NCJ Number
180324
Journal
Justice Research and Policy Volume: 1 Issue: 2 Dated: Fall 1999 Pages: 89-109
Editor(s)
Robert F. McManus,
Charles F. Wellford
Date Published
1999
Length
21 pages
Annotation
Salaries for 1,423 municipal police officers taken from Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics (LEMAS) and International City/County Management Association (ICMA) survey data were analyzed to identify relationships between police officer salaries and the median value of community housing units, household median incomes, and physical housing characteristics.
Abstract
Data for the LEMAS surveys were collected in 1990 and 1993, while data for the ICMA survey were collected in 1996. Evidence from the surveys suggested police salaries were positively correlated with increased housing values, incomes, and physical characteristics, controlling for regional economic differentials. Analysis revealed a curvilinear relationship more complex than the original hypothesis. As income and housing values increased, police salaries steadily increased until a plateau was attained. Increasing income and housing values then predicted decreasing police salaries. Economically wealthier communities (for example, gated communities with private security) were less dependent on their local police for protection and therefore appeared to be less willing than the upper middle classes to pay police officers high salaries. Consistent with conflict theory assumptions about the role and use of the police by conflicting groups, the findings demonstrated a direct relationship between upper class home ownership and the price homeowners were willing to pay to protect themselves and their property against perceived intruders. The authors note that the need for a consistent, determinate police salary scale across all communities and jurisdictions to ensure quality policing is not the result of a particular community's financial resources. 59 references, 3 footnotes, and 4 tables