Police Chief Turnover in Texas: An Exploratory Analysis of Peer-Evaluation Survey Data Pertinent to Police Performance and Turnover

• Date: 01 December 2019
• Published date: 01 December 2019
• DOI: 10.1177/1098611119845664
• Subject Matter: Articles

Article

Police Chief Turnover

in Texas: An

Exploratory Analysis

of Peer-Evaluation

Survey Data Pertinent

to Police Performance

and Turnover

Yudu Li

1

and Ben Brown

1

Abstract

Turnover of police chiefs is brisk, with the average tenure of a chief of police ranging

from 4 to 6 years, but few scholars have examined factors which may impact police

chief turnover. This study contributes to the literature on police chief turnover via

an examination of the impact that two forms of performance—leadership perfor-

mance and departmental performance—may have on police chief turnover. Analyzed

herein are peer-evaluation survey data and administrative data obtained from the

Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas and the Texas Commission of Law

Enforcement. Regression analyses of the data suggest that leadership and depart-

mental performance are associated with turnover, with leadership performance

having the larger impact. Time in office, being an external appointment/hire, and

having been hired by a city mayor also proved to significantly affect turnover. The

policy and personal life-choice implications of the data for police officials and policy

makers are discussed, as are the methodological implications.

1

University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Edinburg, TX, USA

Corresponding Author:

Yudu Li, Criminal Justice Department, ELABN 321, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, 1201 W

University Drive, Edinburg, TX 78539, USA.

Email: yudu.li@utrgv.edu

Police Quarterly

2019, Vol. 22(4) 391–415

!The Author(s) 2019

Article reuse guidelines:

sagepub.com/journals-permissions

DOI: 10.1177/1098611119845664

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Keywords

law enforcement, police chief, leadership, turnover, performance

Introduction

Police work is arduous. Under relentless public scrutiny, the police must con-

tend with a range of situations, inclusive of handling hostile and uncooperative

individuals while adhering to procedural standards which respect the constitu-

tional rights of the citizenry. Regardless of whether the situation involves an

automobile accident, a burglary, a lost child, a found child, a traff‌ic jam, a

prowler, a protest, or a parade, the police will be alerted and required to respond

(Fyfe, 2015; Manning, 1997; Remington, 1965). Handling such a motley array of

incidents (and the people involved) can be emotionally, psychologically, and

physically challenging. Further complicating matters, there are numerous orga-

nizational features of the job such as the rotating shifts, the modest income, and

the limited potential for career advancement which exacerbate the plight of

police personnel. All this takes a toll on the men and women who serve and

protect the public as evidenced by ample empirical studies which indicate police

off‌icers experience more than their fair share of a number of work-related ail-

ments such as depression, fatigue, hypertension, sleep disorders, stress, and

obesity (Amendola et al., 2011; Charles et al., 2007; Gershon, Barocas,

Canton, Li, & Vlahov, 2009; McWilliams & Hamilton, 2015; Vila, 2000; Vila,

Morrison, & Kenney, 2002; Waters & Ussery, 2007).

It is thus no surprise that employee turnover in police departments is a sig-

nif‌icant issue (Doerner, 1995; Koper, 2004; Wareham, Smith, & Lambert, 2015).

The high turnover rates within the criminal justice system are cause for concern

among criminal justice executives and public policy makers. A high turnover

rate may reduce employee morale, increase the workload on extant personnel,

and result in inadequate staff‌ing, all of which may negatively impact the quality

of service an agency can provide. Another problem is the limited productivity of

newly hired and inexperienced personnel (Kiekbusch, Price, & Theis, 2003;

Lambert, 2006; Orrick, 2005). Then there are the economic costs associated

with a high turnover rate, which are especially problematic for police depart-

ments. Recruitment efforts, screening and selecting new hires, and the provision

of academy and f‌ield training are not cheap. This is not to suggest that turnover

is inherently problematic, as any organization must be able to eliminate inade-

quately performing personnel, but the bottom line is that turnover within a

police department comes at a considerable cost to the agency (Evans,

Christopher, & Stoffel, 2000; Wareham, et al., 2015; Weisberg &

Kirschenbaum, 1991).

392 Police Quarterly 22(4)