Impact of the Redesign of the Job of General Duties Patrol on the Motivation, Job Satisfaction and Organisational Commitment of Patrol Officers

• NCJ Number: 165553
• Author(s): C Wilson; K Beck
• Date Published: 1995
• Length: 99 pages
• Corporate Author: National Police Research Unit
• Sale Source: National Police Research Unit
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: Australia
• Note: US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, International Crime Statistics Program.

Annotation

This Australian study describes an attempt at job redesign based on the introduction of the Law Enforcement Assistance Package (LEAP), a computer-based crime information system, in Victoria.

Abstract

The study hypothesized that the introduction of this package alone, or together with the provision of a field training officer dedicated to maximizing the task identity and feedback available through the use of the system, would improve motivation in the performance of general-duties patrol. It was also hypothesized that this package would not, in its initial implementation phase, exert a major influence on actual work performance. To test these hypotheses, the job characteristics, work attitudes, organizational commitment, and job satisfaction of three groups of patrol officers were measured at three points in time. At the first station, the assessment periods included measurements 12, 18, and 24 months after the introduction of the database. In the second and third stations, assessments were conducted prior to the introduction, and then 6 and 12 months later. One of these stations was also distinguished by the presence of a field training officer in the period between the introduction of LEAP and the 6-month assessment. The results show that the job redesign had little influence on the motivation for general- duties patrol. The field training officer improved the amount of feedback received, but this effect dissipated quickly after the officer was redeployed. The other stations showed trends toward improvements in the job characteristics of patrol following the introduction of LEAP, but these were not strong, consistent, or predictable enough to conclude that the redesign positively influenced the job characteristics targeted, the experience of the job, or attitudes toward the job. Implications of these findings for efforts to improve police work attitudes are discussed. 26 tables, 5 figures, 35 references, and appended study instruments and supplementary material