Abstract
This qualitative study investigated turnover intention and its influence on the public service motivation of U.S. police officers. The study was completed using a phenomenological design to elicit the lived experience of 21 retired and active police officers using face-to-face and telephonic interviews. The theoretical frameworks of turnover intention and public service motivation supported the research. Deductive thematic analysis was utilized to examine the results using NVivo 12. Furthermore, the findings supported the theoretical frameworks of turnover intention and public service motivation. The results revealed that each participant had different turnover intentions influencing distinct public service motivation characteristics. The turnover intentions that were most common amongst the participants were a lack of perceived organizational support (90%, 19 of 21) and increased stress (90%, 19 of 21). The characteristics of public service motivation that were most influenced were self-sacrifice (33%, 7 of 21), attraction to policy making (90%, 19 of 21), and compassion (33%, 7 of 21). Increased turnover intention did not always change the characteristics of public service motivation. Further research is needed to evaluate police participants, such as examining non-retired individuals who self-terminated and did not return to the profession, different genders to identify variations, longitudinal studies to explore police officers' public service motivation, and mixed research designs to provide a quantitative descriptive dimension with qualitative evidence that offers a holistic perspective.
