A Call to Serve: Fundamental Challenges to Integrating Social Service Responsibilities into Policing Work

The professional roles of law enforcement and social services have slowly intertwined in recent decades. While there are possible advantages to greater collaboration between different categories of public servant, the ongoing shift of social work and mental health responses to police often produces questionable results. While training programs are improving law enforcement abilities to utilize soft skills in non-crime emergency situations, there remain challenges. The current study examines the question of personality differences between individuals in both fields of work, as a consideration of differentiated skill sets, using a subset of respondents from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth – 1997. Respondents working in law enforcement and social service roles were selected, and latent personality constructs identified, in adulthood. Measures addressing similarities in career, such as faith, and substantial differences, such as gender, were incorporated into logistic regression models. Results indicate substantial differences in personality between those serving in law enforcement and those in other social service roles. The findings suggest fundamental difficulties in having law enforcement continually assume non-crime emergency responsibilities.