Compensation as a Police Candidate Attraction Tool: An Organizational-Level Analysis

• Author: Matthew J. Giblin,Phillip M. Galli
• Published date: 01 December 2017
• Date: 01 December 2017
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/1098611117713679
• Subject Matter: Articles

Article

Compensation as

a Police Candidate

Attraction Tool: An

Organizational-Level

Analysis

Matthew J. Giblin

1

and Phillip M. Galli

1

Abstract

In 2008, state and local law enforcement agencies hired 61,000 new full-time sworn

personnel. To develop a sufficient applicant pool, organizations may use a variety of

attraction strategies, including financial inducements, especially when broader factors

lessen the appeal of a job. Using data from the 2007 and 2013 Law Enforcement

Management and Administrative Statistics survey, the present study tests whether

unfavorable contingencies (e.g., high cost of living, rigorous application standards) are

related to officer compensation—pay, supplemental incentives, and reimburse-

ments—within a sample of large metropolitan police agencies. Results are generally

consistent with contingency theory, at least with respect to salaries. Departments

offer higher salaries to offset more rigorous hiring standards, high costs of living, and

other unfavorable contingencies. The implications of the findings for police officer

recruitment are discussed.

Keywords

police compensation, contingency theory, recruitment

Each year, state and local law enforcement agencies across the United States

work to overcome thousands of vacancies in sworn officer positions. In 2008, for

example, the nation’s 16,000 general purpose agencies hired 61,000 officers to fill

1

Department of Criminology & Criminal Justice, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Carbondale, IL,

USA

Corresponding Author:

Matthew J. Giblin, Department of Criminology & Criminal Justice, Mail Code 4504, Southern Illinois

University Carbondale, Carbondale, IL, USA.

Email: mgiblin@siu.edu

Police Quarterly

2017, Vol. 20(4) 397–419

!The Author(s) 2017

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DOI: 10.1177/1098611117713679

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newly authorized positions and those left vacant by resignations, retirements,

dismissals, and other departures (Reaves, 2012). This number is substantial,

representing roughly 9% of all full-time sworn officers, thereby requiring

police departments to devote time and energy toward attracting new recruits.

The goal is to generate a sufficient number of qualified applicants for

departmental consideration. The choice and intensity of attraction strategies

(e.g., recruiters, signing bonuses) is determined, in part, by the number of pos-

itions available (demand for services) relative to the size of the potential appli-

cant pool (supply; Hall & Vanderporten, 1977; Lewin & Keith, 1976; Rynes &

Barber, 1990). Assuming a constant demand for police services, the supply of

prospective officers fluctuates based on the perceived appeal of careers in law

enforcement compared with other jobs (Hall & Vanderporten, 1977).

Even when a policing career appears attractive, prospective applicants must

make organizational choice decisions to pursue employment with specific depart-

ments (Wanous, 1980). Organizations are not equivalent in this regard, with

some characterized by less appealing departmental (e.g., rigorous standards),

labor market (e.g., nonpolice employment), and community (e.g., cost of

living) characteristics that potentially suppress the supply of applicants. Just

as corporations use compensation in order to obtain a ‘‘competitive advantage,’’

police departments may also rely upon financial inducements to heighten organ-

izational attractiveness, particularly when they are marked by less desirable

factors (Balkin & Gomez-Mejia, 1987, p. 170; Rynes & Barber, 1990).

Although a number of studies have addressed the predictors of police compen-

sation (e.g., Bartel & Lewin 1981; Doerner & Doerner, 2010; Feuille & Delaney,

1986; Wilson et al., 2006), most have concentrated on the benefits of collective

bargaining and the constraints imposed by labor shortages. The current study

advances this literature in three ways. First, it examines multiple compensation

indicators including starting salaries, supplemental pay, and reimbursements.

Second, it places compensation within a contemporary theoretical framework

(contingency theory), extending much of the research from the past. Third, the

analysis includes a broader range of theoretically relevant organizational, labor

market, and community predictors.

Literature Review

Recruiting, a practice that involves attracting viable job candidates and selecting

the most qualified applicants, is an important and ongoing activity within many

organizations (Porter, Lawler, & Hackman, 1975). Wilson, Rostker, and Fan

(2010) described it as part of a broader human resource or personnel manage-

ment function, allowing police organizations to meet their goals of ‘‘achieving

and maintaining the profile of officers by experience and rank that satisfies

agency needs and officer career aspirations’’ (p. xiii). It is, after all, an organ-

ization’s human capital—its operating core—that delivers its services or

398 Police Quarterly 20(4)