Motivations for Becoming a Police Officer: Re-Assessing Officer Attitudes and Job Satisfaction After Six Years on the Street

• NCJ Number: 231730
• Journal: Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 38 Issue: 4 Dated: July/August 2010 Pages: 520-530
• Author(s): Michael D. White; Jonathan A. Cooper; Jessica Saunders; Anthony J. Raganella
• Date Published: July 2010
• Length: 11 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: Netherlands

Annotation

The current research was a follow-up to Raganella and White (2004) who examined motivations among academy recruits in the New York City Police Department (NYPD).

Abstract

Few studies had examined the stability of motivations for becoming a police officer over time, especially among minority and female officers. Moreover, research had not explored the links between original motivations and job satisfaction, a likely proxy measure of motivation fulfillment. Using the same survey and analysis as Raganella and White, the current study re-examined motivations among officers from the same NYPD recruit class after 6 years on the job, and explored both motivation stability and the relationships among motivations and job satisfaction. Results suggested that motivations have remained highly stable over time, regardless of officer race/ethnicity and gender. Findings also suggested that White male officers were most likely to report low job satisfaction, and that there is a link between low satisfaction and unfulfilled motivations. Moreover, dissatisfied officers were much less likely to have expressed strong commitment to the profession through their original motivations, suggesting that low commitment up front may lead to low satisfaction later on. The article concludes with a discussion of implications for police departments, particularly with regard to recruitment and retention practices and efforts to achieve diversity. (Published Abstract)