Making Rank

Abstract

Drawing upon field research carried out in the police force of an American city, this study examines the deep, recurrent organizational tension between the street culture of policing, epitomized by the so-called “patrolman's mentality,” and the administrative culture of the police hierarchy, as this tension is reflected in the processes of becoming a sergeant. Sergeants are selected from among the patrol ranks by procedures that favor administratively inclined candidates. Once promoted and assigned, new sergeants are left more or less on their own in learning and adapting to the demands of their positions, as socialization at the sergeant level tends to be informal and individualistic in character. “Street sergeants” and “station house sergeants” quickly develop different supervisory styles and strategies, each with distinctive attractions and drawbacks for those supervised, yet each reflecting the “street” or “desk” pattern of the incumbent's established organizational career.