Police Careers in Series and Reality: The Influence of Police Series on Career Expectations of Law Enforcement Students

The presented paper investigates whether entertainment series exposure is related to the career expectations of law enforcement students. To identify possible series-career re­lationships, 238 students studying Law Enforcement at the Fachhochschule für Öffentliche Verwaltung NRW in Münster, Germany, are surveyed with a quantitative questionnaire. The presented data is an extract of the main author’s dis­sertation project. Data analysis is conducted with the help of linear and logistic regression models. Findings suggest that watching police series is significantly linked to the choice of studying Law Enforcement. However, having a media role model as study choice influence goes along with a lower expected income and a higher expected workload. The article concludes by giving implications for future research and discussing the potential of police series for recruitment.