Crime Control or Public Service? An Officer’s Perception of his/her Occupational Role and its Effect on the Likelihood of on the Job Assault

The current research extends the study of assaults on police officers to the individual-level, examining whether the influences of either aggressive law enforcement or community policing ideologies contribute to police victimization. We employ a cross-sectional survey questionnaire, using a sample of 133 municipal law enforcement officers from eight departments throughout four New Jersey counties. Findings from an ordinary least squares (OLS) regression reveal that officers' subjective outlooks are, indeed, correlated with physical assaults. Policy/practical implications and directions for future research are also discussed.