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Purpose – The purpose of this research is to compare traditional and community policing agencies with regard to how individual officers are formally evaluated and to assess organizational goals and objectives in each type of agency. Design/methodology/approach – A 75‐item questionnaire was mailed to 600 municipal and county law enforcement agencies. A total of 11 hypotheses were tested regarding performance evaluation content, the values of police supervisors and organizational objectives. Findings – Community policing agencies have added new output measures but continue to value enforcement statistics as much as their more traditional counterparts. Additionally, many community policing agencies have not updated their formal systems to incorporate community policing concepts. Research limitations/implications – Survey responses were obtained from only one supervisor per agency and the knowledge of each individual was varied. However, if supervisors from traditional and community policing agencies are equally competent, results should be unbiased. Further research is needed to assess the reasons why many agencies have not updated their formal evaluation systems to incorporate community policing concepts. Practical implications – There may be a conflict between police supervisor values and formal evaluation procedures in many community policing agencies. Further assistance or guidance may be needed to aid police administrators in updating and improving their formal systems of officer performance evaluation. Originality/value – This is the first nationwide assessment of police officer performance evaluation during the community policing era.

Examines the relationship between the observation of police use of force and the subsequent evaluation of police performance. The data in this study were obtained from a random sample of 992 Ohio citizens. Finds that the observation of police use of force that the respondents judged excessive had a significantly negative effect on their perception of police performance. The effect of this observation remained significant even after controlling for sociodemographic, experiential and neighborhood characteristics. Suggests that the police could substantially increase citizens’ satisfaction with their performance by reducing incidents and allegations of police misconduct.

Addresses a long‐standing debate as to whether or not college‐educated police officers perform their jobs better than others. Of the 250 officers asked to complete a self‐assessment form, officers with a bachelor’s degree rated themselves higher in a number of performance indicators than did those without a degree. Points out that the results may indicate that educated officers perform better, or it may indicate differences in perceptions about their duties. Whichever is the case, education confers the advantage of better written and oral communication skills. Recommends the use of self‐administered questionnaires to provide data for policy making.

The purpose of the current study is two‐fold. First, using data obtained from a sample of crime victims (n = 122), this study empirically assesses the effect that police officer race has on evaluations of the police. Second, this study provides a greater specification of the effect that expectations regarding police performance have on evaluations of the police. ANOVA and Ordered Probit analyses indicate that police officer race does not influence victim evaluations of police performance. However, expectations do significantly influence evaluations of the police and furthermore, expectations of police performance differ across racial lines. Possible explanations for these findings and directions for future research are offered.

Research focussing on US citizen attitudes of police has concentrated on city policing agencies, neglecting varying attitudes toward county and state police. Attempts to fill this void by testing the effects of individual and contextual variables on citizen evaluations and police performance across city, county and state levels using data collected from a state in the western USA. Finds differences in evaluations depending on age, gender, initiation of contact and previous experience. Discusses the implications of these results and suggests topics for further research.

This study examines whether police officers’ level of education is associated with their perceptions of performance of duties and delivery of services. Using self report survey methodology 110 officers with different levels of education (high school, some college education but not a degree, and college degree) evaluated themselves on 40 performance categories. The results indicate that officers with some college education and college degree report themselves performing better on several of the performance categories than officers with no college education. Even when years of experience with the law enforcement department are controlled for, officers with higher education reported performing significantly better than their counterparts with lower education.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the usefulness of personality traits, namely the Big Five, as a means of selection in good police officers.

The current study examines a sample of 96 police officers from eight non‐urban police departments.

Age and attitude were found to be better predictors of job performance measures than were personality traits. A cynical work attitude was negatively related to ratings of job performance. Officer age was found to have a non‐linear relationship to job performance.

Difficulties in measuring police performance are discussed, as is the relative importance of individual officer personality versus organizational culture.

The study extends the research on police officer selection and issues of job performance and measurement.

The purpose of this paper is to explore factors that can influence on the police officer’s perception of the effectiveness of the performance management system (PMS). This study examines the effect of the attitude of employees and causal relationships between organizational/individual factors and the effectiveness of PMS during the implementation process.

The authors conducted a nationwide online survey of 10,619 police officers in South Korea. Structural equation modeling was employed to analyze multiple relationships simultaneously. The authors constructed a baseline model and also examined an alternative model in order to increase the model’s explanatory power.

Police officers’ perception of the understanding of the PMS, manager’s concern, participation and performance information (PI) usage exerted significant effects on the perceived effectiveness of the PMS. However, the relation between understanding of the PMS and PI usage was not significant. The study identified organizational and institutional settings for the success of the PMS. Overall, results support findings of previous studies that suggest an important role of common consensus on performance indicators and agreement between managers and employees.

While the data size of this study is quite large, it should be considered that the respondent’s preferences on the PMS might have influenced survey results. Findings are limited by the use of a cross-sectional design. Future studies may investigate changes in causal relationships over time by employing a panel design. In addition, various survey items related to the practices of the PMS within the police organization need to be included in future studies.

To improve the effectiveness of performance management in the police organization, decision makers and managers must emphasize behavioral aspects of the system, especially the causal relationship between practices and perception of the usefulness of the system.

Despite the wide use of PMS in police management practice, police officers’ perception of the effectiveness of these systems has received little attention in the field. This study indicated a causal link between the factors in the PMS and the perception of the police officers.

The purpose of this paper is to examine citizens’ satisfaction with police in Guangzhou, China and is aimed at answering two research questions: what is the general pattern of Guangzhou citizens’ satisfaction with police; and what variables are salient in predicting satisfaction with police?

Data were collected from a random sample of approximately 1,200 residents nested in 30 neighborhoods in Guangzhou, China. Hierarchical linear modeling was used for the data analysis.

First, the majority of residents in Guangzhou held generally positive attitudes toward the police. Second, demographic characteristics were weakly related to satisfaction with police. Third, perception of police legitimacy was associated with evaluations of police performance. Finally, perceived neighborhood crime problems led to lower levels of satisfaction with police.

This research used cross‐sectional data. Thus, the relationships between independent and dependent variables examined in this study are functional but not necessarily causal.

Police in Guangzhou should seek ways to improve their relationship with never married residents and mitigate citizens’ negative perceptions of neighborhood crime problem through various community policing programs, such as holding routine meetings with residents to discuss crime and disorder situations in the neighborhoods. Police in Guangzhou should also continue to inform local residents about the legal right of police to issue commands and increase levels of perceptions of police legitimacy and willingness to follow police instructions.

This is the first paper to examine the correlates of satisfaction with Chinese police at the individual and neighborhood levels simultaneously. Using a random survey of citizens, along with methodological improvement in measurement and modeling, this paper provides readers with more accurate and representative information about public evaluations of Chinese police than previous studies.

This study aims to examine Chinese college students' perceptions of police.

Using survey data collected from over 400 college students in two cities, the study empirically analyzes the global and specific perceptions of police among Chinese college students and factors that accounted for the variation in Chinese college students' evaluations of police. The study incorporates a broader range of explanatory variables to explain Chinese college students' attitudes toward the police, including demographic characteristics, crime and criminal justice experience, perceptions of quality of life, and locality. The study reviews research on public perceptions of police published in Chinese academic journals.

College students' global satisfaction with police as well as their specific evaluations of police fairness, effectiveness, and integrity were significantly related to their crime and criminal justice experience, perceived quality of life, and locality. Students' background characteristics only had a weak effect on attitudes toward police.

More empirical research is warranted to gauge the extent of Chinese satisfaction with police and police performance. Future research should continue incorporating crime and criminal justice factors into analysis.

Findings of the study provide Chinese police administrators with useful references and directions to improve police‐community relations..

This study represents one of the few attempts to empirically assess Chinese citizens' perceptions of police. It examines not just Chinese college students' global satisfaction with the police, but also their more specific views of various areas of police performance including fairness, effectiveness, and integrity.