NCJ Number
84932
Date Published
1981
Length
241 pages
Annotation
This research assesses the relationship between the policy structures of six police departments -- Atlanta, Denver, Montgomery County (Md.), New Orleans, Portland (Ore.), and San Diego -- and patrol officer satisfaction with department operations.
Abstract
A 27-item survey covering respondents' experience, aspirations, working conditions, demographic characteristics, and satisfaction with job and department operations was administered to 849 patrol officers. Case studies were conducted for the departments in the following policy areas: management of the role of the patrol officer, patrol officer input in decisionmaking, police officer association input in decisionmaking, promotion, investigative assignment selection, transfer, discipline, shift assignment, one-v. two-officer patrol units, and education. Findings suggest that patrol officer satisfaction is greatest in those departments where the role of the officer is defined by a high degree of autonomy, where procedures governing advancement and discipline encourage equal application, and where patrol officers are given opportunities for input in decisionmaking affecting their jobs. Four other factors in the occupational environment of the patrol officer important for officer satisfaction are administrators' management styles, department history and culture, support from city hall, and police officer association representation. Appendixes contain reviews of the job satisfaction and police literature, responses by the police chiefs in the selected sites to the findings, questions used in the officer opinion survey, and the frequency distributions of responses. (Author abstract modified)