Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
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2. Inside America’s police departments
A majority of officers are satisfied with their agency as a place to work
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- 2. Inside America’s police departments
- About four-in-ten officers say they are formally or informally expected to meet a certain number of arrests or tickets
- Most officers favor a requirement to intervene when another officer is about to use unnecessary force
- More police worry their fellow officers will not act quickly enough than worry they will act too quickly
- About a third of officers say, when put to the test, use-of-force guidelines in their department are very useful
- Officers in larger agencies less likely to say their department has trained and equipped them very well
- About four-in-ten officers say their department has done very well in training them adequately for their job
- For minor mistakes, more officers today agree coaching is used vs. punishment
- For assignments and promotions, about four-in-ten female officers say men are treated better than women
- In 2013, racial and ethnic minorities accounted for about a quarter of the police force and women made up about one-in-eight police officers
- About half of black officers say whites are treated better than minorities in assignments and promotions
- About half of officers say they are hardly ever or never asked for input about decisions that will affect them
- Most officers say they are treated with respect by their supervisor
- Police offer mixed support for their agency’s top leadership
- Officers in smaller agencies more likely to agree that their agency’s disciplinary process is fair
- A majority of officers are satisfied with their agency as a place to work
- Officers in larger departments are more likely to say their use-of-force guidelines are too restrictive
- Officers’ assessments of key aspects of the disciplinary process are mixed