Law Enforcement Organization
and Administration
Chapter 4
Purpose and Principals of
Police Organizations
• The Omnipresent Police Officer
• Characterizes the police officer who is everywhere in
random patrol duties, deterring crime by his or her
mere presence
– Kansas City Experiment
• Study done that divided city into three group
approaches to patrol
– Respond to calls only
– Provide normal random patrol
– Provide two or three times the normal level of random patrol
Kansas City Experiment
• The experiment found
that the three
experimental patrol
conditions appeared
not to affect crime,
service delivery and
citizen feeling of
security. (p 88)
Law Enforcement As Big Business
• Police Departments are one of the greatest
demands on tax dollars of most communities
• Headed by former line officers who need to be
trained in managerial issues
• Restricted hiring practices limiting
management choices
Police Executive Training
• In the vast majority of police departments,
former line officers work their way up through
the ranks and assume executive/managerial
positions. To prepare the police manager for
executive level decision making, the individual
must receive training that addresses this level
of responsibility
Police Executive Training
•
•
•
•
FBI National Academy
Senior Management Institute for Police
West Point Leadership Program
Professional Executive Leadership School
FBI National Academy
• The FBI National Academy is
a professional course of
study for U.S. and
international law
enforcement leaders that
serves to improve the
administration of justice in
police departments and
agencies at home and
abroad and to raise law
enforcement standards,
knowledge, and
cooperation worldwide.
–
Source fbi.gov
Senior Management Institute for Police
• SMIP is a program of the
Police Executive Research
Forum Program that provides
senior police executives
intensive training in the
laquizmanagement concepts
and practices used in business
and government. A demanding
three-week course, SMIP
brings together a faculty from
some of the nation's top
universities, successful law
enforcement chief executives,
and subject matter experts
from the private sector.
– Source – policefoum.org
PELS
•
The Professional Executive
Leadership School is an intensive
three-week, liberal arts-based
educational experience that focuses
on the study of leadership. PELS is
geared for chief executive officers
and managers, and candidates from
the private sector, public safety, and
government agencies. Faculty
members from the University of
Richmond in Richmond, Virginia,
teach the classes and are drawn
from the Management Institute,
Jepson School of Leadership Studies,
Robins School of Business, and
several other schools within the
university.
–
Source – Va Police Chiefs Foundation
West Point Leadership Program
• The West Point Leadership
Program is a rewarding and
academically challenging
compilation of behavioral science
theories. Students participate in
group problem-solving activities
and case studies. Emphasis is
placed on practical application
and the final examination
involves actual issues from the
student's workplace. The
program focuses on four major
areas associated with leadership:
The individual, the group, the
leader, the organization.
–
Source: www.post.ca/training
Civil Service and Promotions
• Civil Service not geared to promotional level being
test for
– Need to be made relevant to the position
• Restrictions on hired from top three candidates on
list
• Assessment evaluations include oral interviews from
promotion
• Political interference in promotional system
– Modern Police Agencies and the expectations of its leaders
make this interference more difficult
Use of Civilian Employees
• Make up nearly a third
of the total strength of
police agencies
• Anticipated budget
savings by replacing
sworn police officers
from desk duty
• Higher paid civilian
specialist tended to off
set budget savings
Traditional Purposes of Police
Organizations
• Protection of life and
property
• Perseveration of the
peace
• Prevention of crime
• Arrest criminals
Police Results and
Performance Measures
• Addressing general crime
• Dealing with serious crime incidents
• Achieving Major Short and Long Term
objectives
• Analyzing the cost of policing
• Evaluating the quality of services
Reality-Based Proactive
Purposes of Police Organizations
• Performance – Specific role definitions and
productivity measures
• Preparedness – Need for short and long range
planning
• Progressiveness – Management of change –
institute new ideas
Management Principles
• Respond – Traditionally
reactive – mostly service
calls
• Regulate – Need to
control numerous
community and citizen
events
• Restrain – Citizen
misconduct, mentally ill,
apprehend criminals
• Recover – Recovery of
citizen property – sting
operations
• Repress – The reduction
of the individuals’
propensity to commit
crime
• Reinforce – Citizen
cooperation and
motivation –
Neighborhood Watch
Defining the Organization
• A definition fitting the
requirements of both
management and
operations. Task carried
out by real people with
human concerns, needs
and emotions.
Emphasis on
cooperation and
innovation guided by
polices.
The Concept of Organization
• Mechanical Approach – Filling boxes in an
organizational chart with bodies
– Examples are assembly line task. Police Managers
hire and promote to fill slots without concern for
personal qualifications of the individual
• Humanistic Approach – Filling positions with
qualified personnel.
– Used in most professional organizations where
particular skill must be developed at a particular
level, needed to fill a position.
Traditional Concept of Bureaucracy
(Max Weber)
• Modern bureaucracy
– Regular activities distributed in a fixed way as
official duties
– Authority given to commands and coercive means
of sanction are defined by rules in a consistent
manager
– Only those who have generally regulated
qualifications to serve are employed
– Fixed jurisdictions are ordered by administrative
regulations
- Official hierarchical system of superiors and
subordinates
- Management is based on written documents
- Specialized officers of management requires
thorough, technical and expert training and
knowledge
- Generalized Rules
- Knowledge of rules
- Office holding is a vocation and a career
– Officials have more status than the governed
– Bureaucratic officials are appointed by a superior
authority, not elected
– Tenure is the job is for life
– Employees receive regular compensation (fixed
salary)
– Officials have a career in the hierarchy
• The bureaucracy depends on a money
economy to pay salaries
• Success and rewards in the bureaucracy are
based on merit and hard work.