Quiz

Provide an example of a person or organization
that is part of the police authorizing environment
WHAT PEOPLE
EXPECT/DEMAND FROM
POLICE DEPARTMENTS
The Authorizing Environment
Political actors who have formal power to review PD
operations, or informal power to influence those who
do.
Who are they?
 Mayor/city councilors/city managers
 Communities of place or concern
 Police interest groups (e.g., unions)
 Media
 Courts and other higher levels of gov’t
 Watchdog groups

The Authorizing Environment
Problem:
 They all want/expect different things, which may be
mutually exclusive and change over time.
 If we can’t agree on what we want the police to do,
then how can we develop performance measures?
 If we can’t develop performance measures, how do
we hold the police accountable?
Lessons from Private Sector
Private companies think about:
(1) Product markets inhabited by customers
(2) Capital markets inhabited by investors
Customers
Private companies face customers with different and
fickle tastes
What do they do?
 Build organizations that can quickly adapt and
change to consumer demands
 Develop new product designs that deliver more of
all things customers want.

Investors
Private companies also face investors who want
different things which change over time
What do they do?
 They present a complicated story about the
company that appeals to many different investor
interests

Public Police Departments
PDs should think of the authorizing environment not
just as overseers, but as a market of investors who
are important to satisfy.
 Performance should be based on what they want.
Key question: Is there consistency in what the
authorizing environment wants across cities?
Answer: What values citizens want produced is
consistent, but what changes is the relative priority of
those values.

Actors in the Authorizing Environment
(1) Kinds of authority
 Formal
 Informal
(2) Scope of authority
 Broad (e.g., Mayor)
 Narrow (e.g., Budget Bureau)
(3) Engagements
 Intensity (strong/weak)
 Sustainability (continuous/intermittent)
The Big Five
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
Mayor/City Manager
CJ partners (Courts, DA, overhead agencies)
City Council/Community groups
Police Unions
Media
Study of Several Cities
By examining what values cities are focusing upon and
who is doing it, Moore tries to assess which values are
most important.
2 important conclusions emerge:
(1) All 7 values from CH4 are paid at least some
attention
(2) Cities differ from which overseers are engaged in
oversight, and which performance measures they
monitor
Example: NYPD focused on crime fighting and use of
authority, while Milwaukee focused on spending and
quality of service

Conclusions
Authorizing environments are complex and
dynamic, but there is consistency across cities.
 This means performance measures could be
consistent across cities
(2) Since many different actors oversee PDs, police
leadership is essential, as is a coherent mission
statement and performance system. Executives must
envision a police style which will engage and sustain a
coalition of overseers.
(1)