NCJ Number
231784
Journal
THE POLICE CHIEF Volume: 77 Issue: 6 Dated: June 2010 Pages: 32-34,36
Date Published
June 2010
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article presents findings from a survey of Michigan police departments investigating the relationship between police seniority practices and the effect these practices have on morale and police officer performance.
Abstract
Highlights of the survey findings include: (1) seniority rights remain a dominant standard for the determination of officer pay scale, shift selection, vacation selection, lateral transfer, and promotional ranking among police agencies surveyed; (2) 73 percent of respondents were against using performance as the determining factor for pay scale; (3) respondents were in favor of having their performance levels determine their outcomes related to lateral transfers and promotional opportunities; (4) 66.1 percent indicated that they would voluntarily increase their level of productivity if it would benefit their career; 80.7 percent, their education; 86.9 percent, their training; and 55 percent, their community-volunteer involvement; and (5) respondents had a strong desire to replace seniority with performance standards for promotional and transfer opportunities and a desire to have input into department policies and decisionmaking. This study indicates a strong acceptance of seniority rights by the rank-and-file; however, the results also found the desire to limit their effect n areas of career advancement. The study investigated eight mid-sized police departments in southeast Michigan on officer perceptions regarding seniority-rights practices as the dominate factor affecting departmental operations and career advancement. 10 notes