Work stress and job dissatisfaction in the public sector: An examination of public safety directors

Abstract

Increasingly, communities are implementing consolidated organizations, typically called Public Safety departments, for the joint delivery of police and fire services. However, directors of Public Safety departments have had to contend with internal and external sources of resistance to the public safety concept, and have experienced difficulty coordinating and managing the distribution of personnel and resources for police and fire activity. The present research examines the impact of these problems on work stress and job dissatisfaction. Using a three-wave mailing design, questionnaires were sent to a national survey of Public Safety directors. Problems associated with managerial ambiguity and uncertainty over public perceptions of long-term organizational viability affected both work stress and job dissatisfaction, while consolidation status and organizational size affected only one of these outcomes.The city of Heartland operates the office of Public Safety, which is responsible for Police, Fire, Emergency Services and Disaster Agency and 911 Emergency Communications. The department is not integrated and will never be integrated as long as I have breath in my body.