Eugene A. Paoline III and Jacinta M. Gau
The purpose of the current study was to augment the police culture and stress literature by empirically examining the impact of features of the internal and external work…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the current study was to augment the police culture and stress literature by empirically examining the impact of features of the internal and external work environment, as well as officer characteristics, on police officer stress.
Design/methodology/approach
The current empirical inquiry utilized survey data collected from street-level officers in a mid-sized urban police department in a southern region of the United States (n = 349).
Findings
This study revealed that perceived danger, suspicion of citizens and cynicism toward the public increased police occupational stress, while support from supervisors mitigated it. In addition, Black and Latinx officers reported significantly less stress than their White counterparts.
Research limitations/implications
While this study demonstrates that patrol officers' perceptions of the external and internal work environments (and race/ethnicity) matter in terms of occupational stress, it is not without limitations. One limitation related to the generalizability of the findings, as results are gleaned from a single large agency serving a metropolitan jurisdiction in the Southeast. Second, this study focused on cultural attitudes and stress, although exact connections to behaviors are more speculative. Finally, the survey took place prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the killing of George Floyd (and others), which radically shook police–community relationships nationwide.
Practical implications
Police administrators should be cognizant of the importance that views of them have for patrol officer stress levels. Moreover, police trainers and supervisors concerned with occupational stress of their subordinates should work toward altering assignments and socialization patterns so that officers are exposed to a variety of patrol areas, in avoiding prolonged assignments of high social distress.
Originality/value
The study augmented the police culture and stress literature by empirically uncovering the individual-level sources of patrol officers' job-related stress. This study builds off of Paoline and Gau's (2018) research using data collected some 15 years ago by examining a more contemporary, post–Ferguson, context.
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William Terrill, Eugene A. Paoline III and Jason Robert Ingram
The purpose of this paper is to provide a snapshot of key findings from research published from the Assessing Police Use of Force Policy and Outcomes study, a project funded by…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a snapshot of key findings from research published from the Assessing Police Use of Force Policy and Outcomes study, a project funded by the National Institute of Justice.
Design/methodology/approach
Key findings from a national survey of police agencies on use of force policy and from an in-depth look at police use of force outcomes across eight cities published over the last ten years are synthesized to provide a cumulative perspective regarding the outcomes of the project.
Findings
The majority of police departments had a written force policy and reporting requirements, however, there was no commonly accepted force policy. Patrol officers were conservative in their views of what is reasonable force, administrative policy does matter in influencing force usage, and the use of a TASER impacted the likelihood of injury for both officers and citizens. Additional findings were also reviewed in the areas of complaints, police culture, first-line supervision, college education, and promotional aspirations.
Originality/value
While federal funding for policing related research projects are commonplace, taking a look back ten years later and summarizing key findings is uncommon. Doing so provides concise feedback to practitioners in one readily digestible manuscript. Furthermore, the paper also demonstrates the additional value to the original investment made by the National Institute of Justice.
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William Terrill, Eugene A. Paoline and Jacinta M. Gau
This chapter seeks to illuminate the interconnectedness of procedural justice, use of force, and occupational culture in relation to police legitimacy.
Abstract
Purpose
This chapter seeks to illuminate the interconnectedness of procedural justice, use of force, and occupational culture in relation to police legitimacy.
Methodology/approach
The authors review the existing literature and offer an integrated methodological approach that would better assist researchers in their quest to enhance police legitimacy.
Findings
Using a systematic design that assesses police legitimacy from a variety of sources has the potential to help answer critical questions with regard to improving police practice.
Originality/value
This is a novel study approach, which has yet to be implemented but which may offer great insight with respect to improving police legitimacy.
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Jacinta M. Gau, Erika J. Brooke, Eugene A. Paoline III and Krystle L. Roman
The purpose of the study was to determine whether prior military service impacts police officers' job-related attitudes.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the study was to determine whether prior military service impacts police officers' job-related attitudes.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey was administered to sworn police officers in a large urban department.
Findings
Findings indicate that military service has almost no impact on police officers' perceptions of danger in the community and suspicion toward citizens. The small effect that did surface suggests that military veterans perceive less danger in the occupational environment.
Research limitations/implications
This study contributes to the scant existing research on whether and how military service may impact police officers' attitudes; in particular, it speaks to the concern that veterans bring a warrior mentality to the job. Findings suggest that these fears are not founded.
Practical implications
Police agencies commonly give preferential hiring to military veterans. Current findings suggest that this practice does not threaten police–community relations.
Originality/value
Scant research has examined the impact of military experience on police officers' job-related attitudes and specifically on their perceptions of danger and their suspicion of citizens. Additionally, when military service is included in police studies, it is operationalized as a binary yes/no. Here, the authors parse service into different components for a more nuanced examination.
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William Terrill, Jason Robert Ingram, Logan J. Somers and Eugene A. Paoline III
The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the relationship between police use of force and citizen complaints alleging improper use of force.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the relationship between police use of force and citizen complaints alleging improper use of force.
Design/methodology/approach
The current study utilizes official use of force and citizen complaint data, as well as surveys of patrol officers, from the Assessing Police Use of Force Policy and Outcomes Project, a multimethod National Institute of Justice funded study.
Findings
Bivariate and multivariate analyses revealed that the number of use of force incidents that officers were involved in, as well as the types and levels of resistance they encountered from citizens, was related to use of force complaints from citizens. That is, those officers that were involved in more use of force situations were engaged in force encounters where the highest level of citizen resistance was “failure to comply,” and faced higher cumulative levels of citizen resistance, received more complaints alleging improper use of force.
Research limitations/implications
Studies of citizen complaints against police officers, especially those alleging improper use of force, should consider the number of force incidents officers are involved in, as well as other theoretically relevant force correlates.
Practical implications
Administrators, concerned with citizen allegations for improper use of force against their officers, should work to encourage their personnel to minimize the number of use of force applications, or at least less cumulative force, to resolve encounters with citizens.
Originality/value
While prior studies have examined police use of force and citizen complaints independently, the current study examines the empirical connection between use of force behavior and the generation of complaints from citizens.
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Jason Robert Ingram, Robert R. Weidner, Eugene A. Paoline III and William Terrill
The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of sergeants’ less lethal force policy perceptions on subordinate officers’ policy perceptions. Sergeants are a critical level…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of sergeants’ less lethal force policy perceptions on subordinate officers’ policy perceptions. Sergeants are a critical level of supervision in police departments with respect to policy administration, particularly in regard to the use of force. Little empirical research, however, has been conducted on either officer policy perceptions or this aspect of the supervisory role.
Design/methodology/approach
Surveys of 765 patrol officers and 146 patrol sergeants served as the data source. Multilevel modeling procedures were used to test for supervisory influences on officer force policy perceptions while controlling for relevant officer-level variables. Additional analyses were conducted to examine potential moderating effects for this sergeant-officer attitudinal relationship.
Findings
Findings revealed that sergeant policy perceptions, views of top management, and their level of support had a significant impact on officers’ force policy perceptions. Furthermore, post hoc analyses revealed that sergeant support moderated the sergeant-officer force policy perception relationship.
Research limitations/implications
The results indicate that officers’ force policy perceptions are associated with the attitudinal dispositions of sergeants. Future work could expand the focus on administrative attitudinal outcomes beyond less lethal force policies as well as other perceptions of the work environment.
Practical implications
For police leaders, the findings illustrate the need to pay attention to mid-management levels and the organizational climate, as negative orientations can impact additional domains (i.e. policies and procedures) and other organizational members (i.e. subordinates).
Originality/value
The study adds to the limited body of research on two accountability mechanisms of departments: administrative rulemaking and frontline supervision.
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Eugene A. Paoline and William Terrill
To examine the extent to which cultural fragmentation among police officers results in differences in searches of suspects and their surroundings during proactive traffic stops.
Abstract
Purpose
To examine the extent to which cultural fragmentation among police officers results in differences in searches of suspects and their surroundings during proactive traffic stops.
Design/methodology/approach
Cluster and multivariate analyses are performed utilizing survey and observational data collected as part of the Project on Policing Neighborhoods (POPN).
Findings
Differences in search behavior among patrol officers are found as a result of variation in cultural alignments. That is, patrol officers that adhere to the culture (in varying degrees) from an attitudinal standpoint are more likely to engage in searches than those who most ardently resist cultural attitudes.
Research limitations/implications
Although the classification scheme captured many of the core attitudes associated with police culture, it did not measure all of them. Also, the departments studied would compare to most American municipal police organizations, but would make poor comparisons to very large urban or small rural agencies, where culture might operate in different ways.
Practical implications
Police administrators can use this information if they wished to alter the rate at which search behavior occurs.
Originality/value
This study fills a research void in policing by examining whether attitudinal variation in cultural commitment results in different behavioral patterns. This work also adds to a larger body of social science research by finding an attitude‐behavior relationship.
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Eugene A. Paoline and John J. Sloan
Descriptive analyses of campus police agencies reveal that agencies’ tactical and operational features are similar to those found in municipal agencies. The problem is that none…
Abstract
Descriptive analyses of campus police agencies reveal that agencies’ tactical and operational features are similar to those found in municipal agencies. The problem is that none of these studies have examined, using multivariate models, the structural characteristics of these organizations. Using LEMAS data collected in 1995, this study answered two main questions: what are the organizational characteristics of campus police agencies; and what factors, both internal and external, explain variation in the structural dimensions of the agencies. The results indicated that campus police agencies possess the same structural characteristics of municipal police agencies identified by 40 years of police organizational research, and internal agency characteristics were most important in explaining variation in the organizations’ structural dimensions. The degree to which campus agencies have adopted organizational structures that are similar to those of municipal police is discussed and framed within an institutional perspective.