arbiter
JournalsAccount

Why Do Street-Level Bureaucrats Risk Their Lives in Times of Crisis? The Case of Israeli Police Officers during the October 7 Attack

Ofek Edri‐Peer et al.

American Review of Public Administration2025https://doi.org/10.1177/02750740251361869article
AJG 3ABDC B
Weight
0.37

Abstract

What factors influence street-level bureaucrats’ willingness to risk their lives during acute crises? The research on street-level bureaucrats’ willingness to risk their lives is in its infancy. While previous literature has identified several factors that influence street-level bureaucrats’ routine risk-taking behavior, the motivations that drive them to put themselves in harm's way during crises may differ. To explore this question, we conducted interviews with 29 police officers who were first responders during the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. All interviewees actively risked their lives during this event. Our findings suggest that the motivations for street-level bureaucrats to risk their lives during crises differ from those during routine operations. In times of crisis, street-level bureaucrats are primarily driven by personal and organizational values such as purpose, duty, and camaraderie. Content warning: This article contains graphic descriptions of a warzone.

1 citation

Open via your library →

Cite this paper

https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/02750740251361869

Or copy a formatted citation

@article{ofek2025,
  title        = {{Why Do Street-Level Bureaucrats Risk Their Lives in Times of Crisis? The Case of Israeli Police Officers during the October 7 Attack}},
  author       = {Ofek Edri‐Peer et al.},
  journal      = {American Review of Public Administration},
  year         = {2025},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/02750740251361869},
}

Paste directly into BibTeX, Zotero, or your reference manager.

Flag this paper

Why Do Street-Level Bureaucrats Risk Their Lives in Times of Crisis? The Case of Israeli Police Officers during the October 7 Attack

Flags are reviewed by the Arbiter methodology team within 5 business days.

Evidence weight

0.37

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.16 × 0.4 = 0.06
M · momentum0.53 × 0.15 = 0.08
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.