Citation

Smith BW, Wareham J, Lambert EG. J. Crime Justice 2014; 37(3): 377-398.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, Midwestern Criminal Justice Association, Publisher Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/0735648X.2013.848170

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

A small but growing body of research focuses on police officer turnover. Most of these studies are limited to measuring the experiences, views, and intentions of officers at one or a handful of agencies. Using the Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics (LEMAS) national survey of police agencies and data on community factors, this study examined the effects of organizational and community variables on voluntary municipal police officer turnover rates at small, medium, and large departments. For small departments, pay incentives had a negative relationship with voluntary turnover, while violent crime rate and mean temperature for the area had positive relationships. For medium-sized agencies, only a measure of concentrated disadvantage had a positive relationship with voluntary turnover. Finally, for large departments, concentrated disadvantage, the county's suicide rate, and mean temperature for the area all had significant positive relationships, while the violent crime rate for the area had a negative association. © 2014 Midwestern Criminal Justice Association.

Language: en

Keywords

police retention; police turnover; recruitment