Assessing the effect of gender and diversity on the traditional police culture

Abstract Women remain underrepresented in policing, and their effect on the traditional police culture remains understudied. The current study combines survey data from the Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics (LEMAS) and National Police Platform to examine differences between the cultural attitudes of women and men, and whether larger proportions of women within law enforcement organizations affect the attitudes of men. We find that men and women officers differ onn attitudes related to traditional law enforcement orientations, coercive attitudes, solidarity, and perceived antipathy from the public, but not on cynicism. While we find evidence of nonlinear relationships between police solidarity among men and larger shares of women in their organizations, there is no evidence that their attitudes shift on other measures. We discuss the implications of disparate attitudes in men versus women police officers, as well as the limited effects of representation on the attitudes of men.