Abstract
Police departments throughout the world have experienced increases in community–police conflict, with associated problems of patrol officers leaving the profession. Finding innovative solutions to these external and internal threats will require openness to new ideas, especially from patrol officers who are on the front line of these challenges. The present study examined predictors for which patrol officers reported the greatest “openness to new ideas” for their police profession. Predictors considered included officer demographics (age, years of service, education), self-perceptions (health concerns, symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD), and workplace perceptions (supervisor fairness, peer camaraderie, occupational pride). Hundred and fifty patrol officers completed anonymous surveys from police departments in Istanbul, Turkey (98.0% male; 41.3% with college education; mean age = 26.65 years; mean experience = 4.25 years). Multiple regression analysis revealed that openness to new ideas was significantly associated with the officer having a college education, few PTSD symptoms, and strong perceptions of peer camaraderie and occupational pride. Present results suggest that police departments seeking innovative solutions to their external and internal challenges might look to patrol officers with these characteristics. Additionally, departments could develop conditions that enhance these officer characteristics associated with innovative thinking by offering tuition grants, PTSD counseling services, officer bonding activities, and public celebrations of officers doing exceptional work.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adams, R. E., Rohe, W. M., & Arcury, T. A. (2002). Implementing community-oriented policing: Organizational change and street officer attitudes. Crime & Delinquency, 48(3), 399–430.
Adler, S. (1980). Self-esteem and causal attributions for job satisfaction and dissatisfaction. Journal of Applied Psychology, 65(3), 327.
Alkus, S., & Padesky, C. (1983). Special problems of police officers: Stress-related issues and interventions. The Counseling Psychologist, 11(2), 55–64.
Allen, J., Jimmieson, N. L., Bordia, P., & Irmer, B. E. (2007). Uncertainty during organizational change: Managing perceptions through communication. Journal of Change Management, 7(2), 187–210.
Ashford, S. J. (1988). Individual strategies for coping with stress during organizational transitions. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 24(1), 19–36.
Ayres, R. M., & Flanagan, G. S. (1990). Preventing law enforcement stress: The organization’s role. Alexandria, VA: National Sheriffs’ Association.
Becker, T. E. (1992). Foci and bases of commitment: Are they distinctions worth making? Academy of Management Journal, 35(1), 232–244.
Becker, T. E., Billings, R. S., Eveleth, D. M., & Gilbert, N. L. (1996). Foci and bases of employee commitment: Implications for job performance. Academy of Management Journal, 39(2), 464–482.
Brown, C., Reich, M., & Stern, D. (1993). Becoming a high-performance work organization: The role of security, employee involvement and training. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 4(2), 247–275.
Brown, J. M., & Campbell, E. A. (1990). Sources of occupational stress in the police. Work and Stress, 4(4), 305–318.
Burke, R. J., & Deszca, E. (1986). Correlates of psychological burnout phases among police officers. Human Relations, 39(6), 487–501.
Can, S. H., Hendy, H. M., & Camlibel, D. A. (2018). Comparison of police stressors and negative psychosocial outcomes for officers in departments with and without community conflict directed toward them. The Police Journal, 91(3), 239–248.
Can, S. H., Holt, W., & Hendy, H. M. (2016). Patrol Officer Job Satisfaction Scale (POJSS) psychometrics and associations with individual and police department demographics. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 39(4), 710–722.
Carter, D. L., Sapp, A. D., & Stephens, D. W. (1988). Higher education as a bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ) for police: A blueprint. American Journal of Police, 7, 1.
Challacombe, J.C., Ackerman, M. and Stones, A. (2019). Personality trait differences in law enforcement officers: The impact of career-related stress and lengths of service. Policing: An International Journal, 42(6), 1081–1096.
Chawla, A., & Kelloway, E. K. (2004). Predicting openness and commitment to change. Leadership and Organization Development Journal, 25(6), 485–498.
Chen, K., Scheier, L. M., & Kandel, D. B. (1996). Effects of chronic cocaine use on physical health: A prospective study in a general population sample. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 43(1–2), 23–37.
Cobb, A. T., Wooten, K. C., & Folger, R. (1995). Justice in the making: Toward understanding the theory and practice of justice in organizational change and development. Research in Organizational Change and Development, 8(1), 243–295.
Cordery, J., Sevastos, P., Mueller, W., & Parker, S. (1993). Correlates of employee attitudes toward functional flexibility. Human Relations, 46(6), 705–723.
Cullen, F. T., Myer, A. J., & Latessa, E. J. (2009). Eight lessons from Moneyball: The high cost of ignoring evidence-based corrections. Victims and Offenders, 4(2), 197–213.
Damanpour, F., & Schneider, M. (2006). Phases of the adoption of innovation in organizations: Effects of environment, organization and top managers. British Journal of Management, 17(3), 215–236.
Devos, G., Buelens, M., & Bouckenooghe, D. (2007). Contribution of content, context, and process to understanding openness to organizational change: Two experimental simulation studies. The Journal of Social Psychology, 147(6), 607–630.
Dicker, T. J. (1998). Tension on the thin blue line: Police officer resistance to community-oriented policing. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 23(1), 59.
Fleming, J., & Wingrove, J. (2017). ‘We Would If We Could… but Not Sure If We Can’: Implementing evidence-based practice: The evidence-based practice agenda in the UK. Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, 11(2), 202–213.
Foa, E. B., Cashman, L., Jaycox, L., & Perry, K. (1997). The validation of a self-report measure of posttraumatic stress disorder: The Posttraumatic Diagnostic Scale. Psychological Assessment, 9(4), 445.
Folger, R., & Skarlicki, D. P. (1999). Unfairness and resistance to change: Hardship as mistreatment. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 12(1), 35–50.
Folkman, S., Lazarus, R. S., Gruen, R. J., & DeLongis, A. (1986). Appraisal, coping, health status, and psychological symptoms. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50(3), 571.
Guest, D. E. (1987). Human resource management and industrial relations [1]. Journal of Management Studies, 24(5), 503.
Guller, I. B. (1972). Higher education and policemen: Attitudinal differences between freshman and senior police college students. Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology, and Police Science, 63, 396.
Gunter, B., & Furnham, A. (1996). Biographical and climate predictors of job satisfaction and pride in organization. The Journal of Psychology, 130(2), 193–208.
Hageman, M. (1979). Who joins the force for what reasons: An argument for ‘the new breed’. Journal of Police Science and Administration, 7(2), 206–210.
Harvey, T. R. (2002). Checklist for change: A pragmatic approach for creating and controlling change. Lanham, MD: R&L Education.
House, R. J., & Rizzo, J. R. (1972). Role conflict and ambiguity as critical variables in a model of organizational behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 7(3), 467–505.
Huber, G. P., Sutcliffe, K. M., Miller, C. C., & Glick, W. H. (1993). Understanding and predicting organizational change. Organizational Change and Redesign: Ideas and Insights for Improving Performance, 215, 265.
Hur, Y. (2013). Turnover, voluntary turnover, and organizational performance: Evidence from municipal police departments. Public Administration Quarterly, 37(1), 3–35.
Ironson, G. H., O’Cleirigh, C., Schneiderman, N., Weiss, A., & Costa Jr., P. T. (2008). Personality and HIV disease progression: Role of NEO-PI-R openness, extraversion, and profiles of engagement. Psychosomatic Medicine, 70(2), 245.
Iverson, R. D. (1996). Employee acceptance of organizational change: the role of organizational commitment. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 7(1), 122–149.
Jenkins, M. J. (2016). Police support for community problem-solving and broken windows policing. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 41(2), 220–235.
Jermier, J. M., Gaines, J., & McIntosh, N. J. (1989). Reactions to physically dangerous work: A conceptual and empirical analysis. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 10(1), 15–33.
John, O. P., & Srivastava, S. (1999). The Big Five trait taxonomy: History, measurement, and theoretical perspectives. Handbook of Personality: Theory and Research, 2(1999), 102–138.
Judge, T. A., Thoresen, C. J., Pucik, V., & Welbourne, T. M. (1999). Managerial coping with organizational change: A dispositional perspective. Journal of Applied Psychology, 84(1), 107.
Kahn, R. L., Wolfe, D. M., Quinn, R. P., Snoek, J. D., & Rosenthal, R. A. (1964). Organizational stress: Studies in role conflict and ambiguity. New York: Wiley.
Kalyal, H. (2018). ‘One Person’s Evidence Is Another Person’s Nonsense’: Why police organizations resist evidence-based practices. Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1093/police/pay106
Kanter, D. L., & Mirvis, P. H. (1989). The cynical Americans: Living and working in an age of discontent and disillusion. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Kraemer, T., & Gouthier, M. H. (2014). How organizational pride and emotional exhaustion explain turnover intentions in call centers. Journal of Service Management, 25, 125–148.
Krimmel, J. T., & Tartaro, C. (1999). Career choices and characteristics of criminal justice undergraduates. Journal of Criminal Justice Education, 10(2), 277–289.
La Rocco, J. M., & Jones, A. P. (1978). Co-worker and leader support as moderators of stress-strain relationships in work situations. Journal of Applied Psychology, 63(5), 629.
Lau, C., & Woodman, R. W. (1995). Understanding organizational change: A schematic perspective. Academy of Management Journal, 38(2), 537–554.
Lazarus, R. S. (1999). A new synthesis: Stress and emotion. New York: Springer. Revised May, 4, 2006.
Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, appraisal, and coping. New York: Springer.
Lee-Baggley, D., Preece, M., & DeLongis, A. (2005). Coping with interpersonal stress: Role of Big Five traits. Journal of Personality, 73(5), 1141–1180.
Lester, D. (1983). Why do people become police officers: A study of reasons and their predictions of success. Journal of Police Science and Administration, 11(2), 170–174.
Lewis, S., Rosenberg, H., & Sigler, R. T. (1999). Acceptance of community policing among police officers and police administrators. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 22(4), 567–588.
Lingamneni, J. R. (1979). Resistance to change in police organizations: The diffusion paradigm. Criminal Justice Review, 4(2), 17–26.
Lum, C., Telep, C. W., Koper, C. S., & Grieco, J. (2012). Receptivity to research in policing. Justice Research and Policy, 14(1), 61–95.
Lumsden, K. (2016). Police officer and civilian staff receptivity to research and evidence-based policing in the UK: Providing a contextual understanding through qualitative interviews. Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, 11(2), 157–167.
Lurigio, A. J., & Rosenbaum, D. P. (1994). The impact of community policing on police personnel: A review of the literature. In The challenge of community policing: Testing the promises (pp. 147–163). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Lurigio, A. J., & Skogan, W. G. (1994). Winning the hearts and minds of police officers: An assessment of staff perceptions of community policing in Chicago. Crime & Delinquency, 40(3), 315–330.
Malloy, T. E., & Mays, G. L. (1984). The police stress hypothesis: A critical evaluation. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 11(2), 197–224.
Martin, M. M. (1999). Trust leadership. Journal of Leadership Studies, 5(3), 41–49.
Meagher, M. S., & Yentes, N. A. (1986). Choosing a career in policing: A comparison of male and female perceptions. Journal of Police Science and Administration, 14(4), 320–327.
Miller, L. S., More, H. W., & Braswell, M. C. (2017). Effective police supervision. New York: Routledge.
Morin, R., Parker, K., Stepler, R., & Mercer, A. (2017). Behind the badge: Amid protests and calls for reform, how police view their jobs, key issues and recent fatal encounters between blacks and police (p. 11). Washington, DC: Pew Research Center.
Morris, T., Lydka, H., & O’Creevy, M. F. (1993). Can commitment be managed? A longitudinal analysis of employee commitment and human resource policies. Human Resource Management Journal, 3(3), 21–42.
Murphy, L. R. (1995). Managing job stress: An employee assistance/human resource management partnership. Personnel Review, 24(1), 41.
Novak, K. J., Alarid, L. F., & Lucas, W. L. (2003). Exploring officers’ acceptance of community policing: Implications for policy implementation. Journal of Criminal Justice, 31(1), 57–71.
Raganella, A. J., & White, M. D. (2004). Race, gender, and motivation for becoming a police officer: Implications for building a representative police department. Journal of Criminal Justice, 32(6), 501–513.
Rizzo, J. R., House, R. J., & Lirtzman, S. I. (1970). Role conflict and ambiguity in complex organizations. Administrative Science Quarterly, 15(2), 150–163.
Roberg, R. R. (1978). An analysis of the relationships among higher education, belief systems, and job performance of patrol officers. Journal of Police Science and Administration, 6(3), 336–344.
Rodell, J. B., & Colquitt, J. A. (2009). Looking ahead in times of uncertainty: The role of anticipatory justice in an organizational change context. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94(4), 989.
Rousseau, D. M., & Tijoriwala, S. A. (1999). What’s a good reason to change? Motivated reasoning and social accounts in promoting organizational change. Journal of Applied Psychology, 84(4), 514.
Russell, B. (2017, July 31). Nearly 1K officers have left Dallas PD since 2014. Retrieved from https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/nearly-1k-officers-have-left-dallas-pd-since-2014/32634/.
Rydberg, J., & Terrill, W. (2010). The effect of higher education on police behavior. Police Quarterly, 13(1), 92–120.
Sandler, G. B., & Mintz, E. (1974). Police organizations: Their changing internal and external relationships. Journal of Police Science and Administration, 2(4), 458–463.
Savery, L. K., Soutar, G. N., & Weaver, J. (1991). Organizational commitment and the West Australian police force. The Police Journal, 64(2), 168–177.
Schabracq, M. J., & Cooper, C. L. (2000). The changing nature of work and stress. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 15(3), 227–241.
Shaw, J. B., Fields, M. W., Thacker, J. W., & Fisher, C. D. (1993). The availability of personal and external coping resources: Their impact on job stress and employee attitudes during organizational restructuring. Work and Stress, 7(3), 229–246.
Sheppard, B. H., Lewicki, R. J., & Minton, J. W. (1992). Organizational justice: The search for fairness in the workplace. New York: Lexington Books/Macmillan.
Skogan, W. G., & Hartnett, S. M. (1999). Community policing, Chicago style. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
Southerland, M. D. (1992). Organizational communication. In L. T. Hoover (Ed.), From police management: Issues and perspectives (pp. 281–303). Washington, DC: Police Executive Research Forum. See NCJ-169565.
Sparrow, M. K. (1988). Implementing community policing (No. 9). US Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice.
Stevens DJ (2005). Police officer stress and occupational stressors: Before and after 9/11. In: Copes K (Ed.) Policing and stress. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.
Stratton, J. B. (1978). Police stress, part 1: An overview. Police Chief, 45(4), 58–62.
Sykes, G. W. (1992). Stability amid change. In L. T. Hoover (Ed.), Police management: Issues and perspectives (pp. 159–174). Washington, DC: Police Executive Research Forum.
Telep, C. W. (2017). Police officer receptivity to research and evidence-based policing: Examining variability within and across agencies. Crime & Delinquency, 63(8), 976–999.
Telep, C. W., & Lum, C. (2014). The receptivity of officers to empirical research and evidence-based policing: An examination of survey data from three agencies. Police Quarterly, 17(4), 359–385.
Vakola, M., & Nikolaou, I. (2005). Attitudes towards organizational change: What is the role of employees’ stress and commitment? Employee Relations, 27(2), 160–174.
Violanti, J. M., & Aron, F. (1993). Sources of police stressors, job attitudes, and psychological distress. Psychological Reports, 72(3), 899–904.
Violanti, J. M., & Aron, F. (1994). Ranking police stressors. Psychological Reports, 75(2), 824–826.
Wanberg, C. R., & Banas, J. T. (2000). Predictors and outcomes of openness to changes in a reorganizing workplace. Journal of Applied Psychology, 85(1), 132.
Williams, P. G., Rau, H. K., Cribbet, M. R., & Gunn, H. E. (2009). Openness to experience and stress regulation. Journal of Research in Personality, 43(5), 777–784.
Winfree, L. T., Bartku, G. M., & Seibel, G. (1996). Support for community policing versus traditional policing among nonmetropolitan police officers: A survey of four New Mexico police departments. American Journal of Police, 15(2), 23–50.
Yousef, D. A. (2000). Organizational commitment and job satisfaction as predictors of attitudes toward organizational change in a non-western setting. Personnel Review, 29(5), 567–592.
Zhao, J. (1996). Why police organizations change: A study of community-oriented policing. Washington, DC: Police Executive Research Forum.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Appendix
Appendix
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Camlibel, A.D., Can, S.H., Hendy, H.M. (2021). Predictors of Patrol Officer Openness to New Ideas for Improving Police Service Delivery. In: Albrecht, J.F., den Heyer, G. (eds) Enhancing Police Service Delivery. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-61452-2_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-61452-2_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-61293-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-61452-2
eBook Packages: Law and CriminologyLaw and Criminology (R0)