Sheriff’s deputies and police officers: comparing their views

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to compare views of the community, views of the organization head, and perceptions of organizational justice between deputies working in sheriff’s offices and officers working in municipal police departments. Design/methodology/approach This study used surveys of 2,012 sworn deputies representing 19 full-service county sheriff’s offices and 10,590 sworn officers representing 70 municipal police departments. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were used to compare the three dependent variables between sheriff’s offices and municipal police departments. Findings Deputies in sheriff’s offices expressed more positive views of the community and organization head, and more favorable perceptions of organizational justice than officers in municipal police departments. Regression analyses indicated that views of the organization head and perceptions of organizational justice remained significantly more positive in sheriff’s offices than municipal departments, even after controlling for agency size and concentrated disadvantage. Research limitations/implications The sample of agencies should not be considered as a representative of all sheriff’s offices and municipal police departments in the USA. The number and scope of agency-level variables included in the regression models were limited. Practical implications The results suggest the importance of ensuring more equitable systems of rewards and organization heads taking steps to communicate more effectively with sworn personnel, especially in municipal departments. Originality/value By its focus on sheriff’s offices, the study broadens knowledge of law enforcement agencies and sworn personnel, which is usually based on studies of municipal police departments and officers.