Summary
"This report examines the purported benefits and challenges of employing civilians instead of sworn police officers to do different types of police work in Canadian police services. The key research question is what, if any, are the economic benefits (in terms of actual net savings achieved) and non-economic benefits of civilianization of employees working in administration, special uniformed services, investigative services, and specialized technical areas. The report’s main focus is a practical one: to provide information useful to police executives, police boards and municipal governments in developing policy with regard to how civilian employees can be most cost-effectively and efficiently deployed to achieve major policing objectives. The research was carried out through a comprehensive literature review of civilianization in Canada, the United States (U.S.), and Great Britain. Twenty one police services responded to the survey while ten participated in follow-up interviews. Civilians were most likely to be employed in administration and specialized support and least likely in uniformed services and investigative services. While the lower salaries and benefits paid to civilians compared to sworn officers do offer some cost savings, the lower pay and lower status of civilians in police organizations is associated with problems in morale and employee turnover. A key finding of both the literature review and empirical research is that the overall costs of policing may not be reduced as the number of sworn officers does not necessarily decline with increased hiring of civilian employees. Indeed, the overall number of police personnel (both sworn and civilian) continues to rise and with it increased costs. A barrier to civilianization is the continued reluctance, for a variety of reasons, on the part of police executives and police associations as well as police boards and other governance bodies to reduce the numbers of uniformed sworn police officers, even with increased civilian staff hiring. The literature also suggests that when employee cuts have been made the preference is to cut civilian employees and not sworn officers."--Page i.
Contents
INTRODUCTION. -- OBJECTIVES. -- LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY. -- LITERATURE REVIEW. -- Cross-National Trends in Civilianization. -- Canada. -- The United Kingdom and Ireland. -- United States. -- Challenges of Civilianization. -- Civilian staff in traditional policing roles. -- Challenges of filling civilian positions with sworn police officers. -- Challenges related to cost and savings. -- Challenges associated with civilian job satisfaction and morale. -- METHODOLOGY. -- The Survey Instrument. -- RESULTS. -- Number of Civilians/Sworn Police Officers and their Duties. -- Efficiency and Effectiveness of Civilianization. -- Costs and Benefits of Employing Civilians. -- Challenges in Incorporating Civilians into Policing Services. -- Sworn Police Officers Occupying Civilian Positions. -- General Comments from the Survey. -- DISCUSSION. -- Quantitative Benefits of Civilianization of Policing. -- Qualitative Benefits of Civilianization of Policing. -- Challenges of Civilianization of Policing. -- CONCLUSION. -- FURTHER RESEARCH ON CIVILIANIZATION.