Police Officers’ Promotion Prospects and Intention to Leave the Police

Police officers’ future promotion prospects in a climate of ongoing austerity measures have been described as ‘extremely limited’ (Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary. (2014). Policing in Austerity: Meeting the Challenges [online], p. 35). The purpose of this paper was to investigate the relationship between officers’ perceived promotion prospects and intention to leave. Using a sample of 18,680 police officers in England and Wales, two mediating mechanisms between promotion and intention to leave were tested; these mechanisms were informed by social exchange (i.e. perceived organizational support (POS)) and affective psychological well-being at work (i.e. personal morale) perspectives. Findings indicated that officers who experienced limited promotion prospects were more likely to intend to leave the police service. POS and personal morale partially mediated this relationship, with morale found to be a stronger mediator of the relationship than POS. This research sheds further light on the consequences that limited promotion prospects may have for officers and the police service as a whole.