Police Job Satisfaction in Turkey: Effects of Demographic, Organizational and Jurisdictional Factors

Abstract

This paper examines the issue of job satisfaction in the context of the Turkish National Police (TNP). It brings a comparative view to the factors affecting the level of job satisfaction among police personnel. In addition, this study is the first attempt to assess the level of job satisfaction among the members of the TNP. The validity of the factors, which were found to be effective in determining police officers’ job satisfaction in the US and that of employees of other countries’ law enforcement agencies, were tested on a nationally organized, centralized police department. Using survey data collected in Turkey during the summer of 2005, we employed multivar‐ iate statistics (OLS) and multilevel modeling techniques (HLM) in our analyses to address (a) the level of job satisfaction among the members of the TNP in comparison to their US counterparts and (b) the effects of demographic, jurisdictional, and macro/micro‐level work environment factors on the officers’ level of job satisfaction. The results supported some of the earlier findings, but also provided different outcomes from the existing body of related literature. In conclusion, we suggest and discuss several policy implications for the future of the TNP and for the study of police management in general terms.