Introduction

On December 25, 2009, terrorism came to Michigan. The terrorist on a plane from Amsterdam to Detroit tried to detonate a bomb while preparing for descent into the airport, almost killing more than 100 people. Eight years after the destruction of the World Trade Center in New York, this incident illustrates the need for law enforcement agencies at all levels to be on alert for these types of situations. The existence of terrorism on American soil presents a new reality of terrorism and how it affects the organizational structure of Michigan law enforcement agencies that are responsible to protect and serve communities and structures within their borders.

Organizational development, the theoretical framework for the research, provides a set of techniques that have been designed to implement change in organizational work settings, improve personal development, and enhance organizational functioning (Baron & Greenberg, 1990; Beaver & Hutchings, 2005; Muchinsky, 1990; Yukl, 2002). As limited research within the Industrial/Organizational field addresses the area of disaster training and preparedness, this investigation explores organizational development theory and practices by examining perceptions of organizational change within Michigan law enforcement agencies. The Police Unit Assessment of Terrorism (PAT) and the Domestic Unit Assessment of Terrorism (DAT) Scales (Farmer, 2003) were used to investigate perceptions of Michigan law enforcement officers regarding personnel and policy changes that have occurred in their departments since September 11, 2001.

Literature Review

Research reveals that terrorism presents a continuous threat to Americans and the world (Davis, Mariano, Pace, Cotton & Steinberg, 2006; Marks & Sun, 2007; Patton & Violanti, 2006). As terrorist groups and their arsenals continue to evolve, it becomes important for academic scholars to understand the impact of terrorism, particularly on law enforcement organizations. Research (Marks & Sun, 2007; McGarrell, Freilich & Chermak, 2007) suggested that law enforcement officers may play key roles in terrorist-related events regarding personnel and policy changes. The ability to manage terrorism warnings and possible attacks may determine the need for tactical organizational changes and increased personnel within law enforcement agencies.

Understanding organizational changes within law enforcement agencies since September 11th is important to industrial/organizational (I/O) psychology as it provides scholars with opportunities to study fundamental aspects of individual resilience and organizational change. Studies on police reform since September 11th are mostly conjectural, illustrating progress without drawing references to existing theories of planned change (Levant, 2002; Marks & Sun, 2007). Consequently, results of previous research offer little direction in terms of evaluating useful applications of existing theories of organizational development (Gheytanchi, Joseph, Gierlach, Kimpara, Housley, Franco et al., 2007). Since attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11th, interest in emergency preparedness has increased (Daniels & Salisbury, 2000; Henry & King, 2004; Perry & Mankin, 2005). During a time of relative peace, no one could have predicted that there would be an attack on U.S. soil that surpassed Pearl Harbor casualties (Garrison, 2003). Although the United States had some experience with disasters (i.e., the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995), Americans were still unprepared for the enormity of devastation of September 11th. With the experience of disasters in current U.S. history, search and rescue efforts by various law enforcement officers provided a unique opportunity to study the adversities these officers endured and investigate the inevitable organizational changes that followed (Dowling, Moynihan, Genet & Lewis 2006; Garrison, 2003; Levant, 2002; Perrin, DiGrande, Wheeler, Thorpe, Farfel & Brackbill, 2007).

The World Trade Center and related events also revealed the lack of expertise and preparedness of law enforcement agencies to handle such events. Yet, 8 years later, no definitive answers have been provided regarding the level of preparedness of local law enforcement officers in the event of another catastrophic event (Davis, Mariano, Pace, Cotton & Steinberg, 2006; Davis, Riley, Ridgeway, Pace, Cotton, Steinberg et al., 2004). In a profession that already carries the stress of performing one’s daily job functions, research is necessary to determine how law enforcement agencies are changing their organizational process and procedures to be adequately prepared for disaster without adding to officers’ current stressful routines.

When examining the aftermath of September 11th, the recurring theme that emerged was organizational change was needed within law enforcement agencies to prepare for possible future terrorist events. Organizational change resulted from the chaos and events of September 11th resulted in a number of variables changing all at once (Burke & Litwin, 1992). Organizational function and organizational change are variables where change is represented as both process and content, with stress placed upon transformational factors in contrast to transactional factors.

According to Burke and Litwin (1992), transformational change transpires as a reaction to the external environment, directly affecting an organization’s management style, culture, and strategic plans. Whereas, transactional factors are influenced by organizational systems, structure, climate, and managerial practices. Together transactional and transformational dynamics influence an organization’s motivation to make changes and improve performance (Burke & Litwin). The extent of environmental changes after September 11th and predicted resistance from law enforcement officers created a convergence of processes that were difficult to foresee and hard to control (Burke & Litwin). Understanding and assessing the impact that terrorist acts have on the internal organizational systems of Michigan law enforcement agencies is the purpose of this study. By understanding transformational and transactional factors that affected Michigan law enforcement agencies may help improve organizational efficiencies and help them become better able to respond to terrorist events.

When examining the aftermath of September 11th, law enforcement officers were ill-equipped to manage these types of catastrophic events (Davis et al., 2006; Davis et al., 2004). Additionally, increased stress from their experiences may have resulted from poor organizational development to respond to disastrous events (Dowling et al., 2006; Marks & Sun, 2007). Understanding perceptions of organizational changes within law enforcement agencies can provide benchmarks of where to begin assessment and determine the need for preparedness training from an organization development perspective. Assessment initiatives that relate to terrorism typically focus on response, which is indicative of being reactive. However, when dealing with terrorism preparedness, a proactive stance is essential (Ronczkowski, 2007).

Theoretical Framework

Organizational development provides the theoretical framework for this study. Terrorism respects no boundaries, leaving the effects of chaos on emergency response agencies, businesses, and the citizenry in its wake (Piotrowski, 2006). Key components of terrorism preparedness and its link to the industrial/organization (I/O) psychology field include: (a) the profession’s ability to assess law enforcement agencies’ level of preparedness; (b) identification and engagement of key personnel as internal trainers, and (c) support and creation of an effective action plan for organization change (Knotek, 2006; Levant, 2002). Additionally, an essential contribution of the I/O field to terrorism readiness is the ability to provide assessment and training resources from a psychological perspective, thereby developing resilient and prepared law enforcement officers in anticipation of future attacks.

Assessment in the I/O psychology field involves formal procedures that an organization uses to facilitate learning, with resultant behaviors contributing to attainment of organizational goals (Beaver & Hutchings, 2005; Muchinsky, 1990). This definition of I/O psychology has four specific components: (a) formal procedures relate to the idea that training is a systematic and intentional process, not random or haphazard; (b) the reference to facilitation of learning is the key psychological principle that accounts for the persistence of activity, that is, it is a learned skill; (c) resultant behavior means training is designed to alter behavior. Individuals should do things differently after exposure to training; (d) reference to attainment of an organization’s goals and objectives refers to why training is conducted in the first place; its purpose is to alter people’s behavior in a way that can contribute to organizational and individual effectiveness (Beaver & Hutchings, 2005).

Organizational development (OD) is a set of techniques designed to plan and implement change in organizational work settings for the purpose of improving personal development of individuals and enhancing the efficiency of organizational functioning (Baron & Greenberg, 1990; Beaver & Hutchings, 2005; Muchinsky, 1990; Yukl, 2002). Organizational development psychologists look to improve the work environment, as well as attitudes and well-being of employees (Baron & Greenberg, 1990; Muchinsky, 1990). Over decades, a variety of strategies, known as organizational development interventions, have been created for executing planned organizational change (Baron & Greenberg, 1990). Interventions used by OD professionals could be attempts to change and improve organizational functioning. Terrorism preparedness could be considered an example of an OD intervention. In general, most OD methods are focused on producing some form of change in employees, work groups, and/or the entire organization.

Organizational development and organizational change are similar subject matters (Baron & Greenberg, 1990; Landy & Conte, 2004). Organizational change is a method, an objective, or both, while organizational development is the toolbox that provides a range of methods for affecting that change (Landy & Conte). Organizational development is action focused, rather than theory focused, with OD professionals working to develop effective strategies to help organizations develop and change (Landy & Conte). Disruption, upheaval, disorientation, and displacement of organizational and personnel systems resulting from terrorism fits into the conceptual framework of organizational psychology. The effort to make the work environment function normally following a terrorist event may be predicated on the concept of organizational development within the I/O field of psychology.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this research was to investigate perceptions of Michigan law enforcement officers regarding personnel and policy changes that have occurred in their departments since September 11, 2001. Four research questions were developed regarding the perceptions of Michigan law enforcement officers’ perceptions of personnel and policy changes that have occurred in their departments post September 11, 2001. The research questions developed for this research were:

  1. 1.

    What is the relationship between the perceived ability of the law enforcement agency to respond to a terrorist incident and demographic characteristics of the law enforcement agency (i.e., number of sworn officers, number of support staff, type of law enforcement agency and size of the population served by the law enforcement agency)?

  2. 2.

    Is there a relationship between Michigan law enforcement officers’ perceptions of organizational changes in their departments since September 11, 2001 to be prepared for possible terrorist incidents and demographic characteristics of the law enforcement agency (i.e., number of sworn officers, number of support staff, type of law enforcement agency and size of the population served by the law enforcement agency)?

Methods

A nonexperimental, descriptive research design was used in this research, with the PAT and DAT used as the primary data collection tools. In addition, a short demographic survey also was used to obtain information regarding the setting in which the officers were working.

Instruments

Three instruments, the Police Unit Assessment of Terrorism Scale (PAT), The Domestic Unit of Assessment of Terrorism Scale (DAT), and an original demographic survey were used in this study. The PAT and DAT were developed by Farmer (2003) for his dissertation. The PAT has 13 items to assess police readiness for terrorism. The participants rated each item using a 4-point Likert scale ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree. The DAT included 6 items that assessed law enforcement agencies’ preparedness to handle specific types of terrorist activities. Each of these items is rated using a 4-point scale ranging from full prepared to not at all prepared. A principal components factor analysis was used for each scale. Two subscales emerged on the PAT, preparedness for terrorist attacks and collaboration among agencies. The six items on the DAT loaded on a single factor. The reliability of the instrument was assessed by Farmer using Cronbach alpha coefficients. The results of these analyses were greater than .70, indicating the instruments had adequate internal consistency as a measure of reliability.

Participants

As of June 16, 2008, 21,389 sworn law enforcement officers were working in the state of Michigan (DeVries, 2009). This number did not include bailiffs, prison guards or private security guards. Ten survey packets were sent to 200 law enforcement administrators randomly selected from the Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards (MCOLES) directory. The administrators were asked to distribute the 10 survey packets to officers in their jurisdiction. A total of 247 selected officers completed and returned surveys for a 12.4% response rate. While the response rate appears low, a 6 to 10% response rate was expected as administrators were responsible for distributing to the law enforcement officers.

In addition, the sample included law enforcement officers from different sized communities, with populations ranging from under 600 to 200,000. The number of sworn officers in these agencies also varied from 1 to 149. While most participants indicated their department staff had decreased since September 11, 2001, their workload had not substantially increased. Table 1 presents results of the demographic characteristics of the law enforcement agencies that were included in the study.

Table 1 Frequency distributions: demographics of the law enforcement agencies (N = 247)
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Findings

Three independent variables, number of sworn officers in the law enforcement agencies, number of support staff, and population of city/town/village were correlated with the two subscales, preparedness for terrorist events and collaboration among agencies using Pearson product moment correlations. The resultant correlations were not statistically significant, indicating that the number of officers and support staff of the law enforcement agencies, as well as the size of the population were not related to the dependent variables. (See Table 2.)

Table 2 Pearson product moment correlations: Police Unit Assessment of Terrorism (PAT) scale by number of sworn officers, number of support staff, and population of city/town/village (N = 247)
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Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance procedures were used to determine if the dependent variables, preparedness for terrorist events and collaboration among agencies differed by the location of the law enforcement agency and type of law enforcement agency. One statistically significant difference was noted for location of the law enforcement agency, with law enforcement officers from departments located in rural areas having the lowest perceptions of the preparedness of their departments for terrorist events. A statistically significant difference was found among the three types of law enforcement agencies for the departments’ preparedness for terrorist events. Sheriff’s departments had the lowest scores on this scale, while police departments had the highest scores. (See Table 3.)

Table 3 Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance—police unit assessment of terrorism by location of agency and type of agency (N = 247)
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Mean scores for the dependent variable, domestic unit assessment of terrorism (DAT) were correlated with three independent variables, number of sworn officers, number of support staff, and population of the city/town/village using Pearson product moment correlations. One statistically significant correlation was found between the scores on the DAT and number of sworn officers (r = −.16, p = .011. The negative relationship indicated that law enforcement departments with fewer numbers of sworn officers were more likely to have positive perceptions of items on the DAT. (See Table 4.)

Table 4 Pearson product moment correlations: Domestic Unit Assessment of Terrorism (DAT) scale by number of sworn officers, number of support staff, and population of city/town/village (N = 247)
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Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance procedures were used to determine if mean scores on the DAT differed by the location of the law enforcement agency or the type of law enforcement agency. A statistically significant difference was found for location of the law enforcement agency χ 2 (2) = 9.19, p = .010, with officers from urban areas (M = 3.20, SD = .62, Mean Rank = 99.73) having the lowest mean scores and officers from rural areas (M = 3.49, SD = .46, Mean Rank = 133.18) having the highest mean scores. The comparison of mean scores for the DAT by the type of department provided evidence of a statistically significant difference for biological release (anthrax, smallpox, etc.), χ 2 (2) = 6.09, p = .048; with public safety departments (M = 3.57, SD = .56, Mean Rank = 142.66) having the highest mean scores and police departments (M = 3.19, SD = .83, Mean Rank = 113.78) having the lowest mean scores. (See Table 5.)

Table 5 Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance—domestic unit assessment of terrorism by location of agency and type of agency (N = 247)
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Discussion of the Conclusions

This research was conducted to examine perceptions of Michigan law enforcement officers regarding personnel and policy changes that have occurred in their departments since September 11, 2001. In reviewing the literature, research suggested a need for local law enforcement agencies to be prepared and trained in the absence of the military to respond quickly to a terrorist attack (Waugh & Streib, 2006).

Data from this research suggested that both scales were reliable and useful instruments for measuring Michigan law enforcement officers’ perceptions of its jurisdiction to future terrorist events. This research was built on Farmer’s (2003) original research that investigated organizational development theory and practices of law enforcement agencies in the state of California. The objective of the present research was to add to the body of knowledge in the field of industrial/organizational psychology regarding research and involvement in disaster training and preparedness.

Law enforcement agencies with greater numbers of sworn officers were more likely to be better prepared for terrorist events, especially in regard to accessibility to equipment and training for terrorist events. The positive correlation between the item that indicated that the department was better prepared for terrorist events now than in 2001 and the number of sworn officers provided additional support that agencies with more officers were more likely to be better prepared for terrorist events.

A study by Bovey and Hede (2001) examined key personnel involvement in the process of organizational change. They found that management did not experience opposition from staff nor was the process thwarted, but instead was influenced in a positive direction. Their research revealed that an organization that devoted extensive capital for organizational change with little investment in personnel training and communication often experienced resistance by staff. For instance, law enforcement officers involved in the development of a database for critical community infrastructures may be supportive of organizational change as a result of their perceptions of being involved in change management. In conducting their research, Bovey and Hede found that a universal problem for organizations was their failure to gain feedback from staff that could provide significant contributions to creating organizational change strategies.

When the location of the organization was considered, departments in urban and suburban areas appeared to be more ready to manage terrorist events than those located in rural areas. As most of the terrorist events in the United States have occurred in urban areas (e.g., New York, Oklahoma City, etc.), this finding was not unexpected. The focus of protection should be on the people, with larger concentrations of people living in urban and suburban areas. While much of the food production is in rural locations, the target of previous terrorism has been in high population areas. Therefore, law enforcement agencies have concentrated training, equipment, and manpower on protecting the urban areas from possible terrorist events.

Total scores on the DAT, measuring preparedness for specific types of terrorist events, produced a statistically significant relationship, in negative direction, with the number of sworn officers. As higher scores indicated less preparedness, law enforcement agencies with a greater number of sworn officers were more likely to indicate their departments were better prepared for the six specific events. A statistically significant result was also obtained when compared by the location of the departments, with officers from urban departments indicating greater preparedness for nuclear or radiological events, biological and chemical releases than officers from suburban and rural departments. These findings echo those from the first research question.

While the concentration of funding for preparedness is more likely to be obtained by large departments, some of the smaller departments, located in rural and suburban areas, also should be trained to manage these types of events. Previous research has not compared location or types of law enforcement agencies directly. The federal and state agencies that fund training for terrorist and catastrophic events should consider inclusion of these departments to protect vital bridges, roadways, and food production needed to maintain the economy.

While the current research can extend and build upon existing studies, it also supplements the absences of disaster training and preparedness within the I/O field. Despite contributions to the field, the discipline of I/O psychology has continued to narrowly scrutinize its involvement in natural and man-made disasters (Gheytanchi et al., 2007).

Research Limitations

As in all research, it is acknowledged that limitations of the research may restrict the generalizability of the findings beyond the participants included in the sample. The research was limited to sworn law enforcement officers in police departments, sheriff departments, and public safety departments located in the state of Michigan. Generalizing the findings to law enforcement officers in other types of departments (e.g., parole officers, prison guards, private security, etc.) would not be appropriate. In addition, the findings may not be relevant in other states, although law enforcement officers may find the results interesting.

The use of a nonprobability sampling process also may have been a limitation. The invitation to participate was sent to various chief law enforcement officers. They were asked to distribute the surveys to 10 officers in their departments. The chief law enforcement officers may not have appropriately communicated and encouraged participation of their staff members. Some chiefs may not have distributed the survey packets because they were concerned about the time needed to complete and return the surveys.

Contributions to the Field

Traditional organizational development theory follows the basic premise that individuals are required to change their attitudes if the structure or technology of an organization is able to change (Worren, Ruddle & Moore, 1999). Current OD theory, however asserts that structure and individuals are both necessary to influence attitude and behavioral changes (Landy & Conte, 2004). The current research contributes to the present theory base because it examined perceptions of law enforcement officers in Michigan regarding personnel and policy changes since September 11, 2001. Results of this research help support the idea that individuals’ positive or negative perceptions of organizational change may improve or confound an organization’s progress toward necessary change.

The action-orientated, rather than research-orientated, approach that organizational development takes is an indication of the paucity of research on disaster training and preparedness (Gheytanchi et al., 2007; Landy & Conte, 2004). In response to the lack of published research, the current study of perceptions of personnel and policy changes within the law enforcement profession adds to I/O psychology’s sparse research on disaster training and preparedness.

An assumption has been made that the field of I/O psychology, similar to most fields of study in social science, strives to reinvent itself in efforts to remain relevant (Landy & Conte; Worren, Ruddle & Moore). With this ideal in mind, the current research helps support I/O relevance in disaster training and preparedness in a time when terrorism has left a negative imprint that indelibly remains on all Americans’ minds. Perhaps the current research can encourage other researchers to fill in the gaps of how perceptions motivate certain individuals to be innovative in the creation of new disaster training designs.

The current research can help prompt the consideration of the role of police officers’ perceptions in organizational change management. For example, a law enforcement officer’s positive perception of management may be less resistant to organizational changes regarding any form of training and specifically training for terrorist preparedness. This presumption is supported by research conducted by Walinga (2008) who conducted a study to examine what inspires people to be ready for, and to, change. Results of the current study outlined a method for encouraging readiness for change and offered information regarding the process with which a state of change readiness could be accomplished within an organizational setting.

This research brings an awareness of the importance of perceptions within law enforcement organizations and how perceptions may hinder or advance organizational development to the social and psychological field. For example, using the concept of organizational justice, Bernerth, Armenakis, Feild and Walker (2007) conducted a study that built on the idea that organizational change provided a viewpoint for management to focus on employee fairness perceptions. Other researchers could expand on the current research by investigating law enforcement officers’ perceptions of fairness within their departments and how it impacts their perceptions of personnel and policy changes that have occurred in their agencies post 9/11.

The purpose of this research was to fill a gap in the organizational development literature by investigating perceptions of Michigan law enforcement officers regarding personnel and policy changes. Further, the goal of the researcher was to inspire scholars within industrial/organizational field to begin studying the need for, and results of, disaster training and terrorism preparedness, with the current research being the catalyst from which to begin.