Race and Police Officers' Perceptions of Their Job Performance: An Analysis of the Relationship Between Police Officers' Race, Education Level, and Job Performance

• NCJ Number: 200413
• Journal: Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology Volume: 18 Issue: 1 Dated: Spring 2003 Pages: 45-56
• Author(s): Suman Kakar
• Date Published: 2003
• Length: 12 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined whether police officers' race was associated with their performance of duties and delivery of services.

Abstract

The survey population included police officers in one police department in a large metropolitan county in South Florida. All officers at this department completed the surveys (110 patrol officers, 18 sergeants, 4 lieutenants, and 2 public aides. The study used a self-report survey methodology. The officers were asked to evaluate themselves using a survey questionnaire with 40 performance indicators. These indicators were presented in the form of a Likert scale, and the respondents were asked to rate themselves on each indicator on a five-point scale. Analysis of covariance was used to estimate the difference in various performance categories by race (African-American, White, and Hispanic). Findings show that on all the performance indicators, all three racial groups had similar mean scores on all but a few categories. African-American and Hispanic officers were able to deal with angry community members more effectively than White officers. White officers, on the other hand, were found to be happier with the department than African-American and Hispanic officers. White officers had better support from their colleagues compared with African-American and Hispanic officers. There were no significant differences by race in any of the following performance categories: ability to work with deadlines; ability to accept suggestions; ability to deal with stress; involvement in community and volunteer work; willingness to take on extra work; and ability to police oneself and work without supervision. When analysis was performed to compare the means of officers' performance in relationship to education while controlling for race, findings showed that irrespective of race, officers with higher levels of education perceived themselves performing better than officers with less education. Study limitations are discussed. 3 tables and 43 references