Top-Down Management and Patrol Officers' Attitudes About the Importance of Public Order Maintenance: A Research Note

    Authors

    J. M. Gau;D. C. Gaines

    Comments

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    Abbreviated Journal Title

    Police Q.

    Keywords

    order maintenance; policing; supervisor; police organization; inclusive; decision making; top-down management; NEW-YORK-CITY; HIGHER-EDUCATION; BROKEN WINDOWS; ORGANIZATIONAL; COMMITMENT; DISCRIMINANT VALIDITY; JOB-SATISFACTION; IMPLEMENTATION; BEHAVIOR; DISORDER; WORK; Criminology & Penology

    Abstract

    Police organizations are inherently top down in their managerial style, and order maintenance policing-being a strategy adopted by top management and implemented by lower ranking personnel-may hit a roadblock that is typical in top-down organizations: Lower ranking personnel may not embrace the mission of order maintenance to the same extent that their superiors do. The present study compares attitudes about order maintenance policing across rank in an urban police department. The results indicate that patrol officers express significantly less support for public order maintenance relative to personnel of higher ranks; however, educational attainment and attachment to supervisors emerged as meaningful influences on attitude as well, which suggests that police managers and supervisors can improve lower ranking officers' endorsement of top-down strategies like order maintenance through their supervisory and hiring practices.

    Journal Title

    Police Quarterly

    Volume

    15

    Issue/Number

    1

    Publication Date

    1-1-2012

    Document Type

    Article

    Language

    English

    First Page

    45

    Last Page

    61

    WOS Identifier

    WOS:000299935000003

    ISSN

    1098-6111

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