NCJ Number
80709
Date Published
1981
Length
220 pages
Annotation
Based on participant observation, this dissertation describes and compares police work in a small Oregon city (population 7,000) with traditional depictions of police and police work.
Abstract
Over a period of about 2 years, the patrol, detective, and administrative components of the police department were observed from the perspective of a participant. Two significant observations were the informal and friendly manner in which most police work was conducted and the networks of interpersonal relations within the department and how they affected an officer's job satisfaction and performance. An ethnographic description of the community is offered, along with numerous incidents of police-citizen interactions. One chapter is devoted to the internal politics of the department, focusing on how this can enhance or detract from the quality of an officer's performance, regardless of aptitude or ability. A review of available literature revealed little useful information for this analysis of police behavior. The literature focuses on urban police work, which differs markedly from small town police work in the types and volume of crime encountered and the danger posed to police officers. While it is not claimed that the department studied is a type model for all small departments, the officers' working attitudes, policing styles, and departmental internal problems are more relevant to other small agencies than the extensive literature derived from studies of urban departments. Footnotes, tables, and 32 references are provided.