Jacinta Gau
Associate Professor Of Criminal Justice, University Of Central Florida
Key Findings
- Police officers who endorsed the law-enforcement role orientation were more likely to feel cynicism toward citizens.
- Officers who endorsed order-maintenance role were less likely to feel cynicism toward citizens.
- White officer’s mean cynicism score was noticeably higher than that of Black and Hispanic officers.
- Compared to White officers, Hispanic officers were more likely to support police intervention in low-level community matters and conviction to order-maintenance roles.
- Officers of color were found to hold much less cynicism toward citizens and seem more well suited for promoting healthy police-community relations.
Description
In the article, “Officer Race, Role Orientation, and Cynicism Toward Citizens,” Gau and her co-author examine the impact of officer race on police officers’ role orientation and cynicism towards the communities and citizens they serve. The researchers conducted their study by surveying officers from a Florida Police Department, which polices a diverse but segregated community in terms of race and socioeconomic status. The survey questions ranged from demographic to work perception and was completed by 149 officers who work on street-level assignments. The results showed that police officers who endorsed the law-enforcement role orientation were more likely to feel cynicism toward citizens. Officers who endorsed order-maintenance role were less likely to feel cynicism toward citizens. White officer’s mean cynicism score was noticeably higher than that of Black and Hispanic officers. Compared to White officers, Hispanic officers were more likely to support police intervention in low-level community matters and conviction to order-maintenance roles. Officers of color were found to hold much less cynicism toward citizens and seem more well suited for promoting healthy police-community relations. The researchers recommend that police supervisors find ways to keep officers of all races sensitized to their community.