Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies and Management

Ward, Jeffrey T.; Bennett, J.Z.; Olaghere, Ajima

doi: 10.1108/pijpsm-01-2024-0006pmid: N/A

Recent scholarship calls for identifying conditions in which procedurally just treatment translate to increased police legitimacy. The present study draws on community justice and vitality and procedural justice literature to examine whether adolescent and young adults’ perceptions of legitimate work and school opportunities in their neighborhoods moderate the effects of fair treatment by police on perceptions of police legitimacy.Design/methodology/approachLongitudinal data from a justice-involved youth sample and a series of generalized linear mixed models are used to test the study’s hypotheses. We model “persons as contexts” and separate within-person and between-person effects.FindingsMain effects models indicate that procedural justice and neighborhood opportunities both have significant within-individual, between-individual and person-contextual effects on police legitimacy. Results from interaction models indicate strong support for a person-contextual interaction effect. Net of covariates, higher average perceptions of procedurally just treatment leads to greater average police legitimacy, but this effect erodes when individuals perceive weak educational and occupational opportunities in their neighborhoods over time.Originality/valueEfforts to maximize police legitimacy may be enhanced through greater investment in community opportunity structures. This study highlights the need for public officials and police to support the educational and occupational vitality of communities as a key strategy to promote police legitimacy and optimize core aspects of the procedural justice model.

Lin, ChiaHung; Zhao, Jihong

doi: 10.1108/pijpsm-11-2023-0145pmid: N/A

The current paper aims to provide insights into the determinants associated with job satisfaction among police administrative (personnel) officers in Taiwan, especially both internal organizational predictors and unique external predictors related to the Chinese cultural context.Design/methodology/approachData were gathered from police administrative officers across major and medium-sized police agencies in Taiwan. Multiple regression models were employed to analyze the relationship between both internal factors to the organization (e.g. workplace fairness, supervisor support, self-efficacy) and external factors (related to traditional Chinese culture and its expectations) and job satisfaction.FindingsThe external factors of work-family life balance and financial benefits are strong predictors, emphasizing the cultural significance of family harmony and financial stability in Taiwanese society. This finding challenges the prevailing notion in the literature that the primary source of job satisfaction among police officers is derived from internal organizational factors. Collectively, the findings concluded the multi-faceted determinants of job satisfaction among administrative officers in Taiwan, intertwining both individual and internal organizational factors with broader external cultural influences.Practical implicationsThis study investigated the job satisfaction among administrative officers who play a key role in a police department. The findings showed that external factors exert a significant impact on job satisfaction. This offers a new frontier to examine job satisfaction among not only administrative officers but also patrol officers in Taiwan and Asian countries. In addition, training courses can be developed and focus on work-family relations when officers are off duty.Originality/valueWhile previous research has extensively explored job satisfaction among police officers in various roles and countries, by integrating internal organizational and external predictors, this study pioneers the focus on “police administrative officers” within Taiwanese police agencies.

Hossain, Md Asif

doi: 10.1108/pijpsm-09-2023-0122pmid: N/A

The study aimed to address how recruits perceive their roles and develop professional identities during in-classroom and in-field training.Design/methodology/approachThis study explored the professional identity formation process by analysing asynchronous surveys with recruits from 13 municipal police departments in British Columbia, Canada. The participants were surveyed twice: after classroom-based training following Block I at the British Columbia Police Academy (BCPA) and after their departmental field training following Block II.FindingsThe analysis revealed that police recruits lacking public safety experience transformed their occupation and lifestyle. The training at the police academy helped develop recruits' muscle memory as they applied their knowledge to the situation through hands-on practice. Moreover, teamwork at the police academy and during field training allowed recruits to form their police identity. The study was conducted between 2020 and 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, thus revealing how the recruits learnt effectively whilst facing continuous challenges and adjusting.Research limitations/implicationsThis study relied solely on the respondents' language in text-based answers; therefore, it was not possible to ask follow-up questions or seek clarification. Consequently, several inputs were excluded from the analysis. This would not have been the case if a quantitative method, where answers can be selected accurately, had been used.Originality/valueThis study demonstrates that police recruits acquire diverse competencies and skill sets through rigorous formal requirements, nuanced informal aspects and comprehensive training at the BCPA and during field training, all of which pivotal in shaping their professional identities.

Gottschalk, Petter

doi: 10.1108/pijpsm-03-2024-0031pmid: N/A

This article reviews 69 press releases published by the Norwegian Økokrim from June 2022 to November 2023. The presented research applies the theory of focal concerns to identify the main themes in the press releases.Design/methodology/approachSerious fraud offices such as the Norwegian national authority for investigation and prosecution of economic and environmental crime (Økokrim) are facing many challenges when combating white-collar and corporate crime. Press releases represent an element of facing such challenges, as the messages are an important vehicle for the organization to disclose organizational activities to the public.FindingsThree themes emerged: offender conviction, impression management and crime deterrence. Offender prosecution followed by offender conviction is at the core of Økokrim's business. Impression management serves the purpose of emphasizing the important role of the national authority in society. The subjective perception of detection and prosecution by potential offenders can be influenced by crime deterrence messages.Research limitations/implicationsPress releases are signals that may be interpreted in other ways.Practical implicationsWhen politicians are to review national authorities, they may want a slightly different serious fraud office.Social implicationsThe deterrence effect is often not real for alleged white-collar crime.Originality/valueUnderstanding a national authority in terms of its focal concerns based on press releases from the authority.

Dailey, Stephanie Fariss; Campbell, Lauren N.P.; Ramsdell, Justin

doi: 10.1108/pijpsm-09-2023-0114pmid: N/A

This exploratory study aimed to investigate law enforcement officers’ decision-making processes in high-stress scenarios, exploring variations based on experience and how cognitive demands influence officer decision-making processes.Design/methodology/approachEmploying a naturalistic decision-making approach and macrocognitive framework, the study utilizes scenario-based virtual reality simulations and qualitative interviews to examine the decision-making processes of law enforcement officers in high-stress policing contexts.FindingsThematic coding of interview data from twelve LEOs immediately following a high-stress virtual reality task revealed differences in decision-making processes and cognitive demands between novice and expert officers. Findings also revealed differences in the type of cognitive demands experienced by officers at key points in the simulated scenario.Originality/valueThe authors offer theoretical and practical contributions toward an increased understanding of officer decision-making, factors and conditions that impact LEO decisions and potential mitigation strategies that law enforcement organizations may leverage to improve officer decision-making in high-stress contexts.

Rhee, Yong-Chan; Menifield, Charles E.

doi: 10.1108/pijpsm-05-2023-0057pmid: N/A

The goal of this study is to examine how community policing policies (CPP) can be effective in addressing racial disparities in police killings in the United States.Design/methodology/approachThe study utilized multi-level mixed modeling techniques.FindingsThe study finds that CPP training for in-service officers is effective when the police chief is black, in contrast to the presence of written CPP statements and CPP training for newly recruited officers. This article concludes that the effectiveness of policy implementation is dependent upon policing leaders who manage policy implementation.Research limitations/implicationsThis research is limited in that it only includes data from people who were killed by police. In addition, it was extremely difficult to collect data on the race of the officer. Hence, it reduced the number of viable cases that we could include in the analysis.Practical implicationsThe most significant practical limitation to our research is the ability to generalize to police departments within a city and between cities. In some cases, police killings were confined to one or two areas in a city.Social implicationsDisproportionality in police killings is important in every country where certain groups are overrepresented in the number of police killings. This is particularly true today, where we see groups like Black Lives Matter highlighting higher levels of lethal force in minority neighborhoods.Originality/valueUsing representative bureaucracy theory, this research shows leaders select and emphasize specific goals among a set of organizational goals, seek to build trust rather than fight crimes and support goals to improve policy outcomes, which fills a theoretical gap in the theory.

Itskovich, Eran; Baron, Or Tal; Factor, Roni; Perry, Simon

doi: 10.1108/pijpsm-03-2024-0037pmid: N/A

Previous research has shown that terror attacks affect a variety of outcomes. However, one outcome that has remained relatively neglected is crime. In the current study we examine the immediate effect of terrorism on crime, and discuss several behavioral mechanisms that might explain this effect.Design/methodology/approachWe use data from 190 Israeli localities over 12 years (1999–2011). Applying a fixed-effects Poisson regression model, we assess the effect of terror attacks on recorded crimes of three types – property, domestic violence, and fraud – on the days following the attack. We also examine whether the effect is conditioned on geographical proximity to the attack.FindingsWe find the occurrence of terror attacks has a significant and negative effect on recorded cases of the three crime types. This effect grows stronger as geographical proximity to the attack increases.Originality/valueOur results suggest that terrorism has an immediate negative effect on crime. This effect might be explained by changes in the behavior of police officers, offenders, and citizens.

Ottaro, Paul; Ariel, Barak; Harinam, Vincent

doi: 10.1108/pijpsm-01-2024-0013pmid: N/A

The objectives of this study are to (a) identify spatial and temporal crime concentrations, (b) supplement the traditional place-based analysis that defines hot spots based on counted incidents with an analysis of crime severity and (c) add to the research of hot spots with an analysis of offender data.Design/methodology/approachThis study explores crime concentration in mass transit settings, focusing on Edmonton’s Light Rail Transit (LRT) stations in 2017–2022. Pareto curves are used to observe the degree of concentration of crime in certain locations using multiple estimates; trajectory analysis is then used to observe crime patterns in the data on both places and offenders.FindingsA total of 16.3% of stations accounted for 50% of recorded incidents. Train stations with high or low crime counts and severity remained as such consistently over time. Additionally, 3.6% of offenders accounted for 50% of incident count, while 5% accounted for 50% of harm. We did not observe differences in the patterns and distributions of crime concentrations when comparing crime counts and harm.Research limitations/implicationsHot spots and harm spots are synonymous in low-crime-harm environments: high-harm incidents are outliers, and their weight in the average crime severity score is limited. More sensitive severity measures are needed for high-frequenty, low-harm enviornments. Practical implicationsThe findings underscore the benefits of integrating offender data in place-based applied research.Originality/valueThe findings provide additional evidence on the utility of place-based criminology and potentially cost-effective interventions.

Gibbs, Jennifer C.; Schally, Jennifer L.; Mullen, Ally; Akdemir, Melahat; Cutler, Nicholas; Brearly, Timothy W.

doi: 10.1108/pijpsm-02-2024-0020pmid: N/A

The nature of policework is uniquely challenging to officers’ mental health, producing detrimental outcomes such as higher rates of suicide, substance abuse and divorce compared to other occupations. This is especially true in small and rural police departments, where officers often have broader responsibilities and cover a larger geographic area than their counterparts who work in large urban departments. Given the limited resources available to small and rural police, the purpose of this study is to explore the mental health services available to officers in small and rural police departments.Design/methodology/approachWe used a mixed methods approach. First, we surveyed 349 small and rural Pennsylvania police chiefs about the mental health services in their department. Of these chiefs, 53 participated in subsequent in-depth qualitative interviews about officer awareness of the mental health services available to them, what resources they thought would be helpful to officers and what barriers exist to prevent officers from seeking help.FindingsQuantitative results indicated that 22% of small and rural police departments had no mental health programs available to officers; Critical Incident Stress Management and Employee Assistance Programs were most commonly available. Budget size and the presence of a union influenced whether a department had mental health programs available to officers. Qualitative interviews found that although most departments provided some mental health services, officers were unlikely to use them. Chiefs expressed a need for improved services that officers might be more likely to use.Practical implicationsGiven the lack of resources available in small and rural police departments and the lack of adoption of some resources, we recommend peer assistance, general wellness programs and telehealth as feasible options for officer mental health.Originality/valueSmall and rural police comprise the bulk of policing in the USA, yet remain understudied. This study focuses on small and rural police.

Cheung, Yuen-kiu; Li, Jessica C.M.; Zhu, Shimin

doi: 10.1108/pijpsm-12-2023-0176pmid: N/A

The aim of this study is to examine predictors and mediators of work-related stress among Hong Kong police officers.Design/methodology/approachQuantitative secondary survey data were used, based on surveys collected from 335 police officers in Hong Kong between May and June in 2020.FindingsIt was found that operational stressors were directly and positively related to work-related stress among Hong Kong police officers. The more the operational stressors, the more the work-related stress. It was also found that internal procedural justice had an indirect effect on work-related stress via work engagement among Hong Kong police officers. More internal procedural justice fostered an increased work engagement, causing less work-related stress.Research limitations/implicationsGiven that the nature of secondary cross-sectional survey data, causal relationships are difficult to make.Originality/valueResults from this study contribute to the expansion of the job demands-resources model (the JD-R model). This study used structural equation modelling (SEM) for quantitative secondary survey data analysis, providing a more accurate understanding of this topic. This study provides insights into how to formulate relevant measures to reduce work-related stress in policing occupation.