Police Organizations Research Articles

Gender discrimination and family stressors: Perceptions and experiences of women police officers

Abstract Women police officers may experience discrimination and work–life balance challenges that can impede their entry into and advancement and retention within police organizations. This study used in-depth interviews with 14 women police officers in the St. Louis, MO, metropolitan region to examine workplace stressors, experiences within policing, and perceptions of whether and how gender influenced those stressors and experiences. Participants expressed that they experienced discrimination based on gender, including direct discrimination, such as denial of specialized training, denial of lateral changes in duty assignments, and barriers to career advancement, and indirect discrimination in the form of teasing, harassment, and higher expectations. Many participants also reported they deployed coping strategies to insulate themselves from those experiences, isolated themselves from situations that might result in discrimination or harassment, or sought ways to mitigate the harm of those experiences. Police departments must create environments that support not just gender representation but gender equity.

Police officers' opinions about some effects of the use of body worn cameras

In the last ten years, many police organizations around the word have been approaching the implementation of cameras that can be placed on the body of a police officer. By implementing these cameras, police organizations strive to prevent and suppress crime, to improve officer safety, officers' performance and police-community relationship. In September 2023, the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs started with the pilot project of implementing body worn cameras (BWC) in two organizational units of the traffic police. The research presented in this paper was carried out before the idea of implementation of BWCs in Serbian police practice was born. The research included police officers from five organizational units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The aim of the research was to explore the views and opinions of police officers related to implementation of BWCs. Research results and the authors' conclusions may help the decision-making process related to the BWC implementation in Serbian police practice.

How motivation and perceived organizational support influence the work engagement of police volunteers in Malaysia

Abstract This study investigates the impact of individual motivation and perceived organizational support on the work engagement of police volunteers in Malaysia. Utilizing a quantitative methodology, 390 completed questionnaires were collected through purposive sampling. Structural equation modeling was employed for hypothesis testing. The study found that both motivation and perceived organizational support significantly influence work engagement. Additionally, a path was identified linking motivation to perceived organizational support. This research is among the first to explore these relationships in the context of volunteer police work in Malaysia. It is limited to one police organization in one Malaysian state, warranting further validation in other law enforcement settings. The findings offer actionable insights to improve organizational support and motivation, aiming to enhance volunteer engagement. Given the growing trend of police volunteerism globally, this study holds relevance for law enforcement agencies utilizing volunteer personnel.

A Loss Cycle of Burnout Symptoms and Reduced Coping Self-Efficacy: A Latent Change Score Modelling Approach

Police officers are frequently faced with chronic and acute stressors, such as excessive workload, organizational stressors and emotionally charged reports. This study aims to examine the relationship between a form of chronic strain (ie, burnout symptoms) and a resource (ie, coping self-efficacy) in a sample of Dutch police officers. Specifically, we aim to investigate the existence of a loss cycle of resources. We use Latent Change Score modeling to investigate the potential depletion or loss cycle of coping self-efficacy as a result of burnout symptoms in a sample of 95 police officers who completed a survey on three consecutive timepoints. The lag between the measurements was approximately one year. We found that, during both one-year intervals, within-person increases in burnout symptoms were related to within-person decreases in coping self-efficacy. Also, the results emphasize the buffering role of coping self-efficacy for burnout symptoms, as within-person decreases in coping self-efficacy during the first year were associated with within-person increases in burnout symptoms during the following year. Together, the results imply that a loss cycle of coping self-efficacy and burnout symptoms may occur. For this we used Latent Change Score modeling, which is a relatively new approach which provides researchers with the opportunity to analyse multi-wave longitudinal data while focusing on within-person changes over time. Practically, police organizations are advised to monitor personnel wellbeing and resources, to maintain and promote sustainable employability of police officers and to be able to timely provide individuals with interventions. Limitations discussed are the use of self-report measures and large intervals between the measurements. Finally, future directions of research are discussed that would circumvent the reported limitations, such as multiple wave with shorter lags and incorporating confounding factors that could affect coping self-efficacy.

What is the problem represented to be in the Swedish police authority: A policy analysis

Abstract In recent years, Sweden has witnessed a rise in criminal activity, notably in organized crime, gang violence, and incidents like shootings and explosions. This trend has sparked considerable political and media debates, in Sweden and internationally. This paper analyses how the Swedish police authority comprehend the situation discursively. How do they define their role and mission in society? What problems do they identify? What goals and strategies do they propose, and what values are attached to these? This is illustrated by policy documents and website materials from the police authority. The results show three main problematizations: crime and crime fighting, working within the police organization, and relations between the police and citizens. Key findings are that the police authority represents crimes and the role of the police in different ways depending on what type of crime discussed, and that they connect various aspects of police work to non-repressive values, such as trust and safety.

Meaningful interventions: Applying a citizen-centric approach to problem-solving in community policing

Abstract Citizens generally express confidence in the police organization, but satisfaction with police services can diminish after voluntary contact with an officer. It appears that officers sometimes struggle to understand what citizens expect and need from them. Victims of crime may not necessarily wish to punish an offender; they may just want to be heard and have their problem resolved. In response, the Dutch police have introduced a pilot to provide ‘meaningful interventions’, such as conflict mediation, as a way to bridge institutional and citizen perspectives successfully. This article presents a qualitative evaluation of the pilot by applying the EMMIE framework, which stands for Effect, Mechanisms, Moderators, Implementation, and Economics, to the available data. In conclusion, meaningful interventions show promise in better aligning police service delivery with the needs and expectations of citizens. Future research is necessary to gain a fuller evidence-based analysis of how meaningful interventions work.

Recruiting, retaining, and advancing women in policing: Lessons learned from the IAWP Gender-Responsive Policing Summit

Abstract Despite persistent support for increasing gender diversity in US policing, women remain underrepresented. Yet, barriers to women in policing are not universal. Many police organizations in the USA and internationally have implemented promising gender-responsive approaches. The International and Nebraska Associations of Women Police (IAWP/NAWP) and UN Women convened a Gender-Responsive Policing Summit to share successful efforts to improve recruitment, retention, promotion, and wellness of women in policing. Researchers conducted systematic observations of Summit sessions, paying particular attention to solutions offered to advance gender-responsive policing. This instrumental case study summarizes lessons learned based on multistage inductive coding of Summit observation notes. Themes emerged around strategic planning and data use, leadership and promotion, health and wellness policies, associations, and support initiatives. This study provides real-world strategies police agencies can use to improve gender diversity, informed by police professionals committed to improving women’s experiences in policing on an international scale.

Experience of administrative and legal support of the organization and activities of the Romanian police

Experience of administrative and legal support of the organization and activities of the Romanian police

Optimising the public health benefits of sex work regulation in Senegal: Results from qualitative interviews with policy stakeholders.

There is compelling evidence that eliminating sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among female sex workers (FSWs) is a cost-effective approach to reducing the spread of HIV/AIDS. Although many countries recognise sex work as a public health issue, few have implemented public health policies specifically aimed at controlling the transmission of HIV/AIDS among FSWs. In particular, Senegal stands out as the only African country to regulate sex work through a specific public health policy that requires FSWs to register with a health centre. Despite the potential health and legal benefits associated with registration, a staggering 80% of FSWs in Senegal remain unregistered. This low registration rate hinders the realisation of the policy's full potential for public health benefits. The reluctance of FSWs to register is due to inherent flaws in the policy design, where the disadvantages of registration outweigh the benefits for FSWs. To identify which modifications to the current registration policy have the potential to increase uptake of registration by FSWs and to assess their feasibility in the context of Senegal. We conducted a qualitative policy research study using semi-structured in-depth interviews with 22 national stakeholders in this policy, including representatives from the police, government and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Dakar, Senegal, as well as FSWs' leaders. The interview data were thematically coded using the interview topic guide and other recurring themes and analysed using thematic analysis on Nvivo 12. A total of 20 relevant themes were selected, focusing primarily on assessing the feasibility of potential interventions and identifying potential barriers and associated risks. We found that, without changing current legislation, improving relationships between FSWs and police officers, providing accurate and accessible information about the rules and benefits of the policy, and offering psychosocial support have the potential to improve both the registration rate of FSWs and their wellbeing. Policy features designed to increase registration by improving FSWs' confidentiality, and thus their confidence in the services offered, were also discussed. The study highlighted that several national public health policies could be changed to increase the registration rate of FSWs and improve their wellbeing without overturning constitutional law.

Analysis of Fundamental Challenges in the Combat of Transnational Crimes

Transnational Crimes have existed in some form and to some degree since the inception of organized societies. They have remained prominent in popular culture and policies, evolving through different eras, under different political and economic conditions. These crimes encompass various offences ranging from organized to corporate and political crimes. Specifically, some of the crimes that are transnational in nature include human trafficking, cybercrimes, drug trafficking, migrant smuggling, sea piracy, terrorism amongst others. Globalization enlarged their markets, technological advancements accelerated their trends and the internet fostered development of looser transnational criminal networks. Despite the challenges posed by state sovereignty, the International Community have been actively involved in the suppression of transnational crimes. This is evidenced in the evolution of various Suppression Conventions, principal of which is the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC). Several International Institutions such as the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) and the International Criminal Police Organization are also in place to combat transnational crimes. The effectiveness of these mechanisms has been clogged by democratic deficits over the development of Transnational Criminal Law, state complicity in transnational crimes, the absence of a transnational criminal justice system amongst other problems. Recommendations were made in the study for the legitimization of Transnational Criminal Law, establishment of an effective central and neutral authority to oversee international cooperation in transnational criminal matters, stronger infusion of human rights safeguards in transnational criminal justice, establishment of a multi-disciplinary team for the investigation and prosecution of transnational crimes amongst other recommendations. The doctrinal research method was adopted for the study as information contained in the research was gathered from consultation of both secondary and primary sources which are related to the subject of discourse.

Sexual harassment and psychological distress experienced by women police: The role of embitterment and psychological contract breach

Abstract Despite decades of workplace interventions, often focussed on increasing women police numbers, women continue to be under-represented in policing. Understanding the experiences of women once they have entered policing has been an area of ongoing interest. Examination of the experiences of women police is often undertaken with reference to its masculinized culture. Stemming from these discussions, sexual harassment remains a persistent concern across many police agencies. This study involves 491 women police employed in one large Australian, state police organization. Derived from the study findings, the concepts of psychological contract breach (PCB) and embitterment, two factors that have been rarely studied in policing, are critical to understanding the relationship between sexual harassment and psychological distress. Using mediated regression analysis, the research found PCB and embitterment provide a more nuanced explanation of outcomes of sexual harassment experiences and in turn, provided insight into why sexual harassment is associated with greater psychological distress. This research positions police agencies and their leaders to develop and implement more effective support strategies for women police who have experienced sexual harassment and mitigate negative psychological health impacts that may result.

경찰의 인권보호 정책에 대한 시민인식

Police organizations have been attempting to change to human rights-friendly police by reorganizing the human rights-related legal system. However, questions still remain as to how much citizens are experiencing such changes and whether they are highly receptive to the police's human rights policy. Therefore, this study attempted to analyze citizens' perceptions of the police's human rights protection policy and what variables affect their perceptions. Specifically, the effect of the experience of human rights violations through the media, police trust, and human rights policy awareness on citizens' perceptions of the police's human rights protection policy was empirically analyzed. To this end, an online survey was conducted on a sample of 800 people proportionally allocated by gender, age, and region. As a result of the analysis, the average of the questions on the relationship between police activities and human rights was all over 3.4. In addition, citizens recognized that the life safety function was most related to human rights protection activities. Citizens highly recognized the necessity of the criminal management system and the victim assessment report. As a result of regression analysis, it was confirmed that the experience of human rights violations through the media, trust in the police, and awareness of the human rights policy had a statistically significant effect on the Citizens' perception of the police's human rights protection policies.

AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) Analysis of Promotion Factors in Police Organization Focusing on the perceptions of Senior Superintendent

AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) Analysis of Promotion Factors in Police Organization Focusing on the perceptions of Senior Superintendent

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.

경찰공무원의 핵심이념과 조직시민행동에 관한 연구

Under the goal of ‘competent and dignified police, a safe community trusted by the public,’ the police is implementing four major policies: securing reliable public security, establishing a solid safety system, pioneering future security, and establishing strict law and order. The success or failure of these police organizations can vary depending on the efforts of all police officers. The organizational citizenship behavior of police officers is explained as a factor that can improve the performance of organizational members, achieve organizational goals, and influence organizational innovation and development. Accordingly, this study sought to verify the core ideology and organizational citizenship behavior pursued by the police. In addition, this study sought to verify the moderating effect that police officials' public service motivation, that is, the motivation to perform police public security services for the country and the people, has on the core ideology and organizational citizenship behavior of police officials. As a result of the study, first, the core ideology of police officers was found to have a positive influence(+) on organizational citizenship behavior. Second, police officers' public service motivation was found to have a positive influence(+) on organizational citizenship behavior. Finally, the interaction term between police officers' core ideology and public service motivation was found to have a statistically significant effect on organizational citizenship behavior. In other words, the core ideology and public service motivation of police officers were found to further improve organizational citizenship behavior. Based on these research results, we attempted to discuss implications for police officers' organizational citizenship behavior that can aim for a safe society.

Legal experience regarding the reform of the police forces of the Republic of Poland: theory and practice

The article contains a study of normative regulation and the specifics of the organization of police forces in Poland. Special attention is paid to the analysis of the law on the police of 1990, as well as other normative acts in this area.
 Police reform was facilitated by the determination of the political elites of Poland regarding the priorities of social transformations, which were embodied in 1996 in the National Integration Strategy, a document that outlined the content of the reforms [ , p. 278]. From a political body that was an important attribute of the communist regime, in a few decades the Police of Poland turned into a police organization based on fundamentally new principles, which as of March 2016 was trusted by more than 72% of polled Poles.
 Legislative foundations. As noted, in the Republic of Poland, a special law on police forces was approved back in 1990, during the first steps of reforming society and the state. The Police Law of April 6, 1990 (hereinafter - the Law) was amended by 137 acts (laws and decisions of the Constitutional Tribunal) by the end of 2017. In addition to the Law, the normative basis of the activities of the Polish police is a number of subordinate legal acts, namely: the order of the Council of Ministers “On the methods of proceedings in the exercise of certain powers of the police” dated 26.07.2005, the order of the Council of Ministers “On the determination of cases, as well as conditions and methods of use of direct coercion by the police” dated 17.09.1990, the order of the Minister of Internal Affairs and Administration “On Arming the Police” dated 15.11.2000, the order of the Council of Ministers “On special conditions and methods of proceedings in the use of firearms and ambushes by the police use of firearms by departments and subdivisions of the police” dated 19.07.2005, the order of the Minister of Internal Affairs and Administration “On police uniforms” dated 20.05.2009, the directive of the Chief Commandant of the Police “On the actions of police officers against road users who use diplomatic or consular immunities and privileges, and who enjoy domestic immunities” dated 03.01.2006, “Principles of professional ethics of a police officer” (approved by the order of the chief commandant of the police dated 31.12.2003 No. 805), etc.
 It was concluded that the main factor in the reform of the Polish police was the obligation to implement the standards and values of EU police activity, the accession to which was a strategic goal of the state.

The Communication Crisis of Restoring the Reputation of Indonesian National Police Post the Murder of Brigadier Josua on Online Media.

Crisis communication is a strategy for managing crisis situations through the process of sending and receiving information during or after a crisis event with the aim of managing the situation, minimizing damage, and ensuring the safety of the people involved, or victims. The leadership of the National Police institution has an important role in carrying out crisis communications as a communicator in improving the organization's reputation. The scandal, which was not carried out institutionally, but involved the involvement of high-ranking police officials and a number of other police officers, caused the reputation of the police organization to experience the threat of a crisis of public distrust. Law enforcement agencies that are actually faced with violations of the law are demanded by both the families of victims and the public that police agencies prioritize transparency, accountability and justice in resolving cases. The three stages of the press conference as a form of conveying the National Police Chief's crisis communication were chosen for analysis, namely the press conference held on August 4, 9 and 25 2022. Based on the content analysis, it was concluded that the most highlighted messages were relevant messages, messages emphasizing credibility, and statements. ongoing process. Meanwhile, the Timely message and messages of empathy for victims were not highlighted in the National Police Chief's press conference to show that empathy is an important thing in the National Police Chief's crisis message.

Satisfaction of the Police Personnel from their Working Conditions: A Case Study of Haryana

Working conditions in an organisation have a direct bearing on its performance. Better working conditions are a source of constant motivation for its employees, which further help in extracting their best towards realisation of organisational goals in terms of customer satisfaction. Police organisation is no exception and to generate people-friendly policing, amelioration in their working conditions is a necessity. The present study is an endeavour to make a detailed examination of the working conditions of the Haryana police personnel and their resultant satisfaction from them. To this end, a sample of 710 police personnel was drawn from various police establishments across the state for this study.

IMPLEMENTATION MODELS FOR FOLLOWING UP AFTER A DEMENTIA-RELATED MISSING INCIDENT

Abstract The rate of persons living with dementia who go missing is a growing concern, especially those who go missing repeatedly. Drawing upon the practices of other populations such as at-risk youth, following up with persons living with dementia and their supports after an incident could reveal contributing factors and also connect people with supports to mitigate the risk for going missing again. In Canada, models for such follow-ups are limited. The purpose of this presentation is to describe two implementation models for following up with persons living with dementia and their care partners after a missing incident has occurred. We conducted 20 individual semi-structured online interviews with police and service providers in Canada and the United Kingdom to understand the scope of and approaches to following up with this population. Generic qualitative description and conventional content analysis were used. We developed a resource guide that describes these approaches and proposes how follow-ups could be consistently employed. Two focus groups with police officers and community service providers (n= 11) were conducted to obtain feedback on the guide. We are now working with community partners in two Canadian provinces to develop implementation models unique to their existing processes, resources, and systems; these models put into practice approaches in the resource guide. Our presentation will showcase the guide and the models developed in collaboration with our partners. These models can guide police organizations, Alzheimer Societies, and communities who support persons living with dementia at risk of going missing.

Police Sexual Violence and Corporate Crime

Scholarship on corporate crime focuses, quite naturally, on profit-motivated crime. But there are crimes with an institutional dimension that are not recognized in this framework of corporate crime. In this article, I present a case study of a police organization where multiple employees committed sexual assaults to show that these crimes can have an organizational dimension. This analysis shows two things: first, that the corporate-culture model of attributing mens rea is more effective at identifying corporate crime than the one currently in force in Canada and, second, that organization-facilitated sexual assault is a corporate-entity crime, broadening the conception of corporate crime generally. The corporate-culture model explains why corporations should be liable for crimes they encourage employees to commit even when these are not in line with the organization’s objectives.