Police Process. Lecture 4 Lecture 4. Kwak Michigan State University CJ 335 Summer Police Organizations

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1 Police Process Dae-Hoon Kwak Michigan State University CJ 335 Summer 2006 Lecture 4 Lecture 4 Police Organizations 1

2 Outline for the lecture Explain the dominant features of police organizations Identify the positive and negative contributions of bureaucracy in police organizations Identify the impacts of civil services and police unions Outline philosophies for changing police organizations (i.e., contingency, institutional, and Resource dependency) Discussion 2

3 Quasi-Military Style American LE agencies are organized along quasi-military lines. - Uniforms - Military style rank designations (e.g., sergeant, captain) - A command structure is hierarchical - Have a strict org. style: authoritarian - Legal authority: carry weapons, use force, make arrests Different from the military - Serve a citizen population - Provide service - Constrained by laws protecting citizen rights - Routinely exercise individual discretion 3

4 Quasi-Military Style (cont.) Criticisms of the QM style - Us. vs. Them attitude - The idea of war on crime - Authoritarian command style is contrary to democratic principles of participation --> low morale - Rigid rank structure provide insufficient job satisfaction s-1970s, 1970s, de-emphasize emphasize military image (e.g., Menlo Park, CA and Lakewood, CO) 4

5 Police Departments as Organizations The Dominant Style - The typical police dept. is a complex bureaucracy - A hierarchical structure, authoritarian management style - Civil service rules (except in smaller dept.s) - Legally bound by collective bargaining contracts and unions Police Org.s as Bureaucracies - Dept.s share similar bureaucratic characteristics of other orgs. - The bureaucratic form of org. exists as: a. The most efficient means towards achieving the dept. objective b. Ability to carry out multiple tasks 5

6 Police Departments as Organizations (cont.) Police Org.s as Bureaucracies (cont.) - Characteristics a. Complex, performing many different tasks to pursue to common goal b. Tasks are grouped into separate divisions c. Hierarchical: clear division of labor d. Task responsibility is delegated to lower employees e. Clear chain/unity of command f. Written rules designed to ensure uniformity/consistency g. Info. flows up and down according to chain of command h. Clear personnel career paths cf. Principles of management 6

7 Police Departments as Organizations (cont.) - Emerged in the early 20 th century as part of the prof. movement (e.g., Vollmer, Smith, and Wilson) - ELPD Org. Chart vs. Phoenix PD. a. Org. structure reflects hierarchical management style b. Org. is structured to perform many different tasks c. Tasks are grouped in a logical fashion d. Lines of authority/responsibility are clear e. Degree of specialization depends on the size of the community f. Chart does not indicate rules governing employee behavior 7

8 Police Departments as Organizations (cont.) Supervisory styles (Peak, 2004: pp ) - Traditional supervisor: LE oriented - Innovative supervisor: closely related to CP (i.e.,mentor) - Supportive supervisor: concerned with protecting P.O.s - Active supervisor: tend to be active in the field How four different supervisory styles influences P.O. behavior? (Engel, 2003) - Arrest/Citations: no matter - Use of force: P.O.s with AS 2 times more likely to use force - Proactive activities: P.O.s with AS spent more time - CP and Problem solving: P.O.s with AS spent more time - Admin. activities: P.O.s with TS spent more time 8

9 Police Departments as Organizations (cont.) Problems with Bureaucracy - Rigid, inflexible, unable to adapt to external changes - Communication within Org. breaks down - Tends to become inward-looking, self-serving serving and isolated - Does not use the talents of its employees (stifles creativity) 9

10 Problems with Police Organizations Share Problems with Other Bureaucracies - Failure to respond creatively to changing social conditions - Closed and unresponsive to citizens they serve - Fail to utilize talents of rank-and and-file officer; fail to offer sufficient opportunities for career advancement - Not true bureaucracies but mock-bureaucracies a. Have appearance and some of the form b. Lack actual substance 10

11 Problems with Police Organizations (cont.) Positive Contributions of Bureaucracy in Policing - Specialization - Coordination of activities - Control of police discretion - Administrative rulemaking Informal aspects of P.Org.s - Office politics, informal relationships - Gossip: info. that flows outside of regular channels - Work groups (patrol vs. detective): rivalry between groups - Friendship networks(vertical/horizontal cliques), 11

12 Problems with Police Organizations (cont.) Bureaucracy and Police Professionalism - Conflict with concept of prof.. in other occupations a. exercise independent judgments about critical events b. are not expected to follow a rigid set of rules - Different approach to control behavior a. Hierarchical command and control rather than collegial decision making b. Attempt to control behavior through written rules - Prof. is equated with bureaucratization 12

13 Changing Police Organizations Theories for Police Organizational structures and Strategies - Contingency Theory a. Org.s are structured to achieve specific goals. b. Adopt most effective/efficient structures/strategies in achieving specific goals (i.e., adjustments to the environmental contingencies) - Institutional Theory a. Police org.s operate in relation to their external social/political environment b. Police org.s represents efforts to define their legitimacy 13

14 Changing Police Organizations (cont.) Theories for Police Organizational structures and Strategies - Resource Dependency Theory a. To obtain the resources they must engage in exchanges with other org. in their environment Two schools of thought how to improve police org.s - One accepts the basic principles of bureaucratic org. and seeks to apply them more effectively - The other seeks to use alternative decision making procedures that operate with the current structure 14

15 Changing Police Organizations (cont.) Community Policing - Elements to modify police org. a. De-bureaucratize bureaucratize: : de-centralized territorially and administratively b. De-formalize formalize: : to allow for better problem-solving c. De-specialize functions: replace specialized units with neighborhood officers d. De-layerize: : decrease amount of social and admin. distance between beat officer and chief - Responds to the criticisms of bureaucracies 15

16 Changing Police Organizations (cont.) Total Quality Management (TQM) - Seeks to transform police org. from bureaucratic: a. to democratic b. with participative management c. with shared decision making d. with problem solving - TQM assumptions (Zhao) a. Produce quality products b. Employees naturally care about their work c. All parts of the org. must be examined d. Top management is ultimately responsible 16

17 Changing Police Organizations (cont.) Total Quality Management (TQM) (cont.) - Little known about impact of TQM on police org. E.g., Madison, WI increased job satisfaction, greater org. commitment among officers Omaha, NE No impact on officer s s beliefs, attitudes or performance 17

18 Changing Police Organizations (cont.) Task Forces - Comprised of officers from different ranks - Recognizes officers at lowest ranks are competent to make decisions about police policy a. Offers greater job satisfaction b. Prepares for later supervisory responsibilities c. Increases chance that innovations will be accepted - Multi-agency task forces (e.g., Anti-Gang Task Force) - Advantages: eliminate duplication of services, afford smaller agencies with services, shared resource management, officers can work in other jurisdictions, increase of info. 18

19 Changing Police Organizations (cont.) Learning Organizations: Working smarter - Dept. develop the capacity to think about their own needs, plan and implement changes, and then learn from the achievements and failures. 19

20 COMPSTAT - Started in 1994, NYPD began to hold their precincts and commanders accountable based on the continuous collection of data (based on weekly meeting) - 6 elements a. Clarify the dept s s mission, goals, and values b. Holds managers within the org. accountable c. Org. power and authority transferred to commanders d. Resource transferred to commanders e. Data is used/evaluated f. Middle managers expected to use innovative problem solving tactics - NY experienced 55% (vs. 24% for other big cities) decrease in Index crimes, but increase citizen complaints 20

21 Civil Service - Represent a set of formal and legally binding procedures governing personnel decisions to ensure personnel decisions based on objective criteria. - Developing job descriptions, pay scales, recruitment, administering tests, (certify) qualified applicants, promotional criteria, promotional tests, and disciplinary procedures. And hearing appeals of disciplinary actions. - Problems a. Limiting the powers of the dept. head b. There is no method to earn financial bonuses or rapid promotions c. The provisions for discipline make it hard to terminate marginal employees 21

22 Police Unions Aspects - A majority of S.O. are members of police unions - 73% of municipal police and 43% of sheriff s s dept. are unionized (LEMAS) - Police are unique in that no single national union represents all P.O. (FOP, IUPA, IBT) Collective Bargaining - Labor and management come to the table to discuss wages, terms, and working conditions - If a contract does not yet exist, CB allows for a process to recognize a group of employees to represent the group at the bargaining table 22

23 Police Unions (cont.) Grievance Procedures - A process to provide due process for the employee in resolving appeals of unfair decision making or discipline - Designed to protect officers against unfair discipline - They are also referred to as the Officer s s Bill of Rights Impasse Settlement and Strikes - Impasse: when the union and city can t t agree on contract - Strikes: illegal in most states, rare - There are other impasse solutions available (e.g., mediation, fact finding, and arbitration) - Most union leaders realize the negative reactions that any police strike would have 23

24 Police Unions (cont.) The impact of Police Unions - The most significant impact has been in salaries and benefits - By reducing the power of management, the conditions of employment and disciplinary process has dramatically improved - Critics claim that unions are serious obstacle to change in police org. - These changes include civilian review, lateral entry, policy reviews, and promotion procedures 24

25 Group Discussion You are the new Police Chief in city of CJ, MSU state, population 30,000. The city has a history of being a basically safe community, Mainly residential with some businesses. Since 9/11, however, CJ police departments are required to involve anti-terrorism terrorism activities (or policies) such as investigating terrorist in their community, preparing for emergency planning, and developing intelligence to identify potential terrorists. So, you have to redeploy your limited resources including human power,etc. Your Police dept. is organized as follows: - Patrol bureau: Lieutenant 1, Sergeants 3, Officers 21 - Detective bureau: Lieutenant 1, Detectives 5 - Support services bureau: Lieutenant 1, Secretary/clerk 3 25

26 Group Discussion (cont.) Select your captain Q #1: How would you reorganize your police department? (Answer by drawing org. chart) Q #2: What steps or methods would you use? Q #3: Anti-terrorism terrorism activities more likely to limit people s freedom (e.g., USA Patriot Act). This could lead a negative attitude toward CJ PD. How would you maintain a positive attitude and citizen s s satisfaction in your community? Use the next 20 minutes to discuss the issues and make your decisions As a group, led by a captain, briefly present your decisions to the class 26

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