NCJ Number
180097
Journal
Policing Volume: 22 Issue: 2 Dated: 1999 Pages: 152-170
Editor(s)
Geoffrey P. Alpert,
Lawrence F. Travis III
Date Published
1999
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This paper reports on a study that examined evidence of value change among police officers in a medium-sized police department that was selected as a demonstration site for community-oriented policing (COP).
Abstract
The study relied primarily upon two surveys that collected data 3 years apart (1993 and 1996). These surveys show that value orientations among police officers in the COP demonstration site did change between 1993 and 1996. These changes occurred in two distinct clusters of values: individually or privately oriented versus socially oriented. In putting these observations into the broader perspective of contemporary policing, it is reasonable to argue that the COP philosophy attempts to change the culture of police organizations, with a focus on promoting societal values such as social equity, which involves fairness in police services across social class distinctions and the building of greater trust between police and community. The department surveyed has been implementing community-outreach innovations over the course of the last 5 years. The direction of change in police officers' values should be--if COP institutionalization is progressing appropriately--toward a higher ranking of social values. The contrary findings in this study may, however, indicate why the institutionalization of COP constitutes such a difficult task. It is possible that the values in the demonstration department may change toward a greater emphasis on social values as COP implementation progresses. Future studies will document any progress. 6 tables, 7 notes, and 46 references