Book Review: Hassell, K. D. (2006). Police Organizational Cultures and Patrol Practices. New York: LFB Publishing. 230 pp

• Author: Dawn Daggett
• Published date: 01 June 2007
• Date: 01 June 2007
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/0734016807300504
• Subject Matter: Articles

Book Reviews

Hassell, K. D. (2006). Police Organizational Cultures and

Patrol Practices. New York: LFB Publishing. 230 pp.

DOI: 10.1177/0734016807300504

Police Organizational Cultures and Patrol Practices, by Kimberly Hassell, thoroughly

lays out Klinger’s negotiated-order theory of police practices as the theoretical foundation

for an analysis of a midwestern police department. Hassell uses a mixture of quantitative and

qualitative data that enhance and legitimize the quantitative analyses. The focus of the quan-

titative analyses was to determine if there were significant differences in the organizational

culture and police practices between precincts. One aspect of this research was to test if offi-

cers who worked in the higher crime precincts perceived more serious crime as “normal,”

had higher levels of cynicism, and viewed victims as less deserving. Theoretically, officers

working in the same precincts should have similar views on these issues, but there should be

differences between precincts.

The quantitative data collection was a structured survey given to 72 patrol officers. The

qualitative aspect of the research employed participant observation, which entailed accom-

panying 76 officers during their shifts for a total of 434 hours.

There are a few areas of concern with regard to the quantitative results of this study. The

police department employed 760 sworn officers, but only 72 officers participated in the

research. Some of the participants were preselected by supervisors as suitable for partici-

pation, but it was not until the end of the book that the sampling design addressed this as a

limitation. It was not entirely clear if the officers that participated in the participant obser-

vation were also the same officers that filled out the structured survey. This may have been

the case for practical purposes, but making generalizations to even this one midwestern

police department may be a stretch. One way Hassell could have addressed this problem

would have been to provide a comparison of the sample to the whole police department to

see if the sample was significantly different from the population from which it was drawn

(such as demographics, time in job, etc.). Without this comparison it is difficult to deter-

mine if the sample is biased.

Another potential concern is the small sample size. Overall, there were 72 cases, but

once this is broken down per precinct, each precinct ranges from 17 to 19. The majority of

the ANOVA analyses were conducted on 10-point Likert-type questions, and the results

were generally not statistically significant. Given the lack of statistical power, it is not com-

pletely surprising that the results from the analyses were weak and mostly nonsignificant.

Hassell does acknowledge that older officers with more experience may differ from

younger officers, but these types of differences are not controlled for in the analyses. In

fact, job satisfaction, cynicism, and the precinct that officers work in may be affected by

seniority, which if not controlled for can lead to misleading results.

Although the primary focus of the research is on police officers’ perceptions, information

from official records could have enhanced the reader’s understanding of the police depart-

ment and the precincts they serve. For example, reporting the number of calls per precinct,

169

Criminal Justice Review

Volume 32 Number 2

June 2007 169-170

© 2007 Georgia State University

Research Foundation, Inc.

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Author’s Note:The opinions expressed in this paper are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those

of either the Federal Bureau of Prisons or the U.S. Department of Justice.