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 maybe salient for women and racial/ethnic minorities and the usefulness of cognitive 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.