NCJ Number
72957
Journal
Campus Law Enforcement Journal Volume: 10 Issue: 5 Dated: (September-October 1980) Pages: 24-27
Date Published
1980
Length
4 pages
Annotation
The perceptions that campus law enforcement chiefs and officers have concerning their titles, jobs, and related activities were examined in this study.
Abstract
In order to discover officers' and chiefs' perceptions of their roles a questionnaire was sent to the law enforcement chief at one major university in each of the 50 States. A portion of each questionnaire was to be filled out by three officers. Demographic information was also sought with this instrument. Usable responses were received from 22 chiefs and 68 officers. Results showed that 50 percent of the chiefs and 70.6 percent of the officers had titles which included the word 'police.' This result suggests a trend towards a municipal model of policing on the campus. Although there was no statistical correlation between demographic data and response, 59.1 percent of the chiefs and 47.1 percent of the officers felt that campus law enforcement had distinct advantages over municipal and State law enforcement. The majority of the chiefs reported that they were doing the sort of work they preferred, although 35.3 percent of the officers aspired to become Federal agents, 8.8 percent to become municipal policemen, and 10.3 percent to become State policemen. Both officers and chiefs felt that education was the most important selection criterion in the selection of campus officers; however, officers viewed law enforcement experience as more important than personality, a reverse of the chiefs' perceptions. Generally, officers' responses demonstrated a dominant police attitude towards their jobs. This attitude may result from the training they receive at police academies. The inclusion of special campus law enforcement training in present programs is suggested. Data tables and nine references are included, and related studies are reviewed.