Officers’ Job Satisfaction

Job satisfaction refers to the positive outlook or feelings an individual has regarding his or her job. This measure can be used to describe general feelings regarding the job, various aspects of the job, or work experiences. Variation in job satisfaction can affect health, individual work performance, and performance of the organization. Poor job satisfaction in policing can also impact police-community relations. The correlation between officer job satisfaction and police-community relations is particularly salient when law enforcement agencies attempt to employ a community policing model. A properly implemented community policing model can improve both officer and community satisfaction. This entry describes what researchers have learned about the job satisfaction of police officers and how the strategies of community policing influence officers’ job satisfaction.