Crossing the Threshold: Organizational and Community Correlates of Female and Minority Representation Among U.S. Law Enforcement Agencies

• Published date: 01 September 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/10986111221116341
• Author: Joanna D. Frazier,Matthew C. Matusiak
• Date: 01 September 2023
• Subject Matter: Articles

Article

Police Quarterly

2023, Vol. 26(3) 307–332

© The Author(s) 2022

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DOI: 10.1177/10986111221116341

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Crossing the Threshold:

Organizational and

Community Correlates of

Female and Minority

Representation Among U.S.

Law Enforcement Agencies

Joanna D. Frazier

1

and Matthew C. Matusiak

2



Abstract

The current research explores relationships between female and minority off‌icer

representation and elements of organizational structure, practices, and context (in-

ternal and external). These relationships are viewed through the lenses of repre-

sentative bureaucracy and structural contingency theory. Employing LEMAS (2016)

survey and ACS (2011–2015) data, a series of OLS regression models explored these

relationships. Findings suggest diversity breeds diversity in law enforcement agencies.

Organizational structure continues to inf‌luence female and minority off‌icers

throughout their careers. Structural elements of both complexity and control were

related to off‌icer representation at all three career points, as were organizational

practices. Finally, relationships related to internal context demonstrated greater

consistency than external, although external context was related to overall repre-

sentation. Relationships between structure, practices, and context varied for females

and minorities, suggesting a greater need for unique recruitment and retention

strategies for these off‌icers.

1

Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of North Florida, Jacksonville, FL, USA

2

Department of Criminal Justice, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, USA

Corresponding Author:

Joanna D. Frazier, Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of North Florida, 1 UNF

Drive, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA.

Email: joanna.frazier@unf.edu

Keywords

female representation, minority representation, representative bureaucracy, law

enforcement management and administrative statistics, organizational structure

Introduction

Policing has been a profession historically dominated by White men; contemporary

policing is no different. Approximately 75.8% of sheriffs’deputies and 71.5% of local

off‌icers are White, and men account for 86.4% and 87.7% of deputies and off‌icers,

respectively (Brooks, 2019;Hyland & Davis, 2019). Calls for female and minority

representation in law enforcement have persisted since the Civil Rights Movement

prompted diversif‌ication in the profession. Panels exploring law enforcement in the

U.S. have proposed agencies ref‌lecting diversity in their communities may more readily

accept reform efforts and serve as a means of rebuilding legitimacy and trust in the

police (Gupta & Yang, 2016;President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing, 2015).

For example, the Christopher Commission (1991) suggested increased diversity within

the Los Angeles Police Department could aid in reducing use of force incidents.

Decades later, calls for diversity continue to accompany most proposed criminal justice

reforms in the United States (Gupta & Yang, 2016;Kochel, 2020).

Agencies mirroring their communities demographically (i.e., representative bu-

reaucracies) employ public servants who share demographic characteristics, cultural

backgrounds, and value systems that are congruent with the population they serve.

Passive representation occurs when agencies’employees ref‌lect community demo-

graphic distributions and suggests employees are empathetic to the needs and cir-

cumstances of community members. Representative bureaucracies are viewed as more

democratic (Manning, 2015) and legitimate (Meier & Nigro, 1976) due to their eff‌icient

use of resources, equal access to opportunity, and work toward common goals

(Kennedy, 2014;Selden, 1997). Law enforcement organizations that maintain the

status quo of White-male hegemony forego these widespread benef‌its and operate with

potentially reduced empathy and cultural sensitivity.

The lack of consistent female and racial/ethnic minority representation in policing

suggests that structural inequality may be embedded within the fabric of law en-

forcement organizations. The current study considers this notion and investigates

potential organizational-level barriers to hiring and retaining these off‌icers. Such

barriers may be a dysfunction of organizational structure, or how agencies divide and

control labor. By extension, organizational practices (e.g., educational requirements,

hiring methods, training) may also impede representation. Finally, the varied envi-

ronments (i.e., contexts) in which organizations operate may reveal exogenous in-

f‌luences on female and minority off‌icer employment. This study explores these factors

through a structural contingency lens, framing representative bureaucracy as a con-

tingency that may inf‌luence law enforcement employment and separations of female

and minority off‌icers. We begin with an acknowledgement of female and minority

308 Police Quarterly 26(3)