Volunteer Use as a Service Delivery Alternative: The Case of Law Enforcement Agencies

• Date: 01 February 2021
• DOI: 10.1177/0095399720949856
• Published date: 01 February 2021
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/0095399720949856

Administration & Society

2021, Vol. 53(2) 248 –272

© The Author(s) 2020

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DOI: 10.1177/0095399720949856

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Article

Volunteer Use as

a Service Delivery

Alternative: The Case

of Law Enforcement

Agencies

Seong C. Kang1

Abstract

Few studies have explored the question of why public agencies use volunteers in

service provision. Using data from a survey of law enforcement agencies in the

United States, this study explores the factors associated with volunteer officer

involvement. Key findings suggest that resource deficiency is strongly associated

with the degree of using volunteer officers, while the presence of an active

collective bargaining agreement is somewhat mixed. Agencies that encourage

officers to engage in collaborative problem-solving with the community are

more likely to use volunteer officers. The results provide important insight

regarding the factors associated with volunteers in public services.

Keywords

public services, volunteers, law enforcement

Introduction

Governments rely on different forms of partnerships and collaborative

arrangements to deliver public services. Volunteer use constitutes one such

alternative, and national-level and state-level surveys conducted on volunteer

1New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, USA

Corresponding Author:

Seong C. Kang, Department of Government, New Mexico State University, Box 30001,

Dept. 3BN, Breland Hall 338, Las Cruces, NM 88003, USA.

Email: sckang@nmsu.edu

949856AASXXX10.1177/0095399720949856Administration & SocietyKang

research-article2020

Kang 249

use in the United States have highlighted the expansive scope and signifi-

cance of volunteer involvement in the public sector (Brudney & Kellough,

2000; Gazley & Brudney, 2005; Nesbit & Brudney, 2013). Ranging from fire

departments to public hospitals and elderly care centers, volunteers serve in

many capacities and enable public organizations to potentially benefit from

cost savings and enhanced service levels and quality (Schmidt, 2019; Stirling

& Bull, 2011).

However, volunteer use has received less attention compared with other

service alternatives, as volunteering has generally been associated with the

nonprofit sector. Moreover, little empirical research investigates the factors

associated with the use of volunteers in specific service areas. Most prior

studies use comprehensive data sets of volunteering in all or most govern-

ment service areas to explore the broad determinants of volunteer use (see,

i.e., Brudney & Kellough, 2000; Ferris, 1988; Gazley & Brudney, 2005).

While such studies provide important insight, one limitation is that individual

services areas are driven by different organizational needs and environmental

circumstances in utilizing volunteers. Owing to this variation in the bureau-

cratic context, there is a need for more research exploring volunteer use in

different service areas to derive insight about the variables influencing volun-

teer use in public service delivery.

To address this gap, this article conducts an exploratory quantitative anal-

ysis of the factors associated with volunteer involvement in the realm of law

enforcement. In contrast to more informal volunteering activities such as

citizen patrols, administrative work, or youth and community programs, this

article centers on volunteer officers who “may be fully sworn and certified;

possess limited law enforcement certification or authority; or, in some cases,

have no state or local certification, but law enforcement powers granted by

a high ranking law enforcement officer, usually an elected Sheriff” (Dobrin

& Wolf, 2016, p. 220). This category of volunteers is a useful case to explore

because of the relatively higher levels of investment that police organiza-

tions devote toward recruitment, training, and certification. Moreover,

national-level survey data on volunteer officers are readily available com-

pared with data on informal volunteering activities, which were limited at

the time of this study.

This study addresses two specific research questions. First, what factors

predict whether agencies decide to utilize volunteer officers at all? Second,

given that an agency uses at least one volunteer officer, what factors predict

whether an agency hires more volunteer officers? Two theoretical perspec-

tives—resource dependence theory and median voter theory—are used to

inform the analysis. For organizations, resources mainly assume the form of

financial resources, but may also include nonmaterial inputs such as human