“A Closer Look at the Environment: Predicting Sworn Officers’ Turnover Rates in U.S. Law Enforcement Agencies”

Abstract

Ensuring public safety rests on maintaining a qualified police workforce. However, in recent years, practitioners have argued that doing so has proved difficult. One contributing factor has been increased turnover rates among police officers. In an effort to mitigate the effects of turnover, this research analyzes the factors which lead officers to leave the force. This research analyzes the extent not only to which sworn officers leave the force but also to which institutional factors impact those decisions. More specifically, this research uses a complementary log-log regression model to assess the probability of officers' voluntary and involuntary turnover rates under various institutional determinants. The findings highlight the importance of institutional factors in explaining different types of voluntary and involuntary departures. Results are displayed by departure type. Implications of these findings are assessed with regard to the practice and study of policing.