NCJ Number
197198
Journal
Policing Volume: 24 Issue: 2 Dated: 2001 Pages: 162-180
Date Published
2001
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This paper compares the findings of a 1992 study of police values in Tacoma, Washington, with the findings of similar research conducted by Milton Rokeach in 1971.
Abstract
Rokeach et al. (1971) studied the value patterns of police officers in a mid-western municipal police department and then compared the findings with those of representative samples of Black and white Americans. The Tacoma study (1992) involved the collection over a 2-week period of employee survey data pertinent to the values held by officers. Perhaps the most striking finding of the survey was the ranking of the "equality" value as 14th in importance. The ranking of this value, more than the rankings of all the other values, is the best single predictor of political conservatism in the United States. The average ranking for the "equality" value in the 1971 Rokeach study was identical (14th) to the ranking of this value in the Tacoma study 20 years later. In contrast to the low ranking of "equality," "freedom" was ranked relatively high in both studies. Further, both study samples remained consistent in their value rankings despite time on the job, age, gender, or education levels. The findings suggest that the police value perspective is strongly influenced by American capitalism and has remained so over the last 20 years. This finding suggests that the Tacoma police do not currently adhere to the values that are conducive to the successful implementation of the social equity dimensions of the community-oriented policing philosophy, which encourages officers to work closely with individuals and groups who require improvement in their social and economic status. 10 tables and 34 references