Trust and street-level bureaucrats’ readiness for emergencies

Is street-level bureaucrats’ (SLBs) trust in their organisation, managers, and peers related to their perceptions of the emergency readiness of their organisation? Using a national survey among a representative sample of 2,733 police officers in Brazil, we found a significant correlation between SLBs’ perceptions regarding their organisations’ readiness for emergencies and their trust in their peers, managers, and the institutions to which they belong. Our findings, therefore, highlight the important role of trust in SLBs’ perceptions of readiness for emergencies. We show that, while there is a linear correlation between the two factors, a non-linear correlation provides a better explanation of the connection, revealing a complex sociological dynamic between trust and perceptions of readiness. We also discuss the implications of our findings and suggest an agenda for future research.