Police officer performance appraisal and overall satisfaction

Article Review: Police Officer Performance Appraisal and Overall Satisfaction The article “ Police officer performance appraisal and overall satisfaction” is written by David Lilley and Sameer Hinduja and published in the Journal of Criminal Justice in 2007. The article uses both quantitative and qualitative research methods to reach its hypotheses. The research problem it seeks to reflect on is performance appraisals and overall satisfaction in the Police organizations. The hypotheses reveal that higher rater training, wider evaluation standards and more weight to officer development result in higher satisfaction levels among police supervisors. The article further reveals that the external factors like level of policing and region as well as certain internal factors like the department size does not affect satisfaction levels in the Police. The article provides a review of existing literature on the topic of dissatisfaction with the performance appraisal systems in the police organizations.
The article uses a quantitative research method and utilizes survey method to gather data. The survey included both open and closed ended questions. Data was collected from 600 law enforcement agencies on evaluation procedures adopted during the five month period ending January 2001. The closed ended questions provided standard level of satisfaction for each provided question on a scale of 0-4. On the other hand, there were nine open-ended questions about the purpose and use of appraisal processes in the organizational context.
The research of Lilley and Hinduja is an extension of their previous efforts in the field of understanding police performance issues and resolving them. Keeping the role of Police for security and better societal peace, the satisfaction level of Police officers is of paramount importance. By identifying the potential sensitivity areas of Police satisfaction, the research can help in curbing the issues of lower satisfaction leading to failure of meeting performance targets and retention issue in the Police agencies. The agencies can gather information from such research papers and surveys to tackle the issues in the organizational context and the law enforcement mechanisms can be altered to incorporate the potential problems that Police may face due to changes in regulations.
The business research in the area of Police and law enforcement agencies is of paramount importance not only for the people employed in such organizations but also for the wider society. The role of Police is more prominent and important than any other organization. The pay scale, in their case, is not the only charm to opt for the position they hold. They have more prominent identification, power and intrinsic needs that must be fulfilled. Satisfaction levels with their own performance and the performance appraisal mechanisms, in this regard, play a major role in retaining Police officers in their respective jobs. The research studies in this area, hence, highlight the issues that prevail within the Police agencies and spot out the possible implications of any changes in laws that may hinder their performance. The first-hand knowledge about what Police staff feels about their roles and jobs and their dissatisfaction with any of the factors they are facing can help the law enforcement agencies to better manage the resources and benefit from the human resources available to them.
Reference
Lilley, D., & Hinduja, S. (March 01, 2007). Police Officer Performance Appraisal and Overall Satisfaction. Journal of Criminal Justice: an International Journal, 35, 2.)