Dynamics of Aging in the Illinois Law Enforcement Officer Corps
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N CD ~ M LO Dynamics of Aging in the Illinois Law Enforcement Officer Corps ILLINOIS CRIMINAL JUSTICE INFORMATION AUTHORITY [ ------------------~I 153462 U.S. Department of JU5ltice National Institute of Justice This document has been reproduced exactly as received from the person or organization originating It. Points of view or opinions stated In this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily represeni the official position or policies of the National Institute of Justice. Permission to reproduce this copyrighted material has been granted by I11mois Criminal Justice Infonnation Authority to the National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS). Further reproduction outside of the NCJRS system requires permission of the copyright owner. Dynamics of Aging in the llIinois Law Enforcement Officer Corps By Michele Livojevic, Research analyst Sandra Bass, Research assistant Lloyd Babb, Research technician Jackie Front, Technical assistant Jeffrey Travis, 'I'echnical assistant DJinois Criminal Justice Information Authority Peter B. Bensinger, Chairman J. David Coldren, Executive Director Barbara McDonald, Deputy Executive Director February 1992 Acknowledgments The Authority wishes to thank the Illinois Local Governmental Law Enforcement Officers Training Board, the Illinois State Police, and the departments that served as case studies for this research: the Chicago Police Department, the Joliet Police Department, the Bethalto Police Department, and the Madison Country Sheriffs Department. These agencies provided invaluable information that made this study possible. Dynamics of Aging in the Dlinois Law Enforcement Officer Corps Advisory Board The following agencies and their representatives were instrumental to these research efforts. Advisory board members contributed their time, knowledge, and expertise throughout this study. Dr. Tom Jurkanin Honorable Robert E. Nall Illinois Local Governmental Sheriff, Adams County Law Enforcement Officers Illinois Sheriffs' Association Training Board Commander Joseph Beazley Chief Dennis Nowicki Chicago Police Department Joilet Police Department Police Executive Research Forum James Finley Office of Governmental Affairs Chief Charles Gruber Illinois State Police Elgin Police Department International Association of Chiefs of Police Dynamics olAging in the Illinois Law Enforcement Officer Corps was funded with the assistance of grant number 90-BJ-CX-K007 from the U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommenda tions expressed in this document do not necessarily reflect the position of the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Copyright © 1992, The Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority 120 South Riverside Plaza, Chicago, Illinois, 60606 CONTEN'IS ~ve SlxmmAJOY' ..................... &l •••••••••••••• O ••••• ~ •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 1 Findings ........................................ , ................................................... 4 Purposes and objectives of the research .................................................. 7 Cha.pter 1: fu~on."' ••••.•••••••••••••••••••• CI •••••••••••••••••••••• G •••••••••••••••••••• It ••••••••• 9 Effects of retirement on the remaining work force ................................... 9 Recruiting ......................................................................................... 11 CIJa.-pter 2: l)epartln.ent st.affing trends ••••••.••••••••..•••.•••••••••......•.•.... 0 ••••••••••••••• 15 Demographic composition of the municipal and sheriffs' officer corps in 1990 ............................................................................ 16 Officers leaving the corps .................................................................... 2D The Chicago Police Department ............................................................ 28 The Illinois State Police ....................................................................... 28 Policy considerations .......................................................................... 42 Chapter 3: Recruitment pool changes and recent recruitment trends ..........•.•... 45 The changing Illinois work force ......................................................... 45 Comparison of officers hired to those leaving......................................... 47 Recruitment ...................................................................................... 50 Policy considerations ......................................................................... 64 Chapter 4: Patterns in retention..................................................................... ffi Aging at management level. ........................................... ., ................... 66 The Illinois State Police ........................................................................ 69 Dep.artment size and aging dynamics ................................................... 69 Education and advancement ................................................................ 73 Employee benefits ............................................................................... 81 Promotion patterns for women and minorities: The Chicago Police Department ........................................................... 81 Sheriffs' departments: Career mobility patterns of minorities and women ..................................................................... 90 Policy considerations .......................................................................... 90 Cl:Ja.pter 5: C~ stu.dies. ••••••••••.••••.••••••••••••••••••••••••••• e 8 •• e 8 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• m Joliet Police Department ..................................................................... 93 Bethalto Police Department............................................................... 101 Madison County Sheriffs Department................................................ 105 Cooperation in interagency law enforcement....................................... 100 · , Appendix A: Guide to the quality of available data on tile DHnois omrei' (!()rp8. "••••••••••••••• 0 •••••••••• a •••••••••••••••• III •• ill. • • •• •••• • ••• • • • • • • • • • • •• 110 PrB data quality assessment ............................................................. 110 Illinois State Police data .................................................................... 115 Summary........................................................................................ 122 ApJ)el1dix B: Metb.OOo.bg)r••....•......... Cia ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 0."...... ... .... .... ... 00 Department trend analysis ................................................................ 124 Career mobility pattern analysis ........................................................ 125 Department case studies ................................................................... 128 Administrators' survey ..................................................................... 128 Appendix C: Federal and state legislation f.'f:r.ooting de}l8.rt:m.ent bi.ring and retirement })tllicies ................................................... 130 Retirement ..................................................................................... 130 Hiring............................................................................................. 132 _ •••••••••••••••••••••••• a ••••••••• " •••••••••••••• 9 .................................................. 135 B:ihI:k>grapby ••••••••••••• 0 ••••••••••••••••••••••••• "" •••••••••••••••••••• 0 .......... " •••••••• GO • • • •• • • • • • • • • 138 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The ave.rage age of American workers is increasing. By the year 2000, the median age in Illinois will be 36, six years older than it was in 1980. In less than a decade, the majority of the Illinois work force will be middle-aged for the first time in the state's history. The population is not only aging, but the characteristics of new entrants to the work force are changing.! In the year 2000, white males, who have made up the majority of police recruits in Illinois, will be less than 50 percent of new workers. The majority of the work force in the future will be some combination of ethnic minority, female, anel. recent immigrants.2 Law enforcement agencies, like all other employers, will feel the impact of this demographic change. An aging officer corps has significant consequences that extend throughout the rank structure and affect hum~ resource allocation in very direct and substantive ways. One such consequence is the loss of a large cadre of experienced police officers to retirement. In any context, loss of experienced officers creates a potential vac uum in leadership. However, such losses may have especially drastic conse quences for Illinois' municipal police and sheriffs' departments, because large numbers of officers will reach retirement eligibility simultaneously. Increasing numbers of officers who are retirement-eligible--eoupled with changes in the composition of the recruitment pool within this decade-make it imperative for law enforcement administrators to critically assess their departments' recruit ment and retention strategies (Summary Figures 1, 2, and 3). The coming retirement wave will create a gap in the ranks that, if fIlled by promotions, will require a sharp increase in new recruits and a heavy demand for additional management level in-service training. But the lack of federal funding for in-service education for officers has dramatically reduced the rate at which officers increase their education. The escalating