Police Officer Job Satisfaction Research Articles

Psychological Well-Being and Job Satisfaction of Kenyan Police Officers

Purpose: Police work is a high risk job in terms of stress and low psychological wellbeing. In Kenya, police officers have presented high levels of suicide, homicide, assault and intimate partner abuse and this has become a matter of concern. 
 Methodology: This theoretical paper applies the hermeneutic phenomenological approach to study psychological wellbeing and job satisfaction of police officers as a phenomenon and how it affects police work. Extensive and systematic literature review is done using search engines like google scholar, web of science and Scopus. The search includes historical and contemporary scholarly data which reveals how police work is understood by scholars and the media. This data is then assessed and interpreted to discern the emerging patterns, findings and conclusions.
 Findings: Statistics on the Kenya police service indicate that 20,000 police officers are either depressed or they present with various psychological disorders. Between 2016 and 2020 police have recorded within their ranks across the country 13 murders and 11 suicides per year without a break. Systematic literature view has revealed that high psychological wellbeing of police officers is imperative in order to remove or reduce psychological morbidity in police work. This not only decreases turnover, but also retains talent, and increases productivity. High psychological wellbeing also spills over to work teams and families in terms of happiness and wellbeing. Analysis of literature has also revealed that job satisfaction is one of the facets of psychological wellbeing at the work place.
 Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: This paper proposes that police managers, and stakeholders should proactively put in place strategies that enhance job satisfaction and therefore improve the psychological wellbeing of police officers. Researchers in partnership with police management should also address the knowledge gap in explaining how police stressors finally precipitate the high rates of murders and suicide and implement solutions.

제주 지역 여성경찰공무원의 여성차별이 근무만족에 미치는 영향

The job of the police is to prevent crime and, when a crime occurs, quickly initiate an investigation and apprehend the criminal. Recently, the attitude of female police officers in responding to criminals has been socially criticized. However, the police not only responds to crime but also provides security services to the public, so while the role of male police officers is becoming more important, the role of female police officers is also becoming more important. In previous research on the police, research is being conducted focusing on various research topics such as police organization and job satisfaction of police officers. However, research on female police officers' discrimination against women or female police officers' job satisfaction is somewhat limited. In addition, the police profession is an occupation with a strong sense of professional ethics, which means protecting the country and its citizens, and its sense of duty is considered important. Accordingly, this study sought to verify what moderating effect professional consciousness has on work satisfaction among female police officers in terms of discrimination against women. As a result of the study, discrimination against women was found to have an effect on work satisfaction, but the interaction term between discrimination against women and work consciousness did not show statistically significant results. However, it was confirmed that work consciousness affects work satisfaction. In other words, it was confirmed that female police officers have an effect on work satisfaction due to their work consciousness, but that discrimination against women does not affect work satisfaction no matter how excellent their work consciousness is. Based on these research results, discrimination against women, work satisfaction, and professional consciousness of female police officers were discussed.

Удовлетворённость трудом и субъективное благополучие сотрудников органов внутренних дел

Introduction. The article deals with the job satisfaction, subjective well-being, basic beliefs and stressful life of law enforcement officers. The relevance of the study is determined by the need to analyse the factors influencing police officers’ positive self-perception in order to improve their psychological health, subjective well-being as well as police officers service.
 Methods. The participants of the study were 60 law enforcement officers, aged 30.21 ± 5.30 serving 7.2 ± 8.41 years in the Russian police. The research methods include an anonymous questionnaire, “Methodology of diagnostics of integral job satisfaction”, “Scale of subjective well-being”, “Satisfaction with life scale”, “Subjective happiness scale”, “Personal beliefs scale”, “Stressfulness of life”. Statistical processing of the results was carried out by methods of a descriptive, comparative and correlation analysis.
 Results. The study found that 34% of police officers are characterised by a high and moderate level of stress, low life satisfaction, belief that people around them are unfriendly, as well as a low level of subjective happiness. 40% of police officers believe that they are not always able to control their life events, 16% have low confidence in success, 12% of respondents consider the world around them to be unfair, and 10% are convinced of their inability to cope with their life difficulties. Police officers’ satisfaction with their professional activity and career achievements decreases rapidly along with age and work experience. Their social contacts become more limited. Too much stress and unfair punishment reduce the feeling of well-being and job satisfaction. Subjective well-being is positively correlated with basic beliefs about the world’s friendliness and fairness, self-esteem, good fortune, and self-control. Satisfaction with life and the level of health are high among people whose importance of the performed duties prevails over the amount of rewards. In order to increase subjective well-being and job satisfaction of police officers, methods of positive psychology, cognitive-behavioural, rational-emotive, pathogenetic psychotherapy, body-oriented, client-centred, and gestalt therapy can be used.

Factors Affecting Job Satisfaction of Police Officers in Charge of Autonomous Police Affairs

자치경찰제 시행 이후 많은 논란이 되었던 문제들 중에 운영 상 문제가 되었던 요인들을 중심으로 실증적인 분석을 실시해 직무만족을 높일 수 있는 결정요인을 확인하는 것이 이 연구의 목적이다. 자치경찰제 운영 상 논란이 되었던 요인은 법령 구축, 인력 구성, 교육 훈련, 예산 지원, 자치단체장의 지원과 관심이었다. 분석결과 자치경찰제 시행 이후 자치경찰사무 담당 경찰관의 직무만족은 매우 낮은 것을 확인할 수 있었으며, 실질적으로 직무만족에 영향을 미치는 요인은 법령 구축, 교육 훈련, 자치단체장의 지원과 관심으로 나타났다. 자치경찰제 시행과 관련해 직무만족에 영향을 미치는 요인에 대해 자치단체장을 중심으로한 법령 구축, 교육 훈련에 대해 정책적 제언(지역별 통합 조례 제정, 경찰 내부 교육훈련 관련 매뉴얼 개발, 자치단체와 통합 운영될 수 있는 매뉴얼 개발, 자치단체장의 실질적인 자치경찰위원회와의 소통, 자치경찰위원회 중심의 의견수렴 등)을 했다The purpose of this study is to identify determinants that can increase job satisfaction by conducting an empirical analysis focusing on factors that have become operational problems among many controversial issues after the implementation of the autonomous police system. The factors that were controversial in the operation of the autonomous police system were the establishment of laws, the composition of manpower, education and training, budget support, and the support and interest of the head of the local government. As a result of the analysis, it was confirmed that the job satisfaction of the police officers in charge of local police affairs after the implementation of the autonomous police system was very low. In relation to the implementation of the autonomous police system, establishment of laws centered on the head of the local government on factors affecting job satisfaction, policy suggestions on education and training (enactment of regional integrated ordinances, development of manuals related to internal police education and training, integrated operation with local governments) developed manuals, communicated with the local autonomous police committee, and collected opinions centered on the autonomous police committee).

The Big Five Personality Traits, Occupational Stress, and Job Satisfaction

The aim of this research was to examine the relationship between Big Five Personality traits (neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, conscientiousness), occupational stress and job satisfaction of police officers in Cyprus Police. A cross-sectional design was employed, where data was collected at a single time point. A total of 133 participants took part in the research program. The research instruments consisted of the Neo Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) Police Stress Questionnaire (PSQ) and Job Satisfaction Survey (JSS). The result of the research indicated that the correlation of conscientiousness, extraversion, openness to experience and agreeableness to job satisfaction were not significantly linked while neuroticism had a moderately negative correlation with job satisfaction, and it was the only statistically significant relationship. Results showed that gender had a statistically significant relationship with job satisfaction, with males reporting greater job satisfaction than females. Additionally, work stress in the police force significantly predicts job satisfaction over and above the effect of personality traits.

An Empirical Assessment of the Sources of Police Job Satisfaction

Dissatisfied workers are at risk for negative occupational behaviors such as job turnover, poor performance, work avoidance, decreased morale among coworkers, and physical or legal liability. Relying heavily on demographic (e.g., sex, race, education) and occupational (e.g., rank, experience, assignment) explanatory factors, early empirical studies failed to effectively model the statistical correlates of police officer job satisfaction. Recent inquiries have found more success in explaining the variation in job satisfaction by examining a variety of work-related attitudes. The current study adds to this burgeoning area of research by assessing the role of internal and external dimensions of the work environment, as well as views of fairness and effectiveness, on the job satisfaction of police officers. Based on survey data from a midsized municipal police department in Florida, the multivariate analysis reveals a number of successful predictors of job satisfaction, especially for those officers with a street-level assignment. A second analysis, based on qualitative coding of open-ended survey questions, finds differences in positive and negative features of the occupation across varying levels of satisfied and dissatisfied respondents. Implications of these findings for police practitioners and researchers are discussed.

The Job Satisfaction of Ukrainian Police Officers: Condition, Structure and Key Predictors

Purpose. To determine the condition, structure and key predictors of job satisfaction of Ukrainian police officers. The study involved police officers of the National Police of Ukraine (age – 19-50 years, n = 203 – men, n = 52 – women). The questionnaire was applied. The results of the questionnaire were processed by mathematical statistics methods. coworkers, supervision and the nature of work. The most significant correlation is revealed between the gender and the level of satisfaction with fringe benefits, pay, operating conditions. Ukrainian subordinate police staff members less satisfied with the job than their line managers (average means are 108.2 and 117.6 respectively). The correlation matrix indicates that there are no multicollinear factors: all aspects of job satisfaction of police officers do not have a high correlation with each other (r<0.7). The multiple regression analysis confirms that the level of satisfaction with some aspects of the job (promotion, supervision, coworkers and communication) explains 82.6% of the sample. Such data can be considered the most influential predictors. The revealed condition and structure of satisfaction of Ukrainian police officers testify to its risk level and the necessity of its constant monitoring. The level of the police officers physical fitness confirmed a weak correlation with the total condition of job satisfaction. It is required a separate study devoted to the police officers, whose activities are associated with the significant physical load.

Enhancing Motivation and Job Satisfaction of Police Officers: A Test of High Performance Cycle Theory

Although goal-setting theory is one of the most examined motivation theories, few studies examine a theoretical framework of the high performance cycle (HPC) offered by Locke and Latham. Thus, the aim of this article is to examine the causes of job motivation and satisfaction within the framework of HPC. The data were gathered from 1,970 police officers working in various police departments in Turkey. Overall, the results of the study were consistent with the tenets of HPC. Results suggest that specific goals, self-efficacy, and feedback increase police officers’ job motivation, which leads to rewards and subsequently, job satisfaction among police officers. The results also suggest that job motivation has direct and indirect effects on job satisfaction. The practical implications of this study are to show that HPC is an effective and applicable framework to increase police officers’ job motivation and satisfaction.

Quality over Quantity: Assessing the Impact of Frequent Public Interaction Compared to Problem-Solving Activities on Police Officer Job Satisfaction

AbstractResearch outside the field of policing has shown that job satisfaction predicts job performance. While policing research has demonstrated performing community-oriented policing (COP) activities generally improves police officer job satisfaction, the mechanism through which it occurs remains unclear. This study contributes to the community-policing literature through a survey of 178 police officers at the Toronto Police Service. The survey instrument measures the mechanism through which job satisfaction is impacted. Results indicate that primary response officers are more likely to be somewhat or very unsatisfied with their current job assignment compared with officers with a COP assignment—confirming what previous research has found. Further, those who interact with the public primarily for the purpose of engaging in problem-solving are more likely to be very satisfied with their current job assignment compared with those who do so primarily for the purpose of responding to calls for service. Engaging in problem-solving increases the odds of being very satisfied in one’s job assignment, and the combination of frequent contacts with the public and problem-solving is less important than problem-solving alone. The implications of the study findings for COP strategies are discussed.

Analysis on the Effectiveness of Customers Satisfaction Consulting Targeting the Police Officers - Focused on the Job Satisfaction of Police Officers in Siheung Police Station -

Analysis on the Effectiveness of Customers Satisfaction Consulting Targeting the Police Officers - Focused on the Job Satisfaction of Police Officers in Siheung Police Station -

Patrol Officer Job Satisfaction Scale (POJSS)

Purpose When patrol officers experience poor job satisfaction and make the decision to leave their profession, their departments face the cost of recruiting and training new officers. The purpose of this paper is to develop a new measure that could be used by police departments to identify specific dimensions of job satisfaction in their officers so that appropriate interventions could be made before officers reach the point of ending their employment. Design/methodology/approach To enhance widespread applicability of the new measure, the 221 study participants were from convenience samples of patrol officers in the USA and Turkey (95.9 percent male; mean age=29.4 years; mean service=5.9 years). Officers completed anonymous surveys to report individual and departmental demographics, to give satisfaction ratings for a variety of aspects of their work environment, and to report other psychosocial variables that might be used to assess validity of job satisfaction dimensions. Findings Exploratory factor analysis produced the 14-item Patrol Officer Job Satisfaction Scale (POJSS) with three dimensions: supervisor fairness, peer comradery, occupational pride. The three POJSS dimensions showed acceptable goodness-of-fit, internal reliability, and test-retest reliability. Multiple regression analyses demonstrated no significant associations between nine individual and department demographics (gender, age, marital status, education, service years, weekly work hours, nation, city location, number of officers) and any of the three POJSS dimensions. Research limitations/implications One limitation of the present study was that it included only convenience samples of patrol officers from the USA and Turkey. Future research could conduct confirmatory factor analyses on more diverse and representative samples of patrol officers from various international locations to determine if they also perceive the same three POJSS dimensions of job satisfaction (supervisor fairness, peer comradery, occupational pride). Practical implications Police departments could use the POJSS as an assessment tool to identify any problems of poor job satisfaction in their patrol officers so they could provide targeted improvements. For example, if patrol officers report low ratings for supportive peers, some scholars have recommended the formation of officer support groups (Johnson, 2012; Pienaar et al., 2007; Rhoades and Eisenberger, 2002; Scott, 2004; Stamper and Johlke, 2003; Toch, 2002; Walker et al., 2006). Social implications If patrol officers report low ratings for supervisor fairness, peer comradery, and occupational pride, police departments could arrange leadership seminars, hold “Clear the Air” meetings or anonymous surveys to allow patrol officers to identify specific improvements they suggest to improve these components of job satisfaction. Originality/value Research on police officer job satisfaction has been increasing in recent decades, but is still relatively sparse when compared to the study of employee job satisfaction in the private sector and other areas of government. Recent research on police job satisfaction has typically included law enforcement officers with a wide range of ranks, rather than focusing solely on patrol officers. Also, the few studies that focus on job satisfaction in patrol officers used either secondary data (Ingram and Lee, 2015) or re-evaluated data over eight-year old (Johnson, 2012). Especially with the recent turbulent events seen between community members and their front-line police officers (including in the USA and Turkey), available research may have missed the most important dimensions of job satisfaction for present patrol officers supporting the measure's widespread relevance.

The Effects of Police Officer's Job Satisfaction on the Affective Commitment

The Effects of Police Officer's Job Satisfaction on the Affective Commitment

Police Officer Job Satisfaction

The literature on police officers’ job satisfaction to date has focused primarily on individual officers’ demographic characteristics, while a few recent studies have demonstrated that officers’ job task characteristics are a principal source of job satisfaction. The present study expanded on this prior research by simultaneously analyzing three dimensions of correlates of job satisfaction: officers’ demographic characteristics, officers’ job task characteristics, and officers’ organizational environment characteristics. This was the first such study to include the dimension of organizational characteristics in the study of police officer job satisfaction. The analysis of survey data from a sample of patrol officers from 11 law enforcement agencies in the southwestern United States suggested that the officers’ job task characteristics were a principal source of job satisfaction. Organizational environment characteristics also played an important, but weaker, role in the shaping of officer job satisfaction.

Organizational Climate, Perceived Citizen Support, and Job Satisfaction of Police Officers: Findings from the Post-Grand Reform Era in South Korea

Two major police reforms were introduced in South Korea in 1991 and 1999 to help bring about a shift from a colonial style of policing to a form more prevalent in developed economies pursuing the rule of law, observance of human rights, and the practice of democratic policing. We conclude that the findings from the present study, drawing on a survey of a national sample of 406 South Korean police officers, offer modest support for the efforts of the Grand Reform in its impact on police officers’ satisfaction with promotion and salary and benefits. While few demographic characteristics, with the exception of age and years of experience, were associated with job satisfaction, there is strong evidence for the relationship between organizational characteristics and job satisfaction. Management support and perceived citizen support of police are associated with both measures of satisfaction, promotion and salary/benefits, while the police officers’ relationship with their supervisors is less than stellar. Finally, officers who believe that the primary operating philosophy of the police is to serve the government appear to be satisfied with their jobs relative to their opportunity for promotion, which is perhaps a more critical measure for them than salary and benefits, reflecting the presence of a police organizational climate that is still rooted in the historical military culture of Korean police. The findings from this study suggest that more efforts are warranted in improving organizational climate if officers are to believe their primary goal is to serve the citizen, a fundamental element of democratic policing.

Municipal Police Officer Job Satisfaction in Pennsylvania: A Study of Organisational Development in Small Police Departments

Current policing literature indicates that the retention rate of patrol officers is in steady decline. On the whole, various policing factors that include fatigue, stress and workload appear to be major reasons for high turnover rates. In order to substantiate patrol officers' views of contemporary policing, we examined their perceptions of issues related to overall job satisfaction and correlating factors. Municipal police officers from 14 south central Pennsylvania police departments located in one mid-size county were surveyed to determine if there were any significant differences or correlations between perceptions of overall job satisfaction and previous research related to satisfaction with administration, shift work, equipment, community support, department morale and policies and procedures. Results indicate that there is an apparent connection between stress and overall job satisfaction. Most notably, higher stress levels, faster rotating shifts and officers' perceptions of department morale were shown to impact the levels of overall job satisfaction.

Organizational factors, environmental climate, and job satisfaction among police in Slovenia

In this paper we examine the extent to which organizational culture, police enforcement strategies, and occupational role influence the job satisfaction of police officers in Slovenia. More specifically, we ask if these factors shape perceptions of satisfaction among police officers working in different departments and to what extent they differ among various occupational groups within the same organization. These groups include law enforcement officers, police investigators, and state border officers. Using data from a sample of 995 Slovenian police officers, our analyses suggest that officer demographic characteristics alone do little to explain variation in job satisfaction, whereas the introduction of organizational and environmental factors such as opportunities to innovate, perceptions of citizen cooperation, and job challenges vastly improve the models. Similarities and differences between the occupational groups are discussed, along with implications for policy and future research.

경찰공무원의 직무만족 영향요인에 관한 연구

This study investigates how the external factors of police organization, such as organizational environments, job characteristics, and compensations can influence job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Especially, this study considers what kind of organizational culture is dominant and what kind of compensation influences job satisfaction and organizational commitment in Korea. The purpose of this study is to find out the ways to maximize compensation and job satisfaction of police officers and to improve organizational commitment. The results are as follows: First, the more perceived job interest, social approval, organizational cohesion, and financial compensation, the higher job satisfaction, whereas the more perceived work environment, the lower job satisfaction. Second, the more perceived job interest, social approval, organizational cohesion, and financial compensation, the higher job satisfaction. However, the perceived work environment does not influence the job satisfaction. Third, the higher job satisfaction, the higher organizational commitment. Fourth, organizational cohesion, financial compensation and organizational environment have an effect on organizational commitment mediated by job satisfaction.

The Effect of Educational Differences on the Level of Job Satisfaction in Police Officers in Turkey

In order to maintain the well-being of a country, it is essential to understand the needs of that country's police officers and what affects their job satisfaction. Current literature shows that there are many factors that can impact on a police officer's job satisfaction. The current research examines the job satisfaction of police working in the city of Kutahya, both in central Kutahya and in the counties of Kutahya. The study focused on the relationship between the level of education and job satisfaction for police in central Kutahya and the counties of Kutahya, as well as if the pleasure and dissatisfaction they experience in the organisation is related to demographic factors. Accordingly, the study examined some factors which are assumed to affect job satisfaction, such as communication gaps, friendship, promotion opportunities, management style, fair wages and fair work assignment. The results showed that the level of education does not affect the job satisfaction of police officers who work in central Kutahya or the counties of Kutahya. Moreover, data analysis showed that the police enjoy their job even though they complain about their job and the negative conditions that they experience in their job.

Determinants of job satisfaction among South Korean police officers

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to compare the job satisfaction of police officers in metropolitan cities with that of officers in smaller areas in a rapidly developing nation. It also assesses the difference in the factors that affect the job satisfaction of officers in metropolitan cities and smaller areas.Design/methodology/approachThe research used survey data collected from 1,500 police officers throughout South Korea. Ordinal logistic (ordered logit) regression was the main method of analysis considering the ordinal response in the dependent variable.FindingsThe findings revealed no difference in job satisfaction between officers in metropolitan cities and those in smaller cities and rural areas, but certain factors, especially length of service and rank, negatively affected officers' job satisfaction in metropolitan cities; this was not the case in smaller cities and rural areas.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough findings from police survey data of a non‐random sample of officers should be generalized with caution, the findings provide police administrators with some evidence that certain factors are necessary to minimize the likelihood of job dissatisfaction among senior and supervisory officers in metropolitan cities.Originality/valueFew researchers have compared the level of and predictors of officers' job satisfaction in large and small cities, especially in non‐Western contexts. The study intends to fill this void.

Predicting police officer job satisfaction: Traditional versus contemporary models of trauma in occupational experience.

The dominant approach in examining stress and well-being among police officers has, until relatively recently, focused almost exclusively on the risk of officer's developing psychopathology. This a...