What makes police officers resist research and evidence-based policing? Examining the role of organizational and environmental factors

Abstract

Abstract Despite a growing body of research on police officers’ receptivity or resistance to evidence-based policing (EBP) and research, the mechanisms behind officers’ resistance have received limited attention. To address this gap, we investigate the impact of organizational factors (i.e. organizational justice, supervisor support, cynicism towards organizational change) and environmental factors (i.e. disrespected experience by citizens, citizen animus, crime trends) on shaping officer resistance to EBP and research using survey data from 457 front-line officers from seven police departments in Seoul, South Korea. Our findings reveal that cynicism towards organizational change significantly impacts officer resistance to EBP and research, more so than the impact of officers’ dispositional resistance to change. Furthermore, we find that organizational justice and supervisor support have significant indirect effects on officer resistance to EBP and research through cynicism towards organizational change. These results underscore the importance of improving organizational climates to reduce officer resistance to EBP and research.