International Journal of Police Science and Management

Publisher:: Sage Publications, Inc.
Publication date:: 2021-09-06

ISBN:: 1461-3557

Issue Number

Latest documents

How do law enforcement agencies recruit diverse applicants? Analysis of digital recruiting materials
Law enforcement agencies across the country are struggling to recruit qualified candidates and this problem is pronounced when recruiting demographically diverse officers. Women demonstrate competencies important for effective policing: restoring trust in police, obtaining high case clearance rates, and using less force. The goal of this study was to understand how agencies use online recruiting materials to recruit women officers. We assessed the frequency of text, images, and videos depicting women and racially and ethnically diverse individuals, and content related to hiring and the job itself. We conducted thematic analysis to understand how policing, the agency, and diversity were portrayed. Characteristics known to discourage women applicants were highlighted prominently in materials. Agencies did not provide consistent messaging about diversity, resources for women, or support for work–life balance. We found differences between agencies with higher and lower percentages of women, but they were inconsistent and often in unexpected directions.
The lack of succession HR planning in law enforcement agencies
This article examines the implementation of succession human resources (HR) planning in law enforcement agencies. Α quantitative–descriptive survey was carried out, and questionnaires were completed by 302 executives from Greek law enforcement agencies (Hellenic Police and Hellenic Coastguard), through random sampling. The survey highlighted severe concerns, reflecting a lack of implementation of succession HR planning in both agencies. Succession HR planning, defined as the timely handling of personnel needs (qualitative–quantitative) required for the organization to maintain its performance at high levels, is applied to a minimum extent in the Hellenic Police and Hellenic Coastguard. It seems that these organizations do not follow a specific plan to cover their needs in personnel or other operational matters. The study makes a significant contribution on a theoretical and practical level. The research exposes the problem of the non-implementation of succession HR planning in law enforcement agencies. Using the data highlighted by this study, these agencies will be able to implement HR planning to maximize personnel performance and respond to the crucial role they play in society. Future research in law enforcement agencies over the wider area of Greece or other countries should be conducted to draw more representative conclusions.
How emergency response teams access tactical armoured vehicles in Canada
As Canadian police services rely on their emergency response teams (ERT) to respond to different calls for service, their reliance also requires police services to possess the equipment necessary to support their ERT. Since 2004, an ongoing trend remains that police services procure tactical armoured vehicles (TAVs) for their ERTs. In the current article, we explore trends in the procurement of TAVs by Canadian police services comparatively, drawing on two distinct data sets. The first is a content analysis derived from news media and the second is the result of a survey of ERTs across Canadian police services. Our purpose is to explore different trends in the procurement of TAVs by police services, looking comparatively at secondary sources and primary data to better understand the composition of ERTs, the positioning of TAVs within tactical policing and shed light on whether some TAVs are procured more often than others. Discussion centres on the relationship between TAVs and ERT –the need versus desire for TAVs – as well as how policing needs are interpreted and impacted by calls to defund the police.
Developing organisational excellence: Applying benchmarking for guiding and measuring police agency performance – Abu Dhabi Police case study
The process of developing organisational excellence requires identifying benchmarks and a model or framework to guide the operationalisation of an organisation's aspirations. Developing evidence through application of strategies to meet benchmark criteria requires commitment at all levels of an organisation to demonstrate a sustained quality level of achievement through continuous improvement to standards of excellence. This article presents the process and outcomes for a police organisation (Abu Dhabi Police [ADP]) utilising the European Foundation for Quality Management (EfQM) criteria to guide development and measurement of organisational excellence. In 2021 ADP were awarded a 6 Star Global Award from the EfQM. This case study explores the extent to which EfQM is an effective framework for organisational excellence in policing.
Cause of death in fatal missing person cases in England and Wales
Understanding vehicle consent search requests through the use of the social conditioning model and illusory correlation
Police recruit narratives and publicly oriented vocabularies of motive
Although who chooses to become a police officer and why they do so is pivotal for understanding policing, few studies explore recruit motivations. We help to fill this research void through analysis of open-ended narratives penned by police recruits during the academy in a large rust belt city explaining why they want to become police officers, supplemented with qualitative follow-up interviews conducted with randomly selected participants. Of the existing studies on police recruit motivation, nearly all use fixed-response surveys of researcher-selected answers. Despite our respondents being completely free to use their own words, their motivations demonstrate a striking similarity to the findings of previous literature. These stated motivations of altruism and community concern also stand in stark contrast to the public behaviors of police. We suggest this consistency in stated motivations and disconnect with public behavior evinces a publicly oriented vocabulary of motive in which police recruits are attempting to voice the “appropriate” reasons for joining the force.
“It's frustrating … I didn’t join to sit behind a desk”: Police paperwork as a source of organizational stress
Police officers are responsible for both proactive and reactive policing; however, every call for service, at a minimum, equates to an administrative process that is time-consuming and appears to distract from the ability of police officers to do their investigative and community-oriented police work. In this article, we explore the administrative processes that are paperwork as a source of organizational stress. Specifically, we draw on researcher observational field notes, focus groups, as well as interview data discussing the paperwork processes as a part of and contributing to the organizational and operational stressors experienced by, and the psychological burden and its effects on, police officers in a provincial policing agency in Canada. Results indicate not only the sheer volume of paperwork that police are responsible for, but also the extended time being spent “catching up” administratively and the psychological implications of such processes on their well-being, including, for example, decreased morale, frustration, and feeling overwhelmed.
Work overload, role conflict and emotional distress as predictors of burnout among police cadets in Nigeria
Burnout has been investigated among different categories of human service professionals and students. However, it has not been investigated among police cadets simultaneously combining university education and police training. Hence, this study investigated the causes of burnout among the Nigeria Police Academy (POLAC) cadets in Nigeria. Specifically, using Frone et al.’s integrative model of the work–family interface, I investigated the antecedent influence of work overload (academic and police), role conflict (academic and police) and emotional distress (academic and police) on burnout among cadets [Frone MR, Yardley JK and Markel KS (1997) Developing and testing an integrative model of the work–family interface. Journal of Vocational Behavior 50(2): 145–167]. The study is cross-sectional, with a sample size of 300, and the data were analysed using regression path analysis. The result showed that academic and police work overload led directly to burnout. In addition, academic work overload led indirectly to burnout through academic role conflict and emotional distress, whereas police work overload led to burnout through police-emotional distress. Furthermore, academic-to-police role conflict led indirectly to burnout through academic-emotional distress. This study extends extant literature on the antecedents of burnout in police organizations. It also suggests important implications such as revising the curricula to make them more manageable for the cadets and the need to be stringent with the admission process into the academy.
Offender Management: Reducing hazards and building resilience
This article examines the psychological impact of working in a multi-agency team managing registered sexual and violent offenders. A review of the nature of the role and data collected from psychological surveillance identifies personal and work-related hazard and resilience factors. The study found that much of the variance in anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and secondary trauma could be predicted by the psychological surveillance survey's resilience and hazard measures; each mental health condition had a different set of predictors with some common features. The findings are a first step towards increasing the resilience of multi-agency offender management teams with suggestions for reducing hazards and improving individual and team resilience. These findings can help reduce the mental health problems experienced by offender managers working with registered sexual and violent offenders in prisons, probation and policing.