Administration and Management in Criminal Justice. Chapter 3: Service Quality Approach

Transcription

1 Administration and Management in Criminal Justice Chapter 3: Service Quality Approach

2 Improving Service Delivery Two goals: Improve productivity at lower cost Challenges to overcome System is designed and services delivered from service provider s perspective Example 1: Police may determine which crimes to focus on in a neighborhood Example 2: A prison may determine which inmates are released early due to overcrowding Agencies operate as if independent in spite of codependence Systems model example: Police arrests (outputs) become prosecutor s office cases (inputs) Supply chain model example: Prisons receive inmates from courts (prison as customer) but supply inmates to parole agencies (prison as supplier)

3 The Prevalence of Services The U.S. is a post-industrial (service) society 80% of workforce employed in service sector Standard of living defined by quality of services Services contribute over 70% of U.S. income U.S. criminal justice system 2001: employed 2.3 million persons Half are employed at local level; remainder at state and federal levels Justice expenditures have increased over the past years; the corrections sector has seen the largest increase in expenditures

4 What is a Service? Defined A service is an activity or series of activities of more or less intangible nature that normally, but not necessarily, takes place in interactions between customer and service employees and/or physical resources or goods and/or systems of the service provider, which are provided as solutions to customer problems (Gronroos, 1990, as cited in Allen & Sawhney, 2010, p. 72)

5 Categorizing Services: Bundling with Goods Services the come with purchased goods Computer technical support On-Star service that comes with new vehicle Services that facilitate the purchase of goods Computer repair individual fixes computer but customer might have to buy some new software/hardware Home security company monitors home but customer must buy equipment Services that are pure (no exchange of goods) Police patrolling a neighborhood Public defender representing an indigent client

6 Categorizing Services: Commercial v. Non-Commercial Business to consumer services (commercial) Individual (consumer) hires a private investigator (business) to assist with a legal case Business to business services (commercial) Bank (business) purchases protection from a private security company (business) Public services (non-commercial) A prosecutor s office (public service) represents the state (public) Not-for-profit services (non-commercial) The YMCA (not-for-profit service) offers after school programming for at-risk children

7 Distinctive Features of Services: Customer Involvement Administration and Management in Criminal Justice Customer (organizational inputs) must interact with the resources of the organization Infrastructure Employees Equipment Technology Customer is dynamic Affects perceptions of service quality Example: Citizen demands on police are unpredictable. Citizen may request police arrest an offender but legal constraints might prohibit the officer from fulfilling request. Customers demands are unpredictable and may affect perceptions of police performance.

8 Distinctive Features of Services: Production & Consumption Services are produced and consumed at the same time Generates difficulties in fixing mistakes Example: Officer fires his weapon and wounds a suspect in order to protect the public. The suspect is subsequently found to be unarmed. Public safety is produced and consumed simultaneously so the officer can not change his actions after the fact.

9 Distinctive Features of Services: Perishability Services must be consumed as they are produced; they cannot be stored Example: A police chief expects a major protest in town attended by 10,000 individuals. She calls all officers to work that day but only a few dozen protesters show. The cost of all the extra officers is expended; their services are available and cannot be stored until later.

10 Distinctive Features of Services: Intangibility Services can be but are difficult to replicate; consumers must rely on reputation to gauge the quality of services that cannot be touched Example: In many states, citizens are called upon during election time to vote whether sitting judges can be retained. Absent any direct contact with the judge, how are such decisions made when his/her services are intangible? Reputation matters.

11 Distinctive Features of Services: Heterogeneity Service delivery varies from customer to customer Example: Police in a neighborhood adjacent to a college tend to focus on minor crimes such as underage drinking, disorderly conduct, and public drunkenness. College-aged citizens complain that police should focus on more serious crimes like they do in other neighborhoods. Police respond by stating that they are delivering services according to the needs of each community.

12 Who are C.J. System Customers? Victims (direct customer) Agencies assist victim but do they always consider the victim s needs or treat the victim respectfully? Offender (indirect customer) They do not voluntarily seek out criminal justice services but consume them once involved. Others, including the public (indirect) Indirect customers do not voluntarily choose to consume C.J. services. A victim, on the other hand, consciously chooses to call upon these resources.

13 Is an Offender a Customer? Yes, they must be considered if the system is to be designed and services delivered effectively Consider decisions on how to deal with offenders? These require some knowledge and consideration of the offender as a customer? Arrest or separate a domestic violence offender Revoke parole or overlook violations Sentence to state prison or local jail The decisions on how to process offenders with organizational resources have a profound impact on system effectiveness (e.g., recidivism, crime rates, etc.).

14 Offender as Customer Debate Stems from confusion/how do we identify customers? 1. Criminal justice is a public service Direct and indirect customers: positive externalities Purchaser and consumer: payment via taxes Example: Robbery suspect is arrested by police and processed at police headquarters. Is the offender a customer? Did they pay for services? Do others benefit from this processing? The argument is that, for public agencies, customers cannot be identified based solely on who pays immediately for the service or who benefits directly. In the example above, the suspect does not pay (except via taxes) and the benefit is primarily to the community. But, the offender should be considered a customer.

15 Offender as Customer Debate (cont d) Stems from confusion/how do we identify customers? 2. System is a monopoly Example: robbery offender does not have alternative for booking and other processing; consequently, they may not be treated as customers 3. Non-cooperation by the offender Example: robbery offender does not participate willingly in process

16 Identifying Customers: Summary Review Consider both direct and indirect beneficiaries Acknowledge that customers do not necessarily pay at the time services are rendered, if at all Even though many agencies in the criminal justice system hold monopolies, they must consider customer needs given the importance of stakeholders and the power possessed by system actors Even when customers are non-compliant, system actors may search for the underlying cause of such non-compliance in order to solve problems. Basic question If the individual, group, or organization did not exist, would it adversely impact the business or agency? If yes, then the individual/group/organization is a customer

17 What is Service-Quality? Assessed by customers What services level they expected v. what service level they actually received How is this gap measured? 1.Reliability: dependable, free of errors Example: A prison is expected to house inmates securely day in and day out. If a prisoner escapes, questions may be raised about the reliability of performance.

18 What is Service Quality? (cont d) How is this gap measured? 2. Responsiveness: willingness to help, promptness Example: An offender may expect to be able to access his/her public defender at any time for advice. 3. Assurance: ability to inspire confidence, respect Example: A detective may contact a victim to reassure her that the department is closing in on a suspect and to offer advice on issues such as filing an insurance claim and seeking victim services.

19 What is Service Quality? (cont d) How is this gap measured? 4. Tangibles: physical facilities, equipment, appearance of personnel Example: A police department requires certain physical fitness standards for all officers, not just new recruits in order to portray a certain image to the public. 5. Empathy: caring, individualized attention Example: An officer catches a juvenile spraying graffiti and returns the child to his parents. After lecturing the child, the officer expresses his understanding of the challenges of parenting and provides his cell phone number to the family.

20 Other Service Quality Problems Consumer Expectation- Management Perception Gap (Gap 1) Management does not understand consumer expectations Example: A prosecutor might not realize that jurors expect to see scientific evidence (the CSI-effect) Management perception-service quality specification gap (Gap 2) Managers unable to set targets to meet citizen expectations Example: Community policing encourages citizen-officer contact but officers are not given time to attend community meetings. Management must set goals. The gap between what customers expect and receive is just one type of service quality gap.

21 Other Service Quality Problems (cont d) Service quality specifications- service delivery gap (Gap 3) Services are not delivered as prescribed by management Example: Probation officers are supposed to visit probationers three times per month but workload limits visits to just one Service delivery-external communications gap (Gap 4) Media and others raise expectations to unachievable levels Example: A local newspaper heightens expectations of local citizens about a new anti-crime program that, due to poor funding, never really gets off the ground.

22 Assessing Quality in Criminal Justice Agencies: 5 Perspectives 1. Content: are procedures followed? Followed protocol in approaching dangerous suspect? Interrogated using approved methods? Diagnosed using systematic instruments? 2. Process: are the steps for service delivery followed in order and logical? Administration and Management in Criminal Justice Has the treatment of an offender progressed logically? Are probationers being supervised as much as possible?

23 Assessing Quality in Criminal Administration and Management in Criminal Justice Justice Agencies: 5 Perspectives 3. Structure: is organization designed to facilitate service delivery? Are employee evaluations consistent with organizational goals? Does design allow officers flexibility to complete work? 4. Outcome: is the public satisfied? How many rings before 911 calls are answered? How many complaints received?

24 Assessing Quality in Criminal Administration and Management in Criminal Justice Justice Agencies: 5 Perspectives 5. Impact: what is the long-term effect on the consumer? Is crime going down in the community? Is an offender less likely to recidivate?