Towards a better understanding of police experience: An assessment of the unique shifts, crime areas, and duty assignments that officers have worked

Abstract

Using the survey data from 791 officers in a large western police department in the United States, the current study assesses how officers’ unique work experiences (i.e., shifts, crime areas, and duty assignments) vary and culminate throughout a career in policing. Findings provide a glimpse into the early socialization and work experiences of novice officers and how experiences manifest across officers as they gain years on the job. The results also show that there is particularly high variation in the career work experiences amongst the most tenured officers, which calls into question the validity of using only length of service to measure officer experience. This study closes by discussing the implications that these findings have for future research and practice.