Recruitment of law enforcement professionals and increase in retention

Recruitment of law enforcement professionals and increase in retention



Abstract

During the last decade, there was a dramatic change in the law enforcement profession. In 2000, this group of veterans began retiring after a career of police service. This phenomenon occurred at the same time that there was a significant change in the California Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) formula for police officers from 2% or 2.5% to 3% at 50 (3%@ 50) years of age. This change affected a significant amount of police departments in the State of California. For the police departments that had now adopted this new retirement formula, this meant police officers who served for 30 years could now retire at the age of 50 and receive 90% of their salary based upon the single highest year of earnings. In addition to this new formula, military veterans were able to continue to buy military service credit. This practice allowed these veterans to convert military service time into law enforcement service time, which allowed many veterans who had not served in law enforcement for 30 years to now retire at the age of 50 and receive 90% of their salary based upon the single highest year of earnings. In addition, PERS also allowed employees who did not have military service time to purchase “Air Time.” This means that employees without previous military experience could buy up to 5 years of service credit, retire at the age of 50, and receive 90% of their salary based upon the single highest year of earnings. These changes subsequently lead to mass retirements, which significantly changed the makeup of the age and experience level of the police workforce. There was also a change from the traditional working mentality of employees from the 1950s and early 1960s (known as the Baby Boomers) in law enforcement began to retire and the employees of the Nexter Generation, who had begun their careers in the 1980s and 1990s (known as Generation X) with a different work philosophy and style, described by Massey (1998). The dissertation is based on the topic “An increased focus on the recruitment of law enforcement professionals will result in an increase in retention.” It produces a methodology and a detailed literature review as well.

Table of contents

Abstract2

CHAPTER 15

Introduction5

Background of the topic5

Statement of the Problem7

Purpose of this Study11

Postulates11

Importance of the study12

Research Questions and Hypotheses13

Delineation of the research problem14

Definition of Terms15

Delimitations of the Study17

Summary18

CHAPTER 219

Literature Review19

Overview of the present chapter19

Historical background20

The Problem of Turnover in Law Enforcement Agencies27

Turnover Research29

Individual Motivation29

The Equity Theory of Motivation30

The Expectancy Theory of Motivation32

Job Design Theory34

Job Design Research in Law Enforcement Agencies36

Chapter III57

Theories and Methodology57

Overview57

Description of research methodology or approach57

Instrumentation59

Research Design60

Research Design60

Data collection and recording63

CHAPTER 464

Analysis and evaluation64

CHAPTER 599

Discussion99

Summary, Conclusion, And Recommendations135

Appendix149

Recruitment of law enforcement professionals and increase in retention

CHAPTER 1

Introduction

The Nexter Generation entered law enforcement in an unprecedented era of recessions, hiring freezes, layoffs, and the downsizing of police departments. During this time, police departments had an unending supply of police ...