Professionalization and unionization of police: A Delphi forecast on police values

The Delphi Forecasting technique was utilized to assess the general direction and magnitude of broad future trends in the occupationally-related values of police officers. Two panels of experts were established and utilized in the Delphi Process: one composed of veteran police officers and the other consisting of law enforcement educators, top echelon police administrators, attorneys, and social ethicists.Two major trends emerged in the course of the study: a movement toward professionalization and a movement toward unionization. These two movements were found to embody generally conflicting sets of occupationally-related values.The increasing emphasis of police chiefs and their administrators on managerial efficiency was identified as the critical factor influencing the future of these trends.