Police Labor Markets

The aim of this study is to examine the Swedish Police from a labor economics perspective, in order to understand how personnel policies can be used to influence the composition of the police in terms of demographics (gender, ethnic background, socioeconomic background) and individual characteristics (cognitive and non-cognitive skills). Previous research has demonstrated the importance of having police officers with diverse backgrounds and key abilities, and the Police themselves state that they aim for more diversity among their employees. We study the conditions under which the Police successfully recruit and retain personnel with desirable characteristics.

The 2015 police reform is used to identify the effects of inflows into and outflows from the police force. Where do those who leave go, and how important are local labor markets for selection at entry and exit among police officers? Crime prevention ranks high on the political agenda, but the rapid demographic transformation of Swedish society places greater demands on popular representation among police officers.

The project has two parts, which address the following three questions:

1. Who chooses to become a police officer?
2. How is the composition of the police force affected by outside opportunities in the local labor market?
3. How do changes in police governance and performance affect the composition of police officers?