Progress towards more culturally and gender-sensitive policing
| Date | 01 September 2018 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X17707707 |
| Published date | 01 September 2018 |
| Author | Stephen B Perrott |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
Progress towards
more culturally and
gender-sensitive policing:
Perceptions from
a Canadian sample
of police officers
Stephen B Perrott
Mount St Vincent University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Abstract
In view of rapidly growing criticism of western police forces, the perceptions of 156
Canadian municipal officers were examined in this quantitative study to determine their
views on the state of culturally- and gender-competent practice. Respondents also
completed a measure of authoritarianism and three indices of empathy. Regression
analyses showed female officers to be less positive in their appraisals than men, especially
in how well female officers are treated. Authoritarianism emerged as the sole psycho-
logical predictor and then only on the racial equity variable. Discussion focuses on the
extent to which findings can be considered in broader discussions of reform.
Keywords
Police personnel, police reform, police-race relations, women in policing
The introduction of community-based policing (CBP) in the early 1980s coincided with
the emergence of a more inclusive police force, with growing numbers of women and
minority group members entering a hitherto hyper-masculine, white and heterosexual
institution (Perrott, 1999; Sklansky, 2006). It also marked the point when policing began
to evolve from a mostlyblue-collar occupation,with high-school-educatedofficers at best,
to a professional one where most now have at least some university education (Paterson,
Corresponding author:
Stephen B Perrott, Department of Psychology, Mount Saint Vincent University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
B3 M 2J6, Canada.
Email: stephen.perrott@msvu.ca
The Police Journal:
Theory, Practice and Principles
2018, Vol. 91(3) 224–238
ªThe Author(s) 2017
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DOI: 10.1177/0032258X17707707
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