Factors affecting the decision of police recruits to “drop out” of police work

This study explores why police recruits “drop out ” of police work within the first 16 months of their policing careers, including those reasons that may be salient for women and racial/ethnic minorities and the usefulness of cogni-tive dissonance theory as an explanation for the “voluntary resignation ” of police recruits in the early stages of police training and service. The sample of 113 “dropouts ” was obtained as part of a longitudinal study of a panel sample of 446 police recruits who were followed through basic training, field training, and a 1-year probationary period. Data obtained via telephone interviews with 34 dropouts revealed that recruits dropped out of police work for three reasons: self-initiated resignation and academy-initiated and department-initiated termination. Recruits who self-initiated resignation experienced a conflict between the version of policing embodied in their ideal and the reality of policing in practice. For female officers, gender discrimination was woven into their resignation decision