Police Career Research Articles

Police Recruitment Videos and their Relevance for Attracting Officers

Police recruitment videos are a widely used and highly salient form of police marketing. These videos can attract prospective applicants, communicate information about a policing career with a given agency, and help prospective applicants to assess their potential fit with that agency. Police agencies tend to highlight the more thrilling and high-risk elements of policing in their recruitment videos rather than the more community-oriented and low-risk elements of policing. The content of recruitment videos could impact who decides to pursue policing careers, the behaviour of officers once hired, as well as officer satisfaction and retention. Police leaders should pay careful attention to the content of their recruitment videos.

Informing the recruitment crisis in policing: Evaluating which incentives can entice the best candidates among college students

AbstractResearch SummaryScrutiny over the quality of police work continues to increase, at the same time that a recruitment crisis may hinder policing services. Moreover, this crisis exists despite numerous work incentives for officers, which are potentially competitive salaries, early pensions, and legal protections. Using a sample of 604 undergraduate students—a natural recruiting pool for police agencies—this study explores the predictors of students’ interest in a career in policing. In addition, we conducted a randomized survey experiment to identify the effect of work incentives on students’ willingness to apply to be a police officer upon graduation. Specifically, we manipulated the starting salary, years of service until pension eligibility, and the protection afforded against lawsuits. Finally, we tested whether the effect of these incentives differs across the quality of applicants (i.e., grade point average [GPA], ability to pass existing application criteria, and subjective qualities that comprise honesty, teamwork, and compassion) and their preexisting interest in a career in policing. We found that students are generally uninterested in becoming police officers, particularly when their GPA is high. Though the starting salary was the most impactful of all incentives, some lawsuit protection is key for enticing the best students. In contrast, conditions for pension had only modest if any effects.Policy ImplicationsRecruiting is key to improving the quality of policing, particularly when many potential candidates are overlooking the career. However, research on the causes and consequences of police recruitment strategies is limited. This study implements rigorous research methods to investigate how to increase the pool of high‐quality applicants to police agencies. Findings support sensible and potentially cost‐effective policy decisions in regard to police recruiting, which should focus on increasing the starting salary, and on more effectively communicating the value of other existing benefits of the career that comprise lawsuit protection and attractive pension plans.

A grasp of police research: characteristics of empirical research on police careers based on multiple scoping reviews

PurposeThis article provides an overview of the literature characteristics of empirical research on topics related to police careers from 2000 to 2021. Methodology, distribution in time and space and types of publication are presented. Recommendations for new research avenues are given.Design/methodology/approachEight scoping reviews on specific topics were carried out by criminology students under the close guidance and supervision of the first author, an academic researcher. The reviews followed the same procedure, enabling an overarching reflection.FindingsThe scoping reviews resulted in 179 unique publications for analysis. It appears that the topic of police professional competencies is studied more often in the field of police careers (n = 55), in contrast to informal learning in police training (n = 4) which was studied the least frequently. Since 2012, there has been a noticeable increase in the number of publications. Publications in scientific journals are by far the most common (n = 153), as is a quantitative research design (n = 123). All topics have been studied in Europe and North America.Research limitations/implicationsMore qualitative research and international dissemination of empirical results are recommended to gain a deeper understanding of police careers. As for the limitations, specific topics were selected, which limits the scope of the findings. Working with students for data collection has its benefits in terms of workload, but comes with potential limitations in terms of quality. It is recommended to conduct a screening using the four-eyed principle, as was done here by the first and second authors. Additionally, the review protocol (e.g. keywords and databases) has an influence on the outcome. Different choices may lead to different results.Originality/valueA comprehensive analysis of police career literature is made based on eight scoping reviews that followed the same procedure. It allows to study the literature in a broad sense rather than studying one topic in depth.

Factors That Influence Urban Recruits’ Persistence to Pursue Police Careers in a Negative Occupational Climate

The decision to become a police officer is often influenced by diverse motivations that vary across individuals. In a negative occupational climate context, understanding the initial motivations of police recruits becomes essential for improving recruitment strategies and informing policy. In this study, we surveyed police academy recruits enrolled in a large urban police academy in Texas to explore their motivations for joining the police force, specifically focusing on different forms of fear associated with the occupation. Our findings reveal significant variations based on demographics, particularly concerning various fears associated with the policing profession. These insights hold crucial implications for recruitment practices and policy-making, providing valuable information for better understanding the factors influencing police recruits’ decision-making processes and contributing to a more informed and practical approach to police recruitment and occupational support.

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.

‘The Devil I Know’: Explaining Police Officer Intention to Transfer to Another Department

Abstract Police workforce management has persisted as a major organizational concern. Numerous compelling historical and organizational factors have contributed to smaller numbers of qualified or even interested applicants for police agencies to choose from, and disrupted police career longevity and even police services overall. To address their staffing needs, a growing number of organizations have increasingly shifted their focus to recruiting existing sworn and experienced officers from other departments. While there is increasing concern about officers transferring across organizations, little research has examined officer intentions to move laterally within the police profession, why officers choose to stay or leave, and the implications for staffing. Using theories of cross-organizational turnover from career psychology and a robust sample of more than 600 officers from 8 police agencies, this paper explores the impact of compensation, organizational values, perceptions of supervisors, and career advancement opportunities on officers’ intentions to pursue lateral transfers. Results indicated that compensation had limited influence on intentions to leave and that organizational characteristics exhibited much stronger relationships. Suggestions for keeping officers and assisting recruits in finding their potential organizational fit, impressions of the trajectory of this trend, and implications for theory and practice are offered.

“Jogo de espelhos”: comunidades morais entre “polícias”, “milícias” e “pi-lícias” cariocas

Abstract The present paper sheds light on a little-known social actor in Rio de Janeiro's criminal landscape. “Pi-licias” are civilians who impersonate policemen in everyday life, working illegally for legitimate police officers in different ways. They are found in private security markets, as “informants” in parallel police investigations, or even as “auxiliary forces” in police and/or paramilitary raids against drug trafficking gangs. Based on ethnographic fieldwork with candidates for the military police career, the study aims to demonstrate how the “moral communities” founded among military police officers, militias, and “pi-licias” pave the way for illegal “schemes” that emerge from private security markets in Rio de Janeiro.

Police career and children 's academic performance in Kenya

This study attempts to illustrate how the careers of police officers affect the academic performance of their children. The research was conducted at Utawala Academy, a primary school that enrolls both police and non-police children. It applied primary data from surveys and secondary data from the school administration to address the study's research questions. This research involved 198 pupils, the headteacher, 12 teachers, and 100 parents. The respondents provided quantitative data whereby Multinomial Logistic Regression was employed to establish relationships between the dependent and independent variables. The independent paired T-Test and Spearman's rho correlation were used to examine the relationship between police careers and their offspring's academic achievement. Significant research findings indicated that police duties do indeed have an impact on their children's academic achievement. This study posited the multiple challenges encountered by Kenyan police officers that need attention and resolution to enhance and improve children's performance. This could be achieved by generating an approach where police officers work near their families. They should also be allowed to live outside government quarters, when necessary, while at the same time, all officers are encouraged to freely integrate with other members of society for elaborate socializing of their children. The "Family and Society" module should be introduced into the police training curriculum and taught at police academies.

스토킹처벌법 정부(법무부) 개정안 통과에 따른 쟁점 연구

This study addresses issues regarding Act on the Punishment of Stalking Crimes(hereinafter referred to as the Stalking Punishment Act) that need to be considered once again even though the it has been passed as a government(Ministry of Justice) amendment. Although the Ministry of Justice’s amendment to the Stalking Punishment Act reflected the practical problems very well, the Delphi survey of the field and experts show that there are areas still need to be considered. As a result of the Delphi survey, it was found that there was no consensus on the abolition of Crime not Punishable against Victim's Will and the implementation of the Electronic Monitoring System, so even after the amendment, complementary institutional changes are required. Moreover, it is necessary for additional supplementation in order for handling stalking crimes and support and safety measures for victims to be carried out well. Therefore, through the results of the analysis, this study aims to identify the factors required for better handling stalking crimes and support and safety measures for victims, and to provide relevant recommendations so that each factor can be reflected in real world. To achieve the research objectives, this study conducted a regression analysis to examine the reasons for the lack of consensus on the two key words(Crime not Punishable against Victim's Will and Electronic Monitoring System) that were not agreed upon in the Delphi survey, and to identify factors that may affect the handling of stalking crimes and victim support with safety measures, limited to improving the work of stalling police officers. The regression analysis showed that the variables that had a negative impact on recommending punishment to unpunished victims were police experience (the longer the police career), heavy workload, and difficulty in dealing with passive victims. This result, with a model explanatory power of 43.6%, suggests that the police should consider reassigning personnel, work improvement, and an alternative to the avoidance of reporting of passive stalking victims due to the abolition of the Crime not Punishable against Victim's Will. Implications and specific policy recommendations will be discussed based on the analysis results.

A magyar rendőrhallgatók pályaválasztásának motivációja és attitűdjei a rendészeti modellek tükrében

Aim: The article examines the motivation and difference between police attitudes. This is worth examining what policing models exist, what police staff and professional attitudes fit into them, and what career choice attitudes are associated with them.Methods: In the research survey was used. The individuals in the sample were all accepted into higher education and undertook the basic training of full-time police officer training.Findings: The Author enlisted eight law enforcement models, which were divided into four clusters. The examined framework can be characterized by different goals and attitudes and it was found that we cannot talk about pure attitudes. The plurality of attitudes may vary from one branch of service to another, which may lead to mixed attitudes among respondents. A significant part of the students who start their law enforcement training did not see a pattern in terms of police careers, and their motivations and attitudes. A preconceived police attitude can be observed, because when candidates enter the police organization and start practical work, the organizational culture inherits the accepted police attitude and this is when their “professional blindness” becomes decisive.Value: The study highlights the attitudes of police officer students at the beginning of their university education. The Author considered it important to find out in which patterns students entering training can identify with the values and views suggested by different law enforcement models. For this, the Author enlisted the help of eight law enforcement models. The different attitude contributes to society's acceptance that the functioning of law enforcement agencies is understandable and provides feelings of security.

‘Bread and butter’ policing: first-year constables and domestic violence

ABSTRACT Domestic violence is an extensive social issue in Australia. It is a complex crime encompassing different behaviours and situations, which challenge police in terms of recognition and response, as well as determining appropriate outcomes of justice. During their first year of police work (whilst being evaluated under competency measures), first-year constables in Australia are frequently deployed to respond to public calls for help. As such, they are regularly sent to investigate domestic violence. Yet knowledge regarding the effectiveness of first-year constables in their response to domestic violence and policing of these crimes is lacking in much of the policing literature. This article focuses on policing of domestic violence from the perspective of first-year constables working in one of the largest Australian state police organisations (de-identified as part of the ethics agreement). It examines the findings from 46 interviews and offers insight into a hitherto under-researched area regarding policing of domestic violence by officers at the start of their policing career.

How a Rape Investigation Nearly Ended My Career in Policing

How a Rape Investigation Nearly Ended My Career in Policing

Vladimir Vinek's dribbles

The paper attempts to shed light on the biography of Vladimir Vinek, a popular Zagreb football player during the early 1920s and one of the first real football stars in Croatia. It also attempts to explain his professional and private life, deeply connected with the contemporary social upheavals marked by repressive regimes of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, and later of the Independent State of Croatia. After considerable success with football Vinek became completely dedicated to his police career, first serving to the regime of Yugoslav king Alexander Karađorđević and later on to the Ustasha regime of Ante Pavelić, which would ultimate lead to his demise.

The Role of Legal Education for the Performance of Police Interventions at the Academy of the Police Force in Bratislava

This paper studies the law-related learning process at a state university and emphasises its peculiarities and special status. Certain law subjects offered at the Academy of the Police Force in Bratislava (Slovakia) are presented and the importance of legal education concerning the performance of the police service is stressed. The authors offer a brief overview of the assigned study fields and programs and list the law subjects that have a special place in the Police Academy training system. They share their practical knowledge and experience obtained while teaching selected law subjects. The paper has been developed within a national research project and the attention is given to selected attributes of the learning process — the police law — as its knowledge is crucial for the performance of police interventions. The paper underlines the legitimacy of obtaining law-related knowledge, which the Police Academy graduates will need in their future police career.

Developing and Sustaining Police–researcher Partnerships

Abstract Developing and sustaining partnerships between the police and researchers has long been a challenge. There have been national federal grant programmes aimed at developing these partnerships and they have been helpful. In most cases, the partnerships lapsed when the funds are expended. Nevertheless, progress has been made over the years and there are examples of police–researcher partnerships but relatively few are sustained long-term relationships. These partnerships have become increasingly important as community advocates make demands for police reforms; many of which are not evidence based. This article identifies and discusses some of the challenges the police face and various reform proposals. It also identifies several long-term successful partnerships and includes a more detailed description of two of them—University of Cincinnati/Cincinnati Police and Arizona State University/Phoenix Police. The article discusses the author’s experience with police–researcher partnerships as a police chief and researcher over his 53-year career in policing. Finally, the article encourages police and researchers to think more deeply about three areas: funding, community engagement, and communications strategy. Funding is fundamental to sustaining the partnerships and supporting them without a total reliance on external resources is crucial. Transparency has become an essential part of establishing public trust and researchers must begin engaging the community in the process. Finally, a communications strategy as a part of the study would enhance the understanding of findings and reinforce the value of investing in research.

Towards a better understanding of police experience: An assessment of the unique shifts, crime areas, and duty assignments that officers have worked

Using the survey data from 791 officers in a large western police department in the United States, the current study assesses how officers’ unique work experiences (i.e., shifts, crime areas, and duty assignments) vary and culminate throughout a career in policing. Findings provide a glimpse into the early socialization and work experiences of novice officers and how experiences manifest across officers as they gain years on the job. The results also show that there is particularly high variation in the career work experiences amongst the most tenured officers, which calls into question the validity of using only length of service to measure officer experience. This study closes by discussing the implications that these findings have for future research and practice.

Attrition of Police Officers With Immigrant Background

Recruiting police officers with immigrant backgrounds has a limited effect if many of these recruits leave the police service. The dropout and attrition rates among officers with immigrant backgrounds are also an important indicator of the challenges this group faces when joining the police profession. We investigated police education dropout patterns and attrition rates among police students and officers with immigrant backgrounds. Our study is based on detailed longitudinal data with total coverage of the population, which were previously unavailable for police career studies. Using logistic regression and coarsened exact matching, we analysed administrative registry data covering all individuals admitted to the Norwegian police university college (1995–2010, N = 6570) and all police-educated staff employed in the Norwegian police (1995–2014, N = 7001). Students and police officers with non-Western immigrant backgrounds have a greater tendency to both dropout of education and leave the police service. Prior academic performance can only partly explain these higher educational dropout rates. Female and males with non-Western immigrant backgrounds have similar dropout patterns. Our results provide a rationale for developing policy aimed at not only recruiting, but also retaining police officers with immigrant backgrounds.

Police-related social media exposure and adolescents’ interest in becoming a police officer

ABSTRACT Police departments are becoming increasingly homogenous as they struggle to recruit demographically diverse officers with desirable characteristics. Youths’ exposure to police brutality on social media may decrease their perceptions of police and interest in policing careers. Despite adolescents being the future pool of police applicants, social media’s relation to adolescents’ perceptions of police is understudied. Utilizing a stratified sampling approach to approximate representation of the U.S., this study analyzed how youths’ exposure to police content on social media was related to trust in the police and interest in police careers. The findings indicated that the more youth were exposed to negative social media on policing, the poorer they viewed police legitimacy, and the less they were willing to enter policing. Police legitimacy partially mediated the relation between adolescents’ exposure to social media content about police and their interest in policing careers. Implications for research, policy, and police behavior are discussed.

Is It Because You Don't Want to? A Content Analysis of Police Executive Leaders' Perceptions of Policewomen's Careers in Europe.

The impediments and barriers that women face in entering and developing a police career have received relatively little attention from researchers. As of today in Europe, despite the slow progress, the 25% barrier to female representation has already been overcome in several countries. However, many areas remain closed to women within police organizations. In this context, research was conducted based on a content analysis of the perceptions of 56 police officers, 28 men and 28 women with considerable police experience, occupying executive leadership positions from a total of 26 European countries. Data was collected through a questionnaire composed of 23 open questions. The results show a considerable gap between the perceptions of male and female police executive leaders with regard to access, career development and workplace conditions faced by policepersons. According to the results, the mirage of equality, dominant in the view of male police officers, is a major barrier to achieving real equality, both horizontally and vertically. What implications these results have on the strategies that police organizations should follow to achieve the challenge of inclusion are discussed, and new ways of analysis are proposed.

Procedural Justice and Demographic Diversity: A Quasi-Experimental Study of Police Recruitment

Online recruitment materials are often the first encounter for individuals considering a police career. Procedural justice (PJ) theory argues that how police officers treat the public is an important predictor for future citizen cooperation. Taking steps towards becoming a police officer is a unique form of organizational cooperation. This project examined job interest for a sample of 993 respondents in Amazon’s mTurk, experimentally manipulating whether the presented recruitment materials emphasized PJ policing or not (PJ content) in a quasi-experimental vignette design. The PJ content significantly increased two of the four job interest outcomes. PJ theory also argues fair and respectful treatment should impact all groups similarly, deemed the invariance thesis. The results largely showed groups being influenced in similar ways. This study’s findings largely support this extension of PJ theory, and are useful to practitioners interested in building their recruitment pool through economical changes in recruitment materials.