Predicting procedural injustice and turnover intention among Chinese sworn and civilian police officers

Purpose The main purpose of this study is to investigate whether perceived psychological preparedness, organizational support and environmental challenges are linked to attitudes toward procedural injustice and turnover intention among Chinese sworn and civilian police officers. Design/methodology/approach This study employed survey data collected from 1,358 police officers in a northern Chinese city. Regression analysis was conducted to assess the connections between police officers’ perceptions of psychological preparedness, organizational support and environmental challenges and their attitudes toward procedural injustice and turnover intention. Findings Our findings reveal that, net of all controls, civilian police officers exhibit similar perceptions of procedural injustice to sworn officers, yet significantly greater intentions to quit their job than sworn officers. The study also uncovers that perceptions of self-legitimacy, supervisor justice, self-media distortion and public support are associated with procedural injustice, while perceptions of self-legitimacy, occupational stress, supervisor justice, organizational support, self-media distortion and public support are linked to turnover intention for both or one of the groups. Research limitations/implications Data collection for this study took place during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Unfortunately, this study was unable to account for the potential influence of the pandemic on officers’ occupational attitudes, particularly regarding job satisfaction and stress, although we have no strong reasons to believe that the relationships between the predictors and officers’ views of procedural injustice and turnover intentions could change fundamentally during the pandemic. Originality/value Despite the substantial size and critical role of civilian or auxiliary police officers in Chinese law enforcement, existing literature predominantly emphasizes sworn officers, leaving a notable void in understanding the differences in occupational attitudes between these two groups. This study bridges this gap by empirically investigating perceptions of procedural injustice and turnover intention among Chinese sworn and civilian police officers.