Police job satisfaction as a function of career orientation and position tenure: Implications for selection and community policing

Abstract

This research focused on how the job satisfaction of 239 members of a municipal police department varied as a function of officer career orientation (careerist, artisan, social activist, and self-investor), job assignment category (patrol, investigation, and administration), and two indices of tenure (organization and position). The results revealed that among career orientations, careerists were highest in job satisfaction, and among assignment categories, officers in investigation and administration were higher than those in patrol. Also, of four background variables (position tenure, organization tenure, rank, and age), only position tenure accounted for a significant proportion of unique variance in job satisfaction: job satisfaction was associated with low position tenure. The findings were interpreted as supporting the idea that there is a fundamental compatibility between the careerist career orientation and the normative climate of the traditional police organization. It was also observed, however, that there is an essential compatibility between the social activist and artisan career orientations and many of the core features of community policing, the emerging paradigm of policing. The need to consider individual officer characteristics, including their career orientations, in selection and placement was emphasized.