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Recent Police Recruits’ Existing Knowledge of the Police and Organisational Commitment

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Abstract

In recent years, increasing attention has been paid to police officers’ organisational commitment. This research paper contributes to this growing body of knowledge by investigating commitment amongst recent police recruits. The paper examines the extent to which new recruits’ existing knowledge of the police service prior to becoming an officer predicts organisational commitment, and different possible sources of this pre-entry knowledge. Using a sample of 236 recent police recruits in England and Wales, the study observed a significant relationship between recent recruits’ existing knowledge of the police service and their organisational commitment. Prior police work experience (both paid and voluntary) significantly predicted existing knowledge of the police service, and in turn organisational commitment. In comparison, pre-entry police training did not predict existing knowledge of the police service, and moreover was found to negatively predict organisational commitment. The implications of these findings are discussed in relation to proposed changes to recruitment and entry routes into policing in England and Wales.

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Notes

  1. No statistically significant differences were seen between respondents on the basis of the type of pre-join training therefore pre-join training was treated as a single grouping variable.

  2. A reverse paths model was also tested (i.e. with pre-join knowledge sources treated as outcome variables) and was found to have a poorer fit to the data than the hypothesised model χ2(6) = 8.34, p = .21; CFI = .93; NFI = .82; RMSEA = .03; CMIN/df = 1.39; AIC = 36.34).

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  1. Police Federation of England and Wales, Federation House, Highbury Drive, Leatherhead, KT22 7UY, UK

    Fran Boag-Munroe

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Correspondence to Fran Boag-Munroe.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Boag-Munroe, F. Recent Police Recruits’ Existing Knowledge of the Police and Organisational Commitment. J Police Crim Psych 34, 91–101 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-018-9273-1

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