Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Willingness And Ability Of First Responders To Report For Duty During Disasters: A Case Study Of Local Law Enforcement Officers, William Peak

Dissertations

Role abandonment of employees is a vulnerability of first responder organizations that can be exposed when disasters occur. Organizational vulnerabilities created by role abandonment of first responders can be reduced by understanding the willingness and ability of employees to report for duty during disasters. To gain a better understanding of law enforcement organizational vulnerability to disasters, this study utilizes an online survey disseminated to police officers (n = 314) working for a police department along the Gulf Coast to determine their willingness and ability to report for duty and examines the barriers and facilitators impacting their decision to report …

Perceived Influence Of The Ferguson Effect On Law Enforcement Officer Turnover Intentions, William P. Markopoulos Jr

Dissertations

Law enforcement officer turnover lacks the support of empirical research (Monk-Turner, O’Leary, & Sumter, 2010; Wareham, Smith, & Lambert, 2013), despite being costly in terms of both human and monetary capital (Peña, 2013; Reaves, 2012; Wilson & Sheer, 2013). What literature is available describes factors such as job dissatisfaction and monetary issues as reasons to leave an agency (Cyprian, 2009; Hubbard, 2008; McIntyre, 1990). A new phenomenon, known as the “Ferguson Effect” has been examined in terms of community involvement (Nix & Wolfe, 2016; Wolfe & Nix, 2016) and violent crime rates (Rosenfeld, 2015), but there is no research that …

To Promote Or Not To Promote: An Inquiry Into The Experiences Of Female Police Officers And Their Decisions To Pursue Promotion, Kristin Poleski

Dissertations

Despite an increase in the number of female police officers in U.S. police agencies, female representation in supervisory (sergeant and lieutenant) and command (captain, assistant chief and chief) positions in most agencies is limited. This research study focuses on the promotional aspirations as an explanation of limited female representation with attention to the decision-making criteria female police officers use when deciding to participate in the promotional process. This study also examines the institutional, political, organizational structures, and/or personal factors which may impact the female police officers’ decisions to participate in the promotion process. And, this study examines a factor mentioned …

A Qualitative Study To Discover And Describe Common Ground Strategies Used By Exemplar Law Enforcement Leaders To Proactively Transform And Resolve Conflict As They Attempt To Shape The Future, Christopher M. Fuzie

Dissertations

The purpose of this thematic, qualitative, phenomenological study was to discover and describe the lived experiences of exemplar Municipal Police Chiefs in the use of six domains of conflict transformation; collaboration, communication, emotional intelligence, ethics, process, and problem solving, in order to find breakthrough results and transform conflict. This study was accomplished through the lived experiences, perceptions and interpretations of exemplar Municipal Police Chiefs, and through these experiences, put forward the commonalities, patterns of behavior, or repetitive themes that are used to find common ground and produce breakthrough results. The findings from this research illustrate how exemplar municipal police chiefs …

An Examination Of Perceived Stress Levels And Coping Styles Among Rural Law Enforcement Officers, Marcos Luis Misis

Dissertations

Policing is a very stressful job. Despite the extensive body of research on police stress, the majority of studies have focused solely on officers within urban police departments. Research on stress within rural law enforcement departments is virtually non-existent even though the majority of police agencies in America serve towns and areas under 50,000 residents.

This study had four main goals: (1) to examine how work-related stress affects the levels of perceived stress, anxiety, and depression for rural law enforcement officers; (2) to explore the specific stressors affecting rural law enforcement officers; (3) to investigate how rural law enforcement officers …

An Examination Of Factors Affecting Information Sharing Among Law Enforcement Agencies, Scott Driskill Bransford

Dissertations

The purpose of the present study was to investigate using survey data to find factors or barriers which contributed to local law enforcement participation and support of intelligence information sharing. Following the September 11, 2001, attacks in New York City and Arlington, Virginia, new homeland security initiatives and directives were created from the legislative and executive branches of the federal government. Several new initiatives and directives provided new communication opportunities for partnerships between all levels of law enforcement to combat the future threat of domestic terrorism.

The evaluation literature indicated that a majority of post-9/11, initiatives, including the creation of …

Politics And The Glass Ceiling In American Law Enforcement: Why Not More Women Chiefs Of Police?, Madeline G. Meistrich Edd

Dissertations

Law enforcement is one of the last male-dominated occupations. Out of 18,000 police departments in the United States, only 200 to 250 have women chiefs. Such under-representation reflects the "glass ceiling" effect of a gender-based metaphorical barrier that prevents women from rising to the top of an organization, regardless of qualifications. The research examined three questions: what are the issues and problems articulated by women officers attempting to move upwards; what strategies were employed as they attempted to advance; and what strategies could help other women reach the top? Nine female primary participants in law enforcement leadership were interviewed, as …

Assessing The Impact Of Ethical Training On Law Enforcement Personnel, Tina L. Lee

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the opinions of police officers in regards to satisfaction with ethics training. The participants in this study were police officers in city/municipal and county law enforcement agencies. Ethics training is very important in the field o f law enforcement because of the many temptations that officers face and the tremendous amount of authority that society gives to the police. In order to investigate officer’s satisfaction with ethics training, the Ethics Training Questionnaire (ETQ) was developed. This questionnaire contained two parts. The first part was completed by police administrators, and the second part …

Personality Measurement In The Prediction Of Positive And Negative Police Officer Performance, Brian P. Enright

Dissertations

Police officer selection research has revealed a number of relationships between scores on psychological tests and performance on the job. Although a few of these predictor scales have been consistently linked with job performance, many still require further investigation. It was proposed that the personality scales most consistently linked to job performance concern two broad constructs including: (1) prosocial personality characteristics, and (2) level of psychological distress. Guided by findings from the police outcomes literature and research regarding the factor structure and intercorrelation of MMPI and CPI scales, it was proposed that Scales 4 and 9 from the MMPI and …

Historical Case Study: San Diego And Tijuana Border Region Relationship With The San Diego Police Department, 1957-1994, Adolfo Gonzales Edd

Dissertations

Large numbers of undocumented persons cross through the hills and canyons along the San Ysidro/Tijuana border region, on a nightly basis. As these helpless victims cross, border bandits and other criminals stalk these people and prey on them like predatory animals. The San Diego Police Department is charged with the responsibility of providing public safety along the United States/México international border. The purpose of this research was to investigate the circumstances which led to the establishment of the San Diego/Tijuana international border (1846-1848), the role and policy of the San Diego Police Department along the international border, and the relationship …