Research has found officer job satisfaction to be correlated with aspects of their work environment. Police culture serves as a coping mechanism for work environment stressors. Despite the connections, research has yet to investigate the impact of a broad range of cultural norms as well as the influence of cultural fit and strength on job satisfaction. The current study examines how officers alignments with traditional police culture norms, relative to their workgroup peers (i.e. cultural fit), relate to job satisfaction. Results indicated that officers who adhered to traditional norms, in general, were more satisfied; however, officers who subscribed substantially less to traditional cultural norms relative to their workgroup peers (i.e. con-culture misfits) were significantly less satisfied. Being a con-culture misfit was associated with perceptions of danger and role clarity. Collectively, the findings provide practical insights for departments concerned with their officers satisfaction by addressing cultural features of their work environments.

Prior research on police culture has focused primarily on line officers. This study examined culture at the upper administrative level by identifying a taxonomy of police chiefs based on their role orientations. Relevant predictors of culture types based on chief, department, and jurisdiction characteristics were also tested. Data come from a survey of 460 local police chiefs in Texas and 2013–2017 census estimates from the American Community Survey. Five groups of chiefs were observed in the data: service-oriented, peace-keeper, law and order professionals, lay-lows, and traditionalists. Having a graduate education, being an internal hire, total years of experience in law enforcement, department size, and residential instability levels significantly differentiated the groups. This study sheds insight into occupational culture from the upper administrative level of police organizations.

PurposeThe current study examines the effect of changing a specific use-of-force policy coupled with de-escalation training implementation on patterns of police use of force.Design/methodology/approachAn interrupted time-series analysis was used to examine changes in police use-of-force incident records gathered from a large, southwestern US metropolitan police department from 2013 to 2017 based on a TASER policy change and de-escalation training implementation mid-2015.FindingsResults demonstrate that changes to use-of-force policy regarding one type of force (i.e. use of TASERs) coinciding with de-escalation training influence the prevalence of use-of-force incidents by increasing the reported police use-of-force incidents after the changes were implemented. This finding is somewhat consistent with prior literature but not always in the desired direction.Practical implicationsWhen police departments make adjustments to use-of-force policies and/or trainings, unintended consequences may occur. Police administrators should measure policy and training outcomes under an evidence-based policing paradigm prior to making those adjustments.Originality/valueThis study is the first to measure the effects of changing use-of-force policy and implementing de-escalation techniques in training on patterns of police use of force and shows that these changes can have a ripple effect across types of force used by police officers.

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Maintaining fitness and a healthy bodyweight can enhance police officer safety, de-escalation of situations, and subsequently survivability of the officer in addition to overall health and wellness. This can be difficult to implement without the support of the police chief and command staff. Support for these areas by agency leadership can (will) impact the implementation and success of wellness programs in agencies. However, the support for health and wellness programs including how they impact on staff performance is not well understood by law enforcement police chiefs. This paper analyzes police chiefs’ perspectives on police officer physical fitness and bodyweight and the impact on multiple aspects of the job as well as barriers to implementing programs. To answer this, a survey consisting of twenty- two questions was distributed to 1,179 Texas police chiefs via email. The survey completion rate was 91% (511 surveys started/446 completed) with an overall response rate of 39% (1,179 total surveys distributed/446 surveys completed). Incomplete and non-chief responses were removed from the final sample, leaving 425 survey responses. Results indicated 99.5% of respondents believed it is important or somewhat important for officers to be at a healthy bodyweight. Officer safety is heavily impacted in six of the top eight areas identified as being most affected by officers not maintaining fitness or a healthy weight. The other two items represented in the top eight are related to command presence. Police chiefs indicated that the increased burden on joints was most impacted by a police officer carrying excess weight. Promotion or advancement in a career was perceived to be least impacted by being overweight. Stamina was reported as being most impacted by officers being unfit or physically inactive, followed by an increased burden on joints and the ability to defend and protect oneself. The top potential barriers to officers’ physical fitness represented by police chiefs were individual unwillingness or laziness. A more thorough understanding of perceptions and beliefs by law enforcement leadership can help enhance the alignment of programs, impact habits, and ultimately influence the daily choices that officers make. These perceptions can also assist in the development of programs to further support officer readiness, safety, and survivability as well as overall health.