Motivation to enter the police profession in the post-Ferguson era: an exploratory analysis of procedural justice

ABSTRACT

The process-based model of regulation has become a dominant framework for understanding why people obey the law. Grounded in past and present research, the current study explores how the process-based model of regulation may explain motivational differences for entering the police profession in the post-Ferguson time era: a time period in which police agencies are expressing increased difficulties recruiting and hiring new officers. Some commentators have attributed these challenges to the heightened levels of public and media scrutiny. Considering the hiring challenges faced by law enforcement agencies, the current study investigates whether students’ (i.e. prospective police officers) motivation to enter the police profession is influenced by the procedurally just treatment of individuals by the police. Using a sample of college students from two universities, the findings provide support for the aforementioned inquiry. The implications of these findings are contextualized against the backdrop of the Ferguson Effect, procedural justice, and hiring challenges in the police profession.

KEYWORDS:

• Ferguson effect
• procedural justice
• police
• motivation
• recruitment

Acknowledgment

The authors would like to express their gratitude to Dr. Clayton Peoples, who is the director of the School of Social Research and Justice Studies at UNR, for his support of this project.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Since 2009, these hiring difficulties have increased 22% (Center for State and Local Government Excellence, 2018). Such difficulties could be related to the fact that many of the 100,000 officers hired under the Violent Crime and Law Enforcement Act in 1994 are now at or approaching retirement age. Furthermore, the Great Recession also led to layoffs for many officers.

2. Although recruits give similar reasons for entering law enforcement, recruitment methods are not equally effective for attracting different social groups to the profession (Aiello, 2019; Kringen, 2014).

3. If students were enrolled in multiple criminal justice courses that were surveyed, they were asked to refrain from participating in the study to avoid duplicates.

4. Prior to analyzing the data, tests were conducted to make sure the data did not suffer from heteroskedasticity, interdependence, multicollinearity, or outliers.

5. Since 2009, these hiring difficulties have increased 22% (Center for State and Local Government Excellence, 2018).

6. It should be noted that the current shortage of police officers may be related to the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, which resulted in the hiring of 100,000 police officers between 1995 and 2001. Those officers that have reached retirement eligibility may be contributing to the current hiring challenges.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Weston J. Morrow

Weston J. Morrow is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at University of Nevada, Reno. He earned a B.S. in Social Science from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo; an M.S. in criminal justice from California State University, Long Beach; and a Ph.D. in criminology and criminal justice at Arizona State University. He has conducted research on the Fourth Amendment, police use of force, courts and sentencing, and juvenile justice. Dr. Morrow’s work has appeared in the American Journal of Criminal Law, Criminal Justice Studies, the Criminal Law Bulletin, the Journal of Crime and Justice, Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law, and Police Quarterly.

Samuel G. Vickovic

Samuel G. Vickovic is an Assistant Professor in the School of Criminology, Criminal Justice, and Emergency Management at California State University, Long Beach. He earned a Ph.D. in Criminology and Criminal Justice from Arizona State University in 2015. He has conducted research concerning media depictions of medical marijuana, media depictions of correctional officers, correctional officer organizational attitudes, and sentencing disparities. His current research interests include correctional officers and the intersection of criminal justice systems, media, and popular culture.

John A. Shjarback

John A. Shjarback is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Law and Justice Studies at Rowan University. He earned his Ph.D. in Criminology and Criminal Justice from Arizona State University. His research interests center on policing, specifically environmental and organizational influences on discretionary officer behavior and current issues and trends. His recent work has been featured in Crime and Delinquency, Journal of Criminal Justice, Criminology & Public Policy, and Police Quarterly.