Why do street-level bureaucrats risk themselves for others? The case of Israeli police officers

What factors influence police officers’ willingness to risk themselves for others? Police officers are street-level bureaucrats, who are not only given the mandate to use deadly force in order to keep public order but also risk their most important resource – their lives – to protect society. We suggest three factors that prompt police officers to risk their lives: individual characteristics (a desire to gain respect and recognition, and testing one's courage, ideology, and personality), organizational conditions (expectations of peers and supervisors, promotion opportunities), and environmental context (a hostile working environment and the importance of public opinion to them). Using an abductive approach combined with a triangulated qualitative method, our findings indicate that personal characteristics are indeed important, but so too are organizational conditions and environmental context. The practical insight, therefore, is that decision makers ‘can’, in various formal and informal ways, influence street-level bureaucrats’ behaviour. Here, the interactions among managers, workers, and clients are a crucial element.     

Procedural justice,obligation to obey,and cooperation with police in a sample of Jamaican citizens

ABSTRACT

Procedural justice theory plays a central role in understanding police–citizen relationships. To test the universality of procedural justice theory, researchers have tended to assess the relative impacts of normative and instrumental models of policing in different geopolitical contexts. Building on Reisig and Lloyd’s study in Jamaica, we test in the current study the relative impacts of procedural justice (a normative factor) and police effectiveness and risk of sanctioning (instrumental factors) on Jamaicans’ obligation to obey the police and willingness to cooperate with police. We found that procedural justice predicted both obligation to obey and cooperation, although obligation did not predict cooperation. And while effectiveness predicted obligation, it was not significantly related to cooperation. Lastly, older citizens were more willing to cooperate with police. The study’s implications for policy and future research are discussed.     

论我国高等警察教育改革路向

我国高等警察教育应实行通识教育基础上的宽口径专业教育,学生不仅要有宽厚的知识基础,还要对整个刑事司法过程有完整的认识,要培养全人警察。应整合高等警察教育,逐步将高等警察学历教育归并到普通大学,警察机关专事职业培训,造就具有宽厚知识基础、人文关怀、实战能力强的新型警察。     

浅谈交通警察正当执法权益的维护

交通警察日常执法活动是各级公安交通管理机关面向广大交通参与者最直接的执法行为,近几年交通警察在执法过程中合法权益经常受侵害,有公安交通管理机关自身原因,也有外部执法环境以及立法上的原因。维护交通警察正常的执法活动和合法权益,创建一个和谐的交通执法环境,要尽快健全和完善相关法律法规;进一步完善交通警察的教育培训机制;提高交通警察执法综合素质;广泛开展交通安全宣传教育,积极创造和谐的社会交通环境。     

警务合成实战训练理念探析

警务合成实战课的教学训练使体能、武力使用、射击、查缉等专业技能知识融为一体。警务合成技能训练的实用性、重视训练过程和灵活多变性的训练理念方法有助于提高民警的警务实战能力。     

对当前民警培训工作发展定位的思考

在公安专科院校努力中办公安本科教育的新形势下,民警培训工作的发展思路是充分依托学历教育资源,充当公安院校与公安机关之间的桥梁和纽带,坚持不懈地抓好培训专题、师资队伍、目标管理三项建设,不断做强民警培训工作。     

论警务活动人权保障与人的本性

人的本性给予人权,并在一定的历史条件下居于一定的经济结构和文化发展中。为了自身的自由生存、自由生活、自由发展以能够真正掌握自己的命运,必须具有人权。警务活动的主客体作为世界的主体,都具有人的一般本质属性。警务活动保障人权必须把警务活动的对象当做自然存在物、社会存在物、意识存在物、主体存在物来把握。     

加强警察网络公关建设的思考

随着社会经济与科技的发展,网络媒介已经融入人们的工作、生活之中,这给公安机关的公关工作提供了新的思维方式。当前公安机关要提高自身形象,实现良好警民联系和实现部门之间的信息共享的需求,有必要加强网络公关建设;构建在互联网上的警察网络公关可以实现警务公开、密切警民联系、危机化解、民警反馈与民意测验等功能。加强网络公关的建设可从硬件和软件两个方面着手,硬件包括建立门户网站和培养专业的网络公关人员,软件包括网络公关意识的培养,投公众之所好,注重服务性和注意网络安全,增强保密性。     

对基层公安民警教育培训的思考

现在的公安民警教育培训机制落后,针对性不强,已经不适应社会转型的需要。提高公安机关防控能力,并使每个民警真正做到“三懂”、“四会”,就必须改进创新现在的培训机制、培训模式、培训内容及培训理念,在理论、技术、解惑等诸多方面提高公安民警的素质。     

转变观念 构建“实战型”手枪射击训练模式

传统的手枪射击训练模式只注重训练技术和技术练习的结果,不重视练习的过程是否符合公安执法特点,导致手枪射击练习模式是＂为打靶而训练＂,这是严重脱离实战的,必然严重影响警察战斗力的提升。要扭转这一现实就必须转变观念,要建立＂为实战而训练＂的观念,使训练紧紧围绕＂实战＂这个核心思想,注重训练警察执法实战所需的技能、意识、程序以及规范性。