Factors affecting strategy commitment to community-oriented policing (COP) among South Korean police officers

Purpose: Prior studies examining the relationship between organizational commitment and organizational behavior contain several limitations, such as mixed levels of measurement and lack of empirical study in different social contexts. Using Mowday, Porter, and Steers's approach, this study aims to investigate individual demographic, personal, departmental and community characteristics as factors affecting police officers' levels of strategy commitment. Design/methodology/approach: Using attitudinal measures of individual, departmental, and community traits, which were developed by Michigan Regional Community Policing Institute, the current study collected data from 206 randomly selected South Korean police officers who were designated as community-oriented policing (COP) officers or who were under COP training at the time of the survey. Findings: The current study found that officers' creativity and community ownership were significantly related to strategy commitment to COP. In addition, it was found that officers' demographic characteristics were not significantly related to the levels of commitment to COP. Regarding departmental characteristics, supportive climate among officers was significantly and positively related to officers' levels of commitment to COP. Finally, officers in rural agencies were more likely to have higher levels of commitment to COP in South Korea. Research limitations/implications: Although the current study utilized random samples for data collection, the size of the data set was relatively small. Thus, generalization of the findings from this study should be cautiously carried out. Based on the findings, policy implications are suggested. Originality/value: The current study attempts to identify factors affecting commitment to COP at multiple levels (individual, organizational and community levels) using attitudinal measures of various aspects of policing in South Korea. The findings will add to the comparative understanding on officers' commitment to COP.