European Journal of Policing Studies – Jaargang 1/2 (2013) (ISSN 2034-760x)

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Contents:

Introduction
A. Verhage, L. Bisschop, W. Hardyns

Articles

Professional disobedience. The impact of technology and multilevel dispatching on police practice
B. Böing (1)

Abstract
This article draws on a field experiment that took place in Amsterdam in 2012 to examine the impact of technology on police practice. The experiment consisted of four simulated robberies in which the use of the global positioning system (GPS) and short data service (SDS) were systematically varied (in a 2×2 between-subjects design) with different levels of operational command. The experiment resulted in faster coordination and less radio traffic. But this experiment also showed something else: almost all operational units displayed more or less disobedient behaviour. They deliberately deviated from orders to go to particular locations in the city to search for the suspects. In this article it is argued that this behaviour can be explained through officers’ situational awareness and the use of SDS. Additional interviews and group discussions further indicate that the lack of trust and hierarchical control may also have contributed to this behaviour. It is the question whether the findings of this study covers the current state of police practice in the Netherlands and perhaps beyond. This remains a subject for further study. The results from this experiment can be valuable for analysis in social behaviour studies among police units.

Keywords: Professional disobedience, police, GPS, SDS, situational awareness

(1) Researcher at the Amsterdam Police Department in the Netherlands.

Burnout as predictor of aggressivity among police officers
C. Queirós (1), M. Kaiseler (2) & A. Leitão da Silva (3)

Abstract
This paper aims to understand the relationship between aggressivity and burnout among police officers, more precisely, it investigates whether burnout is a predictor of aggressivity among police officers. The study focuses on the relationship between burnout and aggressivity, using regression analysis to identify aggressivity predictors. The Maslach Burnout Inventory was used to measure burnout, while the Aggression Questionnaire was used to measure aggressivity. A cross-sectional study collected data from 274 male police officers (from PSP – Portuguese Police of Public Security) exercising urban patrol tasks in Porto or Lisbon. Low burnout and moderate aggressivity levels were found, with positive significant correlations. Regression analysis reveals that burnout, more than socio-demographic characteristics, predicts 13% to 22% of aggressivity. In particular, feelings of high depersonalisation and low personal accomplishment are the burnout dimensions that most strongly explain anger and aggressivity, whereas emotional exhaustion only explains 4% of verbalaggression. The study highlights the need to develop prevention strategies of stress, aiming to avoid the development of burnout as occupational chronic stress, and decreasing the risk of developing aggressivity among police officers. Despite the wide literature in the area of police officers’ burnout and individual characteristics (e.g. aggressivity proneness as a personality trait), there is limitedresearch on the relationship between burnout and aggressivity. Within democratic societies where excessive use of force by police officers is criticised, aggressivity predicted by burnout reinforces the need to prevent occupational stress that leads to burnout.

Keywords: Aggressivity, burnout, police officers, patrollers, Portuguese sample

(1) Teacher in the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences of the University of Porto, Portugal; co-director of the Psychosocial Rehabilitation Laboratory (FPCEUP/ESTSPIP