A STUDY OF THE MOTIVATIONAL FORCES
LEADING TO A POLICE CAREER
AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO
JOB PERFORMANCE

Thesis for the Degree of M. S.
MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
ALBERT GERALD ISAAC
1972

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A STUDY OF THE MOTIVATIONAL FORCES LEADING TO
A POLICE CAREER AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP

TO JOB PERFORMANCE

BY

Albert Gerald Isaac

AN ABSTRACT OF A THESIS

Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

MASTER OF SCIENCE

School of Criminal Justice

1972

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ABSTRACT
A STUDY OF THE MOTIVATIONAL FORCES LEADING TO

A POLICE CAREER AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP
TO JOB PERFORMANCE

BY

Albert Gerald Isaac

Purpose

Today's policeman has, at best, an image that is not
as good as it could and should be. Some of the criticism is
leveled at police departments because of the actions of
"unsuitable“ police personnel. The recruitment and selec-
tion process is undergoing constant scrutiny for methods of
getting more "suitable" people involved in police jobs. The
purpose of this research is to approach the selection
process from a fresh angle with an aim at aiding recruitment

in a positive way.

Methodology

This research used a questionnaire approach. The
hypothesis posed was that an important facet of a police-
man's effectiveness was his motivation for being one and
that some common characteristic of motivation might be found
among successful policemen and isolated for use in the

future by recruiters.

Albert Gerald Isaac

A two-phase study was initiated. Phase one
researched police department recruiters throughout the
United States as to their views on motivation and phase two
probed the views of individual policemen of all ranks in
those departments for individual view of motivation to be

a policeman.

Results

The results showed mainly that there may well be
room for seeking motivation characteristics in recruitment
on a multi-faceted approach. One approach might stress
ALTRUISM and aim at selecting long term officers interested
in public contact service while another might stress PERSONAL
GAIN and point toward selecting the police department man-

agers of the future.

Limitations

 

The study was simplistic and, possibly presumptive,
but it does point the way to research of police departments

through the use of success criteria instead of failure data.

A STUDY OF THE MOTIVATIONAL FORCES LEADING To
A POLICE CAREER AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP

TO JOB PERFORMANCE

BY

Albert Gerald Isaac

A THESIS
Submitted to
Michigan State University

in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

MASTER OF SCIENCE

School of Criminal Justice

1972

Dedicated to my wife Virginia,

who knows why I did this.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

To acknowledge, with thanks, the encouragement given
me to continue my education by Arthur F. Brandstatter,
Director of this school, and Robert A. Lothian, Director of
School of Police Administration at Wayne State University,
both former members of my beloved Detroit Police Department.
And to recognize with gratitude the encouragement offered by
Victor G. Strecher while he was in charge of the graduate
school here at Michigan State University.

To give an expression of thanks to Grace Rutherford
for good technical help and advice and excellent typing.

But especially, my deep and heartfelt gratitude to
my advisor, whose help and encouragement constitute the sine
qua non of my efforts both as undergraduate and graduate,
Robert C. Trojanowicz, rara avis in academia, a teacher who

teaches.

*****

iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter Page
I O TIE PROBLEM O O O O O O O O O O t O I O O O O 1
Statement of the Problem . . . . . . . . . 1
Historical Aspect of the Problem . . . . . 2
Philosophical Aspect of the Problem . . . . 8
II 0 RECRUITING O O I O O O O I O O O I O O O O O 12
The PhiIOSOphy of Recruiting . . . . . . . 12
The Mechanics of Recruiting . . . . . . . . ' 19
The Relationship of Recruiting to the
Role of a Policeman . . . . . . . . . . . 28
An Outside View of the Policeman's Role . . 29
An Inside View of the Polceman's Role . . . 36
III. THE SEARCH FOR A COMMON DENOMINATOR . . . . . 41
Identifying Policemen's Personal Traits . . 41
Identifying the Successful Policeman . . . 52
Identifying the Common Denominator . . . . 55
IV. MOTIVATION TO BECOME A POLICEMAN . . . . . . 61
The Methodology of Search for Motivation . 61
The Recruiter's View of Motivation . . . . 63
Motivation from the Viewpoint of the
P01iceman O O O O O O I O O O O O O O O O 74
V 0 ANALYSIS 0 O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 7 6
VI. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS . . . . . . . . . . 88
Findings and Conclusions . . . . . . . . 89
Implications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Limitations of Research . . . . ... . . 91
BIBLIOGRAPHY O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 9 3
APPENDIX
A. First Research Letter to Police Recruiting
Departments in Phase I . . . . . . . . . 100

B. Follow-up Letter to Police Recruiting
Departments in Phase II . . . . . . . . . 104

iv

Table

1.

ll.
12.

13.

14.

LIST OF TABLES

The Basic Categories of Motivation to
Enter Police Work . . . . . . . . . . .

Size and Area of Cities Polled in
Phase I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 0

Area Distribution of Polled Cities . . .
Population Groupings of Polled Cities .

Motivation Stressed by Recruiters in
Cities Polled . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Motivation Classifications by Population
Groups 0 O O O O O I O O O I O O I O O 0

Motivation Groupings by Area of United
States 0 O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 0

Police Response to Individual Research .
Motivation Characteristics by City . . .
Motivation Characteristics by City Size
Motivation Characteristics by Area . . .
Motivation Characteristics by Rank . . .

Motivation Characteristics by Length
of Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Motivation Characteristics by Age . . .

Page

59

62
69

7O

71

72

73
78
79
80
81

82

83

83

CHAPTER I

THE PROBLEM

Statement of the Problem

Many of the criticisms directed at policemen and
their methods are based on research of police failures. The
resulting suggestions of raising recruitment requirements
tend to use the Opposite of those failures as standards of
excellence. None seem to note that there may be found among
policemen the solution to failure, namely, the traits and
characteristics of successful policemen.

The problem of recruiting excellent personnel into
police departments with the hope of producing excellent
policemen may be aggravated by the use of standards of
excellence that are not really related to job performance
and are actually imposed on the recruiter by research based
on characteristics that are largely disconnected from those
actually needed and which often reflect the needs or norms
of the researcher.

Most requirements are based on presupposed standards
of what it takes to make a good policeman. However, little

research has been undertaken to analyze the successful

policeman or the "proper" policeman to determine whether

there are traits or characteristics common to success and
determine whether it might not be feasible to include such
traits or characteristics in the recruiting and selection

process.

Historical Aspect of the Problem

From the beginning of law enforcement history to
the present day, there is much data available concerning
the attitudes of communities toward policemen. These
attitudes cover the entire spectrum of feelings from love
to hate. And the very ambivalence of community attitudes
is reflected in the dual value role imposed on policemen
by the society which creates him, and then requires him to
be both friend and oppressor at the same time.

Some of the criticism of the profession was, at
least partly, caused by its very method of growing. During
the early history of policing communities in England, there
are references to the Watch and Ward, which was a system of
safeguarding communities by legally requiring citizens to
take their turn at being policemen. But, inevitably, as
now, what was everyone's business and concern, was no one's
duty and paid replacements began to appear. They were ill-

rewarded and in keeping, were usually unlearned, unable and

over-aged.1 This type of administration and recruiting was
obviously not aimed at consideration of policing as a
community profession to be respected.

Various other attempts to form organizations to
protect communities against the lawless were initiated,
tried, and discarded. The Merchant Police, hired by mer-
chants on a private basis to safeguard their shOps, and
investigate crimes against them were joined later by the
Parochial Police, made up of parish constables throughout
the cities.2 These and many other methods of crime fight-
ing were tried, including escalation of the severity of
punishment.

However, during these years, the crime rate rose
steadily and in 1829, Sir Robert Peel, the British Home
Secretary, introduced into Parliament "an Act for Improving
the Police In and Near the Metropolis."

The Act blamed much of the social unrest on the
poor quality and divided responsibility of the police ser-

vices then existing (Merchant Police, Parochial Police and

 

1The Police Task Force Report on the President's
Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice
(Washington, D.C. Government Printing Office, 1967).

2A. C. Germann, Frank D. Day, and Robert R. J.
Gallati, Introduction to Law Enforcement and Criminal
Justice (10th printing; Springfield: Charles C. Thomas,
1969), PP. 50-55.

the useless Watch and Ward) and put forth fundamentals
of community policing which are still applicable today.

Sir Robert Peel suggested such reforms as:

0 Stable, efficient, quasi-military police
organization.
0 Governmental control of police.
0 DevelOpment of police strength by time and
area need (records).
0 Central headquarters.
0 Securing and training of proper personnel.
0 Probation periods for new policemen.3
These fundamentals have been adopted and carried out through
the following years by police administrators without much
problem except the one which stated, "police should secure
and train prOper personnel." As the police departments
faced a slowly rising tide of criticism, much attention was
focused on recruitment, selection and training of "proper
personnel."

In the early days of America, the attempts at law
enforcement paralleled those of the mother country. The
time-honored, or dishonored, Watch and Ward method was tried
and discarded. Even worse for the profession, misdemeanants
were sometimes sentenced to serve on the Watch and Ward as

payment for their crime. Many rules and regulations of the

 

3Ibid., pp. 54-55.

day were aimed at keeping watchmen awake and moving while
on duty.“

In 1833 the city of Philadelphia passed an ordinance
providing for paid, daytime policemen. New York, Chicago,
Cincinnati, New Orleans, Baltimore and Providence followed
suit in the next few decades and in 1856 New York City led
the way to another innovation by adopting full police
uniforms.s

Police services in those times were entirely at
the mercy of political manipulation and, of course, offered
a grade of police service consistent with the quality of
politics under which it served in each instance. Attempts
to abandon the political yoke even embraced efforts at
electing policemen, but these results were worse than
dismal.6

In 1881 the assassination of President James
Garfield by a disgruntled office seeker brought forth the
Pendleton Act, providing for Civil Service in federal gov-
ernment employment. This, in turn, led to the establishment
of civil service processes throughout local and state govern-
ments and gradually some departments were freed from con-

stant political interference, at least on a daily basis.7

 

“Ibid., pp. 58-593
5Ibid., pp. 59-60.
61bid.

7Ibid., p. 60.

But the profession suffered through many other
image-shattering ordeals, which saw charges ranging from
gross inefficiency through murder raised against members of
police departments. These charges included as few as one
policeman, and as many as, virtually, hundreds or entire
departments. From the trial and subsequent execution of
a police lieutenant of a large metropolitan department for
complicity in a gang murder,8 to the trial of two patrolmen
of a large city for a riot murder,9 there are many stories
of police failures, which, true or untrue, accurate or
exaggerated, are attitude-forming facets of societal rela-
tionship in one's community.

It has been a relatively short time from the date
of the Peelian reform to the present day, but even so, it
has only been in the latter stages of that period that
police training began to be structured and formalized to
train men for police use in their own community. And,
probably, the whole theory turns on the word "properly."
One historian remarks that in the early 1900's "for the

most part the average American city depends almost entirely

 

aVina Delmar, The Becker Scandal (New York:
Harcourt-Brace, 1968).

9John Hersey, The Algiers Motel Incident (New York:
Alfred A. Knopf, 1968). See also Detroit News and Detroit
Free Press, February 27, 1970.

for the training of its police recruits upon such casual
instruction as older officials may be able and willing

"1° But by 1966, a survey by the International

to give.
Association of Chiefs of Police revealed that 97 percent
of 269 surveyed police departments had formal training
programs ranging from one to twelve weeks.11

It is notable and probably to be eXpected, that
early police training curricula, even in places where the
units were regarded as highly successful, were largely
attuned to the repression of crime and the physical
mechanics of the duty. Little thought, if any, was given
to preparing policemen for the oddly paradoxical duty of
dealing with vicious criminals and irate and overwrought
citizens on the same day. Such suggestions as that of
creating a position of Police Community Service Officer to
handle non-line functions are a bright vision on tomorrow's

2

police horizon,1 but will probably be resisted and delayed

by many protectors of the status quo.

 

loElmer D. Graper, American Police Administration
(New York: McMillan Co., 1921), pp. 109-110.

11The Police Task Force Report, op. cit., p. 11.

12Ibid., p. 123.

Philosophical Aspect of the Problem

Police recruit training programs, in general,
are better than have existed in the past but are still "a
fragmented, sporadic and rather inadequate response to the
training needs of the field in a day when police are con-
fronted with some of the most perplexing social and behav-
ioral problems we have ever known."13 And it can be noted
now that the social situation has worsened since that
assessment was made. Note, for instance, the description
of feelings toward police in a black community by a leading
Negro spokesman:

the only way to police a ghetto is to be
oppressive. None . . . have any way of
understanding the lives led by the peOple
they swagger about in two's and three's
controlling. Their very presence is an
insult, and it would be, even if they
spent their entire day feeding gumdrops
to the children.‘“

It is important to realize that sponsoring a police
athletic league or passing out baskets at Thanksgiving or
Christmas will not serve as a year long panacea for ailments
that arise as the result of poor communication and clashing

attitudes. These elements of people treatment that will

be useful must be based on more than a public relations

 

13Ibid., p. 37.

1"James Baldwin, "Fifth Avenue Uptown," from Man
Alone, ed. by Eric and Mary Josephson (New York: Dell,
1963), p. 152.

gimmickry approach. This brings about the realization that
communities will react to police in accord with the general
treatment afforded.them by the police. People in the com-
munity who are suspicious of, or alienated from, the police
are far less likely to cooperate in many ways. This can,
and does, interfere with the ability of a police department
to function "properly." It tends to cause officers to react
hastily or emotionally, or not at all, in situations where
their reaction is critical. Unfriendliness, hostility, and
even hate may be generated in both directions as the result
of failure in communication at this juncture.

Though it must be noted and remembered that much
of the hostility, malevolence, anger and subsequent violence
directed at police is unrelated to police treatment of the
community, and that many confrontations are carried out by
anti-social types, it is also to be kept in mind that a
police officer is generally not puzzled or upset to discern
that criminals fear or hate him. It is when he encounters
these attitudes among segments of the community which he
thinks he is trying to help that a shock wave of reaction
arises in the policeman.

It also seems important to note that while the
crime rates continue to soar and crime becomes a regular
and virtually monotonous campaign issue, the greatest source

of criticism toward police departments arises not from their

lO

apparent failure to stem the crime rate, but from the way
they treat people.

It has been said that "on the whole, the less
education peOple have, the more likely they are to be
intolerant of those who differ from themselves, whether in
opinions, modes of culturally and morally relevant behavior,

religion, ethnic background or race."15

Any additional
education then, aimed at broadening policemen's knowledge
of the human aspects of beliefs and attitude formation
would seem to be doubly helpful.

The reality of the present day situation is that
most police officers do not have college degrees when
entering police service, and that most of them are, after
entry, being trained by older versions of themselves. For
the purpose of training men in the physical aspects of a
career, this would seem sufficient, but it is wholly inade-
quate to expect that police recruits will learn the impor-
tant facts of psychological and sociological attitude
recognition and management from instructors who are unaware
of these problems. One of the very reasons why there has
been so little change in much of the area of police training
is the fact that most departments train themselves. While
this is admittedly efficient in some respects, it is

absolutely worthless in others.

 

15Seymour M. Lipset, "Why Cops Hate Liberals and
Vice Versa," The Atlantic Monthly, CCIII, No. 3 (March,
1969), 76.

11

Though agreement is not universal as to the value
of educating law enforcement people, the principle has made
a slow, constant advancement. Some departments are granting
pay, promotion privileges and benefits directly tied to
educational background. Other departments are requiring
at least two years of college education as a hiring require-
ment16 and there is discussion about the future requirement
of a four year college degree to enter into the police
field.17 The position of chief administrator has been
opened to outside applicants in such large cities as Boston,
Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit, New York, Baltimore and

Syracuse.1°

 

16Donald E. Clark and Samuel G. Chapman, A Forward
Step: Educational Backgrounds for Policemen (Springfield:
Charles C. Thomas, 1966), p. 21. This includes at least
two California departments requiring from one to four years
of college prior to recruitment.

17The Police Task Force Report, op. cit.. p. 126.
“The ultimate goal is that all personnel with general
enforcement powers have baccalaureate degrees."

“Ibid., p. 127.

CHAPTER II

RECRUITING

The Philosgphy of Recruiting

The recruitment process breaks down into two parts,
actually, which are designed for the purpose of providing
the aforementioned "prOper" personnel. The first of these
parts is recruitment and the second is selection. In both
of these, the determinants of excellence are set by the
administrator's goals, whether they are his own ideals,
demands set by locality and community, or professional
standards in general use. It is standard opinion that
recruitment is: "that process through which suitable
candidates are induced to compete for appointments in the
public service."1

Compared to private enterprise, it can be noted that
the methods used in recruiting employees into public service

seem to differ in the area of motivation. The person who

seeks to achieve large measures of materialistic gain, or

 

l"Recruiting Applicants for the Public Service,"
Report submitted to the CSA by a Committee on Recruiting
Applicants for the Civil Service, Donald Kingsley, Chair-
man (Chicago: CSA of the U.S. and Canada, 1942), p. l.

12

13

whose outlook is for a life based on the possibility of
striking it rich, will find little to attract him to public
service. Nevertheless, public service recruiters do tend
to stress the security benefits on the basis of long term
steadiness of employment in public service.

But largely, a stress must be placed in public
service recruitment on the benefits of bringing help to
one's fellowman, and such attractions as adventure and the
eventual great authority that accompanies steady rises in
rank in the service.

As a result of this, it has been the practice of
recruiters to use various tests throughout the recruitment
and selection process which are designed to facilitate the
selection of the "suitable" person for the job. When used
in connection with recruitment and selection it can be
pointed out that the words "suitable" and "proper" have
virtually unlimited flexibility. In some instances the
variety of shadings applied to these two words will enable
a recruiter to fit almost any peg into any hole.

But, since the recruitment and selection are
actually aimed at more specific goals and use specific
standards, the process actually involves the use of methods
geared to induce particular kinds of peOple to apply for,
meet the tests and standards of, and accept, certain types

of jobs.

14

A recent study2 of college seniors, graduate
students and faculty members in various colleges to deter-
mine why college students do not apply for government ser-
vice in science and engineering showed a strong preference
for private industrial employment. Only 13 percent were
favorably inclined towards government employment. Those
selecting private industry cited as reasons such items as
higher pay for like work, more stress on ability as a cri—
terion for promotion, greater incentive, and greater
managerial talent in private industry.

Those who preferred government employment noted
the absence of pressure in jobs, good experience for later
private use, job security provisions and benefits, and less
likelihood of discrimination.

The study points up to recruiters the necessity of
gearing their approach to the applicant toward those job
characteristics which are more likely to appeal to the
prospective applicant and which may or may not serve as the
first basic step in the elimination process of selection.

Scant research has been done on the career leaning
of individuals and their characteristics and job performance
in public agencies. One investigation studied employees of

a federal agency doing research on a national defense

 

2College Seniors and Federal Employment (Washington,
D.C.: The American University, January, 1953).

15

project.3 All were professional or administrative and all

were asked as part of an interview whether they considered

themselves career military, career federal civil service or
primarily professionals in law or science.

Those who chose military or federal career service
were designated "institutionalists" and those who classified
themselves as professionals were called "specialists" while
those who said they were part both were named "hybrids."

The "institutionalists," almost unanimously,
intended to work out their careers in government service
and eXpected to be executives, mostly. The "specialists"
looked forward to non-executive careers and were unconcerned
if it was public or private enterprise.

The "hybrids," although their educational require-
ments and job experience was very like the specialist, also
looked forward to careers in government service and largely
as executives.

The entire point of this research insofar as it is
directed to a recruiter should lead to a heightened reali-
zation that there is a point above and beyond the monetary
lures where defining and describing the job assumes great

significance and importance.

 

3Dwaine Marvic, Career Perspectives in a Bureau-
cratic Setting (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press,
1954), Bureau of Government, Institute of Public Adminis-
tration, University of Michigan, pp. 31, 122-23.

16

Another study of attitudes held by scientists and
engineers about their former government employment, revealed
that most considered that private industry offered the best
prospect of satisfying career work.“ The most frequently
mentioned advantages of government employment were job
security and desirable fringe benefits such as leave pol-
icies, while the leading advantage of private industry was
pay scale.

The most often cited disadvantage of public employ-
ment were pay, promotion, and opportunities for professional
development. The top disadvantage of private employment was
cited as job security. The general impression of the three
studies just noted would seem to indicate that people who
prefer government work tend to be those who are interested
in a comparatively well ordered and secure life.

However, this need not be so in light of the cited
research of Marvick which pointed out that there may be
a definite relationship between recruiting and personnel
results in conjunction with the career intent of individ-
uals, much of which might hinge on the description or
definition of the job. This view is strengthened by the
Stromsen-Dreese study of National Institute of Public

Administration internes which showed that these federal

 

I’Attitudes of Scientists and Engineers About Their
Government Employment (Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University,
The Maxwell Graduate School of Citizenship and Public
Affairs, July, 1950), Vol. I.

17

employ internes were most frequently impressed by the
possibility of satisfaction in promoting the public welfare
and secondly by the challenge of playing a part in urgent,
national affairs as described by recruiters.5

The general problem in selective recruiting is,
of course, probably best considered as qualitative and not
quantitative. What is necessary in a useful recruiting
situation is a prime group of potential employees from whom
the best may be selected. The inducement effort aimed at
getting large numbers of persons to apply overlooks the
very real fact that pinpoint recruiting can do the job more
readily given the "proper" inducements which are designed
to draw "proper" and "suitable" applicants by appeals to
those traits which have proven to be success traits in the
past, coupled with job definitions to attract those indi-
viduals who have the particular traits identified.

Some of the problem lies in this area of trait
identification. Those facets of job pursuit which are tied
to motivation must be isolated and identified and made part
of the recruiting process. And determinants of motivation
must not be defined by pre-employment investigation but by
thorough past hiring studies which are correlated to success

patterns in job performance. There is, at present a lack of

 

sKarl Stromsem and Mitchell Dreese, "Attitudes
of NIPA Internes Toward a Career in the Federal Service,"
Public Administration Review, X (1950), 256-57.

l8

empirical research along these lines. One noted personnel
eXpert says:

New testing devices and new methods of judgment
about people will have to be explored. I wonder
sometimes about our antiquated attitudes about
applicants as evidenced in our application
forms. Instead of many of the questions that
we ask, I don't see why we shouldn't ask some
like these:

0 What do you like most to do?

0 In what endeavor do you think you have

achieved most?
0 What do you dislike?
0 Where have you failed?

We still base too much personnel policy and
practice on trial and error, or intuition. More
intensive and deliberate examination of the
impact of the policies we espouse and estab-
lish, more evaluation on a continuing basis,
is essential.6

It is therefore quite possible to consider measure-

ments, or tests, as descriptive and not necessarily predic—
tive. A watch, a ruler, an odometer are all describing how
things are now. It is in the relationship of these measure-
ments to other factors that brings one into the area of
prediction. A watch tells us it is three o'clock in the
afternoon and when we correlate this fact with the knowledge
that it is forty-five miles to home and our car's odometer
notifies us that we are traveling forty-five miles per hour,

we can reasonably predict that we will be home in one hour,

but then only if conditions remain constant as at the time

 

6D. Glenn Stahl, "Tomorrow's Generation of Personnel
Managers," Public Personnel Association, Personnel Report,
No. 681, p. 45.

19

of measurement. Thus, we realize that a measurement is

dependent for validity on what can be related to it.

The Mechanics of Recruiting

 

Police recruitment and selection processes are based
on some very worthy measurement techniques which have a
seemingly permanent relationship with certain facets of job
performance, such as the requirement of sterling character.
Others may not be relatable factors at all. A look at the

more common of those shows these recurring requirements:

Age

The age requirement is generally set between 21 and
35. The minimum age may now be restrictive, in view of the
new age of majority laws, and the upper limit of 35 has also
been faulted. The International Association of Chiefs of
Police recommended the maximum age be reduced to 29 and
reported:

The upper age limit of 35 is considered
to be too high. There are many advantages in
lowering the upper limit. It assists in reduc-
ing turnover because young men, not having
'established themselves in a trade or occupation,
are less likely than others to leave the force
during periods of economic prosperity. . . .
Younger men can also be eXpected to fulfill
their maximum working years with greater
endurance for the tremendous physical exer-
tions required of the working officer. In
addition, younger men present easier training
subjects and are probably more readily amenable

20

to the discipline necessary in a police
operation.7

Another source suggests a reason for recruiting younger
men is because it is easier for a man in his twenties to
return to college to resume his studies for a new career
than it is for a man approaching forty.a

While all the foregoing reasons may have some
validity for auditors and accountants who worry themselves
about pension and insurance costs, and may have some con-
sidered validity if the job of policeman is truly a depres-
sion job, they have no really solid empirical validity in
relationship with task performance as an officer. An older
officer may not be able to wrestle as well as a younger man,
but he may conceivably design a way to avoid the violent
confrontation and still get the job done. Beyond this, it
may be a question of personal courage, and there is no
empirical proof that younger officers are more courageous

than older ones.

Height
The height requirement is generally between 6'7"

and 5'7". It is noted that one researcher calls height

 

7I.A.C.P., A Survey of Police Services in Metro-
politan Dade County, Florida (Washington, D.C.: I.A.C.P.,
1963), p. 39.

8Thomas F. Adams, Law Enforcement (Englewood Cliffs,
N.J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1966), p. 19.

21

part of the "charisma" of an officer which enables him to
hold the respect of people he deals with, especially the
belligerent or uncooperative.9 This, coupled with the
requirement of perfect 20/20 vision is now being recognized
as unrealistic and not always related. The Federal Aviation
Agency will license a commercial pilot with 20/100 vision as

long as it is correctable,1°

and many police departments are
changing their regulations regarding height and vision to
conform with the belief that competent medical examination
by qualified physicians are more reliable as to physical
fitness than a set of department rule standards. The
President's Commission on Law Enforcement recommended

that all departments should eliminate inflexible physical

requirements as not being related to job performance.11

Residenpy

Many police departments have pre-service residency
requirements from six months to five years but these have
been recognized as a deterrent to recruiting. The history

of such a requirement hearkens back to the depression day

 

”Ibid., p. 20.

10Federal Aviation Agency, Regulations: Part 57,
Medical Standards and Certification (Washington, D.C.:
Government Printing Office, November 23, 1965).

11The Police Task Force Report, op. cit., p. 130.

22

premise of saving jobs for local residents. It is now
widely accepted that a department should recruit men any-
where excellence can be located.12 Pre-service residency
requirements are rapidly being acknowledged as not related

to job performance.

Education

Generally, a high school education is required
although some departments accept less. A 1961 survey showed
that 24 percent of 300 police departments had no minimum
education requirement, while less than 1 percent required
any level of college preparation.13 Recent information,
however, indicates that education is assuming greater
importance. In Detroit, for instance, in 1971 there were
nearly 500 officers enrolled in degree courses at Wayne
State University, a figure which is increasing by about
10 percent per year.‘“

It has been previously noted that one research

study source recommended that the ultimate goal be a

 

12"Minimum Standards for Police Recruit Qualifica-
tions and Selection: American Bar Association Project on
Minimum Standards for Criminal Justice," Committee on the
Police Function, September 8, 1966, Sec. II, p. 6.

13George W. O'Connor, Survey of Selection Methods
(Washington, D.C.: I.A.C.P., 1962).

ll‘Interview with InSpector Clifford Ryan, Commanding
Officer, Detroit Police Academy, November, 1971.

23

college degree for all officers.15 The realization that
higher education is directly related to job performance is
becoming a widespread belief among police recruiters and

administrators.

Personal Qualifications

Most police applicants are subjected to a searching
exploration of their backgrounds. The qualities of emo—
tional stability, common sense and integrity are undoubtedly
in direct relationship to job performance but beyond that
the measurement gets a bit difficult. It is quite true that
persons who have publicly or openly exhibited traits of in-
stability or are discovered to have done such things not so
openly are more than likely poor police candidates. And it
is axiomatic that police must face a good deal of temptation
in line of duty. Some of these temptations require only
that the officer "look the other way" once in a while. Some
offer monetary rewards and some offer advancement, but
surely an officer must have the integrity to resist all
such lures, and basically, it is virtually impossible to
measure this factor by any valid test.

In attempts to screen out candidates who may fail
as policemen later in their career because of some defect

of personality, many police administrators insist that

 

15The Police Task Force Report, op. cit., p. 126.

24

prospective policemen should be examined for such defects
before hiring.16 The ability to remain objective under con-
ditions of extreme stress is an important characteristic of
a complete policeman. He must be able to see sights that
are virtually sickening, hear sounds that are terrifying in
intensity and listen to language directed at him that would
fluster an angel and remain at all times sufficiently cool
to carry out his duties efficiently. If a personality
defect exists, it will more than likely be brought to the
surface by some emergency situation and cause serious damage
in a community through officer failure or error.

But even if the character check that the prospect
is subjected to is thorough and searching and eliminates
quite a few potential misfits, there is always the latent
and not easily detected personality flaw that can escape
this type of search.

Because of this many departments use psychological
and psychiatric tests and examinations. In 1961, a survey
revealed that over 50 departments out of 300 were using such
pre-entry testing techniques.17

The examinations vary to a considerable degree

city by city.10 Kansas City has a clinical psychologist

 

16Thomas W. Oglesby, "The Use of Emotional Screening
in the Selection of Police Applicants," Police, January-
February, 1958, p. 49.

17O'Connor, op. cit.

18The Police Task Force Report, op. cit., p. 129.

25

interview and evaluates all applicants while Philadelphia
has applicants interviewed by a psychiatrist. Los Angeles,
California police candidates are also interviewed by a
psychiatrist who also conducts two tests of each candidate.
These tests, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory
and the Group Rorschach, are primarily intended to detect.
neurotic or psychotic leanings in future policemen.

The problem that arises over such tests is generally
concerned with their validity. But whether or not they
screen out an occasional candidate who might have had a
successful law-enforcement career, they have also undoubt-
edly eliminated many misfits with a potential for great
damage to the community. The most frequent criticism of
this type of testing occurs when one of the applicants who
successfully met every test, turns out to have an undetected
flaw. The fact that this condition could have arisen after
the tests is seldom mentioned in such cases.

However, since there is a direct relationship
between a man's mental make-up and his job performance it
follows that this phase of the selection process should be
expanded. Many departments are relying on oral interview
examinations by boards of officers or civilians or both to
weed out applicants.19 This method, if used by itself, is

highly unreliable as an indicator of "suitability" because,

 

19O'Connor, op. cit.

26

while it may enable a judgment to form concerning
performance under stress, it depends too greatly on
subjective individual whim of decision. This interview
method of screening should never be the sole method of
disqualification or acceptance. Such interviews should
be in conjunction with the background investigation and
psychological testing.2°

Police Commissioner Michael Murphy, of New York,
was quoted as saying, "Today's policeman is younger, better
trained, and more carefully screened than ever before. We
investigate candidates from the time they were in kinder-
garten to their entrance in the department." At the same
place, the same author relates how a boy was barred from a
police appointment by a misstep he made at age thirteen. He
had to petition the court to cause the police department to
overlook this youthful error.21

A point to be made at this juncture is that the
police are very jealously guarding their ranks against entry
by the unworthy, which is wholly understandable if unworthy
is well defined. It might somehow be stated that many who
were found unworthy of service in some of the departments of

the United States were excluded because of attitudes which

 

2"A. C. Germann, Police Personnel Management (Spring-
field, Ill.: Charles C. Thomas, 1963), pp. 51-53.

21Arthur Niederhoffer, Behind the Shield (New York:
Doubleday, 1967), p. 34v

27

might in reality have been useful to this service. This is
illustrative of the fact that police departments are
reluctant to change some of their own attitudes but are
rather seeking to preserve and even regenerate them in the
recruitment process.

It has also been suggested that some research be
undertaken to add knowledge to what is known about police
value patterns and associated attitudes and for further
determination whether or not these value patterns and
attitudes differ from other significant groups in our
society.22 These findings could then become part of the
selection procedure and serve to aid police recruiters in

their search for "suitability."

The background investigation.--The background
investigation of prospective police candidates is important
and, of course, has a relationship to job performance. It
is possible that the background investigation of an appli-
cant could reveal evidences of personality flaws which
might fail to come to light in oral and psychiatric testing.
Additionally, identification records can be checked at
local, state and federal echelons of information and char-
acter references followed up and interviewed. No person

should be admitted into a service which polices communities

 

22Milton Rokeach, Martin Miller, and John A. Snyder,
"The Value Gap Between Police and Policed" (unpublished

paper, Michigan State University, Department of Psychology,
1968).

28

until that person has been thoroughly investigated.
Fingerprints should be taken and checked. School, neigh-
borhood, past and present as well as employers past and
present should be looked into thoroughly. It has been
suggested that, since background investigations are the
most costly part of recruitment and selection, this pro-
cedure should be left until all other tests have been
passed successfully by the applicant.23 As a further
check, use of the polygraph can frequently cap the back-
ground check.2“ And, just incidentally, this is probably
the only stage in a police investigation when the use of
the polygraph for testing personnel of departments is not
tinged with controversy.
The Relationship of‘Recruitingto
The Role of a Policeman

In review, one might state that the initial look at
police recruitment and selection sees that both are supposed
to be closely related to the product sought, which is prob-
ably correct as far as it theorizes. The weak point in the
line running from recruitment through selection to policeman,
is that there is so little in the way of empirical data to
relate the efforts of recruiters, and the tests of selectors,

to the job performance of the end product. Suggestions are

__

23The Police Task Force Report, op. cit., p. 129.

2"Adams, op. cit., pp. 30-31.

29

made that public service employees are either security
minded or altruistic beyond belief and these traits ought
to be sought and appealed to in the recruitment process.
There is much evidence that of all the testing
procedures used in the application procedure, only character
and education are truly related to job performance. Those
requirements involving age, height, weight, vision, hearing,
and residence, have no real basis for inclusion as require-
ments for selected police personnel.
A very basic description of the police goals is
made by Germann, Day and Gallati:
l. The prevention of crime and disorder
and the preservation of peace (for community
security).
2. The protection of life and property
and personal liberty (for individual
security).25
But, even though most police agencies subscribe to these
goals, there is a great variety of methods to achieve them
in present day use and a great many interpretations of their

meanings and nuances, resulting in a wide variety of role

descriptions.
An Outside View of the Policeman's Role

Yinger defines role as a unit of culture referring

to the rights and duties, or normatively approved patterns

 

25Germann, Day, and Gallati, op. cit., p. 25.

30

of behavior for the occupants of a given position.26
Assuming the View as valid, gives rise to the presumption
that the role of a policeman could well vary from place to
place and time to time. Which leads to a further presump-
tion that the tendency to stereotype police begins with role
definitions that may not be exactly correct.

Nor is the problem of role definition unique to
the police. Biddle and Thomas say:

Perhaps the most common definition is that
role is the set of prescriptions defining
what the behavior of a position member should
be. But this much agreement is at best but
an oasis in a desert of diverging Opinion.

A careful review of the definitions reveals,
however, that there is one nearly universal
common denominator, namely that the concept
pertains to the behavior of particular
persons.

The policeman represents many things to many people
and while it is fairly simple to state what a policeman's
goals are or ought to be and list a number of functions that
are part and parcel of goal achievement, it is equally
difficult to define his role, and to Specify the minutiae
of application standards of those goals and functions.

Police systems specialist Bruce Smith, in discussing

the role of the policeman says of him:

 

”J; Milton Yinger, Toward a Field Theory of
Behavior (New York: MCGraw-Hill Book Co., 1965): p. 99.

27Bruce J. Biddle and Edwin J. Thomas, Role Theory:
Concepts and Research (New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.,
1966), p. 29.

31

The policeman's art consists of applying and
enforcing a multitude of laws and ordinances
in such degree or proportion that the great—
est degree of protection will be secured.
The degree of enforcement and the method of
application will vary with each neighborhood
and community. There are no set rules, nor
even general guides, to the policy to be
applied. Each patrolman must, in a sense,
determine the standard to set in the area
for which he is responsible. . . . Thus he
is a policy-forming police administrator in
miniature. a

This definition of the police role, though not
universally agreed with in all its concepts, does point
out the very real difference in degrees of enforcement
and methods of application from community to community.

Skolnick identifies and defines distinctive cog-
nitive tendencies which policemen share with other occu-
pations. He notes that a policeman's exposure to danger
likens him to a soldier. His authority problems are akin
to those faced by schoolteachers and pressure to prove his
ability is similar to those of an industrial worker. But,
says Skolnick, only a policeman has all three problems.29

Skolnick also notes that:

. . . the character of the policeman's work
makes him less desirable as a friend, since

norms of friendship implicate others in his
work. Accordingly, the element of danger

 

28Bruce Smith, Police Systems in the United States,
(Rev. ed.; New York: Harper and Row, 1960), p. 18.

”Jerome H. Skolnick, Justice Without Trial
(New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., second printing,
1967), p. 42.

32

isolates the policeman socially from that
segment of the citizenry which he regards
as symbolically dangerous and also from the
conventional citizenry with whom he identi-
fies.3°

But Skolnick goes on to add, in an explanatory
footnote:

By no means does such an analysis suggest

there are no individual or group differences
among police. On the contrary, most of this
study emphasizes differences, endeavoring to
relate these to occupation specialties in
police departments. This chapter, however,
explores Similarities rather than differences
attempting to account for the policeman's
general disposition to perceive and to behave
in certain ways.3

So, even though there is some disagreement con-
cerning police goals and functions, there seems to be a
recognition that his role is ambiguous, at least. The
sources which play a part in forming that role in each
community are diverse and contradictory.

To some peOple a policeman is a friend, a helper
for children and a protector against criminals. This view
probably represents the majority view in America. But to
many, the police are viewed as oppressors. One recent
study reported that police officers tended to initiate

investigations of suspected crimes with abusive language

and that a clear case of physical abuse occurred once every

 

3’01};th p. 44.

31Ibid., footnote 3, p. 44.

33

forty-eight hours of patrols.32 The study further found
that the abuse was directed at poor whites as often as
poor blacks. This statistic might suggest a reason for
considering that the poor peOple have a different view of
the policeman's role than persons in higher socioeconomic
strata of the community, whether these poor are white,
black, or Spanish—speaking citizens.

The View of police as oppressors, however, may
not necessarily affect the better view of his role in the
community. For instance, a 1966 Louis Harris poll33 in
Washington found that Negroes as well as whites considered
crime and law enforcement the greatest community problem.
The U.S. Civil Rights Commission on "Police-Community
Relations," Cleveland, Ohio, reported that the Negro
citizens' most frequent complaint was permissive law
enforcement and inadequate protection for areas peopled
by Negroes.3“ This complaint was also made by Negroes in

the Bedford-Stuyvesant area of New York.35

 

32Donald J. Black and Albert J. Reiss, Jr., "Patterns
of Behavior in Police and Citizen Transactions," in Studies
in Crime and Law Enforcement in Major Metropolitan Areas,
ed. by Albert J. Reiss, Jr., President's Commission on Law
Enforcement, Field Survey III (Washington, D.C.: Government
Printing Office, 1967), p. 182.

33Louis Harris, "Crime Is Top Problem in District,
Area's Negroes and Whites Agree," The Washington Post,
October 2, 1966, Sec. A., p. 1, col. 1.

3"Police Task Force Report, op. cit., p. 148.

asIbid.

34

The View, then, of policemen as oppressors may
not necessarily render invalid their being looked at as
protectors. This is part of the shift of police role by
time periods. One may conceivably be glad to have a
policeman for protection against an assaulter and at the
same time feel a twinge of sympathy for the arrested one
because of certainty of belief that he will be mistreated
by the police.

Many Americans look on policemen as crime inves-
tigators and, perhaps because of mass media and literature
depictions, picture them in violent confrontations with
felons, including running gun battles. Even policemen tend
to view themselves "on the firing line against crime" as
stated by O. W. Wilson, former superintendent of police in
Chicago, Illinois.36 Does a police officer use his gun or
his pencil most often? Is he typically depicted in a pose
charging from his black and white police car with drawn gun,
or returning a lost child to a grateful mother? What per-
centage of police action is violent or dangerous? How much
requires deductive brilliance?

One study of this facet of police activity was con-
ducted in a city of about 400,000 people and revealed at the

outset that the patrol division comprised only 43 percent of

 

36John Webster, "Police Task and Time Study,"
Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology and Police Science,
LXI, No. l (1970), 94.

35

the 900 authorized personnel strength and only 41 percent
of the budget.37 It was also found that nearly 64 percent
of all patrol assignees was spent in administration and
social service activities with 50.19 percent dedicated to
administrative work which involved lunches, reports, errands
and technical services. Slightly under 10 percent of the
time the patrol people were engaged in traffic activities
and the remainder of the time, about 27 percent, was used
in crimes against persons (3 percent), crimes against
property (15 percent), and on—view activity (9 percent).
In short, these patrol officers spent very little time on
activity involving violence or potential violence.

One phase of the report notes that the patrol force
was dispatched to 2,917 robberies, a figure which represents
one-half of 1 percent of the total number of dispatches.
Burglary runs were dispatched over 28,000 times but only
9,122 actual offenses of burglary were reported and police
experience in virtually all cities show 90 percent of
burglar alarms are false.

The net result of such research is to present a
picture of the policeman in pursuits that are more community
service oriented than violent. However, it must be borne in
mind that much police citizen contact can never be shown in

patrol or response statistics and it is here that some of

 

37Ibid., pp. 94—100.

36

the role expectation arises both in the minds of the

citizens and the police.

An Inside View of the
Policeman's Role

 

 

The policeman's view of his own role is subject to
the same variety of coloration. He is resentful of general-
izations, or stereotypes that define his role expectation
on the basis of findings concerning another city's patrol
officers. And whether studies show it or not, the individ-
ual officer is just that and resists occupational groupings
which do not involve studies within his own community and
even then he may refuse to surrender his full individuality.
His role expectations are differently reflected by the
public, his superior, his adversaries, and his peers.

Yinger notes that these role conflicts fit four
categories:

1. Internal role conflict occurs when
an individual has internalized a
role that includes contradictory
expectations or when he occupies
two or more positions that carry
incompatible role expectations.

2. External role conflict occurs when
an individual is confronted with
incompatible expectations from two
or more persons in his position net-
work or networks.

3. Intrarole conflict occurs when an
individual perceives that others hold
different expectations for him as the
incumbent of a single position.

4. Interrole conflict occurs when an
individual perceives that others hold

37

different expectations of him as the
incumbent of two or more positions.
(In any of these conflict situations
they may or may not be perceived or
recognized by the individual.)38

The policeman may be a father, husband, college

graduate, church deacon and regular hobbyist. To generalize

him or stereotype his actions by using words such as "bru-

tal,

" "prejudiced," "cynical," "authoritarian" and the like,

as descriptive of police behavior may fail to note that

individuality. Yinger adds:

and

To understand the influence of a position
or behavior, we need to relate it not only
to the personalities of the occupants and
to the network of reciprocal positions with
which it is connected, but also to the
larger community and society structures
within which it operates.39

Police Operate within community and peer group norms
as Blumer points out:

As human beings we act singly, collectively,
and societally on the basis of the meanings
which things have for us. Our world consists
of innumerable Objects--home, church, job,
college education, a political election, a
friend, an enemy nation, a tooth brush, or
what not-~each of which has a meaning on the
basis of which we act toward it. In our
activities we wend our way by recognizing

an object to be such and such, by defining
the situations with which we are presented,
by attaching a meaning to this or that event,
and where need be, by devising a new meaning
to cover something new or different. This

is done by the individual in his personal
actions, it is done by a group of individuals

 

3°Yinger, op. cit., pp. 115, 116.

n
Ibid., p. 128.

38

acting together in concert, it is done in each
of the manifold activities which together con-
stitute an institution in operation, and it is
done in each of the diversified acts which fit
into and make up the patterned activity of a
social structure or society.“°

When asked about their problems one group of police officers
cited not crime but lack of respect for police, lack of
COOperation in enforcement of law and lack of understanding
of police problems. In this same study one officer said:
As a policeman my most serious problem
is impressing on the general public just
how difficult and necessary police service
is to all. There seems to be an attitude
of "law is important, but it applies to my
neighbor--not to me.”1
Another policeman says that the citizen should:
Take an interest in the policeman and
his family, his tensions, his fears, his
standing in the community, and his future
and you'll be buying yourself the best
insurance policy. 2

Policemen have claimed social isolation and

attributed it to the fact of their occupation."3 Others

 

I”Herbert Blumer, "Sociological Analysis and the
Variable," American Sociological Review, December, 1956,
p. 686.

I”Skolnick, op. cit., p. 50.

“zMort Stern, reporter of interview of ex-policeman,
"What Makes a Policeman GO Wrong?" The Ambivalent Force
ed. by Arthur Niederhoffer and Abraham S. Blumberg (Waltham,
Mass.: Xerox Publishing, 1970), p. 129.

“askolnick, op. cit., p. 51.

39

have even stated that they keep their own families isolated
from contact with them as policemen including their wives.““
Los Angeles Chief William Parker said,
. . . individuals pursue their own ends with
little regard for public morality, and the
policeman sees the ugly underside of out-
wardly respectable households and businesses.
Small wonder then, that many American police-
men are cynics."s
And a female store detective writing of her expe-
riences with the public remarked:
I am convinced that we are turning into
a nation of thieves. I have sadly concluded
that nine out of ten persons are dishonest.“5
Others express hopeful views. In an interview
with two veteran detectives of a large city police force
and three patrol Officers of the same department including
two who were black, it was possible to isolate the follow-
ing beliefs:
0 There are bad, prejudiced and corrupt police but
they are in the minority and the increasing tendency

is toward exposure of the bad ones by their fellow

officers.

 

““Ibid.

I"""The Police: An Interview," by Donald McDonald
with William H. Parker, Chief of Police of Los Angeles
(Santa Barbara: Center for Study of Democratic
Institutions, 1962), p. 169.

l“Dorothy Crowe, "Thieves I Have Known," Saturday
Evening Post, CCXXXIV (February 4, 1961), 21, 78.

40

0 There are lots of bad, evil, immoral and corrupt
people but there are many, many more decent God
fearing members of the community.

0 Officers do want to help their community."7

 

“7Personal interview of five Detroit officers in
January, 1972. The discussions lasted over one hour and
the two points were a consensus. Other problems were not
discussed at this time because the interviewer was seeking
the officers' view of the public and himself on three points
only. One white officer dissented, in part, saying an
officer still would not expose department corruption.

CHAPTER III

THE SEARCH FOR A COMMON DENOMINATOR

Identifying Policemen's Personal Traits

The variety of duties which presently belong to
police officers ranges from community service, through
traffic law enforcement and education, and multicause crowd
control, to armed battle with antisocial criminals. Can one
even imagine the spectrum of attitudes to be faced during
such duty? Can one even dream that an officer should
recognize and categorize such attitudes with an automatic
response which was brought about by some occupational magic
which causes all police uniform wearers to react in the
same way because of belonging to a "class" of people
Stereotypes and generalizations may be answers to statis-
tical summarizations but they will, in the resentful eyes
of policemen, be untrue and inaccurate. They will cause
policemen to ask, "How do you know how I feel about my job?"

Bayley and Mendelsohn have concluded that 89 percent
of the policemen feel their own job is more important than

others.1 In the Preiss and Ehrlich study of state police

 

1David H. Bayley and H. Mendelsohn, Minorities and
the Police: Confrontations in America (New York: The Free
Press, 1969), p. 36.

41

42

they found attitudes stressing departmental loyalty,
self-sacrifice and unquestioning acceptance of orders.2
Goldman's research pointed out that officers perceive the
juvenile court as unfair to the police and too easy on

criminals,3

while Reiss discovered that the majority of
policemen who were studied in Chicago, Boston and Washington
thought jurists were unfair, judges overly lenient and
probation officers were performing poorly.“

Again, negative attitudes in policemen toward
correctional agencies, probation officers, and juvenile
court judges have been brought to light in research by
Piliavin and Briar.s Additionally, Bayley and Mendelsohn,

6

Goldman, and Reiss, in separate studies, noted that police-

men generally have negative attitudes toward youth because of

 

2Jack J. Preiss and Howard J. Ehrlich, An Examination
of Role Theory: The Case of the State Police (Lincoln:
University of Nebraska Press, 1966), p. 28.

3Nathan Goldman, The Differential Selection
of Juvenile Offenders for Court Appearance (New York:
National Research and Information Center, National Council
on Crime and Delinquency, 1963), pp. 101-103.

I'Albert J. Reiss, Jr., "Career Orientations, Job
Satisfaction, and the Assessment of Law Enforcement Prob-
lems by Police Officers," in Studies in Crime and Law
Enforcement, Vol. II, Sec. II, A Report to the President's
Commission on Law Enforcement (Washington, D.C.: Government
Printing Office, 1967), p. 10.

5Irving Piliavin and Scott Briar, "Police Encounters
with Juveniles," American Journal of Sociology, LXX, No. 2
(1964), 206-214.

6Bayley and Mendelsohn, op. cit., p. 45; Goldman,
op. cit., pp. 101-103; and Reiss, op. cit., p. 11.

43

youth's defiance, rebelliousness and disrespect for keeping
rules.

In these papers, both Goldman and Reiss conclude
that police are generally critical of the public because
of their failure to cooperate or display interest in good
law enforcement.7

Other researchers have found different traits in
policemen. Skolnick and Dodd discovered they were sus-

° and both Westley and Toch uncovered cynicism9

picious,
as did Niederhoffer, who had been practitioner as well as a
researcher-author.10 Clark and Gibbs have reported research
that showed policemen to be isolated from personal friends
and the public.11

Included in research on policemen's feelings and

attitudes are revelations by Becker, Pfiffner, Reiss, and

Wilson which indicate that policemen suffer from feelings

 

7Goldman, op. cit., p. 118; and Reiss, op. cit.,
p. 12.

8H. Skolnick, op. cit., p. 44; and J. Dodd, "Police
Mentality and Behavior," Issues in Criminology, III, No. l
(1967), 42-67.

9William A. Westley, "Violence and the Police,"
American Journal of Sociology, LIX, No. 1 (July, 1953), 35;
and Hans H. Toch, "Psychological Consequences of the Police
Role," Police, X (September-October, 1965), 24.

1°Arthur s. Niederhoffer, Behind the Shield (Garden
City: Doubleday and Co., 1967), p. 95.

11Alexander L. Clark and Jack P. Gibbs, "Social
Control: A Reformation," Social Problems, XII, No. 4
(Spring, 1965), 411.

44

of low self-esteem and are heavily oriented toward the
theory of all importance to "respect for the rule of law."12
Chwast defines one of the policemen's problems as a feeling
of powerlessness and self-hate.13

Many researchers find policemen have a conservative
political ideology which one researcher, Skolnick, after a
study Of policemen, called a "Goldwater type of conserva-

11.131“ "1“

Bayley and Mendelsohn found the policemen in their
study to be more conservative and more Republican than the
community at large.15 They also found that age was unre-
lated to political ideology and concluded that the selection
process was the cause of the conservatism more than social-
ization after joining the force. This view is partly shared
by Rokeach, who finds that policemen are expected to be
recruited, or recruit themselves, into law enforcement

from politically conservative strata of society and, within

such strata, from among those predisposed to gain special

 

12Howard S. Becker, Outsiders (New York: The Free
Press, 1963), pp. 158-161; John M. Pfiffner, "The Function
of the Police in a Democratic Society" (Los Angeles: Civic
Center Campus, Center for Training and Career Development,
University of Southern California, 1967), p. 16; Reiss, op.
cit., p. 12; and James Q. Wilson, "The Police and Their
Problems: A Theory," Public Policy, XII (1963), 193.

13Jacob Chwast, "Value Conflicts in Law Enforcement,"
Crime and Delinquency, XI, No. 2 (April, 1965), 160.

ll'Skolnick, op. cit., p. 61.

lsBayley and Mendelsohn, op. cit., p. 29.

45

satisfaction from police work.16 Rokeach, however, expects
the socialization to increase the conservatism.

Lipset says that: "The police, who are recruited
from the conservative, less-educated groups, reflect the
background from which they came. . . ."17 And Westley
believes, as a result of his studies that the typical
policeman, ". . . regards the public as his enemy, feels
his occupation to be in conflict with the community. . ."18
Further, Westley reported, as a conclusion based on his
study of city police that policemen believe that certain
groups of persons will respond only to fear and rough treat-
ment and they place both Negroes and slum dwellers in this
category.19

A former Indiana State policeman opined that:

Numerous contacts with antisocial persons

are likely to cause policemen to assume a
veneer of hardness. They often entertain the
erroneous belief that courteous treatment of

law violators by a policeman is an indication
of weakness, of cringing or servility. They

 

16Milton Rokeach, Martin G. Miller and John A.
Snyder, "The Value Gap Between Police and Policed"
(unpublished paper, Michigan State University, Department
of Psychology, 1968), pp. 1-2.

17Seymour M. Lipset, "Why Cops Hate Liberals--and
Vice Versa," The Atlantic Monthly, CCXXIII, No. 3 (March,
1969), 78.

18Westley, op. cit., p. 35.

19 Ibid. , p. 40.

46

will say that criminals are not entitled to
the treatment accorded to gentlemen.2°

And Toch sees a policeman viewing society as a
vicious dog-eat-dog jungle in which only force can insure
peace and harmony.21 Toch finds it not surprising that
professional law enforcement groups lobby for the death
penalty, for long-term imprisonment of drug addicts, and
for other laws reflecting punishment for social ills.

Stoddard isolated a police "code" which described
a type of "brotherhood" of evil among policemen who prac-
ticed illegalities ranging from mooching, chiseling, and
favoritism in enforcement, through extortion, perjury, and
premeditated theft.22 This brotherhood was revealed by a
former policeman who had been a police officer for three
and one-half years before becoming involved in robbery and
grand larceny charges. The information was passed on to
the researcher in interviews about three years after the
ex-policeman's release from jail.

To approach any further study of even a small facet

of the complex police body with only these views might tend

 

2°Don L. Kooken, Ethics in Police Service (Spring-
field: Charles C. Thomas, 1959), p. 22.

21Toch, op. cit., p. 23.

22Ellwyn Stoddard, "The Informal 'Code' of Police
Deviance: A Group Approach to Blue Coat Crime," Journal
of Criminal Law, Criminology and Police Science, LIX,
No. 2 (June, 1968), 201-213.

47

to steer research to some self-fulfilling prophesies. In
fact, this may be already at least partly fact. Stoddard
mentions that he was aware that his data did not begin to
meet the stringent scientific criteria of reliability for
the purpose of applying the conclusions from his case
research to police agencies in general but he decided

to report his indictment of policemen for the purpose

Of "enriching" the literature.23

But other researchers found evidence in their
studies that led to a larger conclusion that a research
can sometimes find almost any statement about policemen is
either true or false, depending on who asks the question,
who answers it, and when, where, and how it is asked and
answered.

Contrary to pOpular belief, Niederhoffer discovered
in tests of New York policemen that they were no more
authoritarian or dogmatic than other groups with similar
education levels.2“ Bayley and Mendelsohn found these same

5

results as well as Smith, Locke and Walker,2 and findings

which gave contrary evidence to the accepted belief that

 

23Ibid., p. 204.
2“Niederhoffer, op. cit., pp. 149-150.

25Bayley and Mendelsohn, op. cit., pp. 17-18; and
Alexander Smith, Bernard Locke, and William F. Walker,
"Authoritarianism in College and Non-College Oriented
Police," Journal of Criminal Law, Crimonology and Police
Science, LVIII, No. 1 (March, 1967), 132.

48

police are high in punitiveness has been reported by
McNamara and Marshall.26

Statements about the efficiency of police depart-
ments anywhere are subject to a certain amount of suspicion
when one considers that a department which is trying to
avoid the image of repressiveness may experience a sudden
rise in certain types of statistical measurement normally
attributed as indicators of efficient police service.
Fewer arrests, fewer raids, fewer confrontations may bring
on charges of lax law enforcement.

Cumming et al. reports that poor, uneducated people
appear to use the police in the way that middle-class people
use family doctors and clergyman; that is, as first port of

call in time of trouble.27

Policemen are enforcing laws
that are not popular with poor people that are regularly
violated by the affluent and the policeman knows this and
because he is recruited from the class of people most often
seeking his help, the policeman relates to them. The
dichotomy of ideals involved in professionalizing policemen

and thus removing them from relationship with the lower

socioeconomic class is mentioned here too.

 

26John H. McNamara, "Uncertainties in Police Work:
The Relevance of Police Recruits' Background and Training,"
in The Police: Six Sociological Essays, ed. by David Bordua
(New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1967), pp. 234-236; and James
Marshall, Law and Psychology in Conflict (Indianapolis:
Bobbs-Merrill Co., 1966), p. 73.

27Elaine Cumming, Ian Cumming, and Laura Edell,
"Policeman as PhilOSOpher, Guide and Friend," Social
Problems, XII, No. 3 (Winter, 1965), 276-286.

49

Cumming et al. also notes that policemen have a

concern for children, old people and the disturbed and ill.28
Trojanowicz researched the attitudes of social
workers as compared to policemen and concluded that:
Two of the scales had particularly
interesting results when policemen and social
workers were compared. There was no signifi-
cant difference between the two groups on the
Move Against Aggressor and Identifies with
Authority scales. Furthermore, the Identifies
with Authority scale showed the least amount
of difference of any of the thirty-four scales.
These scales are mentioned not only because
they were expected to be significant but
because these are two of the areas where
policemen receive much criticism.29
Rhead, as a result of psychiatric assessment of
Chicago police candidates over an 18 month period, noted
that mild suspiciousness and freedom from suggestion may
be useful occupational traits since they appear regularly
in personality profiles of successful officers.30
Martin Symonds, M.D., former policeman in New York
and later psychiatric consultant to that department for
seven years notes that police screening searched for persons

who had kept fairly close to the goal of upward striving

 

2°Ibid., p. 285.

29Robert C. Trojanowicz, "A Comparison of the
Behavioral Styles of Policemen and Social Workers"
(unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Social
Science, Michigan State University, 1969), p. 165.

3°Clifford Rhead et al., "The Psychological Assess-
ment of Police Candidates," American Journal of Psychology,
CXXIV, No. 11 (May, 1968), 1580.

50

without deviation, and that such persons are idealistic
and have preserved an attitude toward authority that is
one of respect, awe and even reverence.31 Symonds rejects
a suggestion that men with predisposition to violence are
attracted to police work.

And it is also noteworthy that a New York newspaper
reporter, perhaps more from native whimsy than any empirical
data, says the policeman has one outstanding desire, his
pension; and one outstanding trait, he will lay down his
life for you.32

This partial review of the literature concerning
police beliefs and attitudes reveals the presence of a
goodly number of occupational and personal traits, some
positive, some negative. It would seem reasonable to sug-
gest that some combination of absence of the negative traits
and presence of the positive traits exists in the successful
policeman.

We note that policemen are discovered by researchers
to be resentful; chauvinistic; suspicious; authoritarian;
and prejudiced against judges, probation officers, youth
and the public in general, and minorities and the poor in

particular. We also note that policemen are found to be

 

31Martin Symonds, "Emotional Hazards of Police Work,"
in Ambivalent Force, ed. by Niederhoffer and Blumberg,
op. cit., pp. 60-61.

32Jimmy Breslin, "The Policeman,‘ in Ambivalent

Force, ibid., p. 121.

51

cynical, conservative, predisposed to violence, punitive,
dishonest, and burdened with feelings of powerlessness
and self-hate.

Other research shows policemen to be sympathetic to
the uneducated, aged, poor, and those suffering from illness
of all kinds, including mental illness. They have been said
to have a concern for children and their own pensions and
to be no more authoritarian than other occupations in public
service, including social workers. Policemen are said to be
so carefully screened that only those with a lifelong goal
of upward striving can make it to the status of policemen.
And it has been remarked that a policeman will lay down his
life for you.

So, while it may be reasonable to suggest that some
combination of the presence or absence Of these positive and
negative traits is inevitably present in every successful
policeman, finding the correct combination may be a task so
gigantic that it stuns the mind of a researcher. The large
and impressive battery of selection and rejection tests in
use now by recruiters has been in the forefront of the
effort to find the answers to part of this question. While
it is not generally denied that such tests are useful, and
indeed necessary to the selection process, it is also not
universally agreed that the answers to the problem of find-

ing and choosing "suitable" policemen lie in these tests.

52

Identifying the Successful Policeman

It is the intent of this study to demonstrate that
a logical location to search for indication of success is
among the successful. Much of the literature is demon-
strative of police failures. Many researchers point out
the community-wide evidences of police failures. Others
note that policemen are recruited from a stratum of society
that is resentful of those above, fearful of those below,
and ignorant of being part of the stratum from which they
sprang.

Suggestions are made to raise standards of recruit-
ment, including the educational requirements, and still
others suggest additional specifics of testing procedures
to identify and reject those who are not "suitable" to be
policemen. In spite of these efforts, the researchers con-
tinue to note recurring examples of police "unsuitability"
and the recruiters are given more guidelines and newer tests.

The first step in the search for the characteristics
of excellence is to identify or define, a successful police-
man. If we are to judge by present standards mentioned in
the literature, the ideal policeman will have none of, or
will have the opposite of, the negative traits, and all of
the positive traits. While this may be an actuality some-
where, discovery and subsequent implementation may take an

incredibly long time.

53

The prOposal to identify a successful policeman is
therefore done more simplistically. A policeman has two
readily recognizable indicators of success. These are rank
and tenure. Both of these indicators can be a measure of
proficiency in performance ranging from satisfactory to
excellent. It is intended in this study to make use of
this measurement factor in probing for a common denominator
of success for two salient reasons:

0 These indicators are present in almost all police
departments.

0 These indicators are post employment characteristics
actually present in the occupation and are not
sought or wished for items of pre-employment

conditions.

While no claim is made here that all policemen who
manage to hold on to their jobs over a period of years are
successful per se or even that all who are promoted to
higher rank in police service are to be considered as suc-
cesses in the occupation, it must be accepted as indicative
of a pattern of success throughout the police communities.

Certainly it is acknowledged that some who are
unsuitable are retained and some who are not successful are
promoted because of political manipulation or circuitous
happenstance but in any occupation these instances are the

exception. In every field of endeavor known to man, tenure

54

and rank have these same generally acceptable characteris-
tics of denoting varying degrees of capability and success.
The specifics of performance which relate to one's ability
to carry out a job and even to perform so excellently as

to be promoted may be individually recognizable in certain
instances but the conditions of holding tenure and being
promoted in any job are generally indicative of success to
be measured by the degree of tenure and status of promotion.

Scholars have a tendency to downgrade the importance
of tenure and length of service, and frequently imply that
highly educated personnel are ready and able to step in and
replace those uneducated workers with the problem of depend-
ing on experience to do their job.

One source points out that police promotions were
subject to political abuse in the early years of the century
but civil service procedures were initiated to base pro-
motions upon written examination, length of service and
existing rank.33 This did away with the abuses to a great
extent but further puzzled some police planners by freezing
rank entry to this method. In fact, it is suggested, para-
doxically, in this same report that in order to encourage
interchange of personnel among departments, current civil

service rules ought to be revised.3“ This suggestion, of

 

33The Police Task Force Report, op. cit., p. 141.
The report fails to mention evaluation of past performance
which is included in many promotion requirements.

3“Ibid., p. 142.

55

course, must be based on some method of assurance that the
evils of political favoritism in police promotions will not
be revived, but the report does not say what the method is
to be. This report also mentions that selections of per-
sonnel for positions of greater responsibility cannot find
those qualities by measuring tenure and experience alone.35
But the Kerner report, commenting on the importance of
discipline in a police department says, "Discipline . . .

depends on the leadership of seasoned commanders. . ."36

Identifying the Common Denominator

 

This study, then, adopts the premise that tenure
and rank are useful indicators of success and selects this
area of the occupation to search for a common denominator,
that is, a trait so common to successful policemen that it
can be used as a leading factor in the recruiting and
selection process.

There is, as noted, considerable data concerning
the search for police personnel who are "suitable." Much
of this research shows the elaborate search for certain
qualifying abilities and the efforts to identify certain
disqualifying disabilities. It has also been said of those

who are recruited that often they are the future managers

 

35Ibid.

36Report of the National Advisory Commission on
Civil Disorders (New York: E. P. Dutton Co., 1968), p. 329.

56

of the organization which recruits them and recruiters must
recognize the following:
0 Effectiveness in any organization is a human
developmental process.
0 A distinct difference exists between ability and
motivation to be effective.37
And it would seem to be true, especially of a policeman
that if we are given all the candidates who pass the many
selection and rejection tests, the final judgment of his
effectiveness as a policeman will lie in his motivation.
That is to say that, although not all of the men who suc-
cessfully pass these tests will reach a plateau of the
occupation where they have either the tenure of degrees of
suitability or the promotion in rank to indicate a higher
degree of success, those who do will be differentiated from
those who were able but didn't, by motivation.

Here motivation is used in the sense of describing
one's reason for taking certain action or the incentive
underlying a course of action taken by a person. In the
context of policemen's motivation it was decided that his
primary motivation was that which caused him to choose
police work as a career and all later actions taken would

be in furtherance of that motive.

 

37Edward C. Gallas, "Early Identification of
Managerial Talent," Personnel Report #703, Public Per-
sonnel Association, 1970, p. 13.

57

One researcher points out that a basic assumption
of law enforcement recruiting can be inferred from the
techniques used and says that the three things which stand
out are dedication, prestige and security.38 I think these
classifications are truly basic and correct but I believe
they fit many other occupations than police work. I clas-
sify these motivations as ALTRUISTIC (dedication), AUTHOR-
ITATIVE (prestige), and PERSONAL GAIN (security). All
motivations to join the police service can be categorized
inside these three compartments, however the policeman may
word his reason for choosing police work as a career.

Scott and Garett, in a research sampling nationwide
police opinions about various beliefs held by members of law
enforcement groups asked also why each joined the police

service and received the following categorical answers:

0 Security 68
0 Civic pride 20
0 Adventure 16
o Prestige 10
o Liked police work 6
0 Family tradition 4
o A job 2.6
0 Depression job 2
o Desire to help others 2
0 Interest in field 2
a To pay their way through school 2

 

3°Richard Post, "Current Recruitment Factors Which
Necessitates the Establishment of a National Clearinghouse
for Recruiting Public Safety Personnel" (unpublished
Master's thesis, School of Police Administration and
Public Safety, Michigan State University, 1967), p. 7.

58

a To attend college
0 Right spot at right time
0 Childhood ambition

(The numbers indicate the percentage of respondents who

placed these reasons in this rank order of importance.)

Single write-ins were as follows:

Interest in people
Challenging

Interesting

More pay

Liked the work

To protect and help people

Career

Advancement

To be of service

Feeling of doing good

Trained for it in service

The will to help

Liked MP Duty

To support that which is right
To be able to help people

To help the unfortunate

To assist others

To make my city a better place
Doing good to others

Joining a good team
Companionship of real people
Liked the policemen I knew
Respect for law and order

A chance to be both kind and hard
The chance to serve mankind

A desire to serve

To eat regular.39

Satisfaction of doing a necessary job

Each of these motivations, as shown in Table 1, fit

the three basic motivational categories described as

 

39Clifford L. Scott and Bill Garett, Leadership For

the Police Supervisor (Springfield: Chas.
pp. 147-148.

C. Thomas, 1960),

59

 

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“masmwn now 09

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OOOHHOO vacuum 09

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mamoom mam: pom uoouOHm OB

 

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auwusoom wusuco>om wpflum oa>flo
ZH<U Adzommmm zmHmdeHmomabd OHBmHDmBA¢

 

 

MmOS MUHgomemMBzm OB ZOHB<>HBOZ ho mMHMOUMBflu UHm<m HEB

H mdmflB

60

ALTRUISTIC, AUTHORITARIAN, and for PERSONAL GAIN. I have
made some categorical delineation decisions in the chart.
For instance, certain motivations such as family tradition,
liked police work, and childhood ambition were placed in
the AUTHORITARIAN category even though they might also be
considered ALTRUISTIC by some. They were placed in the
AUTHORITARIAN category because they fail to connect the
motivation to people or community. The categorical
divisions can be handled more clearly and concisely by

a tighter definition of each category during the inquiry
process.

The research in this paper would use motivation as
the common denominator to be sought for among the previously
defined successful policemen. If one of these three cate-
gories of motivation is present in successful policemen in
significant degree, it would then be in order to suggest
that the pre-hiring period methods be subjected to a
reappraisal and that recruiting researchers initiate the
develOpment tests to locate these factors of motivation
and scales to measure them. They may hold the missing
ingredient in the complex mixture required in a "suitable"

policeman.

CHAPTER IV

MOTIVATION TO BECOME A POLICEMAN

The Methodology of Search
for Motivation

 

 

Several cities in the United States were selected
as test areas. These were chosen with a view to providing
insight into all sections of the country and to provide for
the ability to test against variables that might appear due
to sectional differences. The selection procedure also
attempted to sample both large and small departments and so
at least one large and one small department was chosen in
each section of the country with the realization that some
sectional or size imbalance could result if certain depart-
ments failed to respond to research efforts. Numerical size
of department was not specifically used. Size was gauged
by U.S. population rank order of each city. Table 2 depicts
the originally selected group of test cities.

It was also determined that motivation should be
examined from two viewpoints:

0 The viewpoint of the recruiter; that is, what
recruiters considered the most important of the

three categories of motivation.

61

62

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.omsommou on mOUMOHOcHa

 

 

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new 023 momsmx .mufisoaze vmo 0mm oommoccoe .mflrmsmz
«mm Om; meansaxo .mmase om mz onenmmssm 362 .noumwroamz
mom a: msouflnm .coomsa ova Om3 mmxma .xoonnsq
om ozm sameness .mpeo mmnm>mua sam.m use menuomeamo .mmammqa mos
mam am nuances .smssa omH Oz: mxmmunmz .caooceq
mma use cosmeeemma .msooma was Ozm numerous .mpemmm cameo
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oam O23 muommaeez .Hsmm .ume Ham.a ozm numerous .ueouuooe
«No O23 uusommez .mesoq .um mam a: opmuoaoo .um>cmo
as . e: oosxmz smz .HamsmOMe sen Ozm oHsO .cou»MOe
omm em peaumne> .pcossoflm mm Owe papa .uuomam>mo
mm ozm camcoomaz .wnaomme sew omz mmxme .mmaamo
mas oz pemHmH storm .mo:mpe>oum ems ozm oero .pcmaw>mao
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us a: ems: .cmmee Hep mz muummsrommmmz .coumome
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mom Um3 mamflmwsoq .msmoano 3oz mm as msmucoz .mmcfiaaflm
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m m2 uaosum> .umeammucoZe ems «m memuomo .mucmaua
mma 0mm newsmad .muoeomucoz on 4: mesm>ahmssom .MQOOUH<«
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meowumasmom Q mcofiumasmom n

 

 

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N mande

63

o The viewpoint of the working policeman; or what
police officers felt gave them the incentive to be

a policeman.
The Recruiter's View of Motivation

A letter was sent to each department which explained
the purpose of the research, offered a biographical resume
of the researcher and additionally requested the following
items of information:

a Physical qualification data
o Mental qualification data
0 Salary and pension data
0 Fringe benefit data
0 Departmental recruiting brochures
- Advertising copy
0 Labor organization data.
Each department was also advised that this was the first of
a three phase research program which would
0 Probe enlistment motivation from the recruitment
vieWpoint
0 Probe enlistment motivation from the policeman's
vieWpoint at all time and rank levels
0 Coordinate and evaluate accumulated data with a
view to providing recruiters with criteria of

success to seek in looking for candidates.1

 

1See Appendix A.

64

Fourty-four police agencies were probed in the first
phase of the research, which concerned the view of the
recruiter about police motivation. Thirty-two police
departments, or 73 percent of those contacted, answered
the request for information about recruitment practices.
These letters of request were sent to two sources in each
department, generally to the Office of recruitment and to
the chief officer of the department. Table 2 also includes
population area and rank order of each city where the police
department was involved in the research.

Classification of the recruiting view of motivation
was made in accordance with the appeal accent of the enlist—
ment literature in the three categories of motivation.

These were done by visual analysis with emphasis placed on
the type of brochure which is obviously designed to interest
the reader in a job and hence stresses that aspect of the
job which the recruiter sees as the most attractive to the
prospective candidate. The feature that was emphasized in
the recruitment brochures was the key to classification.

Those departments in this research which use the
positive style of recruiting were fairly simple to classify
because of sharp and eye catching descriptions of job fea-
tures and the definite and heavy emphasis on those features.
For example, one city featured a passout with large block
letters on its front cover bearing the exhortation "SERVE

WITH PRIDE" and inside the brochure the first paragraph

65

asked if the applicant had a desire to help people. Another
had a passout which defined policework as being "all about
people" and suggested that if the candidate wanted to "be
part of a social force, join one." These were called
ALTRUISTIC.

Likewise, when the first appeal was accented by
photographs of the adventurous activities of the occupation
and depicted scenes of police action or descriptions of
crime fighting activities it was relatively easy to classify
as AUTHORITARIAN. Here in one case, a department brochure
front paged an Officer at a call box while inside views were
of various police activities and weaponry, dogs, and
heliCOpters.

Those appealing to PERSONAL GAIN motivation were
also relatively simple to classify because of initial and
continuing heavy emphasis on salary, job security, fringe
benefits and other items of financial appeal such as pension
rights and options. Included here were those departments
who responded only with financial information and qualifi-
cation requirements.

Thus the three classes of motivation were briefly
classified:

1. When first sight appeal was to "get involved,"

"help your community" or such phrases as "serve

with pride" were used on brochure headings, the

recruitment was classified as ALTRUISTIC.

66

2. Where the emphasis was on photos of policemen and
equipment, and featured crime fighting or the
adventurous aspect it was designated AUTHORITARIAN.

3. In cases where the recruiting handouts stressed pay,
pension, promotions and fringe benefits, the clas-
sification was PERSONAL GAIN. This category also
includes departments whose response notes no
recruiting brochures or ads and whose literature

stressed financial aspects.

It should be further noted that, in general,
recruiting of the positive type will differ from static
recruiting mostly in outreach effort. That is to say
positive recruiting Operates under a supposition of quali-
tative search through quantitative efforts. The candidates
to be attracted are defined by the recruiter according to
his ideal of the "suitable" policeman. There can be re-
cruiting for all three categories of motivation in either
positive or static recruiting. The difference is in the
approach to the candidate. In the positive approach there
is more outreach to the candidate while the static approach
is to a select group of candidates who are perceived as
already interested in the job. In this light it should be
remembered that recruiting efforts are not totally control—
ling insofar as the final product is concerned and there may
well be some area and city size factors to be determined in

searching for the ideals of recruitment.

67

It should also be noted that response to research
may be a reflection of the versatility of a department with
the assumption that increased size brings added versatility.
Thus, Table 4 illustrates that of 15 cities with pOpulations
over 500,000, (4 over 1,000,000 and 11 between 500,000 and
1,000,000) only two cities failed to respond to the re-
searcher in Phase I, while in 14 cities in the categories
between 100,000 and 500,000 (8 between 200,000 and 500,000
and 6 between 100,000 and 200,000) only three failed to
respond. Conversely, in the cities under 100,000 (10
between 50,000 and 100,000 and 5 under 50,000) seven failed
to respond to queries about recruitment. Added to this is
the natural assumption that the less personnel used the less
recruited and the lower the effort to recruit.

As regards to motivation ascertained by recruiters
when considered in conjunction with city size (see Table 6),
the most significant item to be noted is that the recruiters
in all cities lean toward the PERSONAL GAIN approach. The
only exception is in cities in the 500,000 to 1,000,000
category where a leaning toward the ALTRUISTIC approach is
indicated when four out of ten recruiters used that avenue
of attraction to candidates.

As to recruiting efforts when related to areas,
again there are no unusual characteristics, which indicate
(see Table 7) that the most frequently used approach,

PERSONAL GAIN, is in general use in all areas except East

68

South Central. This area had only two responses and both
were in the AUTHORITARIAN category. One fact that may be
coincidental but is nevertheless of some interest is that
the AUTHORITARIAN approach was not used at all in the Middle
Atlantic, New England, or South Atlantic areas, which make
up the entire eastern seaboard of the United States.

And so, if any conclusion is to be reached by exam—
ining the recruiter's view of motivation it is mainly that
recruiters everywhere tend to feel that PERSONAL GAIN is
the main reason for seeking a job as a policeman. Further,
a conclusion arises that those departments with the largest
number of jobs to fill are taking the most positive recruit-
ing approach regardless of how they View motivation.

One final and important conclusion to be made about
the research concerning a recruiter's view of motivation is
that there is no evidence in the recruiting methods or in
the literature to indicate that recruiting efforts have ever
used any specifically proven traits of successful policemen

as models in their search for "suitable" candidates.

69

TABLE 3

AREA DISTRIBUTION OF POLLED CITIES

 

 

Area City Total

 

Augusta, Maine

*Boston, Massachusetts
New England Manchester, New Hampshire 5
*Montpelier, Vermont
Providence, Rhode Island
*Altoona, Pennsylvania

 

Middle Atlantic New York, New York 2
Atlanta, Georgia
. . V' . .

South Atlantic Richmond, 1rgin1a 4

Tampa, Florida
Wilmington, Delaware
Chicago, Illinois
Cleveland, Ohio
*Dayton, Ohio
*Detroit, Michigan

East North Central Grand Rapids, Michigan 9
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
*Muncie, Indiana
*Racine, Wisconsin
Traverse City, Michigan

 

Davenport, Iowa
Lincoln, Nebraska
West North Central St. Louis, Missouri 5
*St. Paul, Minnesota
*Wichita, Kansas

 

*Gadsden, Alabama
East South Central Memphis, Tennessee 3
Montgomery, Alabama

 

Dallas, Texas

Ft. Smith, Arkansas
West South Central Lubbock, Texas 5
New Orleans, Louisiana
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Billings, Montana
Boise, Idaho
Denver, Colorado
*Ogden, Utah
*Roswell, New Mexico
TuscoanArizona
Los Angeles, California
Portland, Oregon
Pacific San Francisco, California 5

Seattle, Washington

Tacoma, Washington

Mountain

 

*Indicates no response to research.

70

TABLE 4

POPULATION GROUPINGS OF POLLED CITIES

_- L - -
j _:__ - r

Population City Response Total

 

Augusta, Maine

Boise, Idaho
Under 50,000 *Montpelier, Vermont 3
*Roswell, New Mexico
Traverse Cipy, Michigan
*Altoona, Pennsylvania
Billings, Montana
Davenport, Iowa
Fort Smith, Arkansas
*Gadsden, Alabama
Manchester, New Hampshire
*Muncie, Indiana
*Ogden, Utah
*Racine, Wisconsin
Wilmington , Delaware
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Lincoln, Nebraska
Lubbock, Texas
100,000 to 200,000 Montgomery, Alabama 6
Providence, Rhode Island
Tacoma, Washington
Atlanta, Georgia
*Dayton, Ohio
Portland, Oregon
*St. Paul, Minnesota
Tampa, Florida
Tuscon, Arizona
Tulsa, Oklahoma
*Wichita, Kansas
*Boston, Massachusetts
Cleveland, Ohio
Dallas, Texas
Denver, Colorado
Memphis, Tennessee
500,000 to 1,000,000 Milwaukee, Wisconsin 10
New Orleans, Louisiana
Richmond, Virginia
St. Louis, Missouri
San Francisco, California
Seattle, Washington
Chicago, Illinois
*Detroit, Michigan
Los Angeles, California
New York, New York

50,000 to 100,000

200,000 to 500,000

Over 1,000,000

 

*Indicates no response to research.

71

 

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74

Motivation from the VieWpoint
Of the Policeman

The second phase of research concerning motivation
was aimed at the beliefs of policemen themselves and the
reasons why they decided on a policeman's career. We have
already looked at a sampling of random reasons for enlist-
ment as mentioned by Scott,2 and demonstrated how these
random reasons can all fit into any one of three categories
of motivation.

It was decided to probe all rank levels of the
departments queried in order that the research would embrace
both tenure and rank. Consequently, a questionnaire was
designed which would make a direct approach to the question

of motivation.3

The three categories of motivation were
isolated and explained. The respondent was asked to choose
only one of the categories as a primary reason for entry
into service. Additionally, information as to rank, date
of entry into service, and age, was asked for but no iden-
tification of respondent was involved. The questionnaires
were labeled as directed to three strata of each department:
1. Patrolmen (including corporals and policewomen)

2. Middle Management (captains, lieutenants and

sergeants)

 

ZScott, op. cit., pp. 147-148.

3See Appendix B.

75

3. Upper Management (including chiefs, deputy chiefs,

commanders, district inspectors and inspectors).

Also included was an explanation which made it clear
that the researcher was placing no special value on any one
of the motivation categories.

The questionnaires were part of a research package
which again included a letter explaining the project and
reminding the receivers that this was the second phase of
a research task in which they were already taking part
because of having responded to Phase I.“ The researcher's
biographical data was again included in the package.

The questionnaires were directed to the departments
in three rank groups with the amount of each determined, in

a general way, by size of department.5

 

ll'See Appendix B.

5See Appendix B.

CHAPTER V

ANALYSIS

It is to be noted that the category of AUTHORITARIAN
was designated on the Phase II Questionnaire as Authorita-
tive. This was used as a substitute for a word that has
begun to carry a stigma in police circles, in the hope that
it would be more acceptable to policemen as a term describ-
ing one of the characteristics of motivation. It carries
the same general connotations and, except for extremely dis-
criminating semanticists, bears largely the same meanings.
It probably made little difference anyway as the results of
the research will reveal. It may be that it is an unimpor-
tant characteristic, or that the stigma is so prevalent
that the whole occupation refuses to acknowledge it as a
factor.

One of the most readily reached conclusions of the
study is that policemen do not regard AUTHORITARIANISM, or
authoritative reasons as animportant factor of motivation
to become an officer. This is true of all ranks, ages,
seniority groups and areas of service. The theories
advanced by some researchers tending to show that the

police are recruited from AUTHORITARIAN oriented groups

76

77

of individuals is denied by policemen themselves. Note that
on Tables 9, 10, ll, 12, 13 and 14 of Phase II, there is
minimum recognition of this characteristic. The police
recruiters give AUTHORITARIANISM more validity as a factor
than do the peOple they are attempting to recruit. But even
with the recruiter, this characteristic lags behind ALTRUISM
and PERSONAL GAIN as perceived motivation.

Additionally, even those departments which recruit
with emphasis on AUTHORITARIANISM as shown in Table 5 do
not reveal any significant leanings toward this factor of
motivation in the individual primary choices of motivation.

It is further interesting to note that one city,
Grand Rapids, recruits with material aimed at the AUTHOR—
ITARIAN person (see Table 5) but the personnel of the
Grand Rapids police view themselves as motivated heavily
by ALTRUISTIC principles (see Table 9). This is also true,
to a lesser degree, of Seattle and Fort Smith (Tables 5
and 9).

These data may be an indication that policemen
have selected this career for reasons of their own, with
motivation attuned to their own beliefs and not steered by
the recruiters' particular lures, when it is considered that
ALTRUISM and AUTHORITARIANISM might be viewed in positions
fairly far removed from one another on a motivation

continuum.

78

 

 

 

TABLE 8
POLICE RESPONSE TO INDIVIDUAL RESEARCH
Upper Middle
City Sent Management Management Patrolman
Atlanta, Ga. 30 8 10 10
Augusta, Me. 3 0 0 O
Billings, Mont. 12 2 4 4
Boise, Idaho 6 2 2 2
Chicago, Ill. 75 0 O 0
Cleveland, Ohio 36 0 0 0
Dallas, Texas 36 12 13 10
Davenport, Iowa 12 4 4 4
Denver, Colo. 36 4 20 12
Fort Smith, Ark. 12 4 4 4
Grand Rapids, Mich. 30 4 13 8
Lincoln, Nebr. 15 2 5 5
Los Angeles, Calif. 75 0 0 0
Lubbock, Texas 30 0 0 0
Manchester, N.H. 12 2 2 4
Memphis, Tenn. 36 6 8 15
Milwaukee, Wis. 36 0 O 0
Montgomery, Ala. 18 4 5 6
New Orleans, La. 36 0 0 0
New York, N.Y. 120 17 22 12
Portland, Ore. 18 0 0 0
Providence, R.I. 18 3 6 6
Richmond, Va. 12 4 4 4
St. Louis, Mo. 36 0 12 12
San Francisco, Calif. 36 0 12 1
Seattle, Wash. 36 5 l4 9
Tacoma, Wash. 18 0 0 0
Tampa, Fla. 18 0 O 0
Traverse City, Mich. 9 l 3 3
Tucson, Ariz. 24 3 8 8
Tulsa, Okla. 24 2 ll 7
Wilmington, Del. 15 0 0 0

 

79

 

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TABLE 12

MOTIVATION CHARACTERISTICS BY RANK

82

 

 

 

 

ALTRUISTIC PERSONAL GAIN AUTHORITARIAN
Upper Management:
Chief 2 3 l
Asst. Chief* 5 23 8
Inspector or
Major 15 28 7
Total 22 54 16
Middle Management:
Captain 15 41 2
Lieutenant 13 35 1
Sergeant 20 45 5
Total 48 121 8
Patrolman:
Corporal 1 3 0
Detective 9 9 0
Patrolwoman 1 3 0
Patrolman 57 50 11
Total 68 65 ll

 

*Includes deputy chiefs

and other seconds in command.

MOTIVATION CHARACTERISTICS BY LENGTH OF SERVICE

83

TABLE 13

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ALTRUISTIC PERSONAL GAIN AUTHORITARIAN
Less than 5 years 30 13 12
5-10 years 19 22 4
10-15 years 25 52 3
15-20 years 22 52 2
20-25 years 18 54 6
More than 25 yrs. 20 42 5

TABLE 14
MOTIVATION CHARACTERISTICS BY AGE

Age ALTRUISTIC PERSONAL GAIN AUTHORITARIAN
Under 25 13 2 2
25-30 years 21 16 4
30-35 years 25 26 4
35-40 years 20 34 0
40—45 years 19 53 8
45-50 years 20 45 7
Over 50 years 29 44 12

 

84

Further weight may be lent to this idea when one
considers that the other cities who recruited AUTHORITARIANS
(see Table 5) show most policemen having motives they
attribute to PERSONAL GAIN desires.

Generally, the data reveal that most policemen,
when viewed city by city (see Table 9), and area by area
(Table 11), profess to being motivated by PERSONAL GAIN.

This is supported, in a negative way by the former
Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department, 0. W.
Wilson, who said, when discussing recruitment:

To be qualified to deal with the many complex
problems that will frequently and unexpectedly
confront him, he must have a high order of
intelligence, which assures ability to learn,
to observe, to retain, to reason rapidly and
accurately, and to adapt quickly and satis-
factorily to new situations. The patrolman
works with people, and to be successful, he
must like people and be able to deal with them;
he must be emotionally stable and temperamen-
tally equipped for police work and have a broad
social concept and a lack of prejudice. He
should have a forceful personality and a high
level of social intelligence; he should be
poised and have well-developed powers of self-
expression. The temptations that confront a
policeman and the critical attitude of the
public make good character and reputation
essential. Finally, and perhaps most impor-
tant of all, he must be loyal.

Success in obtaining recruits having the
above-described qualities is dependent on (1)
a group of candidates of which more than the
needed number have desired qualities and (2)
the selection of the best from the group.

The quality of applicants is partially
dependent on the conditions of service. Con-
sequently the pay, hours of work-week, relief
and vacation time, pensions, insurance, sick
leave, and sick, death and other benefits for

85

the Officer and his family should compare
favorably with those available in competing
employment opportunities. Otherwise, excellent
potential candidates, as well as men recruited
into the service, will seek more attractive
employment in other fields.

More important than these material advan-
tages in attracting and holding qualified men,
however, is the intangible but nonetheless real
spirit or atmosphere of the department reflect-
ing the morale and true character of the force.
A high esprit de corps is based on the interest,
enthusiasm, love of work, and respect and con-
fidence of members of the force in their supe-
rior Officers. But most important of all in
attracting competent men is the prestige of the
service, which is public recognition of superior
service.1

Note that, although Superintendent Wilson says that the
intangible spirit of the department including prestige, is
the most important factor of recruitment, he, nevertheless,
lists all the PERSONAL GAIN descriptives first.

In the data pertaining to city size (Table 10), it
is noticeable that there is a greater percentage of ALTRUISM
in motivation as perceived by policemen themselves in cities
with populations under 200,000 than in cities of larger size.
It is within the realm of possibility that further research
along these lines alone might reveal some empirical infor-
mation which relates motivation to select a police career
to the size of the city chosen.

It was also discovered that the ALTRUISTIC

motivation appeared in a larger degree in two areas of

 

1O. W. Wilson, Police Administration (2nd ed.;
New York: McGraw-Hill, 1963), pp. 335-336.

86

the country, East North Central which embraces the Great
Lakes area mainly and the Mountain area, which includes
those cities just East of the Pacific area. These data
may be indicative of area relationships to the job of
policing and further research may indicate the presence
of traditional educational and legal norms in differing
areas of the nation.

The data for motivation by rank (Table 12) reveals
that ALTRUISM as motivation is more prevalent to perception
by those in lower ranks. The patrolman level is weighted
in favor of choosing a police career for ALTRUISTIC reasons.
Those in middle management positions swing to PERSONAL GAIN,
while upper managers are heavily disposed to identify
PERSONAL GAIN as their prime motivation. Here may lie
some verification of the claims of those recruiters who
aim at PERSONAL GAIN orientation. Or it may be a further
justification of the beliefs held by some researchers that
socialization of workers tends to change their original
aims to fit new purposes perceived as the result of the
socialization and job experiences.

Other data secured, indicate that as a function of
length of service one is more likely to locate claims of
ALTRUISTIC motives in those groups with less than 15 years
service (Table 13). PERSONAL GAIN as a motive is found in
the ascendancy in the groups having over 15 years of service.

It is not inconceivable, however, that a policeman with over

87

15 years service begins to consider future security more
than during his earlier years on the job and permits
these feelings to influence his choice of a motivation
characteristic.

In relation to actual age, the data secured takes
a slight turn and although PERSONAL GAIN is the leading
motivation chosen, ALTRUISM is nearly as frequently selected.
A correlation of Tables 12 (rank), 13 (length of service),
and 14 (age), reveals that most of the long career ALTRUISM
is concentrated in the lower ranks at the patrolman level.
This could give rise to suppositions that rank and tenure,
though both indicative of degrees of success, arise from

differing motivations.

CHAPTER VI

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

The Problem

 

The problem centered around the selection of
personnel as "suitable" policemen and posed the possibility
that the selection process, including recruiting, qualifi-
cation and rejection, might be subjected to a complete
redirection of effort. In spite of heavy recruitment
campaigns, new and more sophisticated selection criteria
and testing procedures and increased rigidity of standards,

the police image continued to suffer and slip.

The Hypothesis

In view of the many suggestions for improving the
selection process, most of which are based on ideological
idealism or point at police characteristic failures, it
was proposed to seek an image of success among policemen
who might be categorized as successful either by virtue of
tenure or rank or a combination of each.

As remarked earlier, although not all who passed
the recruiting and selection tests will reach those

plateaus of either tenure, to indicate certain degrees

88

89

of success in "suitability" or promotion in rank which
indicates a higher degree Of success, it is important to
note that those who do reach these plateaus will be dif-
ferentiated from those who were able but didn't reach them,
mainly by motivation. This study then selected motivation
as the most important measure of effectiveness to success.

It was therefOre decided not only to seek moti-
vation to join police service but to seek it among those
probably defined as successful policemen. Motivation was
refined to the three categories of ALTRUISM, AUTHORITA-
TIVENESS and PERSONAL GAIN, and questionnaires were mailed
to police recruiters in police departments throughout the
country to ascertain what the recruiter perceived as
motivation for choosing a police career.

A second phase of the research sent questionnaires
to individual policemen in all ranks of these same depart-
ments asking, simply, whether motivation to become a police-

man arose from ALTRUISM, AUTHORITATIVENESS or PERSONAL GAIN.
Findings and Conclusions

1. As a result of the data gathered from the
recruiters it was discovered that most police recruiters
are convinced that PERSONAL GAIN is the most important
characteristic of motivation. AUTHORITARIANISM was the
least important, and in one section of the country, the

entire Eastern seaboard, the AUTHORITARIAN approach was

90

not used by any recruiter. Additionally, in three cities
which used the AUTHORITARIAN approach to recruiting, the
personnel who were working, largely saw themselves as
motivated by ALTRUISM.

2. Policemen in cities with populations under
200,000 see themselves as mostly motivated by ALTRUISM.

3. Policemen in large cities mostly claim to be
motivated by PERSONAL GAIN.

4. HIgh rank personnel tend largely to see them-
selves as motivated by PERSONAL GAIN.

5. Those policemen with less time in service chose
ALTRUISM as motivation oftener than those with greater
seniority.

6. Those policemen with lower ranks chose ALTRUISM
more often than higher ranks, regardless of age or length of

service.
Implications

The research Opens a door on the view that men who
chose police work as a career with motives of PERSONAL GAIN
may be the successful managers of police departments, while
those who select this career with motives that are ALTRU-
ISTIC may well be the successful police functionary who

handles the great bulk of police-citizen contact.

91

This may well lead to a conclusion that perhaps
recruitment should be geared in just such a way. Instead
of recruiting each candidate as a potential Chief of Police,
which is unrealistic at best, perhaps the recruiter should,
by use of testing methods aimed at such motivation deter—
mination, try to select personnel to fit public service
niches within each department. The improvement factor
could then be partially arranged by each department through
encouragement of career improvement techniques involving
encouragement and aid to continuing higher education coupled

with viable, sophisticated in—service training.
Limitations of Research

This study dealt only with motivation to select
a police career and confined motivation to three basic
categories. The recruiter questionnaire was interpreted
in a manner which may create some contrary discussion but,
if viewed objectively, effects no changes of stature in the
overall results even if viewed differently or categorized
in another way.

The study also confined personnel research to a
choice Of only one of three characteristics of motivation
to be a policeman and in its very simplicity leaves many
questions unanswered, and leads to the inevitable conclusion
that much further and more sophisticated research in this

area is necessary and indicated.

92

But the study does make one extremely important
point, which has been stressed repeatedly throughout the
study, and that point is that more future research must
come, not from police failures, or ex-policemen who were
really just thieves or sadists missed in the selection
testing, but from policemen who are successful, however
that success is gauged. This research should probe the
successful policeman totally so that the recruiter of the
future can recruit with a working model of success as a

guide to his quest.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books

Adams, Thomas F. Law Enforcement. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.:
Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1966. '

Alex, Nicholas. Black in Blue. New York: Appleton-Crofts-
Century, 1969.

Baldwin, James. "Fifth Avenue Uptown." Man Alone. Edited
by Eric and Mary Josephson. New York: Dell Books,
1963, pp. 346-355.

. Nobody Knows My Name. New York: Dell Books,
I9 2.

Bayley, David H., and Harold Mendelsohn. Minorities and the
Police: Confrontations in America. New York: The Free
Press, 1969.

Becker, Howard, S. Outsiders. New York: The Free Press,
1963.

Biddle, Bruce J., and Edwin J. Thomas. Role Theory:
Concepts and Research. New York: John Wiley and Sons,

Blum, Richard H. Police Selection. Springfield, Ill.:
Charles C. Thomas, 1964.

Bordua, David, ed. The Police: Six Sociological Essays.
New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1967.

Chinoy, Eli. Automobile Workers and the American Dream.
Garden City: Doubleday and Co., 1955.

Clark, Donald E., and Samuel G. Chapman. A Forward Step:
Educational Backgrounds for Policemen. Springfield:
Charles C. Thomas, 1966.

Delmar, Vina. The Becker Scandal. New York: Harcourt
Brace, 1968.

93

94

Falk, Richard A. Legal Order in a Violent World. Princeton,
N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1968.

Germann, A. C. Police Personnel Management. Springfield,
Ill.: Charles C. Thomas, 1963.

, Frank D. Day and Robert R. J. Gallati.
Introduction to Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice.
10th printing. Indianapolis: Charles C. Thomas, 1969.

Goldman, Nathan. The Differential Selection of Juvenile
Offenders for Court Appearance. New York: National
Research and Information Center, National Council on
Crime and Delinquency, 1963.

Graper, Elmer D. American Police Administration. New York:
McMillan Co., 1921.

Hart, J. M. The British Police. London: Allen and Unwin,
1951.

Hersey, John. The Algiers Motel Incident. New York:
Alfred A. KnOpf, 1968.

Jacobs, Paul. Prelude to Riot. New York: Random House,
1968.

Janowitz, Morris. The Professional Soldier: A Social and
Political Portrait. New York: The Free Press of
Glencoe, 1964.

Kircheimer, Otto. Political Justice. Princeton, N.J.:
Princeton University Press, 1961.

Kooken, Don L. Ethics in Police Service. Springfield,
Ill.: Charles C. Thomas, 1959.

Marshall, James. Law and Psychology in Conflict.
Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill Co., 1966.

Marvick, Dwaine. Career Perspectives in a Bureaucratic
Setting. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press,
1954.

Niederhoffer, Arthur. Behind the Shield. New York:
Doubleday, 1967.

and Abraham S. Blumberg, eds. The Ambivalent Force.
Waltham, Mass.: Xerox Publishing Co., 1970.

95

Preiss, Jack J.; and Howard J. Ehrlich. An Examination of
Role Theory; The Case of the State Police. Lincoln,
Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, 1966.

Reckless, Walter. The Crime Problem. New York: Appleton-
Century-Crofts, 1950.

Reith, Charles. The Blind Eye of History. London: Oliver
and Boyd, 1956.

Rokeach, Milton. The Open and Closed Mind. New York:
Basic Books, Inc., 1960.

Scott, Clifford, and Bill Garett. Leadership for the
Police Supervisor. Springfield, Ill.: Charles C.
Thomas, 1960.

Skolnick, Jerome H. Justice Without Trial. New York:
John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1967.

Smith, Bruce. Police Systems in the United States.
Rev. ed. New York: Harper and Row, 1960.

Upson, Lent D. Practice of Municipal Administration.
New York: The Century Co., 1926.

Vollmer, August. The Police and Modern Society. Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1936.

Wilson, Orlando. Police Administration. 2nd ed. New York:
McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1963.

Yinger, J. Milton. Toward a Field Theory of Behavior.
New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1965.

Publicapions Ofpgnd For the Government,
Learned Societies and
Other Organiéations

American Bar Association. Report of Committee on the Police
Function. "Minimum Standards for Police Recruit Qual-
ifications and Selection." American Bar Association
Project, 1966.

Center for Training and Career Development. Civic Center
Campus Reports. Los Angeles: University of Southern
California, 1967.

96

College Seniors and Federal Employment. Washington, D.C.:
The American University, 1953.

Federal Aviation Agency. Regulations: Part 57, Medical
Standards and Certification. Washington, D.C.:
Government Printing Office, 1965.

Gallas, Edward C. "Early Identification of Managerial
Talent." Personnel Report No. 703, Public Personnel
Association, 1970, pp. 13-16.

International Association of Chiefs of Police. A Survey
of Police Services in Metropolitan Dade County, Florida.
Washington, D.C.: International Association of Chiefs
of Police, 1963.

Kingsley, Donald. "Recruiting Applicants for the Public
Service." Report of Civil Service Administration
Committee on Recruiting Applicants for Civil Service.
Chicago: Civil Service Administration of United States
and Canada, 1942.

Maxwell Graduate School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.
"Attitudes of Scientists and Engineers About Their
Government Employment." Syracuse: New York University,
1950.

McDonald, Donald. "The Police: An Interview of William
Parker, Chief of Police of Los Angeles." Santa Barbara,
Ca1.: Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions,
1962.

O'Connor, George W. Survey of Selection Methods.
Washington, D.C.: International Association of Chiefs
of Police, 1962.

The President's Commission on Law Enforcement and the
Administration of Justice. Task Force Report: The
Police. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office,
1967.

Report of the National Advisory Commission on Civil
Disorders. New York: E. P. Dutton, 1968.

Stahl, D. Glenn. "Tomorrow's Generation of Personnel
Managers." Personnel Report No. 681, Public Personnel
Association, pp. 41-46.

97

Stromsem, Karl and Mitchell Dreese. "Attitudes of NIPA
Internes Toward a Career in the Federal Service."
Public Administration Review, X (1950), 31-38.

"Studies in Crime and Law Enforcement." A Report, Vol. II,
Sec. II. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office,
1967.

Periodicals

Blumer, Herbert. "Sociological Analysis and the Variable."
American Sociological Review, XXI, No. 6 (December,
1956), 683-690.

Chwast, Jacob. "Value Conflicts in Law Enforcement."
Crime and Delinquency, XI, No. 2 (April, 1965), 151-161.

Clark, Alexander L., and Jack P. Gibbs. "Social Control:
A Reformation." Social Problems, XII, No. 4 (Spring,
1965), 398-415.

Crowe, Dorothy. "Thieves I Have Known." Saturday Evening
Post, CCXXXIV (February 4, 1961), 20, 21, 78, 79, 80.

Cumming, Elaine, Ian Cumming and Laura Edell. "Policeman
As PhiloSOpher, Guide and Friend." Social Problems,
XII, No. 3 (Winter, 1965), 276-286.

Dodd, David J. "Police Mentality and Behavior." Issues
in Criminology, III, No. 1, 47-67.

Hodge, Robert W., Paul M. Siegel, and Peter H. Rossi.
"Occupation Prestige in the United States, 1925-1963."
American Journal of Sociology, LXX, No. 3 (November,
1964), 286-302.

Lipset, Seymour. "Why Cops Hate Liberals and Vice Versa."
The Atlantic Monthly, CCXXIII, No. 3 (March, 1969),
76-83.

Matarazzo, Joseph D., et al. "Characteristics of Successful
Policemen and Firemen Applicants." Journal of Applied
Psychology, XLVIII, No. 2 (1964), 123-133.

Oglesby, Thomas W. "The Use of Emotional Screening in the
Selection of Police Applicants." Police, II, NO. 3
(January-February, 1958), 49-53.

98

Reichley, A. James. "The Way to Cool the Police Rebellion."
Fortune, December, 1968, pp. 109-113. "

Rhead, Clifton et al. "The Psychological Assessment of
Police Candidates." American Journal of Psychiatry,
CXXIV, No. 11 (May, 1968), 1575-1580.

Smith, Alexander, Bernard Locke and William F. Walker.
"Authoritarianism in College and Non-College Oriented
Police." Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology and
Police Science, LVIII, No. 1 (March, 1967), 128-132.

Stoddard, Ellwyn. "The Informal 'Code' of Police Deviance:
A Group Approach to Blue Coat Crime." Journal of
Criminal Law, Criminology and Police Science, LIX,

No. 2 (June, 1968), 201-213.

Toch, Hans H. "Psychological Consequences of the Police
Role." Police, X, No. 4 (September-October, 1965),
22-25.

Trahair, Richard S. C. "The Workers Judgment of Their Job
as a Variable in Work Role Analysis." Human Relations,
XXI, No. 2 (May, 1968), 141-162.

Webster, John. "Police Task and Time Study." Journal of
Criminal Law, Criminology, and Police Science, LXI,
No. l (1970), 94-100.

Westley, William A. "Violence and the Police." American
Journal of Sociology, LIX, No. 1 (July, 1953), 34-41.

Wilson, James O. "The Police and Their Problems: A Theory."
Public Policy, XII (1963), 189-216.

Unpublished Materials

Post, Richard. "Current Recruitment Factors Which Neces-
sitate the Establishment of a National Clearinghouse
for Recruiting Public Safety Personnel." Unpublished
Master's Paper, School of Police Administration and
Public Safety, Michigan State University, 1967.

Rokeach, Milton, et al. "The Value Gap Between Police and
Policed." Unpublished Research Paper, Department of
Psychology, Michigan State University, 1968.

99

Swank, Calvin James. "Marital Status As Related to Male
On Campus College Students Attitudes Toward Police at
Michigan State University." Unpublished Master's
thesis, College of Social Science, Michigan State
University, 1971.

Trojanowicz, Robert Chester. “A Comparison of the
Behavioral Styles of Policemen and Social Workers."
Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, College of Social
Science, Michigan State University, 1969.

Newspeper Articles

 

Harris, Louis. "Crime Is Top Problem in District, Area's
Whites and Negroes Agree." Washington Post, October 2,
1966, Sec. A, p. 1, col. 1.

Ouderlugs, Richard W. "How Citizens Rate Police Department
on Racial Fairness." The Detroit News, Sec. A, p. 1,
col. 3. '

APPENDIX A

FIRST RESEARCH LETTER TO POLICE RECRUITING

DEPARTMENTS IN PHASE I

APPENDIX A

FIRST RESEARCH LETTER TO POLICE RECRUITING

DEPARTMENTS IN PHASE I

Police Department
Recruiting Division

Dear Sir:

I am conducting a survey of various police departments in
the United States as part of my graduate program at Michigan
State University, in an attempt to identify the motivating
forces that lead young men to careers in law enforcement.

I have enclosed a brief biographical resume so that you may
be aided in realizing that my motives are concerned only
with the effort to determine why we become officers. I seek
no definitive information for purposes of embarrassment or
criticism of any department.

I need the following items of information from your division:

1. Physical qualification data

2. Mental qualification data

3. Salary and pension data

4. Fringe benefit data

5. Departmental recruiting brochures
6. Advertising copy

7. Labor organization data (if any).

A number of police departments in all areas of the United
States will be polled (list attached) during the first stage
of the survey. An attempt will be made to evaluate the
recruitment inducement level.

The second phase of this survey will follow later in the
year and will consist of individual questionnaires for
answer by samplings of personnel in all ranks of the polled
departments. '

100

101

The final phase will be evaluation of the poll and
questionnaire results, looking, hOpefully, for some useful
definitive information. I am a lifelong professional police
officer and I think that somewhere we might be able to find
and use some selection criteria based on knowledge of per-
sonality and other factors in successful career policemen.

I do not necessarily equate success inseparably with pro-
motional status.

Each department concerned will receive a COpy of the full
report and I ask only that you realize my only motive is one
that seeks methods to improve our service to all communities
by the police segment of criminal justice.

May I ask that you reasonably eXpedite my request? Any
answer, of course, will earn my gratitude.

Sincerely,

Albert G. Isaac

PLEASE ADDRESS REPLIES TO:

Albert G. Isaac

Department of Attorney General
525 West Ottawa Street, Room 650
Lansing, Michigan 48913

cc: Chief or Commissioner of Police

CITIES RESEARCHED

Altoona, Pennsylvania
Atlanta, Georgia
Augusta, Maine
Billings, Montana
Boise, Idaho

Boston, Massachusetts
Chicago, Illinois
Cleveland, Ohio
Dallas, Texas
Davenport, Iowa
Dayton, Ohio

Denver, Colorado
Detroit, Michigan
Fort Smith, Arkansas
Gadsden, Alabama

Grand Rapids, Michigan
Lincoln, Nebraska

Los Angeles, California
Lubbock, Texas
Manchester, New Hampshire
Memphis, Tennessee

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Montgomery, Alabama
Montpelier, Vermont
Muncie, Indiana

New Orleans, Louisiana
New York, New York
Ogden, Utah

Portland, Oregon
Providence, Rhode Island
Racine, Wisconsin
Richmond, Virginia
Roswell, New Mexico

St. Louis, Missouri

St. Paul, Minnesota

San Francisco, California
Seattle, Washington
Tacoma, Washington
Tampa, Florida

Traverse City, Michigan
Tuscon, Arizona

Tulsa, Oklahoma
Wichita, Kansas

Wilmington, Delaware

103

IDENTIFICATION OF RESEARCHER ACCOMPANYING
RESEARCH LETTER IN PHASE I
ALBERT G. ISAAC

Department of Attorney General
Consumer Protection Division

PERSONAL

Born in Detroit, Michigan and now residing in Okemos,
Michigan.

Married Virginia Dunn of Detroit in September of 1940.
Four children and eight grandchildren.

EDUCATION

 

Educated in Detroit School System, attended University of
Detroit, Wayne State University and Detroit College of Law.
Holds a degree of Bachelor of Science, Criminal Justice,
from Michigan State University and is presently in graduate
school there.

EXPERIENCE

Member of the Detroit Police Department from 1942 to 1967.
In the Detective Bureau for 20 years, during which he worked
4 years in the Holdup Squad and 11 years in the Homicide
Bureau both as investigator and supervisor. Later commanded
both East Side and West Side Detective Divisions as District
Inspector. In 1965-66-67 as Director of Technical Services,
organized present Detroit Communications Division, one of
the nation's foremost systems. In 1967-68 was Deputy Chief
of the Attorney General's Organized Crime Division.

ORGANIZATIONS

Charter member of Executive Committee of Detroit Police
Officers Association. Past President of Lieutenants and
Sergeants Association. Member of First Management bargain-
ing team in Michigan Police history. Member of Committee on
Public Conduct of Michigan Chamber of Commerce and Member of
Legislative Committee of Michigan Association of Chiefs of
Police.

PRESENT POSITION
Since August of 1969 has been Consumer Fraud Specialist of

Attorney General's Department, Division of Consumer
Protection.

APPENDIX B

FOLLOW-UP LETTER TO POLICE RECRUITING

DEPARTMENTS RESEARCHED IN PHASE II

APPENDIX B

FOLLOW-UP LETTER TO POLICE RECRUITING

DEPARTMENTS RESEARCHED IN PHASE II

Dear Sir:

This is the second phase of a survey of various police
departments as part of a program of attempting to identify
the motivating forces that lead men to careers in law
enforcement.

Your department has very graciously assisted me in the first
phase of the survey, which explored the recruitment induce-
ment methods of those selected departments.

I have enclosed a brief autobiographical resume so that you
may be aided in realizing that my motives are concerned only
with the effort to determine why we become police officers.
I seek no definitive information for purpose of embarrass-
ment or criticism of any department.

The second phase of the survey consists of individual ques-
tionnaires which ask three simple questions concerning the
motivation that led the officer into police work. They are
intended for three sections of your department and are
designated to be answered by upper management, middle
management and patrolman level as specified.

The questions are simply asked, there is no intended effort
to guide a choice and the only identification items sought
are rank, age and date of appointment. Would you please
distribute these questionnaires to the ranks concerned and
collect them for return to me when they are completed?

104

105

Each department polled and responding will receive a copy
of the final report. Please remember that the survey is
seeking to improve the service of all communities by the
police segment of criminal justice.

May I ask, please, that you reasonably expedite my request?
The efforts you make to have the questionnaires answered
will be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Albert G. Isaac
Chief Investigator
Consumer Protection Division

ds
Enc(s).

P.S. Postpaid self-addressed envelopes are enclosed for
your convenience. Please address all replies to:

Albert G. Isaac

Room 670

525 W. Ottawa

Lansing, Michigan 48913

106

IDENTIFICATION OF RESEARCHER ACCOMPANYING
FOLLOW-UP LETTER

ALBERT G. ISAAC

Department of Attorney General
Consumer Protection Division
PERSONAL
Born in Detroit, Michigan and now residing in Okemos,
Michigan.
Married Virginia Dunn of Detroit in September of 1940.

Four children and eight grandchildren.

EDUCATION

Educated in Detroit School System, attended University of
Detroit, Wayne State University and Detroit College of Law.
Holds a degree of Bachelor of Science, Criminal Justice,
from Michigan State University and is presently in graduate
school there.

 

EXPERIENCE

Member of the Detroit Police Department from 1942 to 1967.
In the Detective Bureau for 20 years, during which he worked
4 years in the Holdup Squad and 11 years in the Homicide
Bureau both as investigator and supervisor. Later commanded
both East Side and West Side Detective Divisions as District
Inspector. In 1965-66-67 as Director of Technical Services,
organized present Detroit Communications Division, one of
the nation's foremost systems. In 1967-68 was Deputy Chief
of the Attorney General's Organized Crime Division.

ORGANIZATIONS

Charter member of Executive Committee of Detroit Police
Officers Association. Past President of Lieutenants and
Sergeants Association. Member of First Management bargain-
ing team in Michigan Police history. Member of Committee on
Public Conduct of Michigan Chamber of Commerce and Member of
Legislative Committee of Michigan Association of Chiefs of
Police.

PRESENT POSITION

Since August of 1969 has been Consumer Fraud Specialist
of Attorney General's Department, Division of Consumer
Protection.

107

QUESTIONNAIRES SENT WITH FOLLOW-UP LETTER
IN PHASE II

UPPER MANAGEMENT

(Including Chiefs, Deputy Chiefs, Commanders, District
Inspectors and Inspectors):

The goal of this survey is to determine why you joined the
police service.

There is no intent to guide or steer anyone toward any of
these answers. Nor is any characteristic of motivation
considered more desirable than any other. Bear in mind
that what is wanted is an honest statement of your moti-
vation for joining the police.

Your thoughtful and considered answer may aid in improving
this service by providing some insights into the important
question of why we join the police service.

Which of the following categories contains the primary
reason that led you to enter the police service? Please
select only one and mark the square with an "X".

 

 

1. ALTRUISTIC REASONS . .
These include those who joined for such reasons as the
betterment of society, the good of the community, a
method of helping one's fellow man, service to humanity.

 

2. AUTHORITATIVE I ,

These include those who are attracted by the prospect of
high police rank, fame as an investigator or reputation
as fighter against crime and criminals.

 

3. PERSONAL GAIN I ,

These include those who are attracted by the security
including pensions, regular raises in pay and job
security.

RANK:

AGE:

DATE OF ENTRY INTO SERVICE:

 

 

 

108

MIDDLE MANAGEMENT
(Captains, Lieutenants and Sergeants)

The goal of this survey is to determine why you joined the
police service.

There is no intent to guide or steer anyone toward any of
these answers. Nor is any characteristic of motivation
considered more desirable than any other. Bear in mind
that what is wanted is an honest statement of your moti-
vation in joining the police.

Your thoughtful and considered answer may aid in improving
this service by providing some insights into the important
question of why we join the police service.

Which of the following categories contains the primary
reason that led you to enter the police service? P ease
select only one and mark the square with an "X".

‘ _

1. ALTRUISTIC REASONS .

 

 

These include those who joined for such reasons as the
betterment of society, the good of the community, a
method of helping one's fellow man, service to humanity.

 

 

2. AUTHORITATIVE
These include those who are attracted by the prospect of
high police rank, fame as an investigator or reputation
as fighter against crime and criminals.

3. PERSONAL GAIN ‘ ,

 

 

These include those who are attracted by the security
including pensions, regular raises in pay and job
security.

RANK:

AGE:

DATE OF ENTRY INTO SERVICE:

 

 

 

109

PATROLMEN

 

(Including Corporals and Policewomen)

The goal of this survey is to determine why you joined the
police service.

There is no intent to guide or steer anyone toward any of
these answers. Nor is any characteristic of motivation
considered more desirable than any other. Bear in mind
that what is wanted is an honest statement of your moti-
vation for joining the police.

Your thoughtful and considered answer may aid in improving
this service by providing some insights into the important
question of why we join the police service.

Which of the following categories contains the primary
reason that led you to enter the police service? P ease
select only one and mark the square with an "X".

._1,

‘hl

1. ALTRUISTIC REASONS

 

 

These include those who joined for such reasons as the
betterment of society, the good of the community, a
method of helping one's fellow man, service to humanity.

 

2 . AUTHORITATIVE { l

These include those who are attracted by the prospect
of high police rank, fame as an investigator or
reputation as fighter against crime and criminals.

 

 

3. PERSONAL GAIN

These include those who are attracted by the security
including pensions, regular raises in pay and job
security.

RANK:

AGE:

DATE OF ENTRY INTO SERVICE:

 

 

 

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