Enhancing police engagement: An examination of the links between fair treatment and job engagement in a Canadian police organization
| Author | Angela Workman-Stark |
| DOI | 10.1177/1461355720935917 |
| Published date | 01 September 2020 |
| Date | 01 September 2020 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
Enhancing police engagement:
An examination of the links between
fair treatment and job engagement
in a Canadian police organization
Angela Workman-Stark
Athabasca University, Canada
Abstract
This study examined the relationships between organizational justice and job engagement, and whether these
relationships were stronger for civilian staff vs police officers. Using survey data from a Canadian police organization,
the results suggested that when police personnel perceived they were treated fairly, they were more likely to have a sense
of psychological safety, which, in turn, enhanced their identification with their organization and increased their
engagement with work. Findings fur ther demonstrated that distributiv e justice (i.e., equitable outco mes) was more
important to police officers than civilian staff, particularly, in relation to enhancing their attachment with the
organization. In other words, as perceptions of distributive justice increased so did organizational identification;
however, this effect was strongest for poli ce officers. In general, organizational justi ce has positive implications for
police organizations, namely in encouraging police personnel to engage their full selves at work.
Keywords
Job engagement, organizational justice, organizational identification, psychological safety
Submitted 27 Feb 2020, Revise received 26 Apr 2020, accepted 27 May 2020
Introduction
Policing in Canada and other parts of the world is arguably
much more than complex than it has ever been. Rapid advances
in technology have created new threats and criminal opportu-
nities (Karn, 2013). At the same time, the police are often faced
with growing public demands for non-traditional policing ser-
vices along with increased scrutiny; much of which has been
driven by allegations of misuse of force and the rise of the
#BlackLivesMatter movement. Similarly, the #MeToo move-
ment has amplified internal issues of harassment and sexual
misconduct (Broderick, 2016; Workman-Stark, 2017;
Schmunk, 2019). Thus, a key consideration for police organi-
zations is to devise new ways of working while continuing to
maintain legitimacy. Equally, police leaders must also look to
engage police personnel effectively such that their behaviors
are aligned with desired organizational values.
Determining how best to influence engagement—
whereby police personnel invest their physical,
cognitive, and emotional energies to meet the expecta-
tions of their job (Macey and Schneider, 2008) —has
been largely unexplored in the policing literature. A
study by Bradford et al. (2014) provided evidence that
police officer motivations are associated with percep-
tions of fairness, and that organizational identification
mediated much of the effect of organizational justice on
officer motivation. Further, officers who felt more emo-
tionally attached and loyal to the police service were
more likely to indicate they were ready to take on discre-
tionary activities, and were more confident and empowered
to use their own initiative. Although this research has con-
tributed to the understanding of the broader ef fects of
Corresponding author:
Angela Workman-Stark, Athabasca University, 1 University Drive,
Athabasca, Alberta T9S 3A3, Canada.
Email: angela.workman-stark@athabascau.ca
International Journalof
Police Science & Management
2020, Vol. 22(3) 308–322
ªThe Author(s) 2020
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DOI: 10.1177/1461355720935917
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