NCJ Number
169932
Journal
Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 26 Issue: 1 Dated: (January-February 1998) Pages: 41-51
Date Published
1998
Length
11 pages
Annotation
Three competing work styles among private police were examined using data from an in-house security organization consisting of 36 officers serving a large university in a Canadian urban center.
Abstract
Data were collected between 1989 and 1991 by means of lengthy periods of participant observation, intensive openended interviews, and the analysis of secondary documents. The research focused on the competing work styles of crime fighters, guards, and bureaucratic cops. Results revealed that the competing work groups could be differentiated with respect to background characteristics, recruitment and training, work preferences and behaviors, and orientations to several crucial audiences. Findings suggested that private security organizations may be segmented and characterized by role conflict. The operational style articulated and practiced by two distinctive and influential security groups, the crime fighters and the bureaucratic cops, was inconsistent with the operational style desired by the employer in this study. Employer strategies to focus security on service should involve designing recruitment, training, and promotional tactics aimed at ensuring that security personnel in both administrative and rank and file positions have traits compatible with the employer's vision of security's proper role. Table and 18 references (Author abstract modified)