NCJ Number
215856
Journal
Crime & Delinquency Volume: 52 Issue: 2 Dated: April 2006 Pages: 287-306
Date Published
April 2006
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This study examined the influence of police agency organizational structure on individual officers’ arrest rates in large cities.
Abstract
Overall, the findings revealed no significant relationship between police organizational factors and individual officers’ arrest decisions. Results indicated that crime rate was the strongest predictor of police arrest rates. Union membership, which was used as an indicator of the watchman style of policing, was significantly related to higher rates of violent arrests per officer, contrary to expectations. While the findings failed to support the hypothesis that organizational structure would influence arrest decisions, the findings do seem to support the notion that officers may be more influenced by situational factors that vary from community to community, such as actual crime rates. Data were drawn from the 1997 Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics (LEMAS) survey and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI’s) Uniform Crime Reports for 1997. The sample was limited to 182 municipal police agencies serving populations of 100,000 or more. Variables under analysis included the rate of arrests per officer for all index and violent offenses as well as a variety of measures of organizational context, such as number of sworn field officers and number of officers who live within the jurisdiction, that allowed the organizations to be classified into one of three typologies: the watchman style of police organization, the legalistic style, and the service style. Data analysis included the use of multivariate regression models and ordinary least squares regression models. Future research should use a national sample of police organizations to examine whether the informal characteristics of police organizations influence police officer behavior. Tables, note, references