Search results
1 – 10 of 60Dennis P. Rosenbaum and William P. McCarty
The purpose of this paper is to explore the dimensions of organizational justice in police organizations and evaluate how they contribute to organizational commitment, job…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the dimensions of organizational justice in police organizations and evaluate how they contribute to organizational commitment, job satisfaction and compliance with agency rules.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey of 15,236 sworn officers from a national sample of 88 agencies was used, as well as other agency- and community-level variables. Multi-level models assessed how four dimensions of organizational justice affected these outcomes.
Findings
More favorable perceptions of organizational justice were strongly related to increased commitment to the organization, job satisfaction and compliance with agency rules. Perceptions of organization-wide justice, leadership justice and diversity justice were especially important in predicting those outcome measures.
Research limitations/implications
While the sample of agencies was broad and diverse, it should not be considered representative of smaller municipal police departments and sheriff’s offices in the USA.
Practical implications
The findings suggest that “buy in” to reforms and police compliance with rules is much more likely when supervisors and leaders are fair, respectful, give officers input, provide growth opportunities and show concern for officers’ welfare. As such, agencies would benefit from leadership and leadership training that values the core principals of organizational justice.
Originality/value
The study provides clarity about how organizational justice is perceived by police officers, including women and officers of color, and provides an unprecedented test of organizational justice theory in diverse police agencies.
Details
Keywords
Megan Alderden, Amy Farrell and William P. McCarty
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…
Abstract
Purpose
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.
Design/methodology/approach
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.
Findings
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.
Research limitations/implications
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.
Practical implications
The results indicate the importance of retention and promotion of more diverse leadership in police agencies.
Originality/value
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.
William P. McCarty and Stacy Dewald
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…
Abstract
Purpose
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.
Design/methodology/approach
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.
Findings
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.
Research limitations/implications
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.
Practical implications
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.
Originality/value
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.
Details
Keywords
– The purpose of this paper is to compare the levels and predictors of burnout between female and male sergeants in a large municipal law enforcement agency.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to compare the levels and predictors of burnout between female and male sergeants in a large municipal law enforcement agency.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used surveys of 171 female and 737 male sergeants. In the survey they described their extent of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization, and reported on other issues that affect burnout. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were used to compare the levels and predictors of these chronic stress reactions.
Findings
Female sergeants expressed higher levels of emotional exhaustion and lower levels of depersonalization than male sergeants. Also, the burnout process is largely consistent between female and male sergeants, driven by similar factors, including feelings of work-life conflict and relations with peers and supervisors.
Research limitations/implications
The survey was fielded in one organization, which may or may not be representative of other agencies. Future studies of different organizations are needed to test external validity and refine the theoretical model.
Practical implications
The results indicate the importance of studying the different components of burnout as well as allocating organizational resources to mitigating these conditions. Programs focussed on mentoring female sergeants or younger sergeants would be beneficial.
Originality/value
Prior research has not examined how the burnout experiences of female sergeants differ from or resemble their male counterparts as typically their numbers are too small to conduct a reliable test of differences and predictors. By focussing on a single large department, this obstacle can be overcome, while controlling for other variables.
William P. McCarty, Jihong “Solomon” Zhao and Brett E. Garland
The purpose of this paper is to explore whether male and female police officers report different levels of occupational stress and burnout. Also, the research seeks to examine…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore whether male and female police officers report different levels of occupational stress and burnout. Also, the research seeks to examine whether various factors that are purported to influence occupational stress and burnout have differential effects on male and female officers.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a sample of police officers working in a large metropolitan department in the Northeast, the paper begins by using t‐tests to make gender comparisons between the average levels of occupational stress and burnout between male and female officers. Next, separate multivariate analyses were run for male and female officers to determine how a set of independent variables measuring the work‐environment, coping mechanisms, and other demographic characteristics affected the measures of occupational stress and burnout.
Findings
The findings indicate that male and female officers did not report significantly different levels of occupational stress and burnout. Results of the separate multivariate analyses reveal that, although there are similar predictors of stress and burnout for male and female officers, differences did exist in the models, lending support to the assertion that the female officers may experience unique stressors in the police organization. The multivariate results also indicate that African‐American female officers report significantly higher levels of burnout than other officers.
Research limitations/implications
The current research adds to the knowledge about how levels and predictors of work‐related stress and burnout compare between male and female police officers. The current study is limited by its focus on only one police department located in the Northeast. This may limit the generalizability of the results.
Originality/value
The results of the study have implications for programs and policies that seek to prevent stress and burnout among police officers. The results of the current study indicate that a one‐program‐fits‐all approach may not be the best way for departments to help officers to deal with stress and burnout, since male and female officers may not experience or deal with these issues in a similar fashion.
Alana Saulnier, Ermus St Louis and William McCarty
The purpose of this paper is to explore factors that drive officer support for body-worn cameras (BWCs).
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore factors that drive officer support for body-worn cameras (BWCs).
Design/methodology/approach
Results of an officer perceptions survey completed as part of an evaluation of the Chicago Police Department’s BWC project are presented. The influence of treatment- and outcome-oriented justice concerns on officer support for BWCs is explored with a variety of covariates.
Findings
Outcome-oriented concerns are a significant predictor of officer support for BWCs, while treatment-oriented concerns are not.
Practical implications
The research enhances understandings of the applicability of procedural justice theorizing in policing generally, and offers direction important to the meaningful use of BWCs.
Originality/value
This finding runs counter to dominant relational models of procedural justice that concentrate on the perspective of subordinates, but lends support to arguments advocating the centrality of role (authority vs subordinate) in the formation of justice evaluations.
Details
Keywords
Silas Patterson and William R. King
This study aims to bridge the police culture and the police employee well-being literature by demonstrating significant linkages between the two.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to bridge the police culture and the police employee well-being literature by demonstrating significant linkages between the two.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors examined the effects of culture on the well-being of officers in one police agency in the western United States during the summer of 2020. Using individual-level data, the authors model the association between officer perceptions of occupational culture and personal well-being for 125 sworn employees.
Findings
The results indicate that, for individual sworn officers, their adherence to elements of culture is related to well-being; specifically, burnout (BO) exhaustion, BO disengagement, job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Additionally, the cultural attitudes of administration, and citizens in the population, are both consistent predictors of officer well-being.
Originality/value
This study provides an important linkage between the police culture and police well-being literature, which to date has been given limited attention.
Details
Keywords
Some people assert that the tendency of modern Governments is to be too grandmotherly. They urge that people must not depend on the Government preventing them from coming to harm…
Abstract
Some people assert that the tendency of modern Governments is to be too grandmotherly. They urge that people must not depend on the Government preventing them from coming to harm, and that they should be self‐reliant. This is very true, but nowadays one individual cannot be a specialist in everything. The ordinary person has to take a great many things on trust. For instance, a passenger by train is not able to inspect the engine and look at all the wheels, examine the whole length of railway, and in other ways assure himself that he and his are fairly safe from the results of the carelessness of others. On the contrary, he has to trust to the “powers that be” that they have adjusted the laws concerning responsibility in case of accident to any train that, on the average, the proper amount of care has been exercised. It is the same with weights and measures; a purchaser cannot always carry about with him a pair of scales and a set of weights to ensure his not being cheated; he has to trust to the Government and its inspector. And the Food and Drugs Acts constitute an attempt to protect people who are not in a position to protect themselves from being cheated. It has been suggested that the same principle should be extended to ensuring the proper cooking of food. The digestibility of most foods depends very largely upon the cooking, and yet how many of those who keep restaurants or roadside inns are really capable of cooking food properly? A busy man at the lunch hour and a cyclist at an inn are usually in a hurry. They have to eat the food supplied or go for some hours without any, and there ought to be some means invented to ensure the food being fit to eat. There would, of course, have to be some legal definition of “well‐done” or “under‐done” meat, and what a cup of “fresh” tea ought to be. The exact hardness of potatoes allowable by law would give rise to appeal cases, and some glaring case of an egg boiled too hard might send a landlord to prison for a month. Boarding‐houses might even be brought within the administrations of the Proper Cooking of Food Acts.