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Police-community relations are currently at a cross-road. Incidents over the past several years have severely damaged trust and faith in the police – particularly in minority communities. Society is faced with the choice of accepting an “us-vs-them” mentality with police on one side and citizens on the other or banding together to advance police-community coproduction in reducing violence. The purpose of this paper is to advance the latter by introducing a model for police to follow in police-citizen interactions in an effort to increase perceptions of fairness and legitimacy of police officers and police departments.

Using data from the National Police Research Platform’s Police-Community Interaction Survey, correlates of perceptions of fairness in police-community encounters as well as variation in agency-level fairness across 53 jurisdictions are examined.

Results show that application of the H.E.A.R.T. medical model is the most significant and substantial correlate of perceived fairness of police-community interactions and accounts for agency-level differences in perceived fairness.

The results highlight important ways that police can improve their image in the community and with minority communities in particular.

Law enforcement agencies have historically used psychological examinations, in addition to other methods, to screen candidates out of the applicant pool. However, agencies could be better served by ensuring recruits are predisposed to the expected behaviors and qualities that are required as part of community-oriented and respectful policing. The purpose of this paper is to provide an initial look into what officer-level characteristics might lead to improved treatment in police-community interactions (PCIs). Characteristics under review include communication styles and personality dimensions.

Data come from the National Police Research Platform’s longitudinal recruit study and its PCI survey. Community members were surveyed about their interactions with officers involved in the study. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to analyze these two-level data.

The findings suggest that certain officer-level characteristics were associated with higher perceptions of procedurally just behavior. Specifically, officers with higher levels of empathy and lower levels of neuroticism scored higher on both the officer’s quality of treatment (QT) and quality of decision making toward the community member. Additional to those dimensions, officers with increased emotional control received higher scores on their QT.

These findings have important implications for identifying and measuring new characteristics to be used in police hiring procedures. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first instance where personality dimensions and communications styles have been used to predict law enforcement officers’ procedural justice behaviors in the field.

The purpose of this paper is to review the “state of the art” in research on police legitimacy. The authors consider two bodies of theory and empirical research on police legitimacy: one rooted in social psychology and concerned with individual attitudes, and the other based on organizational institutionalism. The authors contrast the theories, discuss the methods with which propositions have been examined, and take stock of the empirical evidence. The authors then turn to a direct comparison of the theories and their predictions.

Critical review and comparison of two bodies of literature.

Police legitimacy is a phenomenon that can be properly understood only when it is addressed at both individual and organizational levels. A large body of social psychological research on police legitimacy has been conducted at the individual level, though it has dwelled mainly on attitudes, and the empirical evidence on the relationships of attitudes to behavior is weak. A much smaller body of research on organizational legitimacy in policing has accumulated, and it appears to have promise for advancing our understanding of police legitimacy.

The understanding of police legitimacy can be deepened by the juxtaposition of these two bodies of theory and research.

In light of recent calls to increase the diversity of America’s police, the purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of agency and leadership diversification on officer job satisfaction and reported perceptions of fairness within the organization, factors known to influence retention and performance.

A survey of 15,236 officers representing 88 agencies was used, as well as other agency- and community-level variables. Multi-level models were used to assess how these individual- and agency-level variables, including measures of diversification, affected job satisfaction and perceptions of fairness.

Diversification in agency leadership positions was found to improve perceptions of fairness among all officers, in addition to ameliorating some feelings of unfairness among African-American officers. Diversification of the sworn ranks, in comparison to the population of the community, however, was not found to significantly affect the outcome measures.

The study only examined the effects of diversification on officer perceptions. Future studies that link measures of diversification to citizen perceptions are needed to understand how members of the public respond to the image and characteristics of sworn personnel in their communities.

The results indicate the importance of retention and promotion of more diverse leadership in police agencies.

This study is one of the first to assess the effects of diversification in such a large sample of agencies of all types and sizes throughout the USA.

The purpose of this paper is to compare views of the community, views of the organization head, and perceptions of organizational justice between deputies working in sheriff’s offices and officers working in municipal police departments.

This study used surveys of 2,012 sworn deputies representing 19 full-service county sheriff’s offices and 10,590 sworn officers representing 70 municipal police departments. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were used to compare the three dependent variables between sheriff’s offices and municipal police departments.

Deputies in sheriff’s offices expressed more positive views of the community and organization head, and more favorable perceptions of organizational justice than officers in municipal police departments. Regression analyses indicated that views of the organization head and perceptions of organizational justice remained significantly more positive in sheriff’s offices than municipal departments, even after controlling for agency size and concentrated disadvantage.

The sample of agencies should not be considered as a representative of all sheriff’s offices and municipal police departments in the USA. The number and scope of agency-level variables included in the regression models were limited.

The results suggest the importance of ensuring more equitable systems of rewards and organization heads taking steps to communicate more effectively with sworn personnel, especially in municipal departments.

By its focus on sheriff’s offices, the study broadens knowledge of law enforcement agencies and sworn personnel, which is usually based on studies of municipal police departments and officers.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between social control (adult social bonds) and police misconduct.

Multiple regression methods are used to analyze survey data from a sample of 101 first-line police supervisors. A consequence-based measure is used to capture social bonds and workplace deviance is measured as the self-reported likelihood of future misconduct.

Police supervisors reported varying likelihoods of future workplace deviance across four acts of misconduct. Social control was found to be negatively related to three of the four acts, which provides general support for the theory and study hypothesis.

The results are discussed in terms of research and policy implications.

Acknowledging important gaps in the literature, this study explores the validity of social control theory for explaining police misconduct.

The purpose of this study is to examine whether differences in occupational burnout between Black and White officers can be explained by differences in areas of worklife and differences in indicators of reform.

Using a modified version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory, information on emotional exhaustion and depersonalization was collected from 910 Black and 8,240 White officers through the National Police Research Platform. Structural equation models with bootstrapped confidence intervals were used to test mediation hypotheses and estimate indirect effects.

Black officers reported significantly less emotional exhaustion and depersonalization than White officers. Approximately 46% of the difference in emotional exhaustion between Black and White officers was accounted for by workload, workplace control, job satisfaction, alignment with agency values, inclusivity in the department, and the rejection of a hostile mindset toward the community. Approximately 28% of the difference in depersonalization was accounted for by workload, workplace control, job satisfaction, alignment with agency values, and the rejection of a hostile mindset.

This study reinforces research that demonstrates that Black officers report less emotional exhaustion and depersonalization than White officers and shows that some but not all differences in burnout can be accounted for by racial differences in areas of worklife and the rejection of a hostile mindset toward the community. More research should be focused on occupational stress in law enforcement and how Black officers are adapting to and thriving in the policing profession.

The purpose of this paper is to attempt to replicate Engel’s (2001) styles of supervision using data from a new sample and including additional independent variables.

The data were collected from a sample of police supervisors (N=369) at three distinct locations throughout the USA. Bivariate analyses and ordinary least squares regression were used to analyze the data.

The authors find three of Engel’s four supervisory styles and find largely consistent results, with the exception of gender. Further, the authors find strong evidence for persistent agency-level effects.

Supervisory styles are important to consider, especially when trying to effectively control the behavior of subordinates. While this study cannot address the impact of organizational differences, the consistent agency-level effects suggest this as something that should be considered again in future research.

The paper examines “lessons learned” from the COVID-19 pandemic by capturing the organizational and operational experiences of police departments in the state of Washington across two waves of survey administration. This study is among the first to document experiences at a state level, affording an opportunity to compare national results and allowing for documenting shifts between each wave.

This study draws from a state-specific replication of the IACP instrument fielded by Lum et al. (2020a) on the experiences of police departments working under COVID-19 and integrates specific questions from stakeholders in Washington. The survey was administered through Qualtrics, which was distributed by the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WASPC) 6 months into the pandemic and 18-months later.

Respondents reported operational and organizational reconfigurations including shifting to telecommuting for support staff and command staff, implementing online reporting forms for use by the public to report crimes and planning exercises for predicted budget reductions. While CDC and Washington Department of Health guidelines informed most of the respondents' policy, integrating that policy into the operational procedures demonstrated how quickly issues in staffing can transition from a challenge to a severe issue. Quarantining and staffing problems remained an issue across both waves, which were exasperated by staff turnover.

The response rate and response completeness, particularly a drop in response for Wave 2, limit the ability to supply more precise estimates documenting the experiences of WA police departments. Relatedly, an inability to match Wave 1 to Wave 2 results inhabits a direct comparison of changes 12-months later. Second, the responses reflect those of the chief law enforcement officer (Chief of Police, Sheriff) or the person designated by the chief, which may not represent the experiences of front-line officers.

Reflecting on the lessons learned across each Wave, agencies shared adaptations implemented to better protect the health of staff and their communities to effectively manage future health emergencies. Most directly, they learned how to conduct some business remotely and the necessity to innovate. The most important lesson learned, and implication for policy is improving the resourcing and logistics to secure adequate health protections. The data also highlight a concern for clarity, consistency, and credibility in supplying information to police departments in pandemic and emergency situations.

This paper fulfils an identified need to enhance “lessons learned” for police response in pandemic and emergency situations. These data supply insight into the anticipated and lived experiences of agencies adapting to the pandemic in Washington State. The endogenous and exogenous shock that is COVID-19 altered how police departments interacted externally and internally resulting in operational and organizational reconfigurations.