Development of Police Management

Classical police management: Bureaucracy

(Max Weber)
Characteristics that organizations need in order to
operate on a rational basis

Bureaucratic Organization is designed to:

maximize effectiveness by which an
organizations goals are accomplished
maximize efficiency by getting the most done at
the least cost
control uncertainty by regulating workers,
supplies, markets, etc.
 Police Administration
Modern Police Organization exhibits all of
these bureaucratic traits:
Specialization (organized into bureaus - patrol,
investigation, support, administration, resources)
Centralization/hierarchy (Police Chief)
Rules (Dept. Policies/Regulations designed to guide
police behavior, Rule of Law)
Meritocracy (college education, police academy
competitive application, time-in-rank system of
promotion, police productivity)
Impersonality (impartial interpreters of situations on
the street, application of law)
 The Managerial Process
Management
Directing individuals to achieve organizational goals in an efficient and
effective manner
Supervision
Focuses primarily on leading and controlling
Organizing
The process of arranging personnel and physical resources to carry out
plans and accomplish goals and objectives
Leading
Motivating others to perform various tasks that will contribute to the
accomplishment of goals and objectives
Planning
The process of preparing for the future by setting goals and objectives
and developing courses of action for accomplishing them
Controlling
The process by which managers determine how the quality and the
quantity of departmental systems and services can be improved, if goals
and objectives are being accomplished
Chain of command
The higher the position, the greater the power, authority, and influence
 Police Administration
Traditional Police Administration Model:

Paramilitary in Design and Organization

classic bureaucracy
consistent with reformers and legalistic models
Wilsons (1950) Police Administration is the classic
example
limits discretion
goal is to control crime
 Problems with Bureaucracies:
Rigid, inflexible
Communication chains are faulty
Internally focused
Contributes to authoritarian policing style
Stifles creativity by limiting the talents of its
employees; alienating - may contribute to
cynicism & low worker satisfaction
 Behavioral Management
Classical approach attacked by police management
theorists in the early 1970s

Need for a more flexible and democratic organizational

model
Research indicated that police work was not directly
related to law enforcement, but rather to maintaining order
and providing social services
How much of police work focused on crime? 10-20%
The knowledge gained from the behavioral science
research began to influence the police:
Importance of increased employee involvement in decision-making,
of recognizing a broader police role, and of working in partnerships
with the community
Complexity of police job is eclipsed by bureaucratic models
Contemporary Police Management
Systems theory: Importance of interdependence

All parts of a system are interrelated & dependent on one

another.
Closed system: Does not interact and adapt to its
environment
Open system: Interacts with and adapts to its environment

Contingency theory: Based on open systems theory

Recognizes many internal & external factors that
influence organizational behavior
Contingency management: It all depends on the
particular situation

What are the main environmental factors for PDs?

Constituencies/influences include: Community, Organization, Legal, Political
and Individual
 Institutional Theory & Police Org.
Contemporary theory that argues organizations are not
entirely rational entities (Crank & Langworthy 1992)
Agencies respond to influences who are key players in
the LEGITIMACY of the organization
Key Players known as SOVEREIGNS
Who are relevant sovereigns for police agencies?
Sovereigns are active in Myth/Conventional W isdom
spinning.
Thus PDs wind up changing to ensure legitimacy in
response to new myths (rather than a rational basis for
action)
 The Sociology of Police Change
Institutional Theory predicts organizational change to
occur in 2 situations:
When the changes have symbolic value for the
legitimacy of the PD
When the changes do not upset the day-to-day of
the PD

The result: Change is often symbolic.

with little tangible impact
(other than in the image management/PR aspect
of the PD)
Contemporary Police Management
Private sector influences on ManagementApproaches:
Corporate strategies

Developed through a process that examines how the

organizations capabilities fit the current and future
environmental demands

Ttal quality management (TQM)

o
Quality-control techniques and the process of
continuous improvement

Reinventing government

Improving organizational performance through

reorganization, downsizing, and TQM
 Organizational Design
Concerned with the formal patterns of arrangements
developed by police management to link people together in
order to accomplish organizational goals
Modern Police Organization: T all vs. Flat Designs
aTll: Hierarchical & Narrower control
Flat: Few hierarchical levels & Wider control
-Decentralized:Authority and decision-making
are delegated to lower organizational levels
- Emphasizes discretion, Requires better trained
officers, Generalists (democratic?)
 Modern Police Organization:
Organizational Design & Community Policing
Criticism of the Classical Paramilitary Design:
As departments moved toward community policing, the
paramilitary design is being questioned

1. Strict rules cannot be applied to policing because of the

nature of the work
2. Orders are rarely required
3. Agreat amount of initiative and discretion are required
4. Managerial philosophy is characterized by an attitude of
distrust, control, and punishment
 Modern Police Organization
Continued influence of Paramilitary Design
The simultaneous rise of:
a) Flat Structures
b) PPUs (Kraska and Cubellis 1997)
Generic term for tradition SWAT
Becoming a normal part of routine patrol work
Not just reserved for crisis/emergency response)
Not attributable to fluctuations in serious crime rate
Compstat & Zero tolerance policing
Acronym for COMPare ST A
Tistics
echnology as a mechanism for assessing
T
performance & achieving accoutability
Utilizes current crime data to analyze crime
patterns and to respond quickly with appropriate
resources and crime strategies
Allows top-level managers to share information
about crime and holds them accountable for the
crime rate in their jurisdictions
Measuring police performance
Evaluating the Effectiveness of Police Organizations:
Do they accomplish their goals?
V
a riety of Goals
Crime and disorder measures
Uniform Crime Report
National Incident-Based Reporting System
National Crime Victimization Survey
Arrest rates
Crime clearance rates
Community measures
Individual and team measures
 Change in Police Organizations
Police Departments as Learning Organizations
An organization that is able to process what it has learned and
adapt accordingly.
Elements of a Learning Organization:
Research and Development unit. Actually does R&D, not simple
statistical profiles of department activities.
Expand police-researcher partnerships. Some departments
actually hire criminologists to work with their R&D sections.
Organize police work around POP and take seriously the SARA
model of problem solving.
Use senior police executives to reduce turf battles between
department sections.
Match police performance levels to present-day industry
standards. (Every community should require a stockholders
report on its local department.)
 Managing Group Behavior
Police Subculture: What is Subculture?
Informal organizational influences including values, beliefs and
norms for behavior
Perhaps more influential than formal organizational factors
How is it created and supported?
Socialization: Recruits learn the values and behavioral
patterns of experienced officers
In response to insularity
Public world of policing: Presented to the public as the essence of
police work
Private world of policing: Characterized as politically conservative,
closed, or secretive, with a high degree of cynicism and an
emphasis on loyalty, solidarity,and respect for authority
Employee Organizations & Unions