to cultivate their online relationships in a more secure forum. We also provide future research directions.

Cops and COVID: an examination of California officers' perceptions and experiences while policing during a pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
John Shjarback ◽  
Obed Magny
Keyword(s):  
Police Officers ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Ordinary Least Squares ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Organizational Level ◽  
Sensitive Information ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Police Agencies ◽  
Police Executives

PurposeUsing online survey data from a sample of 440 police officers in California throughout May 2020, the current study collected time-sensitive information on officers' perceptions and departmental experiences in the wake of the pandemic. It examined officers' perceptions of agency responsivity as well as their perceptions of morale, stress and risk following agency responses and changes in policy patterns, service delivery innovations and other administrative challenges.Design/methodology/approachCOVID-19 had a tremendous impact on the law enforcement community, who continued to work and adapt in order to provide public safety. During the first few months of the pandemic, a number of national data collection efforts set out to understand what police agencies, at the organizational-level, were doing to address the crisis. Largely missing from these initial discussions were the perspectives of individual officers, particularly how they felt about their respective departments ensuring safety and balancing risk.FindingsResults from ordinary least squares (OLS) regressions found that the number of departmental changes made in the wake of COVID-19 that reduced police–public contact was associated with (1) increased levels of perceived agency responsivity to officer needs (i.e. balancing officer safety, taking active steps to maintain officers' mental health) and (2) reduced levels of perceived negative outlook (e.g. stress, low morale, danger/risk). Policy implications and the importance of police executives' decisions during crisis are discussed.Originality/valueThis study is one of the first, to the authors’ knowledge, to examine perceptions of policing during the pandemic from an individual officer point of view rather than an organizational standpoint.

Role reflections of police reservists: a study of volunteer reserve officers in Malaysia

2018 ◽  
Vol 41 (6) ◽  
pp. 813-827 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phaik Kin Cheah ◽  
N. Prabha Unnithan ◽  
Suresh Suppiah
Keyword(s):  
Police Officers ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Theory Approach ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Role Orientations ◽  
Grounded Theory Approach ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Insight Into

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the work roles of the Royal Malaysia Police Volunteer Reserve officers.Design/methodology/approachA grounded theory approach was utilized for the generation and analysis of the data. Data were collected through interviews, observations and follow-ups. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 male and female volunteer reserve officers and 5 regular police officers aged between 24 and 58 years of mixed socioeconomic backgrounds, ethnicities and ranking in the Royal Malaysia Police force. Two civilian respondents (spouses of the Police Volunteer Reserve officers) were also interviewed for this study for the purpose of theory sampling.FindingsThe data were analyzed qualitatively resulting in a model of Royal Malaysia Police Volunteer Reserve officer roles consisting of four orientations.Research limitations/implicationsStudy outcomes are discussed theoretically and administratively. The four role orientations identified will assist researchers studying police reserve volunteerism.Practical implicationsStudy outcomes allow administrators to utilize and deploy police reservists in consonance with the four role orientations identified.Social implicationsThis study provides insight into how police reservists conceive of and execute their roles as they negotiate them in relation to the regular police officers they work with and the public from which they are drawn.Originality/valueThis is the first study of police volunteerism in Malaysia.

Industry 4.0 – organizing routines or innovations?

2018 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 238-254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maximiliane Wilkesmann ◽  
Uwe Wilkesmann
Keyword(s):  
Work Environment ◽  
Industry 4.0 ◽  
Transport Systems ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Stage Of Development ◽  
The Future ◽  
Control Authority ◽  
The Right

Purpose The rise of new information and communication technologies forms the cornerstone for the future development of work. The term Industry 4.0 refers to the vision of a fourth industrial revolution that is based on a network of autonomous, self-controlling, self-configuring, knowledge-based, sensor-based and spatially distributed production resources. All in all, different forms of the application of the Industry 4.0 concept can be observed, ranging from autonomous logistic transport systems drawn upon the idea of swarm intelligence to smart knowledge management systems. This paper aims to develop a theoretical framework to analyze different applications of Industry 4.0 on an organizing continuum. The general research questions are: What forms of organizing digitalized work lead to the reproduction of routines, and what forms foster innovation within Industry 4.0? The authors thus analyze the consequences of different forms of organizing work on workers’ perceptions and the results of the working process. Design/methodology/approach This paper provides case studies for different stages of the organizing continuum in the context of Industry 4.0. The cases and a further analysis of all 295 funded projects are based on the Platform Industry 4.0 Map, which is part of the Industry 4.0 initiative of the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. The consequences for people acting in such organizational and digitally supported structures are discussed. Findings A variety of applications of Industry 4.0 can be found. These applications mainly vary in the dimensions of the degree of formalization, the location of control authority, the location of knowledge and the degree of professionalization. At the right side of the organizing continuum, the digitalization organizes a work environment that supports highly qualified humans. They have broad leeway and a high degree of autonomy to design and create innovative forms of digitalization for tomorrow. At the left side of the organizing continuum, Industry 4.0 structures a work environment with narrow leeway, a low degree of autonomy and a top-down structure of control authority predetermined by digital applications. In this case, employees fill the gaps the machines cannot handle. Research limitations/implications As the paper focuses on Industry 4.0 developments in Germany, the comparability with regard to other countries is limited. Moreover, the methodological approach is explorative, and broader quantitative verification is required. Specifically, future research could include quantitative methods to investigate the employees’ perspective on Industry 4.0. A comparison of Industry 4.0 applications in different countries would be another interesting option for further research. Practical implications This paper shows that applications of Industry 4.0 are currently at a very early stage of development and momentarily organize more routines than innovations. From a practical point of view, professional vocational and academic training will be a key factor for the successful implementation of digitalization in future. A joint venture of industry and educational institutions could be a suitable way to meet the growing demand for qualified employees from the middle to the right-hand of the organizing continuum in the context of Industry 4.0. Social implications Industry 4.0 is designed by men, and therefore, humans are responsible for whether the future work situation will be perceived as supportive or as an alienated routine. Therefore, designers of Industry 4.0, as well as politicians and scientists, absolutely must take the underlying outcomes of digitalized work into account and must jointly find socially acceptable solutions. Originality/value This paper provides a promising avenue for future research on Industry 4.0 by analyzing the underlying organizational structures of digital systems and their consequences for employees. Moreover, the paper shows how Industry 4.0 should be organized to simply reproduce routines or to support innovation.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document