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POLICE CULTURE: THE RICH AND FEMININE

Britany Trujillo
Loyola University, Chicago

Police officers are unified and in a sense, become a family, through police culture. This culture
represents shared values, norms, and ideas, which shape how officers conduct their duties,
interact with the community, and understand each other. Within this culture, police officers find
certain mechanisms that allow them to cope with stresses of their daily work (Paoline, 2000).
This definition is widely accepted, however some research suggests that culture must be viewed
through the lens of each particular setting. This paper will present the findings of an
ethnographic analysis of police culture in one suburban Chicago department. Research was
conducted throughout the 2013 spring semester by means of participant observation, interviews,
and surveys. In particular, I discuss how the socioeconomic status of the community impacts the
way police officers perform their duties and how the public perceives police officers role.
Furthermore, I examine the role women play in shaping a male-dominant culture and how they
respond to notions of masculinity. This research will contribute to anthropological perspectives
of culture as something that is always changing. Additionally, it will add to existing literature
that emphasizes viewing police culture with respect to individual factors that make up each
department.
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INTRODUCTION
There is broad agreement that U.S. police departments have a distinct police culture.
Yet, how to best characterize that culture is a subject of some scholarly disagreement. The first
characterization of police culture is one that it is universal to all organizations across the country
(Crank 1998). The second pertains to the notion that police culture must focus on the uniqueness
of each individual organization because departments vary in setting and have their own set of
cultural beliefs, predispositions, stories, and artifacts (Chan 1997; Christensen 2001:69).
Ethnographies that include the former idea about police culture do not necessarily represent the
new diversified police force or changing styles of policing of the twenty-first century. Therefore,
in order to achieve a more complete understanding of police culture today, we must examine
how individual factors of both the police officers and the local community shape current
departments.
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This paper begins by examining existing literature about police culture, then highlights
where scholars disagree and offers an alternate perspective to interpreting police culture. After, I
will describe the methods I used and present an analysis of my data. My primary thesis is that
police culture relies heavily on particular dynamics of the department, such as characteristics of
the surrounding community and those of individual officers. I hypothesize that the prosperity of
the town in which I conduct my research strongly impacts the type of police work that occurs
and is largely different from what is portrayed in the media. In addition, I hypothesize that
women police officers struggle to fit in with the masculine identity of police work, and in-turn
create an identity that reflects a mesh of feminine and masculine traits. This dual identity will
allow women to navigate the masculinity of police work, while maintaining their own feminine
qualities. This paper is relevant to any person that has come in contact with the police, or has the
possibility of doing so in the future. One reason for this is that Americans tend to lack accurate
knowledge of police work because of how police officers are portrayed in the media. Ignorance
of the duties officers perform leads to a created mythology of police work (Drummond
1976:5). This research will refute common misconceptions about police work by offering an
underrepresented perspective, that of the rich and feminine.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Police Culture
Literature about police culture generally agrees that police culture is best defined as a set
of informal norms, values, and assumptions that shape officers daily practices and decisions
(Loftus 2009). This culture is recognized by collective mechanisms that officers use to cope with
the strains of their occupational environment and can be described by several distinct themes
(Christensen 2001; Crank 1998; Drummond 1976; Manning 1989; Paoline 2000). These themes,
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which emerge from officers daily routine, include distrust of citizens, the need to maintain the
edge during interactions with the public, persistence of a crime-fighter image, a we-versus-
they sentiment toward the community, and a strong loyalty to fellow officers (Christensen 2001;
Crank 1998; Manning 1989; Paoline 2005). Despite scholars acceptance of these long-
established notions of police culture, disagreement about the extent to which these elements
impact culture exists. In particular, there is disagreement over whether these themes are
represented identically across the nation.
Scholars propose two opposing perspectives on how to characterize police culture. Pre-
millenium descriptions are of a universal police culture. This perspective is identified as being
monolithic, which implies that the same culture is replicated throughout all American police
organizations (Crank 1998). The basis for this premise is that officers everywhere develop a
similar way of thinking about and responding to their work because they all are confronted with
the same underlying dynamics of the institution (Crank 1998). Cranks ethnography, conducted
fifteen years ago, is considered outdated with respect to the changing police force that is more
diverse in the number of women and minorities present. In addition, his study reflects an urban
population and fails to represent the dynamics of suburban or rural communities.
Post-millenium descriptions of police culture are given relative to each department. These
perspectives identify police culture as diverse, which is the opposite of monolithic. A diverse
culture includes the same established themes, but asserts that culture varies between departments
due to different components of the organizational structure and of the community in which the
department is located (Christensen 2001). This contemporary idea of culture is strongly
dependent on time and space and is represented in a growing amount of literature. More recent
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ethnographies place a greater emphasis on the particular factors that contribute to a diverse
culture (Garcia 2005; Loftus 2010; Paoline 2003; Skolnick 2008).
My research draws from these later studies because I explore how community dynamics
and a changing work force impact police culture at my research site. Specifically, I am interested
in how women officers respond to masculinity imbedded in police work and in the police
department. Research conducted by Martin (1980) argued that masculinity among police officers
is not just associated with traditional ideas of police work, but largely of what it means to be a
man in the United States. Furthermore, Crank identifies being a man, or masculinity, by four
themes: the avoidance of anything vaguely feminine, the attainment of success and social status,
a manly air of toughness, confidence, and self-reliance, and an aura of aggressiveness, daring,
and violence (Crank 1998:181). Research questions that my data aims to address are: How do
women officers adjust to the male dominance of the work force? Does a masculine police culture
influence women to adopt stereotypical male traits? And does the presence of women feminize
police culture?
The type of work that officers encounter in a suburban, rich, White community will differ
from the work officers deal with in an urban, poor, marginalized area. These differences are key
to understanding the role a larger community plays in developing police norms and ideas. The
second component of my research, relating to the idea of a diverse police culture, involves
examining how specific characteristics of the city of Appleton influence the way officers
approach their duties. These ideas strongly align with Christensens research, Police Work and
Culture in a Nonurban Setting: An Ethnographic Analysis (2001). Research questions of my
own include: How does the crime of a suburban department compare to that of an urban one, and
does this affect how police officers view their role in the community? How does the wealth of
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the community shape the we-versus-they perception? And how does the type of police work at
my research site vary from what is depicted in popular media?
METHODOLOGY
This research was conducted at a north suburban police department outside of the city of
Chicago called Appleton. Appleton is a pseudonym assigned to the town in order to maintain
confidentiality of the community and my participants from the Appleton police department. A
short description and demographics of the town are provided to give the reader a sense of the
neighborhood that Appleton officers come into contact with on a daily basis. In addition, a
background of the police department is provided so that the reader has a better understanding of
the police force size.
The Research Setting
Appleton is a suburban town that consists of a mix of residential, commercial, and
business areas. Transportation to the city of Chicago is easily accessible via the Edens
Expressway and Tri-State Tollway that pass through town, or by the Metra train services.
According to the 2010 census, Appleton has a population of about thirty-three thousand people
(City-data.com). Of this population, 86.07% are White, 11.68% are Asian, 2.50% are Hispanic,
and 0.63% are African-American (City-data.com). The median household income is $113,089,
though 3.4% of the population lives below the poverty line. This town is considered very
wealthy compared to the city of Chicago, which has a median household income of $47,371 and
21.4% of people living below poverty level (City-data.com).
The police force serving Appleton consists of sixty-six full time sworn Police Officers.
This includes thirty-five Patrol Officers, six Sergeants, and three Watch Commanders who patrol
the streets twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Out of the sixty-six full time officers in
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the department, only three are female. During the week, each officer works twelve-hour shifts
where they work for two days in a row, and then are off for two days in a row. Officers also
work every other weekend, which includes Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Methods
Fieldwork was conducted at the Appleton Police Department throughout the duration of
the 2013 spring semester (January to May). Two primary methods used to collect data were
participant observation and interviews. Participant observation consisted of a series of ride-
alongs. Ride-along refers to riding in the passenger seat of the police car while an officer is on
duty. Over the past three months I participated in six ride-alongs, adding up to a total of twenty
hours. Each ride-along lasted anywhere from two to four hours and took place during the night
shift (6PM to 6AM). I anticipated on riding-along with all three of the female officers, however,
due to my class schedule and lack of transportation during the day, I was only able to accompany
two. In addition, I did a ride-along with one male officer.
While I was on ride-alongs, I asked a variety of questions to these officers pertaining to
their work experiences and perceptions of women in the force. I also interviewed another male
officer and the female officer that I was not able to ride-along with. In total, qualitative data from
my research is comprised of twenty hours of fieldwork and six semi-structured interviews.
To complement my participant observation and interviews with quantitative data, I placed
a short survey in thirty-nine officers mailboxes. All of the patrol officers and each sergeant that
I met while on ride-alongs received a survey. The survey consisted of ten questions that
attempted to identify reoccurring themes of police culture and how males in the department view
their female co-workers. Of the thirty-nine surveys, I received twenty-two back, which I
incorporate into my data analysis.
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DATA ANALYSIS
The following analysis is a result of data collected during ride-alongs with participants
whom I have given pseudonyms: Olivia, Melissa, and Ryan. Data collected from interviews with
Cathy and John (also pseudonyms), as well as statistics from the twenty-two surveys, is also
incorporated. Due to the time constraint of this research, the amount of participants involved was
restricted in order to obtain a more in-depth analysis. Participant observation and interviews that
reflect the perspectives of only five out of the sixty-six officers of the Appleton police
department appears to be this studys greatest limitation. However, officers I talked to frequently
said, I know a lot of my co-workers would say or I know they guys believe that which
allowed me to make generalizations that represent a larger amount of the department.
Police Culture: Through the Lens of the Appleton Department
Officers in the Appleton police department have generally agreed that a police culture
does exist. This claim is primarily supported by results from the survey, which allowed officers
to fill-in-the-blank to the question, Police culture is _____. Only one out of twenty-two
surveys stated that police culture is nonexistent in small departments such as Appleton. The
majority of responses stated that police culture is different and difficult to understand unless
you are involved changing and dependent on location, population, and command structure
a brotherhood/family and based off of shared experiences. When I asked this question
directly to my participants (Olivia, Melissa, Ryan, Cathy, and John), they all provided similar
answers that corresponded to the survey results. My participants also noted a specific element of
police culture that serves as a coping mechanism for strains of the job: humor.
To make jokes about encounters police officers face on the job might seem insensitive to
the community involved, yet one-hundred percent of officers agreed to doing this. Finding
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humor in situations is a way officers detach themselves from their work and cope with the sad
and disturbing things they see on a daily basis (Olivia). During a ride-along, Melissa described
it as follows: You have to find humor in sick situations. The same applies to doctors and people
who work in funeral homes. You also have to be emotionless, you cant take on everyone elses
stress and emotion or else youll go nuts! There appears to be a mutual agreement between
Appleton police officers that the humor aspect of police culture is vital in order to cope with
stresses of the job.
Olivia, Melissa, and Ryan all emphasize two elements of police culture, group solidarity
and social isolation, which closely resemble the we-versus-they theme proposed by Crank
(1998). Crank refers to we-versus-they as a way to describe the divide that exists between
police officers (the we) and everyone else (the they). My participants agreed that that
because of the long hours and odd shifts, it is very easy to lose contact with friends and relatives.
This leads some officers to either become socially isolated or more connected to coworkers. As a
result, some officers might keep friends that are other police officers and hang out with them
exclusively. During a ride along with Olivia, she said that, Fellow police officers are the only
ones who will truly understand what you experience at work and can be night-owls with you. If
you work the 6PM to 6AM shift, you are up at 3AM on your off days when the rest of the world
family and friends is asleep. Survey data also supports this because seventy-six percent of
people said that they spend at least some time (0 to 6 hours) with co-workers on their days off,
while nineteen percent said they spend 6 to 12 hours and only five percent answered spending
more than 24 hours with other officers outside of work.
Although Olivia, Melissa, and Ryan did agree about group solidarity and social isolation,
they disagreed on the way that these elements should be interpreted. Olivia and Melissa stressed
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the value of finding a good balance between your work and your personal life. They seemed to
agree that it is not healthy when officers live and breathe the job. Both officers discussed
consciously trying to make time to see friends and family on a regular basis. On the contrary,
Ryan said that, it is a natural process to lose contact with some friends because they might feel
awkward about drinking or partying with a cop. Ryan did not place the same emphasis that
Olivia and Melissa did on the importance of making time for people outside of work. In this
instance, it seems easier for males to become more embedded in this aspect of police culture.
Males might be consumed completely in the solidarity of police culture because of the
dominance of males in the force. Males have far more males to identify with in comparison to
females. It is for this reason that Olivia and Melissa might intentionally make the decision to
connect with people outside of the department, while Ryan just regards it as an inevitable
process.
Real Police Work
Most Americans probably view police work as exciting and action-packed, with never a
dull moment. This is because the media packages police work in an urban setting with high
crime rates and glamorizes the work by frequently showing high-speed chases, guns, and
dangerous criminals. My research has shown that the police work of officers in the city of
Appleton is the exact opposite. In fact, 67% of officers responded to a survey question asking
how accurately the media portrays police duties in the Appleton department with a rating of 2
(on a scale of 1-5, 1 is the least accurate, and 5 is the most accurate). Similarly, 14% of officers
rated the medias portrayal at 1, which is the least accurate representation. With the majority of
officers stating that the media represents police work very poorly, it should be expected that my
participant observation would not resemble a scene from COPS, the Fox television series.
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While participating on ride-alongs, Officers Olivia, Melissa, and Ryan all described to
me how boring the job can be at times. Melissa said, Seventy-five percent of the time you are
just driving around doing traffic control and waiting for a call. Only a very small portion is
characterized by excitement, and the rest is paperwork. In an interview, Cathy described a
similar notion, stating that, when you break down the bare bones of being a police officer, its a
lot of paperwork and critical thinking. During my twenty hours of participant observation, I
observed eleven traffic stops, which ranged from driving with a suspended license plate to a
suspected DUI. Of these eleven stops, two were arrested, five were issued warnings, and the rest
were let go. Additionally, during these twenty hours I witnessed five calls. Calls are requests by
dispatch over the radio that an officer needs to respond to. These calls included responding to an
alarm call, backing up a fire truck, backing up an ambulance, and two for assisting members of
the community who come to the station for help.
The types of interactions I observed and frequency of crime in Appleton is a clear
indication that the type of police work officers encounter varies across departments and is
misrepresented by the media. To provide the reader with a statistical comparison, in 2009, the
city of Chicago had a crime index of 586.8 and the city of Appleton had a crime rate of 87.8. For
these indexes, a higher number signifies more crime (City-data.com). It is apparent that Appleton
has a very low crime index and the type of police work reflects it. Because it is a wealthy
community, the majority of crime that occurs is theft and residential/commercial burglaries. You
would not find as many residential burglaries in a poor town because it would be assumed that
they do not have any valuable jewelry or electronics worthy of stealing (paraphrased from
conversation with Olivia). The type of police work that officers encounter in Appleton shapes
how officers perform their job and the way they see themselves. Since crime rates are relatively
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low, officers in Appleton do not see themselves as crime-fighters, but rather as people able to
help the community and make a difference in some peoples lives. Throughout conversation,
officers that I did a ride-along with expressed a sense of pride when they were able to impact the
lives of people in Appleton. These officers seemed happy and satisfied to service the community,
rather than fight crime. Even though officers might not perceive themselves as crime-
fighters, all the stories that officers told me were exciting ones in which they had to chase cars,
run on foot, or deal with drunk people who address the officers using profanity. Portrayal of
these exciting stories implies that while officers might not always experience this in their job,
they do seek the thrill and try to maintain the image of a crime-fighter. Officers appear to
glamorize their stories in a similar way to how the media glamorizes television shows or movies.
Being a Woman
I hypothesized that women in the police force would have a difficult time fitting in with
the dominantly male work force. However, interview data has suggested otherwise, thus refuting
my hypothesis. In-fact, all three female officers told me that they felt accepted when they joined
the Appleton police department. These three women said that they did not feel discriminated
against by their peers because of their sex. Olivia, Melissa, and Cathy described having to prove
themselves just as much as any male would when first entering the department.
When I asked Ryan and John what it was like when a new female officer joined the
department, both their answers initially described a component of the womans sexuality. Both
males admitted to thinking about the womans attractiveness, and ability to have sex with her or
the interest to get to know her (but not actively pursue any type of sexual relationship). After first
thinking about her as a woman, the men would then consider if she was fit to perform the job.
Ryan described respecting women in the force as solely fellow employees, but knows that not
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every one of his colleagues shares this same perspective. Survey results suggest that the majority
of the Appleton police department does respect women and view them as equally fit to perform
their job. However, 23% of officers said that women officers are slightly less capable than men
at performing police duties. This data suggests that not all men within the Appleton police
department believe women officers can perform at the same level they do. Ryan and John
described the physical component of the work, and that its simply nature most women are
just smaller and not as strong as men.
If women are at a disadvantage by nature, then they must find ways to compensate. For
example, I observed some ways that Olivia, Melissa, and Cathy all attempt to identify less with
stereotypical feminine traits. All women officers avoid of wearing makeup, nail polish, and
flashy jewelry. During a ride-along Olivia stated that, If I were always prim and proper, nobody
would take me seriously as a cop. In addition to purposefully not doing certain things that might
identify with being a woman, Olivia, Melissa, and Cathy all do certain things that might identify
more with a stereotypical masculine identity. For example, these officers work out on a regular
basis in order to be able to perform their job, physically, like any man would. Additionally, I
observed that when Olivia is with members of the community, she tends to stand with her hands
holding onto her vest and very upright, allowing her to seem taller. This stance seems to
resemble more with a masculine identity than feminine. Melissa also identifies with a masculine
identity by wearing an Appleton police department baseball hat.
Even though these female officers might do some things to portray themselves in a less
feminine way, all do communicate in a way that the male officers do not. Both female and male
officers believe that women can actually have an advantage when it comes to communicating
with the public. They describe women as having the advantage of preventing situations from
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escalating or getting certain people to talk to them because of their soothing, calming voice. By
making themselves more masculine in appearance but also remaining feminine in
communication, women create a blended identity that best enables them to perform their job.
In the literature review, I described four themes that Crank describes as what it means to
be a man: the avoidance of anything vaguely feminine, the attainment of success and social
status, a manly air of toughness, confidence, and self-reliance, and an aura of aggressiveness,
daring, and violence (Crank 1998:181). To apply this definition to women in the police force
would suggest that women are affected by the masculinity of police culture. As police officers,
women did avoid anything vaguely feminine such as make up, nail polish, and jewelry. They
also attained success and social status simply through their profession. Once again, the we-
versus-they sentiment emerges, and the divide that places police officers at a higher status (in
terms of authority) than the community becomes apparent. In interactions with the community,
women officers did appear confident, however, a manly air of toughness was not observed.
The first three themes of what it means to be a man applied to women in the police force. The
fourth theme, an aura of aggressiveness, daring, and violence, does not hold true whatsoever.
Women were instead observed to be calm and relaxed in interactions with the community. By
identifying with some, but not all traits of what it means to be a man, it is apparent that women
shape their identity in ways that fits in with the masculinity of the culture, while still retaining a
feminine identity.
CONCLUSION
The purpose of this research was to show that culture does vary across departments and
that it is heavily shaped by the surrounding community and individual officers. My data has both
supported and refuted my hypotheses. This research does show that the media contributes to
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inaccurate representations of police work and that the police work that exists strongly relies on
the dynamics of the community. In addition, the surrounding community shapes how officers see
their role as police officers. My data does not however, support my initial hypothesis that women
struggle to fit in with their male counterparts. Data shows that women are accepted and must
prove themselves just like any male would. Women in the Appleton police department adapt to
the masculinity of the force by creating a mesh identity that incorporates making themselves
appear less feminine, physically, while retaining feminine traits that provide an advantage to
their work.
This research contributes to existing literature that focuses on a diverse police culture and
the importance of examining individual factors that influence culture within departments. If
research were to be conducted further, it would be beneficial to examine neighboring police
departments in order to compare if women create a similar blended identity to the officers in
Appleton. This way, a greater pool of data would be available since this research was based off
interactions with only three women officers. The neighboring communities appear very similar,
according to demographics and socioeconomic status, so the influence of the surrounding
community would probably resemble that of Appleton. With further research, additional
evidence supporting a diverse police culture can be provided.
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