The summary of findings about officers' views indicate that most officers report that external public support for them is eroding, especially support from community members and political leaders; much criticism focuses on the new "1.28" complaint system (concerning complaints lodged by citizens) that is hated by most officers; the Chief of Police comes under harsh criticism by rank-and-file officers because they perceive him as an uncaring, inflexible, and harsh manager; relationships between officers and captains who manage the areas appear to have seriously eroded since the first survey was conducted; a growing number of officers report being unclear about expectations the department holds for them; despite stresses and strains within the department, the quality of work life reported by officers at their areas has been high though there are indications that it is slipping; despite a public perception of the LAPD being racist and sexist, very little evidence to support it was found; the vast majority of LAPD officers report that they are ready for community policing; and most officers express values and beliefs about police work that could be described as altruistic. Data were collected from 3 surveys of samples of more than 1,900 sworn employees of the LAPD in 9 areas conducted periodically over 4 years. Tables and appendixes
Strain of Change: Voices of Los Angeles Police Officers
NCJ Number
226202
Date Published
October 2000
Length
94 pages
Annotation
This report examines the rank-and-file of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) police officers' and supervisors' changing perceptions of events from 1996 to 2000.
Abstract