TY - JOUR
T1 - Looking Up
T2 - Explaining Police Promotional Aspirations
AU - Gau, Jacinta M.
AU - Terrill, William
AU - Paoline, Eugene A.
N1 - Funding Information:
This article is based on data from the Assessing Police Use of Force Policy and Outcomes Project, supported by Grant No. 2005-IJ-CX-0055 from the National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Points of view are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.
PY - 2013/3
Y1 - 2013/3
N2 - Organizations benefit when employees are motivated and aspiring. Within policing, this is especially important given contemporary philosophies asking officers to take ownership and be proactive. A desire to ascend through the police ranks may inspire greater engagement in the police role. Extant research has noted that promotional aspirations vary among police officers, but unknown at this point are the factors that shape this variation. The current study helps fill this void by analyzing multiple-agency data assessing the impact of demographic, work environment, and organizational factors on patrol officers' aspirations. The focus is on the importance officers place on being promoted to a higher rank (i.e., valence), as well as their long-term aspirations in terms of projected rank at retirement. The findings reveal that the most consistent predictors are gender, race, education, and experience; job satisfaction; and organizational size. The implications of these findings for police research and practice are considered.
AB - Organizations benefit when employees are motivated and aspiring. Within policing, this is especially important given contemporary philosophies asking officers to take ownership and be proactive. A desire to ascend through the police ranks may inspire greater engagement in the police role. Extant research has noted that promotional aspirations vary among police officers, but unknown at this point are the factors that shape this variation. The current study helps fill this void by analyzing multiple-agency data assessing the impact of demographic, work environment, and organizational factors on patrol officers' aspirations. The focus is on the importance officers place on being promoted to a higher rank (i.e., valence), as well as their long-term aspirations in terms of projected rank at retirement. The findings reveal that the most consistent predictors are gender, race, education, and experience; job satisfaction; and organizational size. The implications of these findings for police research and practice are considered.
KW - background characteristics
KW - organizational characteristics
KW - police
KW - promotional aspirations
KW - work environment perceptions
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84873682992&partnerID=8YFLogxK
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U2 - 10.1177/0093854812458426
DO - 10.1177/0093854812458426
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84873682992
SN - 0093-8548
VL - 40
SP - 247
EP - 269
JO - Criminal Justice and Behavior
JF - Criminal Justice and Behavior
IS - 3
ER -