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Takes a random sample of 156 respondents from municipal and rural police forces in Canada to examine the relationship between various factors concerning their careers. Finds that a significant number of officers perceive their career orientation to have changed over time. Presents findings on social activists, enforcers, careerists, specialists and self investors. Differs from previous research linking career orientation to personality type by seeing career orientation as changing with time, stages of career and circumstances. Remarks that policing needs to be technically sophisticated, cost‐effective, community‐based and sensitive to the realities of a multicultural society. Recommends that police departments consider the career orientation of recruits and establish a reward structure suited to the varied career types

The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a test in a policing context of a performance assessment tool that is based on a “public values” approach. The Capability, Importance, and Value (CIV) Tool allows police organizations to examine the roles their members carry out to determine whether they are being capably done, are important, and deliver value to stakeholders.

Five focus groups were conducted with front line officers from a large Canadian police service. The focus group process incorporated elements of Appreciative Inquiry and Structured Brainstorming.

Valuable information can be collected from front line police officers with the CIV Tool. Police organizations could use this information to improve performance while ensuring that the roles undertaken by their members align with broader organizational goals and objectives including providing value to stakeholders.

This study was designed as a limited test of the CIV Tool. More extensive testing is required with a larger sample that includes police investigators and members of other specialty units.

The CIV Tool can serve to augment existing police performance measurement strategies. It can help to identify which roles contribute to achieving organizational goals and which do not. Based on this information, ameliorative action can be taken.

A “public values” approach places emphasis on stakeholder needs and expectations. Addressing these directly can result in enhanced performance as well as greater police transparency, responsiveness, and accountability.

Ongoing police performance assessment based on a “public values” approach is uncommon in policing. Its use has important implications for police organizations and their stakeholders.

Police-reported incidents of cybercrime appear to vary dramatically across Canadian municipal police services. This paper explores cybercrime reporting by police services in eight of Canada's largest municipalities, assessing (1) variation over time; (2) variation across jurisdictions; and (3) correlates of reporting volumes.

Data was collected from a combination of national Uniform Crime Report statistics and annual reports by police services. Two repeated one-way ANOVA tests and a Pearson's r correlation matrix were used to assess variation and correlation.

Findings suggest that police-reported cybercrime varies significantly across jurisdictions but not over time. Moreover, negative relationships were observed between police-reported cybercrime incidents per 100,000 residents and calls for service per 100,000, as well as number of sworn officers per 100,000.

The study assessed a small sample of cities (N = 8) providing 32 data points, which inhibited robust multivariate analyses. Data also strictly represents calls to police services, therefore excluding alternative resolutions such as public–private interventions.

Canadian provincial and federal governments should consider engaging in high-level talks to harmonize cybercrime reporting strategies within frontline policing. This will mitigate disparity and provide more accurate representations of cybercrime for future policy development. Additionally, services should revisit internal policies and procedures, as it appears that cybercrime is deprioritized in high call volume situations.

This paper introduces previously unreported data about police-reported cybercrime incidents in Canada. Furthermore, it adds quantitative evidence to support previous qualitative studies on police responses to cybercrime.