Chief Police Officers’ Backgrounds and Motivations

Interviewees’ backgrounds, opinions and motivations are assessed to provide context about the type of person who becomes a chief police officer; this supports subsequent interpretation of their accounts of the right to exercise power and contributes to knowledge about police cultures. It is identified that chief officers are predominantly well educated, middle class and have liberal attitudes, and a third are women. They were attracted to policing by public service and excitement, the latter was associated with the power inherent to policing. A pronounced attraction to power may have delegitimating consequences, including using power for selfish purposes, which partly explains interviewees’ support for constitutional controls on police power. Chief officers’ approaches to power are found to be affected by gendered cultural norms, which emphasise competition and action, and it is identified that there is insufficient support and encouragement for chief police officers to reflect on the use of police power.