NCJ Number
47602
Date Published
1978
Length
11 pages
Annotation
A STUDY WAS UNDERTAKEN TO EXAMINE THE EFFECTS OF CHANGE IN DRESS FROM THE TRADITIONAL MILITARISTIC STYLE UNIFORM TO ONE MORE IN KEEPING WITH CIVILIAN MODES OF DRESS BY THE MENLO PARK, CALIFORNIA, POLICE DEPARTMENT.
Abstract
A BELIEF THAT CHANGE IN UNIFORM WOULD AFFECT THE LAW ENFORCEMENT PHILOSOPHY, ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE, ATTITUDES OF THE POLICE, AND RESULT IN IMPROVED POLICE-COMMUNITY RELATIONS PROMPTED THIS PROGRAM. PRIOR TO THE CHANGE, THE DEPARTMENT HAD A TRADITIONAL ORIENTATION AND WAS SIMILAR TO OTHER AREA DEPARTMENTS. IN AUGUST 1969, THE ENTIRE POLICE DEPARTMENT, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF ONE MOTORCYCLE OFFICER, CHANGED TO CIVILIAN UNIFORMS CONSISTING OF A GREEN BLAZER WITH CITY CREST ON THE POCKET, DARK SLACKS, SHIRT AND TIE. HATS WERE NOT REQUIRED AND HAIR LENGTHS, BEARDS, AND OTHER DETAILS OF GROOMING WERE LEFT TO THE INDIVIDUAL. IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THE CHANGE IN DRESS, THERE WAS BOTH INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL PEER PRESSURE TO RETURN TO THE NORMATIVE FORM OF DRESS. OFFICERS COMPLAINED OF DERISION BY OTHER POLICE FORCES AND MENTIONED EMBARRASSMENT AND DIFFICULTIES IN MAINTAINING THEIR STATUS IN INTERDEPARTMENTAL DEALINGS. INITIALLY, MORAL DROPPED BUT WAS QUICKLY REASSERTED AS INTERNAL GROUP COHESIVENESS DEVELOPED TO MEET EXTERNAL THREATS. RESULTS OF A QUESTIONNAIRE ADMINISTERED 2 YEARS AFTER THE CHANGE INDICATED, THAT OF THE THREE DEPARTMENTS TESTED, JOB SATISFACTION AND INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS WERE HIGHEST IN THE MENLO PARK FORCE. FOLLOWING THE CHANGE, EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT APPEARED TO BECOME AN ELEMENT IN THE ALTERATION OF ROLE CONCEPT NECESSITATED BY LOSS OF FORMER SOURCES OF ESTEEM AND ROLE IDENTIFICATION. AS THE STEREOTYPIC POLICE ROLE CONCEPT SHIFTED, THE POLICE ROLE BEGAN TO INCLUDE TASKS AND IDEOLOGIES PREVIOUSLY FELT TO BE ANTITHETICAL TO POLICE WORK. THE STYLE AND CONTENT OF INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION WITHIN THE FORCE BECAME MARKEDLY LESS HIERARCHICAL, AND A BLURRING OF TRADITIONAL WORK RELATIONSHIPS AND ROLE DELINEATIONS OCCURRED. DURING A 1971 DEPARTMENTAL WORKSHOP THE DEPARTMENTAL PHILOSOPHY, ORGANIZATION, AND ROLE DESCRIPTIONS WERE FORMALLY REDEFINED IN TERMS OF A MUNICIPAL MULTISERVICE ORGANIZATION DESIGNED TO PROVIDE BETTER LIVING AND SAFETY FOR ITS CITIZENS. THE REDEFINITION REJECTED AUTHORITARIAN APPROACHES AND EMPHASIZED COMMUNITY SERVICE AND COMMITMENT TO THE PUBLIC AND TO THE PERSONAL AND CAREER DEVELOPMENT OF ITS EMPLOYEES. THE CHANGE IN UNIFORM APPEARS TO HAVE CAUSED LITTLE PROBLEM IN TERMS OF POLICE IDENTITY IN THE COMMUNITY; INSTEAD, THE AUTHORITY OF THE POLICE DEPARTMENT APPEARS TO HAVE BEEN ENHANCED IN THE COMMUNITY. OFFICERS ALSO PERCEIVED GREATLY IMPROVED PUBLIC ATTITUDES AND IMPROVED COMMUNITY RELATIONS AS COMPARED TO THOSE OF TWO TRADITIONAL DEPARTMENTS. (JAP)