Rural, Small Town, and Metropolitan Police in New Zealand: Differential Outlooks on Policing Within a Unified Police Organization

• NCJ Number: 206591
• Journal: Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management Volume: 27 Issue: 2 Dated: 2004 Pages: 241-263
• Author(s): L. Thomas Winfree Jr.; Terrance J. Taylor
• Date Published: 2004
• Length: 23 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This New Zealand study used unique data to examine any differences in personnel characteristics among rural, small-town, and metropolitan police units; how the New Zealand Police (NZP) personnel working in these different work environments differed in perceptions of supervisory fairness and support, job satisfaction, and other work-related dimensions; and how these perceptions differed by gender, ethnicity, sworn status, job assignment, and the possession of specialized skills and training.

Abstract

The distinctive data collected and analyzed in this study were obtained from both sworn and unsworn personnel; involved the NZP, a unified, national policing organization; were collected from a random stratified sample of all official personnel who provided a wide range of police services in New Zealand; and originated under a shared common law tradition and a recent focus on community-oriented policing, which are circumstances relevant to both New Zealand and the United States. The primary data-collection instrument was a 1996 survey of a stratified random sample of the NZP that explored the attitudes and orientations of sworn and unsworn NZP serving in rural, small-town, and metropolitan duty stations. The survey found few differences in the personal characteristics of officers across the diverse settings. Officers' attitudes about their working environment and satisfaction with their jobs were also found to be consistent across duty stations. Observed difference in officers' outlooks were generally influenced by their gender and ethnicity. These differences in perception cannot apparently be explained by the characteristics of the locale in which the officers worked. Because similarities were far more striking than the differences among personnel characteristics and attitudes, it is possible that the selection and training processes used by the NZP cultivate uniformity. 3 tables, 15 notes, and 66 references