Police officers' perception of community support for policing: implications for well-being
Policing: An International Journal
ISSN: 1363-951X
Article publication date: 21 September 2023
Issue publication date: 7 November 2023
Abstract
Purpose
Community-police relations have gained increasing public attention during the past decade. The purpose of the present study was to better understand the relationship between perceived community support and police officer burnout and engagement.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were gathered via online survey from 117 officers from a city police department in the Southeastern United States.
Findings
Community support was negatively correlated with burnout and positively correlated with engagement. Moreover, multiple regression analyses showed that community support explained significant incremental variance in most dimensions of burnout and engagement, above and beyond demographic factors and community stressors. Qualitative results showed that police officers had mixed perceptions of how they were viewed by the general public, with more negative than positive responses. However, officers felt more positively perceived in their own communities, but concerns were raised that national events affected the perceptions of officers even in positive relationships with their communities. Finally, officers felt that public perceptions impacted their job satisfaction, job performance and personal lives.
Practical implications
The results have practical implications for how to encourage positive interactions between officers and their community, with recommendations for both law enforcement leaders and civilians.
Originality/value
This study is one of the few that highlights the officers' perspective on how public perceptions affect their work. This is important in understanding how to maximize quality community interactions while minimizing conditions that would increase burnout.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to sincerely thank the officers who took the time to participate in our survey and provide their thoughtful responses. The authors thank The University of Tennesse at Chattanooga's office of Undergraduate Research and Creative Endeavor (URACE) who supported this research through an student research grant (SEARCH award) awarded to the first author. These funds were used for lisencing agreements and participant incentives. The authors would also like to thank Julia Anglin, Emily Halvorson and Katrina Johnson, who assisted with coding open-ended remarks. Lastly, the authors would like to think Dr Christopher Cunningham and Dr Alexandra Zelin for their feedback on iterations of this larger study, which was a component of the first author's Masters thesis.
Citation
Keaton, J., Black, K.J., Houdmont, J., Beck, E., Roddy, D., Chambers, J. and Moon, S. (2023), "Police officers' perception of community support for policing: implications for well-being", Policing: An International Journal, Vol. 46 No. 5/6, pp. 811-830. https://doi.org/10.1108/PIJPSM-05-2023-0056
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited