“To Protect and To Serve …and To Listen” Adding a New Dimension to Policing Los Angeles

• NCJ Number: 309511
• Author(s): Wellford W. Wilms; Warren H. Schmidt; Alex J. Norman
• Date Published: November 2002
• Length: 158 pages
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical); Report (Grant Sponsored)

Annotation

This report presents a detailed description of police officers’ and supervisors’ reflections on external events as well as work-life in the Los Angeles Police Department between 1994 and 2000; it provides details on the research methods, the complete set of data that was analyzed as cross-tabulations with chi-square statistics for significance organized around an exploratory factor analysis, and analysis results that were used to find underlying associations between independent and dependent variables.

Abstract

This report presents a detailed description of the data and research methods and analyses that were used to determine the researchers’ key findings and recommendations regarding how to create feedback loops going up and down the chain of command in the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). The purpose of the research behind this report was to help LAPD leaders to understand how the department’s structure and culture were aligned to support the implementation of reforms like community policing. The report provides background on the development and organization of the research project, including research designs and methodology, site selection, the instrumentation and surveys used, data analysis, and study limitations; it discusses findings regarding police work, the impact of changing external environment, chain of command, hiring, assignments, promotions, and discipline, quality of work-life, and community policing and the LAPD’s relationship to citizens. The discussion of findings covers driving forces such as altruism and mission, quality of work-life and job satisfaction, inclusiveness, and support for community policing; as well as restraining forces such as feelings of abandonment, leadership factors, discipline and the 1.28 complaint system, fear of punishment, and eroding morale and job satisfaction.