Examining the Impact of Community and Organizational Relationships on Police Work Perspectives

Abstract

In many front-line professions, especially those in public safety, the people-centered nature of the job and work relationships are essential considerations. Law enforcement is one such intrinsically relational public service, characterized by significant interpersonal interactions both inside police departments and with the public. The relationships among citizens, constituents, or other service recipients and the state are particularly critical to shaping the outcomes of important public policies. The purpose of this paper is to explore the relational nature of work in policing, foregrounding community relationships, leadership, coworker relationships, and role-based considerations and the impact of these on job-related attitudes of satisfaction and organizational commitment, both of which are related to individual performance, motivation, and other key individual and organizational outcomes. We use a web-based survey to collect data from sworn law enforcement officials across the United States on perspectives of roles and of work. Findings here indicate that community relationships, transformational leadership, coworker trust, and public service motivation are positively related to both job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Implications for theory, practice, and future research are discussed, followed by concluding comments on the future of policing.