‘It could be the straw that breaks the camel’s back’: the impacts of anti-police sentiment on police officer identity in Australia

Katie Davenport-Klunder; Kelly Hine; Nadine McKillop

doi:10.1080/15614263.2026.2636672

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‘It could be the straw that breaks the camel’s back’: the impacts of anti-police sentiment on police officer identity in Australia

Katie Davenport-Klunder, Kelly Hine and Nadine McKillop

Police Practice and Research, Vol.Advanced access

24-Feb-2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/15614263.2026.2636672

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Abstract

Police administration, procedures and practice

Law enforcement

anti-police sentiment

identity threat

policing

law enforcement

police-citizen relations

Rising anti-police sentiments pose a clear threat to officer safety and efficacy. Impacts likely extend beyond operational concerns, posing potential identity threats as officers reconcile criticisms of their profession with their own identity. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 former Australian police officers to explore the impacts of anti-police sentiment on their personal and professional identities. Using a revised framework of identity work, we explored officers’ perspectives of what anti-police sentiment is; when anti-police sentiment presents an identity threat; and officers’ motivations and techniques for managing these threats. Findings suggest that anti-police sentiments primarily pose an identity threat to police officers through repeated experience and are compounded by organisational responses. Ultimately, findings outline how Australian police officers conceptualise, experience, and manage anti-police sentiment, expanding domestic and international literature and outlining research and practice opportunities for managing anti-police sentiment harms in the Australian policing organisational and operational landscape.

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Title: ‘It could be the straw that breaks the camel’s back’: the impacts of anti-police sentiment on police officer identity in Australia
Authors: Katie Davenport-Klunder (Corresponding Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Law and Society
Kelly Hine - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Law and Society
Nadine McKillop - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Law and Society
Publication details: Police Practice and Research, Vol.Advanced access
Publisher: Routledge
DOI: 10.1080/15614263.2026.2636672
ISSN: 1477-271X
Copyright note: © 2026 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.
Grants: Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) Scholarship, RTP, Department of Education (Australia, Canberra)
Organisation Unit: School of Law and Society
Language: English
Record Identifier: 991209281302621
Output Type: Journal article

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