Prospect for green policing: Constructs and dimensions of environmental sustainability in the context of public safety

Abstract

The vulnerability of the environment to the risk posed by climate change becomes even more exponential with the rapid phase of the industrial revolution and globalization in the contemporary era. As a key pillar of sustainability, the role of every societal sector is critical in the consummation of environmental equilibrium. This study was carried out to develop a common framework for the programming of green activities in the realm of public safety sectors and to establish standardized indicators for the coordination and complementation of environmental sustainability efforts and initiatives. The study employed a quantitative research design that supports the use of an instrument to explore the constructs and dimensions of environmental sustainability in public safety through Principal Component Analysis (PCA) via Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA). The data harbored a 0.964 index on the Kaiser-Mayer-Oldin (KMO) Measure of Sampling Adequacy which implies that the explored constructs are highly correlated. Similarly, Barlett's Test of Sphericity demonstrated strong significance with a value of .000, implying that all indicators are factorable. Furthermore, the Scree plot revealed that there are two (2) dimensions that yielded an Eigenvalue that is equal to or greater than 1 (λ=≥1) namely Green Behavior and Sustainable Operations. The explored constructs and dimensions are necessary for the development of a model for Green Policing which can serve as a basis for monitoring and evaluation of environmental law enforcement and environmental sustainability efforts of the public safety sectors.