Australian Police Research Articles

Does Shift Work Affect Burnout and Sleep Quality Among Australian Police Officers?

The safety of police officers and the community is compromised by shift work and work demands. Retention rates are declining globally, and recruiting new police officers is increasingly challenging. A contributing factor is organizational stressors, with nightshifts potentially increasing the risk of disturbed sleep, increased stress, and burnout; 642 Australian police officers answered a cross-sectional survey: 379 worked nightshifts and 263 dayshifts. Regardless of shift, a majority reported their stress (70%) and burnout (60%) as ranging from moderate to extremely high. Contrary to initial expectations, nightshift work did not significantly deteriorate sleep quality or intensify stress and burnout. These findings suggest that excessive workloads and the stressful environments encountered by police officers may primarily drive the burnout process. Additional research is required to determine the underlying factors and devise strategies to alleviate the adverse effects on the physical and mental health of police officers.

Broken promises in policing: understanding leadership, procedural justice and psychological health through the lens of psychological contract breach

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to empirically test the role of psychological contract breach in explaining the relationship between leadership style and procedural justice, burnout and psychological distress. This study provides important insights for police agencies who seek to positively impact, through the actions of their leaders, on both performance and psychological health of their officers. Drawing from the study findings, key recommendations for police leadership development programs are made.Design/methodology/approachThe current study with a large sample of Australian police (N = 1763), explores the relationship between leader-member exchange (LMX) leadership style and two sets of outcomes. The first is procedural justice, an important job performance outcome related to police practice. The second outcome includes two measures of psychological health, specifically burnout and psychological distress. Psychological contract breach (PCB) is investigated in the current research as a potential mediator in the relationship between leadership and (a) job performance and (b) psychological health.FindingsUsing mediated regression analyses, high LMX leadership is associated with lower PCB, higher procedural justice and reduced psychological health impairment amongst staff. The relationship between LMX and procedural justice was fully mediated by PCB, meaning that PCB explains the relationship between LMX and procedural justice. Partial mediation was found for both psychological health outcomes. As such, leadership style has a direct relationship with psychological health, and is partly explained by PCB.Originality/valueVery little research has considered the role of PCB in explaining how leadership style is related to job performance and psychological health outcomes in policing. To our knowledge, this is the first study that has empirically examined whether leadership style makes it more likely that a police officer will perceive PCB. And further, whether this breach is associated with reduced job performance (i.e. less procedural justice) and poorer psychological health (i.e. increased burnout and psychological distress).

Trauma, Critical Incidents, Organizational and Operational Stressors: The Relationship Between Harms and Psychological Outcomes for Police

Early psychological health studies in policing often focused on trauma and critical incidents (CIs). More recent research builds a compelling argument that significant causes of psychological harm stems from other operational and organizational factors. The current study uses survey data from a large sample of Australian police ( N = 1763), producing strength metrics derived from mediated regression analyses. The relationships between stressors (trauma and CIs, operational and organizational) and psychological health (psychological distress and burnout) were studied. For the relationship between stress and psychological distress, compared to trauma stress, the relationship with organizational stress was three times stronger and the relationship with operational stress was two and half times stronger. No direct relationship between trauma stress and burnout was found. It was fully explained by organizational and operational stress. The findings suggest police leaders must consider the direct and combined impacts of different stressors on the psychological health of their staff.

The Development of Normative Fitness Data and Analyzing the Relationships Between 20MSFT and 2.4-km Run Performance in Australian Police Recruits.

Campbell, P, Maupin, D, Lockie, RG, Dawes, JJ, Simas, V, Canetti, E, Schram, B, and Orr, R. The development of normative fitness data and analyzing the relationships between 20MSFT and 2.4-km run performance in Australian police recruits. J Strength Cond Res XX(X): 000-000, 2024-Aerobic fitness testing plays a significant role in the academy training of law enforcement recruits. There is a lack of normative data for law enforcement recruits and substantial interchangeability for choice of field-based aerobic tests. Therefore, this study aimed to develop normative percentile rankings for the 20-m multistage fitness tests (20MSFT) and 2.4-km run specific to law enforcement recruits; and to analyze the relationship between the 2 tests by linear regression. Data from 5 cohorts of law enforcement recruits completing 20MSFT (n = 1,536) and 2.4-km run (n = 1,499) testing during basic training at an Australian Police Academy were retrospectively analyzed. Percentile ranks were calculated (20th, 40th, 50th, 60th, 80th, and 99th) based on the number of shuttles completed and time (seconds) to complete the 2.4-km run. Results were split by sex and age (i.e., <20 years, 20-29 years, 30-39 years, and 40-49 years). Linear regression analyzed the relationship between the 20MSFT to the 2.4-km run (using both seconds and km·h-1), producing predictive equations to translate scores between the 2 assessments. These data presented the first detailed normative values by age and sex for Australian law enforcement recruits. Furthermore, the results demonstrated regression models could explain 65-74% of the variance observed (r2 = 0.649-0.741) between 20MSFT performance and 2.4-km run performance. This study's findings allow for normative performance for the purpose of benchmarking fitness, setting performance goal, and rehabilitation from injury. In addition, a valid conversion through a linear regression affords cross-agency comparisons and temporal changes in test selection/recruit cohorts.

Kafka’s beautiful eyes: Forensic intelligence utilisation of phenotypic information

Franz Kafka had beautiful eyes. So striking, that many of the famous author’s friends and peers commented on them – but quite variously (‘dark’, ‘brown’, ‘grey’ & ‘blue’). Eye colour as perceived by an observer is subjective, being influenced by physiological, environmental, and even sociocultural factors. In a policing context, this does not mean that trait information such as eye colour is not valuable (far from it), but that it must be managed carefully. The Australian Federal Police has recently implemented a forensic DNA phenotyping (FDP, aka. physical trait prediction or PTP) capability, utilising massively parallel sequencing DNA technology to predict an individual’s eye colour, biogeographical ancestry and sex from a crime scene sample. This information alone is not itself ‘intelligence’, but can be used to generate intelligence through holistic analyses undertaken within a transdisciplinary, all-source forensic intelligence (FORINT) framework. FORINT outputs posit abductive propositions typically at the activity/offence level, to provide insight and influence decision making. However, the use of predicted traits requires that they are compared to something; all Australian police databases include fields for physical traits, but no uniform standard is applied across all agencies. Moreover, collection is inconsistent and no automated systems are in place to capture such data systematically. Consider the ‘Kafka problem’: his peers gave multiply divergent descriptions of his eyes. If a Biology unit had predicted the eye colour of an ‘unidentified author’ using DNA – how would Kafka be confidently nominated as the contributor? We posit three maxims for law enforcement: (1) To expand the operational utility of forensic science in line with police demands, forensic science should operationalise FDP (e.g. operationally to rank a list of persons of interest, focus lines of enquiry in serious & organised crime, or assist with human remains identification). (2) Such advanced biological techniques are best delivered through an all-source FORINT framework, to maximise opportunities and minimise risk. (3) One cannot pursue techno-scientific advancements in isolation; it is also necessary to influence the operational posture for their implementation. In this paper we explore these issues and provide recommendations relating to (a) police practices, (b) image capture systems, and (c) research opportunities. Phenotypic trait prediction has great potential and can be operationalised effectively through a rigorous FORINT framework. However, there is (continual) work to be done to enhance the operational capabilities that are complementary to – but necessary for – effective forensic science contribution to investigations.

Guardian versus warrior cops: predicting officers’ support for procedural justice and coercive policing

ABSTRACT In response to incidents of police brutality perpetrated against ethnic/racial minorities, there have been calls worldwide for reform in the way policing is done in minority communities. As part of this reform process, police agencies have been encouraged to examine the policing styles (or orientations) that different officers adopt when carrying out their duties. Prior research finds that ‘warrior’ and ‘guardian’ policing orientations are associated with officers’ support for either coercive or procedural justice policing, respectively. Warrior-oriented officers tend to support using coercive policing more than guardian-oriented officers, while guardian-oriented officers tend to support using procedural justice policing more than warrior-oriented officers. What remains understudied is why this is so. Drawing on survey data of 306 Australian police officers working in ethnically diverse and disadvantaged communities, this study tests whether officers’ cynicism toward the public and their confidence in their own legitimacy (i.e. self-legitimacy) might explain the tendency of warrior-oriented and guardian-oriented officers to support either coercive or procedural justice policing, respectively. Our findings confirm that the two policing orientations are conceptually distinct, and that warrior-oriented officers are more likely to support coercive policing, while guardian-oriented officers are more likely to support procedural justice policing. Importantly, we find that officers’ cynicism and self-legitimacy partially mediate some of these relationships. The implications of these findings for both policing scholarship and practice are discussed.

Do Australian police engage in racial profiling? A method for identifying racial profiling in the absence of police data

ABSTRACT Expanding on a technique developed by Epp, C. R., Maynard-Moody, S., & Haider-Markel, D. (2014). Pulled over: How police stops define race and citizenship, this study develops a methodology for identifying racial profiling from the descriptions of police stops obtained from a survey of members of the public. The analysis subjects 981 accounts of police stops in Victoria described in a survey conducted in 2018–2019 to a ‘threshold’ analysis followed by a multinomial regression controlling for age, gender, LGBITQ status and disability. The results provide strong evidence that race is associated with decision-making by police in Victoria about who to subject to high discretion stops and unjustified post-stop conduct and a consistent pattern of unjustified law enforcement attention on and treatment of racialised compared with white people. This is particularly apparent for Aboriginal, African, Pasifika and Middle-Eastern/Muslim appearing people. The unjustified nature of this policing provides evidence that it is racial appearance, not crime, that is triggering police attention and subsequent behaviour.

Offenders’ perspectives on acquisitive crime targets and stolen goods disposal methods

This paper examines offenders’ perspectives about acquisitive crime targets and stolen goods markets in Australia that have not been comprehensively reviewed since 2005. Over the last 18 years there have been significant changes in the rates of property crime, reductions in cash usage, and rapid movements to online markets as a disposal outlet, that motivate this updated analysis. In late 2022, n = 107 detainees in a Western Australian police watchhouse were interviewed about their property offending frequency, offence preferences, target selection, disposal methods, and estimated financial return for targeted goods. Results demonstrated (a) meaningful shifts towards shoplifting and away from the other stealing offences, (b) increases in stealing for personal consumption rather than selling on, (c) declines in preferences for small electronic items, (d) ongoing dependence on drug dealers as a preferred outlet for off-loading stolen goods, (e) disposal of stolen goods is still quick, easy, and typically offenders receive about one-third of the original purchase price for items, and (f) growth in the use of online markets to dispose of stolen goods. The theoretical and applied implications of these findings are discussed, emphasising the importance of opportunity-focused interventions to prevent crime.

Measuring the Level of Fidelity Required for Transfer of Learning in Simulation-Based Learning Exercises for Novice and Experienced Practitioners

Background An acknowledged conundrum which exists for designers of simulation-based learning exercises centres on how much fidelity is required to aid transfer of learning from the classroom to the field of application and what is the influence of the learner’s practitioner experience. This article presents the findings from a study which explored the way in which fidelity influences the sense of immersion and learning transfer experienced by novice and experienced practitioners in technology-assisted simulation-based learning exercises. Methods Two different technology-assisted simulation-based learning exercises were explored employing participant surveys and interviews. The central aim of the exercises, conducted by an Australian police agency was the development of decision-making skills for high-risk and high-stakes situations. Case one centred on public order management for highly experienced senior police and Case Two was a judgmental use-of-force simulation for novice police recruits with limited or nil operational experience. Results The findings indicate experienced practitioners did not suggest a need to actually see a replicated site of the incident with the human and environmental elements and sounds. They relied on their policing experience to build their own visualization of the situation. It is the combination of this personal visualization with the psychological factors of the simulated incident which created a realistic environment for these experienced practitioners. For the novice practitioners – they relied on the simulation exercise and environmental features to be as realistic and extensive as possible in order to experience immersion and presence. Conclusion This study supports the suggestion that measuring how much fidelity is enough or too much is complex, and a unit of measurement could reasonably be identified as determining the balance of physical and psychological fidelity, informed by the field-based experience of the participants, which will support learning transfer from the classroom (or simulated environment) to the field of operation.

Discretionary policing: following religious beliefs or operational guidelines, decision-making, and citizen engagement

In an Australian context, there is little research which examines whether officers following a religion will place religious ideologies beyond professional guidelines and whether there are differences between religious and non-religious officers regarding decision-making and use of discretion. This raises questions about how religious and non-religious officers will engage with citizens whose identities may be similar to, or different from the responding officer, and, whether the citizen’s identity challenges an officer’s religious ideologies; thereby shaping police-citizen interaction. Whether religious or non-religious police officers are more likely to police equitably is an area of research that needs systematic enquiry; especially given that officers who are religious could apply discretional policing when adhering to religious beliefs or practices during decision-making, and, conversely, officers who are non-religious, could apply discretional adherence to organizational rules, regulations, and police training. As such, this preliminary, exploratory study sought to address this gap in knowledge. Analyzing data collected from a sample of officers (N = 1425) working in one Australian police organization, this study provides insight into how religious or non-religious beliefs shapes officers’ discretional decision-making, and citizen engagement.

A survey of what legal populations believe and know about inattentional blindness and visual detection.

Inattentional blindness refers to when people fail to notice obvious and unexpected events when their attention is elsewhere. Existing research suggests that inattentional blindness is a poorly understood concept that violates the beliefs that are commonly held by the public about vision and attention. Given that legal cases may involve individuals who may have experienced inattentional blindness, it is important to understand the beliefs legal populations and members of the community have about inattentional blindness, and their general familiarity and experience with the concept. Australian police officers (n = 94) and lawyers (n = 98), along with psychology students (n = 99) and community members (n = 100) completed a survey where they: a) stated whether an individual would have noticed an event in six legal vignettes, b) rated whether factors would make an individual more, less, or just as likely to notice an unexpected event, c) reported their familiarity with and personal experiences of inattentional blindness, and d) indicated whether they believed individuals could make themselves more likely to notice unexpected events. Respondents in all populations frequently responded "yes" to detecting the unexpected event in most legal vignettes. They also held misconceptions about some factors (expertise and threat) that would influence the noticing of unexpected events. Additionally, personal experiences with inattentional blindness were commonly reported. Finally, respondents provided strategies for what individuals can do to make themselves more likely to notice of unexpected events, despite a lack of evidence to support them. Overall, these findings provide direction for where education and training could be targeted to address misconceptions about inattentional blindness held by legal populations, which may lead to improved decision-making in legal settings.

To train or educate? or train and educate?: The Australian police recruit training versus tertiary education dilemma

Abstract Police organizations across the globe are challenged by how best to prepare recruits for careers in policing. In Australia, police organizations differ on whether to focus on officer preparedness in relation to occupational training or tertiary level police education. While the recruit training versus tertiary education dilemma is not a new debate regarding recruit preparation, this problem is heightened by the police staffing crisis, declining recruit applications, increasing officer retention, building a police force that is responsible, accountable, and respectful of the rights and dignity of every individual, and the need for officers to be digitally literate and to use technologies, so that the police organization can provide a better service to the community. As such, many Australian police organizations are struggling to recruit and retain officers and are considering whether mandated training or tertiary level education programs may dissuade or prevent applicants from a career in policing. This raises questions about the importance or lack of importance that Australian police organizations place on recruit education; firstly, as an entry requirement to a career in policing, and secondly, whether education should be partnered with occupational training. Whether recruits need to be educated to specific levels to effectively conduct police work and engage with citizens, or if police academy training (occupational training) without tertiary level police education is sufficient is discussed.

‘Strands in a cable’: effective investigator decision-making using forensic identification evidence in volume crime investigations

ABSTRACT Police investigators increasingly make use of forensic science in the investigation of crime. While there is considerable research on case outcomes following the use of forensic identification evidence (fingerprint and DNA evidence), few studies have explored how police investigators use these evidence types in their investigations. This study aimed to examine police investigators’ reasoning processes about the use of forensic identification evidence in volume crimes, such as burglary, to develop a decision-making framework that can be applied to the investigation of such crimes. Twenty-four police officers from three Australian police jurisdictions participated in semi-structured interviews that centred around a case scenario. Data were transcribed verbatim and analysed thematically. The findings highlight that police investigators’ decision-making is influenced by the requirement to meet the rules of evidence. Further, participants’ own experience and mentoring by more experienced colleagues influenced not only the decisions made in a case, but also the development of decision-making skills in the use of forensic evidence more broadly. A decision-making framework is proposed to explain and guide the use of forensic evidence in volume crime investigations. Overall, the findings suggest that the effective use of forensic identification evidence in volume crime investigations requires that police investigators engage actively in the decision-making process. Further research can explore ways to integrate the findings from this research into police practices.

Missing persons patterns from Mexico: evidence of a forensic emergency crisis.

The relatives of missing persons in Mexico have denounced the slowness with which a court prosecution file is created by the justice administration system. Theoretically, the search is immediate, but many cases must wait 72h to build an investigation folder as a legal criterion. This standard has been copied from the UK and Australian police reports without adapting to the Mexican context. The analysis of disappearance reports between 2006 and 2018 shows that this timing criterion in Mexico is not supported. The analyzed database (the National Center for Planning, Analysis, and Information to Combat Crime, CENAPI) showed that in the 72-h range, only 34.53% of the people had been found alive or dead; figure far from 50% to 80% of Europe or Australia. This fact shows that those searching officers or the judicial bureaucracy can act as a factor that limits the search for missing persons. Additionally, there is a random pattern in the geospatial distribution of disappearance, with non-homogeneous frequencies per year. Results highlight the participation of families, the adoption of an evidence-based model, and the generation of geospatial forensic intelligence analysis to generate evidence-based public policies. The social demand of families to the government for not considering them takes relevance in forensic practice in Mexico, and the disappearance data support this assertion.

Line managers and extreme work: a case study of human resource management in the police service

There are some professionals whose work is always prone to extremes; emergency service workers would fit in to this category. These extremes, however, have typically been short-term aspects of the role punctuated by long periods of normality. This article examines the experiences of line managers in an Australian police service facing pressures both internal and external to the organisation that make extreme working conditions the norm rather than the exception. We use data from forty-seven managers in The Police Service supported by illustrative diary study data to examine their experiences in times of significant change. Our results reveal extreme work resulting from human resource management system out of sync with changes in the expectations of society and media, technological advances in surveillance and social media access and use and an increase volume of ‘extreme’ weather events.

The Influence of Guardian and Warrior Police Orientations on Australian Officers’ Use of Force Attitudes and Tactical Decision-Making

Concerns about excessive use of force by U.S. police have led to calls for agencies to move from ‘warrior’ to ‘guardian’ policing. ‘Warrior’ policing embodies an aggressive or coercive approach to law enforcement, while ‘guardian’ policing prioritises communication, procedural justice and citizen safety. Associations between guardian and warrior policing orientations and use of force attitudes in the U.S. have been found, however the influence of these orientations on police use of force in Australia has not been examined. This study examined the association of guardian and warrior policing orientations with use of force attitudes, threat perceptions and tactical decision-making among Australian officers, through a survey of 183 police officers in Queensland. Regression analyses indicated that warrior policing was associated with greater support for use of force and greater perceived threat in an ambiguous threat scenario, while guardian policing was associated with more restraint in tactical decision-making among Australian police officers.

Selecting police super-recognisers.

People vary in their ability to recognise faces. These individual differences are consistent over time, heritable and associated with brain anatomy. This implies that face identity processing can be improved in applied settings by selecting high performers-'super-recognisers' (SRs)-but these selection processes are rarely available for scientific scrutiny. Here we report an 'end-to-end' selection process used to establish an SR 'unit' in a large police force. Australian police officers (n = 1600) completed 3 standardised face identification tests and we recruited 38 SRs from this cohort to complete 10 follow-up tests. As a group, SRs were 20% better than controls in lab-based tests of face memory and matching, and equalled or surpassed accuracy of forensic specialists that currently perform face identification tasks for police. Individually, SR accuracy was variable but this problem was mitigated by adopting strict selection criteria. SRs' superior abilities transferred only partially to body identity decisions where the face was not visible, and they were no better than controls at deciding which visual scene that faces had initially been encountered in. Notwithstanding these important qualifications, we conclude that super-recognisers are an effective solution to improving face identity processing in applied settings.

“Insufficient guidance and a lack of preparation”: Police academy training and the reality of police work

Police academy training is the foundation of police performance. In Australia, police academy programmes are usually delivered internally by police officers and are underpinned by traditional policing practices and acceptable methods of response deemed suitable. There is little research, however, which determines whether Australian police academies adequately prepare recruits to conduct police work or prime recruits for the reality of policing. Analysing data collected from 46 constables working in one of the largest Australian police organisations, this research offers original insight into a previously under-research area regarding the effectiveness of police academy training in preparing recruits for general-duties police work.

Learning to Become Professional in Policing: From Artisan to Professional

This qualitative narrative research was conducted with an Australian police jurisdiction. The paper draws on practice theory to interpret the narratives of a group of traditionally trained police officers’ perceptions of policing practices, professional practice, learning and professionalism within the context of police professionalisation. Thirty-six police officers from various ranks, including senior management, participated in semi-structured interviews. Many police officers’ understanding of professional practice and learning is centred on technique, technical knowledge, image, uniform, and reputation. Our research reveals, the practices of police are embedded in the discursive practices of policing and the institutional constraints of the organisation, that maintain and perpetuate past stories contrary to the agenda to professionalise policing. The research is set in the broader context of national and international agendas driving the professionalisation of policing which sits alongside prevailing conceptions of policing as a craft or trade, learned on-the-job, and police officers as artisans.

The impact of posttraumatic stress disorder on the psychological distress, positivity, and well-being of Australian police officers.

Police officers experience many traumatic events over the course of their career, often resulting in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and associated psychological distress. Studies have investigated the efficacy of interventions aimed at reducing symptoms of PTSD experienced by police officers, but lacking are studies investigating the impact of PTSD on positivity, a construct we define as a latent variable estimated using self-report measures of optimism, gratitude, self-compassion, and mindfulness. The present study carried out a path analysis of a model testing the hypothesis that PTSD would be associated with increased psychological distress and decreased positivity, both of which influence well-being. The model also evaluated associations between constructs that could be modified through interventions to increase well-being-associations between posttraumatic growth, social support, physical activity and psychological distress, positivity, and well-being. Police officers (n = 506) completed an online survey that included self-report measures of the constructs included in the model being tested. The model tested produced fit indices of root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = .089; comparative fit index (CFI) = .960; Tucker-Lewis index (TLI) = .93; standardized root mean square residual (SRMR) = .041 and R² = .79. Results found that neither PTSD or psychological distress had a direct effect on well-being. Psychological distress indirectly influenced well-being by lowering levels of positivity, while positivity was associated with higher scores on the measure of well-being. The implication of the results is that interventions aimed at enhancing positivity could be expected to improve well-being in police officers and offering traditional therapies together with positivity enhancing therapies may have additional benefits over either alone. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).