To Help “La Gente”: Examining Helping People as a Motivation for Becoming an Officer in the Los Angeles Police Department Among Male Mexican American Officers
Restricted accessResearch articleFirst published online December, 2020
To Help “La Gente”: Examining Helping People as a Motivation for Becoming an Officer in the Los Angeles Police Department Among Male Mexican American Officers
The most commonly declared motivation for pursuing a career in law enforcement is helping people. As part of a study focusing on male Mexican American police officers in the Los Angeles Police Department, data were collected on initial motivations of police officers. The data reveal that a significant motivation for respondents was not only helping people but specifically helping minority communities receive improved services. This motivation stems from their interactions and perception of police while growing up in minority communities. Based on the findings, this article concludes with a call for a more grounded approach to research on Latinos in law enforcement.
AlexN. (1969). Black in blue: A study of the Negro policeman. Appleton-Century Crofts.
2.
AlexN. (1976). New York cops talk back: A study of a beleaguered minority. Wiley.
3.
BarbozaG. (2012). Group consciousness, identity and perceptions of unfair police treatment among Mexican Americans. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 35(3), 505–527.
4.
BarlowD. E.BarlowM. H. (2000). Police in a multicultural society: An American story. Waveland Press.
5.
CarterD. L. (1986). Hispanic police officers’ perception of discrimination. Police Studies: The International Review of Police Development, 9, 204.
ClemetsonL. (2003). Hispanics now largest minority, census shows. New York Times, p. 21.
8.
CorbinJ. M.StraussA. (1990). Grounded theory research: Procedures, canons, and evaluative criteria. Qualitative Sociology, 13(1), 3–21.
9.
De la GarzaR. O.DeSipioL.GarciaF. C.GarciaJ.FalconA. (1992). Latino voices: Mexican. Puerto Rican, and Cuban perspectives on American politics. Routledge
10.
DelgadoR.StefancicJ. (2017). Critical race theory: An introduction (Vol. 20). NYU Press.
11.
DuránR. J. (2018). The gang paradox: Inequalities and miracles on the US-Mexico border. Columbia University Press.
12.
FoleyP. F.GuarneriC.KellyM. E. (2008). Reasons for choosing a police career: Changes over two decades. International Journal of Police Science & Management, 10(1), 2–8.
13.
FuschP. I.FuschG. E.NessL. R. (2017). How to conduct a mini-ethnographic case study: A guide for novice researchers. The Qualitative Report, 22(3), 923.
14.
GuajardoA. G.Jr (2015). Incorporation of Latino police officers into the Milwaukee Police Department: How a group of Latino police officers shed the “blue shield” for a Latino identity[Doctoral dissertation]. Retrieved fromhttps://dc.uwm.edu/etd/1050.
15.
HaarrR. H. (1997). Patterns of integration in a police patrol bureau: Race and gender barriers to integration. Justice Quarterly, 14, 53–85.
16.
IrlbeckD. (2008). Latino police officers: Patterns of ethnic self-identity and Latino community attachment. Police Quarterly, 11(4), 468–495.
17.
LangtonL. (2015). Women in law enforcement, 1997–2008. In DunhamR. G.AlpertG. P. (Eds.), Critical issues in policing: Contemporary readings (pp. 355–361). Waveland Press.
18.
LesterD. (1983). Why do people become police officers: A study of reasons and their predictions of success. Journal of Police Science and Administration, 11(2), 170–174.
19.
Los Angeles Police Department, Sworn & Civilian Personnel by Class, Sex, and Descent (SPRGE) Report, April 2019.
20.
MartinezR. (2007). Incorporating Latinos and immigrants into policing research. Criminology & Public Policy, 6(1), 57–64.
21.
MorashM.HaarrR. N. (1995). Gender, workplace problems, and stress in policing. Justice Quarterly, 12(1), 113–140.
22.
PereaJ. F. (1998). The Black/White binary paradigm of race: The normal science of American racial thought. La Raza Law Journal, 10, 127.
23.
PortillosE. (2015). Chicano police officers working in the Latino community: Diversity, police culture, and unique perspectives and challenges. In UrbinaM. G.AlvarezS. E. (Eds.), Latino police officers in the United States: An examination of emerging trends and issues (pp. 90–121). Charles C Thomas Publisher.
24.
RaganellaA. J.WhiteM. D. (2004). Race, gender, and motivation for becoming a police officer: Implications for building a representative police department. Journal of Criminal Justice, 32(6), 501–513.
25.
ReavesB.MaskalyJ. (2015). Employment of Latino officers by Federal, State, and Local Law Enforcement Agencies in the United States: Emerging trends and issues. In UrbinaM. G.AlvarezS. E. (Eds.), Latino police officers in the United States: An examination of emerging trends and issues (pp. 57–89). Charles C Thomas Publisher.
26.
ReissA. J. (1967). Career orientations: Job satisfaction, the assessment of law enforcement problems by police officers. University of Michigan.
27.
SchuckA. M.LerschK. M.VerrillS. W. (2004). The “invisible” Hispanic? The representation of Hispanics in criminal justice research: What do we know and where should we go?Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice, 2(3), 5–22.
28.
StraussA.CorbinJ. (1994). Grounded theory methodology. Handbook of Qualitative Research, 17, 273–285.
29.
UrbinaM. G.AlvarezS. E. (2015). Latino police officers in the United States: An examination of emerging trends and issues. Charles C Thomas Publisher.
30.
Van MaanenJ. (1974). Working the street: A developmental view of police behavior. In JacobH. (Ed.), The potential for reform of criminal justice (pp. 83–130). Sage.
31.
WalkerS. (1999). The police in America: An introduction(3rd ed.). McGraw-Hill.
