AAPG Conference
Critical Strategic Success Factors
for Police Organisations:
what do you consider when determining
whether your police service is doing a good job?
Terry G. Coleman, MOM, PhD(C)
30th April 2011
Think about……
 When you say “my local police agency is
doing a good job,” what are you weighing?
 When you say “my police agency is not
doing a good job,” what are you weighing?
Fundamental Principles of
Contemporary Policing
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due process, equity and fairness
ethical conduct
a customer and client focus
consultation and collaboration with the community
quality and valued customer/client service
continuous evaluation, continuous improvement and change
teamwork
responsive to the environment
decentralisation of authority and decision making
total involvement
participative leadership
increased communication
internal and external alignment
outcome focused
Exploratory Research:
Seven Categories of Questions
 Crime Prevention
 Community Safety
 Quality and Valued Service
 Amount of Crime [Crime Rate] & Social Disorder
 Conduct of Police Personnel
 Solving of Crime & Social Disorder
 Leadership & Management
Primary Purpose
 To create an index of Critical Strategic Success
Factors [CSSFs] from which can be established
Key Performance Indicators [KPIs] of Police
Organisational Performance
Participants
560
Leadership/Management
Client/Customer Focus
Leadership/Management
Merit based hiring and promotion
Leadership/Management
Cost per Capita of Policing
Leadership/Management
Personnel Development
Leadership/Management
Workplace “Morale”
Leadership/Management
“Sick” Days
Leadership/Management
Visibility & Accessibility of Police Personnel
Crime Prevention/Reduce Victimisation
Effective External Communications Systems
Crime Prevention/Reduce Victimisation
Proactive & Promote
“Social Disorder”
 social disorder (sometimes referred to as public disorder)
includes such situations as public drunkenness, causing a
disturbance, graffiti, vandalism, noisy parties, rowdiness,
people loitering in public places, noisy vehicles, abandoned
vehicles, urinating in public, fighting, illegal dumping, traffic
issues, abandoned buildings, loitering youth, garbage, public
drug use and broken street lights.
Community Safety
Amount of Social Disorder
Fear of Social Disorder
Quality & Valued Service
Police Sensitive to
Community Needs
Community is Satisfied
with Police Service
Quality & Valued Service
Honesty and Integrity
Fair [Procedural Justice]
Quality & Valued Service
Police Approachable
Police Polite
Quality & Valued Service
Response Time Non-Emergency
Amount of Crime & Social Disorder
Violent Crime Rate
Non-Violent Crime Rate
Amount of Crime & Social Disorder
Social Disorder
Amount of Crime & Social Disorder
Serious/Fatal Traffic Collisions
Conduct of Police Personnel
Confidence in Police
Trust of Police
Conduct of Police Personnel
Substantiated Public
Complaints
Substantiated
inappropriate use-of-force
Solving of Crime & Social Disorder
Non-Violent Crime
Social Disorder
Solving Crime & Social Disorder
Driving Offences:
Criminal Code
Driving Offences:
Provincial
Solving “crime” or being treated fairly?
Analysis
The following are the seven factors
derived from statistical analysis
Factor 1
Variable
The extent to which the community trusts their police
Loading
.802
The extent to which the community has confidence in their police
.752
The extent to which police officers are perceived to be fair when
interacting with the community
.724
The extent to which police personnel are polite when interacting
with the community
The extent to which police personnel in general communicate well
with the community
The extent to which police officers are approachable
The extent to which police personnel are ethical when interacting
with the community
.671
.661
.660
.656
The extent to which the community is satisfied with the service
provided by police personnel
.545
The extent to which police personnel demonstrate honesty &
integrity when interacting with the community
.544
Factor 2
Variable
The extent to which funding is invested on an annual basis for direct
employee development [skill training and/or education] as a percentage of
total payroll
The extent to which the police agency works with other police agencies
when necessary
The extent to which the police agency responsibly manages allocated
resources [such as funding and human resources]
The extent to which the police agency uses robust systems to ensure
continuous evaluation, continuous improvement and change
The extent to which the police agency uses a robust employee
performance appraisal/development program
The extent to which the police agency uses merit-based hiring and
promotion practices is:
The extent, overall, to which police personnel are satisfied in their
workplace
The extent to which the police agency has effective internal
communications and information sharing systems
The extent to which the police agency is responsive to changes in the
social and justice environments
The extent to which the police agency is client/customer focused
Loading
.743
.716
.674
.667
.657
.647
.625
.587
.552
.458
Factor 3
Variable
the number of arrests, charges or alternate dispositions with regard to all
criminal offenses
the number of arrests, charges or alternate dispositions with regard to violent
crime (such as assaults, armed robbery, sexual assault, domestic violence,
attempted murder and murder)
the number of arrests, charges or alternate dispositions with regard to nonviolent crime (such as theft, fraud, vandalism, break and enters into residential
or commercial properties and offenses related possession and trafficking of
illegal drugs)
the number of arrests, charges or alternate dispositions with regard to driving
offenses under the criminal code of Canada [this includes impaired driving,
driving over .08, impaired driving causing death, dangerous driving and
dangerous driving causing death)
the number of arrests, charges or alternate dispositions with regard to social
disorder
the number of arrests, charges or alternate dispositions with regard to
driving/vehicle safety offenses under provincial legislation such as the traffic
safety act or equivalents [this includes speeding, failing to stop for a red traffic
light or a stop sign, safety checks of vehicles, careless driving)
Loading
.905
.879
.820
.762
.688
.621
Factor 4
Variable
The extent to which police have reduced the
of social disorder
The extent to which police have reduced the
of crime
The extent to which police have reduced
amount of social disorder
The extent to which police have reduced
amount of crime
Loading
fear
fear
the
the
.857
.756
.729
.450
Factor 5
Variable
Loading
the number of serious injury or fatal traffic accidents
.775
the number of traffic accidents [not including serious
injury or fatal accidents]
.723
the criminal code - traffic offence rate for driving offenses
[such as incidents of impaired driving, driving over 0.08,
impaired driving causing death, dangerous driving, and
dangerous driving causing death]
the non-violent crime rate
.719
.576
the total crime rate
.563
the violent crime rate
.536
the extent of social disorder
.524
Factor 6
Variable
Loading
The number of reported incidents of inappropriate use of
force by police officers
.812
The number of formal public complaints made about police
personnel conduct
.780
The number of formal public complaints about police
personnel conduct which have been investigated and
substantiated
.703
The number of incidents of inappropriate use of force by
police officers that have been substantiated by investigation
.687
Factor 7
Variable
Loading
The extent to which the community feels police actively
engage the community and/or community agencies to seek
solutions to issues/problems affecting the community
.601
The extent to which the community feels police have
effective communications and information sharing systems
to keep the community informed
.508
The extent to which the police agency works collaboratively
with community agencies when necessary
.506
Weighted Index
 POPI = .668 (Factor 1) +.633 (Factor 2) + .787
(Factor 3) + .698 (Factor 4) + .631 (Factor 5) +
.746 (Factor 6) + .538 (Factor 7).
Where now ?
 Food for thought.. What is it that your police should be
judged by?
 What do we mean when we say this police agency is
doing great work or that police agency is a mess?
 What we have to think about is:
 “are they achieving the outcome we all
desire?”
The Ultimate Outcome of Policing
A safe community free from the fear of
crime and social disorder
Thank You
TColeman@SaskTel.Net
Workshop:
Critical Strategic Success Factors of Police
Agency Performance
What are the top six factors that you
use when assessing the performance
of your local police?
What tells you that your local police
are, or are not, doing what you and
your community expects of them?