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21 Policing Soc'y: Int'l J. Res. Pol'y 1 (2011)

handle is hein.journals/pgsty21 and id is 1 raw text is: Policing & Society 3 Routled ge Vol. 21, No. 1, March 2011, 1-26 A Taylor&Frans Group Effective policing: management influence and the commitment of senior police personnel A.R. Parsonsa, Paula Kauttb* and Timothy Coupea aInstitute of Criminology, University of Cambridge, Sidgwick Avenue, Cambridge CB3 9DA, UK; bJill Dando Institute of Security and Crime Science, University College London, 2nd Floor Brook House, 2-16 Torrington Place, London WC1E 7HN UK (Received 6 April 2010; final version received 20 September 2010) This study explores the factors influencing senior police officer (Inspector level and above) commitment and desire to remain with the police organisation. Previous research with lower level officers suggests that both are strongly influenced by how these individuals are managed. Yet, research largely neglects whether the same factors are salient to retaining the more senior ranks. Based on survey and questionnaire data from one Australian police organisation, this research finds that Senior Officers (SOs) who do not feel valued, are disillusioned with organisational leadership or who perceive that they can 'no longer make a difference', feel less committed to the police organisation and are more inclined to leave. In addition, different and more complex issues influence both the organisational commitment and perceived organisational support of SOs as compared to those of the lower ranks. This implies that if the incentives for officers are primarily instrumental in nature (e.g. higher pay and pension payments), fiscal constraints will present greater challenges for police retention of the senior ranks in the short term and overall organisational efficiency and effectiveness in the long term. Keywords: police management; organisational commitment; police retention; senior officers Introduction The criminal justice system is only as strong as its weakest link. Arguably, its first and most fundamental link is the police. Since offenders enter the criminal justice system primarily through police intervention, the police are widely known as its de facto 'gatekeepers'. Moreover, the police are tasked with protecting the public from a myriad of diverse elements, from minor nuisances to serious criminality. Clearly, police play a vital role in modern society. Yet, in an age of shrinking fiscal budgets and staff turnover, maintaining sufficient personnel to perform this diverse mandate is a pervasive concern (Wilson and Clifford 2009). With the increased difficulty in recruiting and retaining suitable officers, police organisations now have significant motivation to stem officer attrition by developing effective retention and commitment strategies for existing personnel or else risk being unable to perform their most basic functions (Lynch and Tuckey 2008). *Corresponding author. Email: p.kautt@ucl.ac.uk ISSN 1043-9463 print/ISSN 1477-2728 online © 2011 Taylor & Francis DOI: 10.1080/10439463.2010.540661 http://www.informaworld.com

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