Trust in government institutions has been steadily declining, inhibiting the ability to serve the public effectively. We examined if organizational trust in five police departments (N = 531) affected job performance. The data show that trust improves on-the-job engagement (p = 0.0001) and enjoyment (p = 0.0000), reduces chronic stress (p = 0.0001), and is associated with a greater sense of purpose (p = 0.0000). We created a program to raise trust in one department and the data (N = 152) show that the intervention successfully increased organizational trust among program participants by 8.1% compared to nonparticipants. The program also had a positive effect on department performance, including a 6.1% increase in engagement, a 7.3% increase in job enjoyment, and a 10.5% increase in retention. Our analyses demonstrate that police leaders who create a culture of organizational trust achieve improved department performance.
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