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This study explored women police leaders’ (n = 503) attitudes and experiences relative to men police leaders (n = 3,359) and women police officers (n = 1,153) with no supervisory responsibilities.

Self-reported survey data were collected from 5,015 officers in 85 United States law enforcement agencies.

Compared with men police leaders, women police leaders were more likely to identify inequalities in the workplace, empower community members’ voices in defining legitimate forms of policing, elevate the importance of police misconduct and reject a tough physical approach. Women police leaders were also more likely than male police leaders to think that effective leadership influences the behavior of subordinates and more likely to feel that the rules leave room for interpretation. Black women police leaders reported different attitudes and experiences than White women police leaders, including recognizing greater inequalities, prioritizing increased law enforcement activities and experiencing less occupational burnout. Except for the seriousness of misconduct, there were no differences between women police leaders and women police officers without supervisory responsibilities.

This study contributes to the ongoing conversation about women in policing and how increasing the number of women in leadership roles affects law enforcement agencies and the public’s experiences with policing. As policing continues to face calls for reform and employment challenges, increasing the number of women in leadership plays a vital role in producing law enforcement agencies that are equitable and efficacious.

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 examine the relationship between voluntary and involuntary turnover and officers’ salaries.

Using data from the 2013 Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics survey, Poisson regression was used to test hypotheses about the effect of pay and other economic incentives on turnover, while controlling for previously identified influential organizational and community factors, such as crime, community disorganization, geographic region, policing philosophy, collective bargaining, the utilization of body-worn cameras, and workforce diversity.

Higher salaries were significantly associated with lower voluntary and involuntary turnover rates. In addition, other economic incentives and participation in a defined benefits retirement plan were related to voluntary separations but not dismissals. Consistent with prior research, southern agencies and sheriff’s departments reported higher turnover rates than local police agencies and departments operating in other areas of the USA. The effects of workforce diversity were mixed, while collective bargaining was associated with lower rates of voluntary turnover, and the utilization of body-worn cameras was associated with higher rates.

In addition to contributing to the theoretical literature on antecedents of turnover, this research has practical implications by helping law enforcement officials estimate how changes in the compensation structure affect their ability to retain qualified personnel. Due to the complexities of modern law enforcement, maintaining a strong and stable workforce is becoming a greater challenge, and more research is needed to understand which incentives are crucial in recruiting and retaining the most effective policing personnel.

Crime has declined in the United States over the past 25 years; however, the decrease in victimization has not been equal across all communities. As a result, many law enforcement agencies have concentrated their efforts in high-risk areas, and this concentration of policing can lead to resentment among members of the community, especially if they feel the officers are disrespectful, use excessive force, or disregard their civil rights. These residents are in double jeopardy – experiencing the negative consequences of living in dangerous communities and enduring the direct and indirect costs of aggressive policing. The purpose of this chapter is to discuss community policing as a potential means to increase police legitimacy, strengthen community resilience, and promote prosocial interactions between officers and residents. Community policing is a philosophy that advances organizational approaches designed to leverage citizen engagement and problem solving as proactive strategies to deal with public safety issues, including crime, disorder, and fear of crime. Because community policing is grounded in trust, cooperation, and problem solving, it has the potential to improve residents’ quality of life by developing and strengthening mechanisms of social control and support. Community policing can increase police legitimacy by providing opportunities for community members to examine the actions and policies of the police, assess the alignment of these state-sanctioned activities with residents’ values and needs, and bring the two into agreement. In this chapter the basic principles of community policing will be discussed within the context of how these concepts are related to the exercise of social control and residents’ perceptions of police legitimacy.