Influential Women? Policing Styles in Online Recruitment Materials

Abstract

This article tests the temporal relationship between the representation of females in policing and organizational change toward community-oriented policing. This mixed methods study involves secondary data analysis of the 2013 Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics survey, open-source data collection of online recruitment materials for 493 Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics agencies, quantitative content analysis of a random sample of 131 departments, and Leximancer semantic mapping of the 493 departments’ materials. The two forms of content analysis focus on the particular emphases of “legalistic,” “watchman,” and “service” styles. The quantitative content analysis results largely support the temporal model, with the percent female sworn in a given department in 2013 significantly predicting whether that department’s 2018 recruitment materials focus on service or community-oriented policing content. The Leximancer semantic mapping results provide a more ambiguous picture, including legalistic through-line language around police work.

Assessing law enforcement websites: a comparative analysis exploring types, quantity and quality of information available

“…Additional studies on law enforcement agency presence online support that there are differences in the types and amount of information these agencies promote in the USA (Aiello, 2020;Hu and Lovrich, 2019;Lieberman et al, 2013). Lieberman et al (2013) find variance at the 23 largest agencies regarding whether they post on social media and the content of those posts.…”

“…Hu and Lovrich (2019) confirm this observation using the 2013 LEMAS survey and find that workforce size (commissioned and civilian) helps predict which agencies are most likely to communicate online. Related, Aiello (2020) investigates 131 law enforcement agencies and finds that the gender composition of a law enforcement agency can impact the narrative employed in online recruitment materials.…”

“…The investigation of law enforcement websites (Aiello and Gumbhir, 2016;Barthe and Lateano, 2006;Dykehouse and Sigler, 2000;Farmer and Copenhaver, 2021;Jones and de Guzman, 2012;Kilburn and Krieger, 2014;Madichie and Hinson, 2014;Rosenbaum et al, 2011;Sillince and Brown, 2009;Tully and McKee, 2000;Yavuz and Welch, 2014) and law enforcement social media or online recruitment (Aiello, 2020;Hu and Lovrich, 2019;Lieberman et al, 2013) have sustained significant interest by scholars. Three studies on law enforcement websites are cross-national studies (Colbran, 2018;Madichie and Hinson, 2014;Sillince and Brown, 2009).…”

“…In particular, agencies with more women sought bodycam use in order to improve community relations, increase professionalism, improve training, reduce use of force and strengthen leadership. Likewise, Aiello (2020) uncovers that more women in a police department correspond to a greater focus on community relations and community policing. Therefore, we would expect law enforcement agencies with a larger share of women employed within the agency to be associated with greater transparency and promotion of information useful for citizens.…”

“…Additional studies on law enforcement agency presence online support that there are differences in the types and amount of information these agencies promote in the USA (Aiello, 2020; Hu and Lovrich, 2019; Lieberman et al. , 2013).…”