Police Administration A Leadership Approach

Police Administration A Leadership Approach
Police Administration: A Leadership Approach

is a first edition textbook that addresses supervision and management as well as ethics, leadership, and
the principles of policing that form the foundation for efficient, effective, and lawful administration of the
modern police service. Unlike other texts, Police Administration: A Leadership Approach blends theory with
practice. It presents a foundation for the administration and management of a police agency in a logical,
flexible, and understandable step-by-step process.
Police Administration: A Leadership Approach sends the clear message that all police officers—regardless
of rank—must be courageous, self-contained, leadership agents who think and act ethically to assume
control, to influence and motivate others, and to address crime and disorder.
What people are saying about Police Administration: A Leadership Approach

“[T]his project is quite readable, clearly explained…, student-friendly, and student-centered. Topics are
Police
presented clearly and comprehensively. The injection of such a positive leadership emphasis into a
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John Hill, Salt Lake Community College
“Finally a textbook dealing with the realities of police administration and management. A textbook that
Administration
addresses the questions of budgeting, grant writing, and leadership. Also this book integrates ethics
into each facet of management. It is practical and realistic in describing the issues facing many police
administrators today in policing.”
Harry Hueston, West Texas A&M University
A Leadership Approach
“It is a comprehensive overview of police administration with an excellent coverage of budgetary and
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Visit our Online Learning Center website at www.mhhe.com/ortmeier1e
Davis
Ortmeier
P.J. Ortmeier
Joseph J. Davis
Police Administration
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ort80008_fm_i-xxii.indd ii 30/11/10 3:46 PM
Police Administration
P. J. Ortmeier
Grossmont College
Joseph J. Davis
Roberts Wesleyan College
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POLICE ADMINISTRATION: A LEADERSHIP APPROACH
Published by McGraw-Hill, a business unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 1221 Avenue
of the Americas, New York, NY 10020. Copyright © 2012 by The McGraw-Hill Companies,
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outside the United States.
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All credits appearing on page or at the end of the book are considered to be an extension of the
copyright page.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Ortmeier, P. J.
Police administration: a leadership approach/P.J. Ortmeier, Joseph J. Davis.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-07-338000-1 (alk. paper)
1. Police administration. I. Davis, Joseph J. II. Title.
HV7935.O78 2012
363.2068’4—dc22
2010042719
www.mhhe.com
ort80008_fm_i-xxii.indd iv 12/2/10 9:40 AM

To Christine and Diane
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about the authors
P. J. Ortmeier holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in criminal justice as well

as a PhD in educational leadership with an emphasis in public safety training and
development. He is a U.S. Army veteran and a former police officer. Dr. Ortmeier
develops and implements courses and degree programs in criminal justice and pub-
lic safety. As a member of a California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and
Training (POST) steering committee, Dr. Ortmeier participated in the integration of
leadership, ethics, and community policing concepts and skill development into the
basic academy for entry-level California peace officers.
Dr. Ortmeier is the author of Public Safety and Security Administration, Policing
the Community: A Guide for Patrol Operations, Introduction to Law Enforcement
and Criminal Justice, and Introduction to Security: Operations and Management,
as well as numerous articles appearing in journals such as The Police Chief, The
Law Enforcement Executive Forum, California Security, Police and Security
News, and Security Management. With Edwin Meese III, former attorney general
of the United States, Dr. Ortmeier coauthored Leadership, Ethics, and Policing:
Challenges for the 21st Century. He also coauthored Crime Scene Investigation:
The Forensic Technician’s Field Manual, with a colleague, Tina Young. His writing
focuses on professional career education, leadership, ethics, management, police
field services, forensic technology, and competency development for public safety
personnel.
Currently, Dr. Ortmeier is a professor and chair of the 1,500-student
Administration of Justice Department at Grossmont College in the San Diego sub-
urb of El Cajon, California. He is a member of the Academy of Criminal Justice
Sciences, the American Society of Criminology, the International Association
of Chiefs of Police, the International Public Safety Leadership Development
Consortium, the California Association of Administration of Justice Educators, and
the American Society for Industrial Security. His current interests include homeland
defense, forensic science, and development of the leadership skills and career educa-
tion pathways for law enforcement and other public safety professionals.
Joseph J. Davis is a retired police captain from the Rochester, New York, Police
Department where he served for 38 years. He holds a bachelor’s degree in math-
ematics from St. John Fisher College, Rochester, New York, and a master’s degree
in strategic leadership from Roberts Wesleyan College, Rochester, New York. As a
police commanding officer and through extensive work in the Rochester community,
Davis gathered extensive experience in supervision, management, and leadership
in organizations. His experience includes program operations, professional devel-
opment (training), problem analysis, program development, budget development,
grant management, and capital improvement projects, and significant work with
community organizations, not-for-profit organizations, and diverse populations.
Davis developed and managed numerous programs that included a Tri-
level Stress Management Program and resultant organizational unit, a language
development program and training course in Spanish language, a sign language
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about the authors vii
program, a cultural program for each language studied, and a recruitment and hir-
ing process for new police officers. He managed the conceptualization and building
of a new indoor and outdoor police firing range and managed the redevelopment of
a police media productions unit that included a video/television production unit.
Davis’s experience as a police captain includes the positions of director of train-
ing, commanding officer of professional development, patrol section commander,
and commanding officer of the Field Investigations Section, Criminal Investigation
Division. He is a past president of the Law Enforcement Training Directors
Association of New York State.
Davis has also been involved in numerous developmental projects including
the New York State Police Supervisor Mandated Training Course for New Police
Sergeants; the development of mental health training and confidentiality proto-
cols and policies for police officers; and the conceptualization, development, and
implementation of a Police Officer Anger Management Program. In addition, he
was a steering committee member for the reorganization of the Rochester Police
Department.
Davis is the author or coauthor of numerous presentations for the Academy
of Criminal Justice Sciences. He is currently a member of the Academy, the
International Association of Chiefs of Police, and the Law Enforcement Training
Directors Association of New York State.
Davis serves as an adjunct professor with Roberts Wesleyan College, Rochester,
New York, and is a self-employed consultant/trainer for police and government enti-
ties, educators, and security personnel.
The authors encourage and solicit comments regarding this book as well as sugges-
tions for future editions. They are also available to provide technical assistance to
anyone who adopts this text for a course. The authors may be contacted directly at:
P. J. Ortmeier, PhD
Chair/Professor, Administration of Justice
Grossmont College
8800 Grossmont College Drive
El Cajon, CA 92020
Joseph J. Davis, MS, Retired Police Captain

Roberts Wesleyan College
7320 Fisher Road
Ontario, NY 14519
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brief contents
Preface xix
part I Introduction to Police Administration 1
1 Police Administration: A Perspective 2

2 Policing Strategies 28
3 Challenges Facing Police Organizations 51
part II Planning, Budgeting, Organization Design, and Assessment 85
4 The Nature and Practice of Planning 86

5 Budgeting and Fiscal Management 109
6 Organizational Design 134
7 Organizational Performance Assessment and Evaluation 161
part III Human Resource Management 183
8 Hiring in the Spirit of Service 184

9 The Power and Practice of Effective Communication 209
10 Training, Development, and Deployment of Human Resources 242
11 Leadership and Supervision 264
12 Human Relations Challenges in a Police Agency 296
part IV Collateral Functions and Future Trends 325
13 Legal Aspects of Police Administration 326

14 Procurement and Facilities Management 366
15 The Future of Police Administration 394
Bibliography 433
Glossary 445
Photo Credits 453
Index 457
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table of contents
Preface xix
part I Introduction to Police Administration 1
1 Police Administration: A Perspective 2

Learning Outcomes 2
Introduction 3
Principles of Policing 5
London’s Metropolitan Police Act 5 • Protecting and Serving 6
Police Administration: A Brief History 7
The Emergence of Formal Police Organizations 7 • Evolving
Notions of Strategy 8
Ethics and Professionalism in Policing 12
Ethical Challenges in Policing 12 • Law Enforcement Codes of
Ethics and Conduct 13 • Ethical Leadership by Example 16
• Policing as a Profession 17
Leadership versus Management and Supervision 20
Choosing to Lead 20 • Understanding Managers’ and Supervisors’
Responsibilities 21 • Cultivating Leadership Abilities 22
Police Administration: Common Activities 22
Line Operations 22 • Administrative Support 23 • Auxiliary
Services 23
Summary 24
Key Terms 25
Discussion Questions 25
What Would You Do? 26
2 Policing Strategies 28
Learning Outcomes 28
Introduction 28
Traditional Policing 29
Historical Context 30 • Defining Characteristics 30 • Advantages
and Disadvantages of Traditional Policing 31
Community Policing 32
Connections to Peel’s Principles 32 • Defining Characteristics 32
• Praise for Community Policing 34 • Criticism and Resistance 34
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x table of contents
Problem-Oriented Policing 36
Defining Characteristics 36 • The SARA Problem-Solving
Model 36 • Strengths and Challenges of Problem-Oriented
Policing 39
Team Policing and Neighborhood Policing 39
Defining Characteristics 39 • An Assessment of Team and
Neighborhood Policing 40
Zero-Tolerance Policing 40
Defining Characteristics 40 • Roots in the Broken Windows
Theory 41 • Questions about Zero-Tolerance Policing 41
Intelligence-Led Policing 43
Defining Characteristics 43 • Pros and Cons of Intelligence-Led
Policing 44
Strategic Policing 45
Defining Characteristics 45 • Requirements for Effective Strategic
Policing 46 • Pluses and Minuses of Strategic Policing 47
Summary 48
Key Terms 49
3 Challenges Facing Police Organizations 51

Introduction 52
Increased Diversity 53
Efforts to Foster Tolerance 54 • Challenges for Police 56
Complex Political Dynamics 57
Intra-Agency Politics 58 • Interagency Politics 59 • Intergovernment
Politics 61 • Spotlight on Political Correctness 62
A Changing Role 63
Solving Community Problems 63 • Wearing Many “Hats” 64
The Need for Ethical Leadership 65
Aligning Actions with Words 65 • Combating Bias-Based
Policing 65 • Preventing Misuse of Force 67 • Eradicating Police
Misconduct 68
Technological Advances 72
The Value of Technology 72 • Essential Information Technology 73
Resource Constraints 74
Understanding the Forces behind Resource Constraints 74
• Competing for Resources 75
Terrorism 75
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) 76 • The
National Incident Management System (NIMS) 77 • State-Level
Standardized Emergency Management System (SEMS) 79
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table of contents xi
Summary 80
Key Terms 81
part II Planning, Budgeting, Organization Design, and Assessment 85
4 The Nature and Practice of Planning 86

Introduction 87
Adopting a Long-Term, Big-Picture View 88
Aligning Plans with Values, Vision, and Mission 89
Values 89 • Vision 90 • Mission 90 • Translating Values, Vision,
and Mission into Goals and Objectives 90
Common Planning Pitfalls 91
Types of Plans 92
Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) 94
• CompStat 96
Key Steps in the Planning Process 97
Step 1: Assessing Needs and Risks 98 • Step 2: Developing Alternative
Courses of Action 101 • Step 3: Selecting a Course of Action 103
Mastering the Art of Self-Management 104
Summary 106
Key Terms 106
5 Budgeting and Fiscal Management 109

Introduction 110
What Is a Budget? 110
Public Budgeting 111 • Constraints in Public Budgeting 112
• The Public Budgeting Process 113 • The Need for Flexibility 114
Types of Budgets 115
Traditional Budget 115 • Line-Item Budget 116 • Program
Budget 116 • Performance-Based Budget 116 • Zero-Based
Budget 117 • Balanced-Based Budget 118 • Activity-Based
Budget 118 • Operating Budget 119 • Capital Budget 119
Building the Budget 120
Anatomy of a Budget 120 • Expenditure Categories 121 • Sources
of Revenue 121 • Making Resource-Allocation Decisions 126
“Selling” the Budget 127
Dealing with Budget Cutbacks 128
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xii table of contents
Executing the Budget 129

Managing Projects 129 • Calculating Maintenance of Effort 129
• Auditing 129
Summary 130
Key Terms 131
6 Organizational Design 134

Introduction 135
Structure: How Are Relationships Configured? 136
Vertical Relationships 136 • Horizontal Relationships 138
• Community Relationships 138 • From Policing Strategy to
Organizational Structure 140
Culture: What Do Personnel Think, Say, Do, and Believe? 141
Command and Control 141 • Officer Unity 143 • Leader Officer
or Street Officer? 144
Behavioral Standards: What Is Considered Acceptable? 145
• Internalizing Behavioral Standards 145 • Adapting to Change 146
• Learning 151 • Demonstrating Ethical Leadership 153 • Putting
Customers First 155
Summary 157
Key Terms 158
7 Organizational Performance Assessment and Evaluation 161

Introduction 162
Why Assess and Evaluate? 163
Defining Assessment and Evaluation 163 • Supporting Continuous
Improvement 163 • Effecting Needed Change 164 • When Police
and Customer Expectations Conflict 164 • Assessment, Evaluation,
and Community Policing 165
Efficiency versus Effectiveness: Striking a Balance 166
Efficiency 166 • Effectiveness 166 • Achieving a Balance 167
Performance-Management Frameworks 168
The Balanced Scorecard 169 • Total Quality Management
(TQM) 171
A Closer Look at Customer Service 174
Understanding the Costs of Providing Poor Service 174
• Delivering Service Ethically 175 • Segmenting Services 175
The Role of Accreditation in Assessment and Evaluation 177
Accrediting Bodies 178 • The Benefits of Accreditation 178 • The
Accreditation Process 179
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table of contents xiii
Summary 179
Key Terms 180
part III Human Resource Management 183
8 Hiring in the Spirit of Service 184

Introduction 185
Understanding Today’s Hiring Challenges 185
Fulfilling a Complex Mandate 186 • Building a Diverse Workforce 187
Setting the Stage for Smart Recruiting 187
Conducting a Human Resource Needs Assessment 187 • Looking
beyond Minimum Hiring Standards 188
Formulating Recruitment Strategies 189
Using the Right Channels 190 • Developing a Positive Brand
Image 192 • Recruiting for Diversity 193 • Recruiting for
Educational Level 194
Selecting New Hires 195
Conducting a Pre-Employment Screening 196 • Using the
Assessment Center Process 200 • Avoiding and Correcting
Selection Mistakes 201
Designing Compensation and Benefits Programs 203
Creating a Civil Work Environment 204
Summary 206
Key Terms 207
9 The Power and Practice of Effective Communication 209

Introduction 210
What Is Communication? 211
A Distinctive Process 211 • Complex Purposes 211
• Communication in a Police Agency 212
Barriers to Effective Communication 215
Poor Communication Skills 215 • Background Differences 215
• Noncredible Source 216 • Complex Communication Channels 217
• Denial 217 • Unfamiliar Language 218 • Lack of Motivation 218
• Organizational Culture 219
Communication Channels 219
Verbal Channels 219 • Nonverbal Channels 221
• Written Channels 222
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xiv table of contents
A Closer Look at Meetings, Newsletters, and the Grapevine 223

Meetings 223 • Newsletters 224 • The Grapevine 225
Special Communication Challenges 226
Communicating across Cultures 227 • Communicating across
Genders 227 • Communicating with Special Populations 228
Communicating with the News Media 231
Improving Communication with the Media 232 • Building a
Positive Relationship with the Media 233
Communicating with Other Agencies 234
Four Essential Communication Skills 235
Facilitation 235 • Persuasion 236 • Feedback 237
• Conflict Management 238
Summary 239
Key Terms 240
10 Training, Development, and Deployment of Human Resources 242

Introduction 243
Training: Developing Skills and Preparing for Police Work 243
Types of Training 245 • Augmenting Training with Higher
Education 251
Development: Enhancing Officers’ Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
(KSAs) 251
Career Planning 252 • Leadership Development Programs 254
• Succession Planning 256
Deployment: Putting Human Resources to the Best Use 256
Strategic Project or Task Assignments 257 • Workforce
Scheduling 257 • Working Groups 259
Summary 261
Key Terms 262
11 Leadership and Supervision 264

Introduction 265
Leadership Theories 265
Theories Centering on the Leader 266 • Theories Centering on
Followers and Situational Context 267 • Theories Centering on
Leader–Follower Interactions 269
Leadership Skills 271
A Closer Look at the Ortmeier Study 272 • Spotlight on
Communication 272 • Spotlight on Motivation 274
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table of contents xv
Leadership versus Supervision 275

The Police Leader-Supervisor 276
Leadership Tools: Authority and Power 277
Authority 277 • Power 278 • The Optimal Blend of Authority
and Power 279
Leadership Styles 280
Meeting Followers’ Hierarchy of Needs 280 • Addressing Followers’
Frustrations 281 • Addressing Conflicting Needs 282 • Satisfying
Expectations about Performance and Outcomes 282 • Aligning
Followers’ and Agency Goals while Cultivating Trust 283 • Blending
Concern for People with Concern for Production 284 • Adapting to
Followers’ Readiness 285 • Weighing Contingencies 286 • Tapping
into Followers’ Motivation 288 • Serving Followers 289 • Building
the Best Possible Organization 289
Toxic Management 290
Summary 292
Key Terms 293
12 Human Relations Challenges in a Police Agency 296

Introduction 297
Policies and Procedures 298
Developing General Orders 298 • Using General Orders 299
Officer Performance Appraisals 300
Linking Performance to Policies, Procedures, and Job Descriptions
and Specifications 300 • Fostering Excellence in the Agency 301
• Distinguishing between Appraisal’s Dual Purposes 301
Succession Management 302
Understanding the Importance of Succession Management 302
• Applying Promotion Protocols 303 • Developing Promising
Candidates 304
Talent Retention 306
Communicating Values and Policies 306 • Bringing in Fresh
Perspectives and Skills 307 • Sustaining Officer Motivation 307
Management of Police Misconduct 310
Working with Citizen Review Boards 310 • Disciplining Officers
Accused of Misconduct 313 • Establishing Early Warning Systems 313
Stress Management 314
Recognizing the Symptoms of Stress 315 • Mitigating Dangerous
Stress 315 • Easing Stress’s Impact on Officers’ Private Lives 317
Survival on the Street and in the Agency 319
Navigating the Political Landscape 319 • Avoiding Ethical Pitfalls 321
Summary 321
Key Terms 323
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xvi table of contents

part IV Collateral Functions and Future Trends 325
13 Legal Aspects of Police Administration 326

Introduction 327
National Employment Laws 328
Understanding Affirmative Action 332 • Hiring for Diversity in
Police Agencies 333
Unionization 335
The Emergence of Unions 335 • The Boston Police Strike of
1919 336 • Police Unions Today 337 • Unfair Labor Practices 337
• Management Rights 339 • Reasons for Joining a Union 340 • Union
Leaders, Union Members, and Management: A Complex Relationship
341 • Union Power 342 • Labor Negotiation 343 • Grievances 347
Contract Law 349
Expressed and Implied Contracts 349 • Valid and Breached
Contracts 350
Administrative Law 350
Property Law 351
Tort Law 352
Unintentional Torts 353 • Intentional Torts 353
Privacy Law 354
The Privacy Act of 1974 355 • The Perils of Violating Privacy 356
Liability Management 357
Civil Lawsuits 357 • Types of Liability 358 • Negligence 358
• Sexual Harassment 359 • Proximate (Legal) Cause 360 • What
Police Agencies Can Do 361
Summary 362
Key Terms 363
14 Procurement and Facilities Management 366

Introduction 367
Procurement 367
Purchasing 368 • Leasing 370 • Outsourcing 371 • Obtaining
Competitive Bids 375 • Understanding Service Contracts and
Warranties 376 • Forging Agreements with Outsourcing Providers 377
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table of contents xvii
Facilities Management 380

Understanding the Facilities Manager Role 380 • Building or
Renovating a Police Facility 383 • Conducting Site Surveys 385
• Updating Technology in a Police Facility 387
Summary 390
Key Terms 391
15 The Future of Police Administration 394

Introduction 395
Ethics and Professionalism: Will Police Be Trusted? 397
The Question of Trust 397 • Captured on Video 398
The Challenges of Counterterrorism and Homeland Security: What
Role Will Police Play? 399
Counterterrorism 399
Budgeting: Can Police Do Even More—with Even Less? 404
Outsourcing of Police Services 404 • The Question of Police
Purpose 404 • Pros and Cons of Citizen Involvement 405 • The
Need for Creative Budget Strategies 405 • Can Police Think Like
Business Leaders? 406
Assessment and Evaluation: Will Police Grade Themselves on the Right
Curve? 406
Measuring Performance at the Organizational Level 407
• Measuring Performance at the Individual Level 408
Hiring and Training: How Will Police Build an Effective Workforce? 408
Hiring 408 • Training 409
Communication: Will a Wider Array of Constituents Require Broader
Skills? 411
Constructive Engagement 411 • Constructive Confrontation 411
Police Leadership: Can Boundaries Expand? 413
Embracing the Virtual World 413 • Broadening Notions of
Management 414 • Challenging the Status Quo 415
Change Leadership: What Model Should Police Use? 416
Crafting and Communicating a Compelling Vision 417 • Selecting
a Change-Leadership Model 417
Police Unions: Will They Survive? 419
Unions under Fire 419 • Potential New Paths for Unions 419
Facilities Management: What Will It Look Like in the Future? 420
• Consolidation of Police Facilities 421 • Subdivision of Police
Facilities 421 • Use of Donated Space 421
Technology and Crime Fighting: Where Are We Headed? 422
Technology and Street Crime 422 • The Rise of Cybercrime 424
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xviii table of contents
Summary 428
Key Terms 430
Bibliography 433
Glossary 445
Photo Credits 453
Index 457
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preface
Police Administration: A Leadership Approach was written to support the need
for a text that addresses supervision and management as well as ethics, leadership,
and the principles of policing that form the foundation for efficient, effective, and
lawful administration of the modern police service. Unlike other texts, this book
blends theory with practice. It presents a foundation for the administration and
management of a police agency in a logical, flexible, and understandable step-by-
step process.
The book sends the clear message that all police officers—regardless of rank—
must be courageous self-contained leadership agents who think and act ethically to
assume control, to influence and motivate others, and to address crime and disorder.
Our treatment of ethics and leadership reveals that officers equipped with such skills
engage community members and motivate them to partner with police to identify,
solve, and prevent problems plaguing a community. Courageous ethical leadership
is not based in fear, but rather in ethical action. As Sir Robert Peel is credited with
stating, “The police at all times should maintain a relationship with the public that
gives reality to the historic tradition that the police are the public and the public are
the police.” Effective solutions to crime and disorder problems evolve from success-
ful police–community partnerships. This text focuses on the attitudes and strategies
essential for police to gain and maintain citizens’ trust and participation and to
prevent police–citizen conflicts.
Police Administration: A Leadership Approach illustrates how a public safety
organization that is consumer focused and based on core values, a vision for a better
future, a well-defined mission, and courageous ethical leadership can be successful.
As an administrator, the ethical leader maintains open lines of communication,
fosters teamwork, is accountable and responsible, and demonstrates an unwaver-
ing sense of purpose and commitment to quality service and excellence. The ethical
leader respects others, embraces diversity, and pursues the greater good for all.
WHO SHOULD READ THIS BOOK?
The book is intended as a core or primary text for courses in police administration
and similar topics at the second-year, upper-division, and graduate levels, a resource
for police officers who are preparing for promotion exams and interviews, and a
comprehensive reference source for police practitioners.
HOW IS THIS BOOK ORGANIZED?
The book’s 15 chapters are organized into 4 parts:

Part I: Introduction to Police Administration: includes perspectives on police
administration processes; ethics; leadership; strategies; and challenges.
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xx preface
Part II: Planning, Budgeting, Organization Design, and Assessment: includes

separate chapters on these four key aspects of police administration.
Part III: Human Resources Management: includes hiring in the spirit of
service; effective communication; training (recruit and in-service), organi-
zational development and development of human resources; leadership and
supervision; and personnel challenges facing police agencies.
Part IV: Collateral Functions and Future Trends: addresses the legal aspects
of police administration; equipment, facilities, technology, and outsourcing;
and the future of police administration.
WHAT MAKES THIS BOOK DIFFERENT?
This book differs from other books on police administration in several key respects:
• It weaves ethics and leadership concepts and practices throughout the
chapters. True leadership does not exist without courageous, ethical behavior
to accompany it. As courageous, self-contained, ethical leadership agents,
all police officers must overcome the fear of being disliked and function as
self-starters who persevere and commit to engage in actions that lead to the
successful completion of ethical goals.
• It addresses the essential elements of the administrative process in a logical,
practical sequence, covering planning and budgeting before other steps in the
process to reflect how police administrators actually work.
• It emphasizes critical thinking, creativity, and flexibility with respect to
policing principles, philosophies, and strategies. For instance, in Chapter 2,
readers gain exposure to a multitude of policing strategies, including
traditional policing, community policing, problem-oriented policing, and
intelligence-led policing, to name just a few. And they are introduced to the
notion that the blend of strategies a particular police agency chooses to adopt
depends on local circumstances.
• It discusses the process of change leadership, current models of change
management, and ways in which police administrators can formulate and
execute change initiatives while taking into account their agency’s culture,
internal and external politics, and technology.
• It presents information, concepts, best practices, and case studies in a clear
and concise manner that enables readers to acquire and retain new knowledge
and skills. Characterized by an accessible and engaging writing style, the book
presents theories but focuses on their practical application.
• It addresses the numerous challenges, such as political correctness, diversity,
and politics, that face today’s police.
• It emphasizes strategies and tactics that can help police administrators to:
• Reduce lawsuits, liability, citizen complaints, and police misconduct.
• Generate a positive image of the police in the public’s mind.
• Improve the quality of life for all citizens served by a police agency.
• Increase citizen satisfaction and improve employee morale.
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preface xxi
• Improve efficiency and effectiveness.

• Partner with community members to identify and solve crime and
disorder problems affecting a community.
• Serve as leaders, teachers, mentors, and partners for citizens.
• Develop ethical leadership competence for all sworn and nonsworn
employees to foster civility within the organization. Studies conducted
by one of the authors, the International Association of Chiefs of Police
(IACP), the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC), the
Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), and others reveal that
leadership competence is essential for all police officers.
WHAT PEDAGOGICAL FEATURES ARE PROVIDED?
This book offers a wealth of pedagogical features designed to help readers acquire
and strengthen their critical thinking, decision-making, and problem-solving skills.
Each chapter contains:
• Learning outcomes (objectives)
• Key terms highlighted and defined in the chapter
• Ethics in Action and Leadership on the Job boxes for critical thinking
• Case studies
• Discussion questions
• Problem-solving exercises, including realistic scenarios that present dilemmas
that readers must resolve
• Checklists and step lists for important procedures and processes
• Websites and other sources of information, tools, and guidelines regarding
best practices for vital activities such as pre-employment screening, training,
and program development
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors wish to thank the many family members, friends, colleagues, support-
ers, sources, and acquaintances who helped make this book possible. Gratitude
is extended to the editors and staff at McGraw-Hill for their guidance, insights,
and helpful suggestions: Katie Stevens, Bill Minick, Kate Scheinman, Jane Mohr,
and Amy Mittelman. We also wish to thank our associate project manager Tania
Andrabi, our copyeditor Sharon O’Donnell, and our proofreader Virginia Bridges
for their keen eyes and diligence.
Special thanks are also extended to our editorial consultants Lauren Keller
Johnson and Rodine Dobeck, as well as our assistants Gloria Aldaba, Caitlin Wion,
and Deanna Hook for their help with the preparation of the manuscript.
Thank you to the members of the Rochester Police Department and the mem-
bers of the Law Enforcement Training Directors Association of New York State
ort80008_fm_i-xxii.indd xxi 30/11/10 3:47 PM

xxii preface
for your support of courageous leadership. A special thank you to Lt. Michael
VanRoo, Rochester Police Department and Chief Charles Koerner, Clyde, New
York, Police Department for your helpful suggestions, insights, and observations
regarding police agency processes, procedures, and operational practices. Thanks
for the contributions provided by the staff and students at Roberts Wesleyan
College including Gary Prawel and Leonard Wildman. A special thanks to
Dr. Frank Colaprete for his mentorship, scholarship, and continuous support and
constant pursuit of excellence.
We are deeply indebted to the following reviewers for their valuable contribu-
tions: Rulette Armstead, San Diego State University; Rodney W. Brewer, University
of Louisville; John Hill, Salt Lake Community College; Harry Hueston, West
Texas A&M University; Stephen F. Kappeler, Eastern Kentucky University; Richard
Kuiters, Bergen Community College; Juli Liebler, Michigan State University;
Tom O’Connor, Austin Peay State University; Michael D. O’Donovan, Bergen
Community College; Jerome Randall, University of Central Florida; and Morag
(Scottie) Walls, Delta College.
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preface xxiii
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ort80008_fm_i-xxii.indd xxiii 30/11/10 3:47 PM

ort80008_fm_i-xxii.indd xxiv 30/11/10 3:47 PM
I
Introduction to Police
Administration
ort80008_ch01_001-027.indd 1 20/10/10 6:16 PM

2 part I Introduction to Police Administration
1
The police fulfill many
functions, one of which is
education of the public. Here,
a Santa Ana, California, police
officer speaks with a high
school class.
Police Administration:
A Perspective
learning outcomes
After completing this chapter, readers should be able to:

• explain the principles of policing attributed to Sir Robert Peel and
analyze how they influence policing today.
• discuss how the police motto “To protect and serve” relates to the
policing principles attributed to Peel.
• describe the emergence of formal police organizations.
• compare notions of policing strategy as they have evolved since the
1850s.
• define ethics and illustrate ethical challenges in policing.
• review examples from the law enforcement codes of ethics and conduct,
and relate the codes to the policing principles attributed to Peel.
ort80008_ch01_001-027.indd 2 11/16/10 9:32 AM

chapter 1 Police Administration: A Perspective 3
• define ethical leadership and cite examples.

• analyze the characteristics that all professions share, and assess the extent
to which policing is a profession.
• distinguish the defining characteristics of management, supervision, and
leadership.
• explain how an individual could cultivate leadership abilities.
• describe the activities that constitute police administration, distinguishing
among line operations, administrative support activities, and auxiliary
services.
Introduction
Congratulations—by opening this book you have taken a crucial first step toward
understanding the realities and value of police administration, the process, art, Police
and science of the management, supervision, and ethical leadership of a police administration:
agency. The concepts, principles, and practices of police administration discussed the process, art,
and science of
in this book may be applied in a wide variety of public safety settings (for example,
the management,
police, courts, corrections, security management, and forensic science). supervision, and
Without effective administration, no organization—including a police agency— ethical leadership
can function and fulfill its mission. Whether you are a criminal justice undergradu- of a police agency.
ate major, a police academy student, an officer working toward a promotion, a mid-
level manager, or a chief executive officer, this book will be a valuable companion
as you learn what police administration is, why it is important, and how effective
administrators and managers operate and how they function as courageous ethi-
cal leaders.
In deciding which textbook to assign for the course or training program you
are participating in now, your instructor had several choices. Why did the instruc-
tor select Police Administration: A Leadership Approach? The reason is that this
book differs in significant ways from other textbooks on police and criminal justice
administration and management. Specifically, unlike other texts, this one presents
elements of the police administration process in a logical sequence reflecting
how effective agency managers actually work. For instance, real police manag-
ers engage in planning and budgeting before making major decisions related to
other administrative activities such as assessing agency performance, hiring,
leading change, or procuring needed equipment or facilities. To reflect that logi-
cal process, this book discusses planning and budgeting before covering other
administrative activities. (Many other textbooks give short shrift to planning and
budgeting, or cover them late in the book, seemingly as an afterthought.)
Equally important, this book presents ethics and leadership as critical threads
running through every step in the administration process. As you will see, leading
ort80008_ch01_001-027.indd 3 20/10/10 6:16 PM

is not the same as supervising or managing. All three activities are important, but
they deliver different forms of value for a police agency. The key point we make
in this book is that anyone can—and should—be a leader. And when every police
administrator and manager shoulders responsibility for leading, the administration
process dovetails with all other efforts in the agency to produce stellar public ser-
vice. Further, true leadership does not exist without ethical behavior to accompany
it. As you work through each chapter of this book, you will find a wealth of ideas
and practices for strengthening your ethical leadership abilities—no matter what
role you eventually occupy in a police organization.
This book also traces the evolution of assumptions regarding what role polic-
ing should play in society and what strategies police agencies should use to fulfill
their mission. In the past 100 years, definitions of core police responsibilities have
bounced between assisting the community and enforcing public safety to fighting
crime and back again to helping the community. Of course, in actual police work,
most line officers have juggled both—improving quality of life in their community
while also battling crime as it arises. As any “real-life” police officer can tell you,
during the course of one day, an officer might help a homeless person find shelter
and food, rescue a treed cat, and put a drug dealer behind bars. This textbook—
unlike others—makes it clear that the two functions of community assistance and
crime fighting are not mutually exclusive.
The themes that make this textbook unique—including the principles of policing
attributed to Robert Peel, ethics, leadership, and the disciplined application of admin-
istration principles—all reflect a viewpoint we hold dear: that any police agency’s
greatest assets are the human beings who work there. Our intent is to help prepare
you to enter the public safety profession equipped with the knowledge, skills, and
abilities necessary to survive, to lead, and to serve the public well. As the presti-
gious United States Army War College explains, there are three pillars of success for
anyone seeking to become a leader: formal education, operational experience, and
self-development. We believe that this book will help you erect all three pillars as you
build your own leadership talents. Another expert maintains that effective leaders
know themselves, know their followers, and know their organization (Lutz, 2010).
Again, this book will help you master all three of these knowledge areas and become
Self-contained ethical a self-contained ethical leadership agent who can motivate others to deliver their
leadership agent: best performance and who can garner their trust, respect, and admiration.
an individual with But before you can develop your leadership ability, you must first gain familiar-
the knowledge,
ity with the core elements of police administration. This chapter sets you on that
skills, and abilities
to motivate others path. We begin by examining principles of policing that have been attributed to the
to deliver their best nineteenth-century British home secretary Sir Robert Peel; much of today’s polic-
performance and ing strategy and procedure derive from these tenets. We then trace the history of
who can garner their police administration, examining how police have organized themselves and how
trust, respect, and they have viewed themselves over time. We also consider the development of ethics
admiration.
and professionalism in policing and pose the question, “Is policing a profession?”
ort80008_ch01_001-027.indd 4 20/10/10 6:16 PM

The chapter next discusses the role of leadership in policing and other public safety
arenas, including a preview of how management and supervision differ from leader-
ship. Finally, we introduce common activities making up the police administration
process, activities that subsequent chapters will cover in depth. With this broad
scope in mind, let’s turn now to examining principles of policing attributed to Peel.
PRINCIPLES OF POLICING
Imagine that you have traveled back in time to nineteenth-century London—the

birthplace of principles that have profoundly shaped modern police strategy. During
the Industrial Revolution of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, Britain
saw major changes in its agricultural, transportation, and manufacturing industries.
These changes catalyzed dramatic shifts in the nation’s economy and social mores—
shifts that spread quickly throughout Europe and North America. In particular, as
manufacturing replaced agriculture as the driving force behind economic growth,
people began migrating in droves from the countryside to urban centers in search
of work. These massive migrations put enormous pressure on all aspects of city life.
London’s Metropolitan Police Act

London, in particular, experienced staggering unemployment and poverty. Despite
their hopes, unskilled and displaced agrarian workers found only limited job
opportunities in the city. The
few jobs they did manage to English diplomat, Sir
get paid a pittance. Increasing Robert Peel (1788–
numbers of impoverished, 1850) circa 1830. The
desperate Londoners turned principles of modern
public policing are
to crime in their attempts to
attributed to Peel.
survive, and civil disorder to
express their anger. The British
Parliament responded in 1829
with the passage of the Act for
Improving the Police in and
near the Metropolis, commonly
referred to as the Metropolitan
Police Act. Largely attributed Sir Robert Peel:
to the efforts of the British the nineteenth-
home secretary Sir Robert century British
Peel, the act established what home secretary
eventually came to be known influential in passing
as the world’s first recognizable the Metropolitan
local police department. Police Act, which
Peel envisioned a police established the
force comprising citizens who world’s first
were paid by the community recognizable local
to devote full-time attention police department.
ort80008_ch01_001-027.indd 5 20/10/10 6:16 PM

to preventing crime and disorder. To support this vision—which was unique for
Principles of nineteenth-century London—Peel reputedly established the following principles of
policing: policing:
principles regarding
1. The basic mission for which police exist is to prevent crime and disorder as an
the mission and
alternative to repressing crime and disorder by military force and severity of
acceptable behavior
legal punishment.
of police, attributed
to Sir Robert Peel. 2. The ability of the police to perform their duties depends on public approval
of police existence, actions, and behavior, as well as the ability of the police to
secure and maintain public respect.
3. The police must secure the willing cooperation of the public in voluntary
observance of the law to be able to secure and maintain public respect.
4. The degree of cooperation that can be secured from the public diminishes,
proportionately, with the need to use physical force in achieving police objectives.
5. The police seek and preserve public favor not by catering to public opinion
but by constantly demonstrating absolutely impartial service to the law, in
complete independence of policy, and without regard to the justice or injustice
of the substance of individual laws; by ready offering of individual service and
friendship to all members of the society without regard to their race or social
standing; by ready exercise of courtesy and friendly good humor; and by
ready offering of individual sacrifice in protecting and preserving life.
6. The police should use physical force to the extent necessary to secure
observance of the law or to restore order only when the exercise of
persuasion, advice, and warning is found to be insufficient to achieve police
objectives. Moreover, police should use only the minimum degree of physical
force necessary on any particular occasion to achieve a police objective.
7. The police at all times should maintain a relationship with the public that
gives reality to the historic tradition that the police are the public and the
public are the police. The police are the only members of the public who are
paid to give full-time attention to duties that are incumbent on every citizen in
the interest of the community’s welfare.
8. The police should always direct their actions toward their functions and never
appear to usurp the powers of the judiciary by avenging individuals or the
state or by authoritatively judging guilt or punishing the guilty.
9. The test of police efficiency is the absence of crime and disorder, not the
visible evidence of police actions in dealing with them (Lee, 1901).
Research indicates that no single set of policing principles attributed to Peel can be
definitively shown as originating with him. The research findings indicate that “Peel’s
principles,” as they are generally presented today, were actually invented by authors of
twentieth-century policing textbooks. However, the fact that the principles cannot be
traced directly to Peel does not necessarily make them fiction; nor does it mean they have
no relevance for aspiring police administrators and leaders (Lentz & Chaires, 2007).
Protecting and Serving

The vision for policing attributed to Robert Peel, as expressed in these nine prin-
ciples, emphasized the notion that police are peace officers first, rather than crime
ort80008_ch01_001-027.indd 6 20/10/10 6:16 PM

fighters. Although responding to crime and disorder is an important police function,

the true measure of stellar police performance is the absence of crime and disorder.
Consider the time-honored police motto “To protect and serve.” The word
protect certainly means that police are responsible for securing citizens’ safety. It
can also mean arresting suspects so they will not victimize citizens, and intervening
in public disputes so the combatants and innocent bystanders are not drawn further
into violence. The word serve has even broader application. Police serve the people
every time they answer a call-for-service, give directions, direct traffic, and help a
homeless person find shelter for the night. To the average person, the police are all
about service to citizens and the communities in which they live. But police are also
“serving” when they testify in court, prepare a written incident report, and even
when they write a traffic ticket (which may prompt the driver in question to think
twice before speeding again).
When you study the policing strategies presented in Chapter 2, keep in mind
Peel’s vision for the public police service as well as the nine policing principles
attributed to him. Policing philosophies, strategies, and operations may change over
time, but the basic principles of policing—to protect and serve—remain constant.
Thus, the principles we have examined are just as relevant today as they were in
Peel’s day (Ortmeier & Meese, 2010). But to truly understand the relevance of these
principles, we need to go back even earlier in time and trace the history of police
administration.
POLICE ADMINISTRATION: A BRIEF HISTORY
Over the centuries, police administration has evolved in several important

respects—including how police have been organized and what they considered their
core strategy for providing value to the communities they serve. In the sections that
follow, we trace these changes.
The Emergence of Formal Police Organizations

Many laws we abide by in the United States today, such as those related to theft and
homicide, have their origin in twelfth-century England. In that era, King Henry II
established the common law, which included a judiciary that gave each county a
king’s judge. The county judge, along with 12 local men, meted out justice to the
common folk; for example, pitting combatants against each other in physical battle
to determine who was in the right. At this time, laws were enforced by appointees
of the lords of each county (Delderfield, 1978).
The common law system endured until as late as 1829, when the London
Metropolitan Police was founded through the British Parliament’s enactment of the
Metropolitan Police Act, an event that inspired similar developments in local police
organizations within the United States. For example, just seven years later, Boston,
Massachusetts, set up a formal local police department. In 1844, New York City
followed suit.
Many state- and federal-level police organizations had early origins in the United
States as well. For example, the first organization resembling a state police force had
come into being in 1823 as the Texas Rangers, originally more of a nonuniformed
ort80008_ch01_001-027.indd 7 20/10/10 6:16 PM

The Texas Rangers,

founded in 1823, are
credited with being
the first form of state
police in the United
States. Here, a group
of rangers pose for
a photo in Kilgore,
Texas.
state militia than a uniformed state-level police force. And the first federal law
enforcement agency in America had been created a century earlier, in 1789, when
President George Washington appointed eight United States marshals. Much later,
in 1908, the development of national-level law enforcement organizations took a
large step with the creation of the Bureau of Investigation (subsequently renamed
the Federal Bureau of Investigation, or FBI) in the U.S. Department of Justice.
As local, state, and federal law enforcement organizations evolved, so did the
notion that police should have the right to collective bargaining. As early as 1893, the
National Chiefs of Police Union, forerunner of the International Association of Chiefs
of Police (IACP), was established, largely through the efforts of progressive Omaha,
Nebraska, police chief Webber Seavey. Each year, the IACP sponsors the Webber
Seavey Award, presented to agencies that have made innovative accomplishments.
Evolving Notions of Strategy

Most experts identify periods in U.S. history when people had distinct ideas about
what strategies police should use to accomplish their work. Over time, debate has
swirled around whether police should focus their strategy on community service,
crime fighting, or some other combination of approaches. Below, we take a closer
look at these evolving notions of police strategy.
1850–1930: From Community Ser vice to Crime Fighting From the mid-
nineteenth century to about 1930, policing was about community service. Officers
ort80008_ch01_001-027.indd 8 20/10/10 6:16 PM

were encouraged to live in the A nineteenth-century

same areas they patrolled, so police officer walks
they could get to know and bet- a beat.
ter serve community residents.
Citizens felt safe knowing that
a police officer lived close by,
and everyone was on a first-
name basis. Business owners,
too, knew that help was close at
hand in the event of a robbery or
other incident.
However, during this same
era, politicians closely directed
police activities; thus, corruption
ran rampant. Politicians awarded
promotions to those officers who
supported their elections, and
hardly anyone could become a
police officer without the approval
of a politician.
Between 1929 and 1931, the
National Commission on Law
Observance and Enforcement
(the Wickersham Commission)
produced 14 reports for President Chief August Vollmer
Herbert Hoover regarding the sta- of Berkeley, California,
tus of policing and law enforce- was subsequently
ment in general. According to appointed professor of
the reports, many areas needed Police Administration
addressing, especially the matter at the University of
of police brutality, through which Chicago. Vollmer’s
innovations were
police used mental and physical
shared with police
torture to elicit confessions from
agencies around the
suspects. The commissioners’ rec-
world.
ommendations included central-
izing administration in a police
jurisdiction, establishing higher
personnel standards, and adopt-
ing a more professional approach
to policing in general (National
Commission on Law Observance
and Enforcement, 1931).
The commission ushered in
a period when police authority
derived more from the law than
from local politicians. In addi-
tion, police activity shifted from
community service to crime con-
trol and prevention. Most law
ort80008_ch01_001-027.indd 9 20/10/10 6:16 PM

O. W. Wilson,
Vollmer’s protégé, is
shown while serving as
police superintendent
in Chicago. Wilson
is holding a photo of
Richard B. Speck, 25,
sought in connection
with the deaths of
eight student nurses.
enforcement agencies, including the FBI under J. Edgar Hoover, focused on catching
criminals.
August Vollmer: The person considered one of the founders of modern policing was August
chief of police in Vollmer, who served as chief of police in Berkeley, California, from 1902 to 1932. In
Berkeley, California, the early 1920s, Vollmer initiated the use of the police car as a patrol device and the
from 1902 to 1932; two-way radio as a means for rapidly answering calls-for-service. He also introduced
considered a founder the polygraph as an investigative tool and helped establish college-level courses for
of modern policing. police officers. Vollmer also promoted the use of other forensic science technologies,
such as fingerprinting, as well as crime laboratories. Moreover, he strongly advo-
cated professionalism in policing.
O. W. Wilson: Vollmer’s protégé O. W. Wilson worked in Wichita, Kansas, and Chicago,
August Vollmer’s Illinois. Wilson introduced a merit system for promotions, rotated officers’ patrol
protégé; introduced assignments to reduce the chance for corruption, and insisted on higher salaries for
a merit system for officers to help agencies recruit higher-quality candidates.
promotions and
other innovations 1930–1980: A Widening Array of Policing Strategies From the 1930s to about
influential in 1980, many police executives and politicians moved to separate policing more
modern policing. completely from politics to create a more professional model of policing. The social
function of policing gave way to a war-on-crime model. Police chiefs and sheriffs
stepped up pressure on officers to respond to calls-for-service as quickly as possible,
and pushed intensive coverage of communities by patrol cars. Unfortunately, crime
escalated despite these measures.
This era also saw a widening of the strategies police considered adopting to
address the challenges they had been experiencing. During the 1960s, massive social
unrest erupting throughout the United States forced police executives to confront
the fact that traditional policing (the professional “command and control” model)
ort80008_ch01_001-027.indd 10 20/10/10 6:16 PM

was not working well. The chasm between citizen and police officer was wider
than at almost any other time in history. Several commissions—most notably
the President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice
(1967), the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders (1968), and the
National Advisory Commission on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals (1973)—
recommended major improvements in policing and the administration of justice
(Inciardi, 2005; Kerlikowske, 2004). To be sure, many experts felt certain that the
police alone could not control crime and that social unrest stemmed from factors such
as social inequality, lack of jobs, and the deterioration of the family. Nevertheless, the
stage was set for a change in policing strategies.
Interestingly, the “new” strategies integrated many of the tenets associated with
Sir Robert Peel, such as police responsibility for maintaining peace while strength-
ening connections to the citizens they serve. For example, these newer strategies
include community-oriented policing, community-oriented problem-solving polic-
ing (COPS), statistics-oriented policing (which includes community mapping and
real-time crime analysis approaches such as CompStat), intelligence-led policing,
and strategic policing. Many of these are discussed in Chapter 2 as well as in other
sections of this book.
1980–Present: Flexibility and Transition Today, each police agency’s execu-

tives, in conjunction with citizens and elected political and community leaders, must
decide what policing principles and strategies to incorporate into their mission.
Most agencies across the country mix traditional policing with community- and
problem-oriented policing, some statistical policing, and strategic policing to pre-
pare for the future.
In addition to demonstrating greater flexibility with regard to strategy, the
police have also entered a time of transition in terms of how they and others per-
ceive their level of professionalism. If you were to ask police officers whether they
view themselves as professionals, most would probably answer “Yes.” But many
citizens might disagree. This difference in viewpoint stems in part from the fact that
police officers regularly see the worst of human behavior and deal with unsavory
individuals to keep the rest of us safe. Just as waste management workers bear the
stigma of handling human refuse, police officers are expected to manage society’s
most undesirable elements without receiving any special recognition or reward.
Moreover, for many years, particularly in cities in the Eastern United States,
police ranks almost exclusively comprised immigrants, especially Irish. Because
many civilian immigrants served people with wealth and power, police officers who
were immigrants were seen as having the same low socioeconomic status. It did not
help that one needed no special education to become a police officer and that the
pay was very low. If a police officer exhibited wealth of any kind, people almost
universally assumed that the officer gained that wealth through unethical and cor-
rupt means.
The fact that you are reading a textbook about police administration testifies
to how much these circumstances have changed. Today, many police agencies want
recruits with some college credits. Police also earn more money now, and they enjoy
superior benefits, including generous health insurance coverage and retirement pen-
sions. Many individuals who are drawn to policing as a career have as their goal the
desire to help people and to make society a better place. Many are also drawn to
public safety careers because of the job security they provide. Later in this chapter,
ort80008_ch01_001-027.indd 11 20/10/10 6:16 PM

you will find a compelling argument that policing has, in fact, become a profession
(Champion & Hooper, 2003; Kelling & Sousa, 2001; Leonard & More, 2000;
Ortmeier, 2006).
ETHICS AND PROFESSIONALISM IN POLICING

Ethics: Ethics is the philosophical study of conduct that adheres to certain principles of
the philosophical morality. People who wish to “do the right thing,” “be a good person,” and “get
study of conduct that along with others” are expressing the desire to behave in an ethical manner. While
adheres to certain ethical behavior can certainly include obeying the law, following certain religious
principles of morality. tenets, and conforming to societal standards of behavior, ethics itself is not con-
cerned with law, religion, or society.
Instead, ethics centers on demonstrating behavior that reflects specific virtues—
examples of moral excellence. Virtues include discretion, integrity, courage, and self-
restraint. Religious groups added faith, hope, and love as virtues. Other virtues are
honesty, loyalty, generosity, modesty, and responsibility. Demonstrating virtues leads
to moral behavior, which in turn forms a foundation for ethics. (See Figure 1-1.) As
a general rule, virtue refers to who a person is, while ethics refers to what a person
does (Bennett, 1993; Kleinig, 1996; Pollock, 2007). That is, a person becomes virtu-
ous by behaving ethically.
We all learn to practice ethical behavior, presumably during our early years of
growth through maturation as we interact with family and society. Through these
interactions, we come to understand the difference between good and bad behavior.
Societies everywhere require their members to behave in an ethically acceptable
manner (Ortmeier & Meese, 2010).
Ethics, as an aspect of philosophy, originated in ancient Greece. The three philo-
sophical giants who attempted to define and refine ethics were Socrates, Plato, and
Aristotle. Socrates argued that with the proper knowledge, a person will always do
good. Plato wrote that the highest good comes from loving the truth and doing all
things for the sake of the truth. Finally, Aristotle proposed that doing good was a
habit that must be inculcated in persons at a very early age, and that once doing
good has become habitual, a person could not do other than good (Durant, 1966).
Ethical Challenges in Policing

More than most professions, policing presents its members with ethical dilemmas on
a daily basis. Planting drugs on a known drug dealer who has so far escaped justice
is unethical and illegal, but some officers may be tempted to do so anyway. An offi-
cer might rationalize the action as noble if it boosts the chances that the dealer will
be convicted—and thus prevented from selling more drugs and condemning more
people to addiction. The officer might further decide to give false testimony about
the dealer in court to help secure a conviction and thus serve the “greater good.”
figure 1-1 The Relationship among Virtues, Morality, and Ethics
Virtues Morality (right vs. wrong) Ethics (morally correct conduct)
ort80008_ch01_001-027.indd 12 13/12/10 12:05 PM

Lawyer and judge,

with police officer
on witness stand.
It is essential that
officers be truthful
and professional.
Deciding not to behave ethically is just as unethical as overtly questionable

behavior. For instance, an officer may decide not to arrest a drunk driver because
that person is related to an acquaintance or relative of the officer. Like obviously
unethical behavior, opting out of doing the right thing also contributes to public
perception that police officers are corrupt and untrustworthy. However, this kind of
behavior has not commanded the attention of the public in the same way as overt
acts have.
Law Enforcement Codes of Ethics and Conduct

A broad-based interest in the idea that police work should be subject to ethical
standards emerged with the 1936 publication of August Vollmer’s The Police in
Modern Society, which promoted ethics as an essential ingredient for modern
policing. Interest intensified further when the IACP developed a Law Enforcement Law Enforcement
Code of Ethics and Law Enforcement Code of Conduct in the association’s early Code of Ethics and
years. The codes are accepted as universal standards across the police profession. Law Enforcement
They include guidelines concerning performance of officer duties, responsibilities, Code of Conduct:
discretion, and use of force, among others. Many police agencies use these codes codes developed by
to define a formal, agency-wide set of standards that they circulate to all agency the International
members and usually post in a prominent location in all facilities. As you review Association of Chiefs
these codes (shown in the box “International Association of Chiefs of Police of Police (IACP) in
Codes of Ethics and Conduct”), consider ways in which they reflect the polic- its early years.
ing principles presented earlier in this chapter, and think about what virtues they
emphasize.
ort80008_ch01_001-027.indd 13 20/10/10 6:16 PM

International Association of Chiefs of Police Codes

of Ethics and Conduct
Law Enforcement Code of Ethics
As a Law Enforcement Officer, my fundamental duty is to serve mankind; to
safeguard lives and property; to protect the innocent against deception, the
weak against oppression or intimidation, and the peaceful against violence or
disorder; and to respect the Constitutional rights of all men to liberty, equal-
ity, and justice.
I will keep my private life unsullied as an example to all; maintain coura-
geous calm in the face of danger, scorn, or ridicule; develop self-restraint; and
be constantly mindful of the welfare of others. Honest in thought and deed in
both my personal and official life, I will be exemplary in obeying the laws of
the land and the regulations of my department.
Whatever I see or hear of a confidential nature or that is confided in me
in my official capacity will be kept ever secret unless revelation is necessary in
the performance of my duty.
I will never act officiously or permit personal feelings, prejudices, animos-
ities, or friendships to influence my decisions. With no compromise for crime
and the relentless prosecution of criminals, I will enforce the law courteously
and appropriately without fear of favor, malice, or ill will, never employing
unnecessary force or violence and never accepting gratuities.
I recognize the badge of my office as a symbol of public faith, and I accept
it as a public trust to be held so long as I am true to the ethics of the police
service. I will constantly strive to achieve these objectives and ideals, dedicat-
ing myself before God to my chosen profession . . . law enforcement.
Law Enforcement Code of Conduct

All law enforcement officers must be fully aware of the ethical responsibilities
of their position and must strive constantly to live up to the highest possible
standards of professional policing. The International Association of Chiefs of
Police believes it important that police officers have clear advice and counsel
available to assist them in performing their duties consistent with these stan-
dards, and has adopted the following ethical mandates as guidelines to meet
these ends.
Primary Responsibilities of a Police Officer

A police officer acts as an official representative of government who is required
and trusted to work within the law. The officer’s powers and duties are con-
ferred by statute. The fundamental duties of a police officer include serving the
community, safeguarding lives and property, protecting the innocent, keeping
the peace, and ensuring the rights of all to liberty, equality, and justice.
Performance of the Duties of a Police Officer

A police officer shall perform all duties impartially, without favor or affection
or ill will and without regard to status, sex, race, religion, political belief, or
ort80008_ch01_001-027.indd 14 11/16/10 9:35 AM

aspiration. All citizens will be treated equally with courtesy, consideration,

and dignity. Officers will never allow personal feelings, animosities, or friend-
ships to influence official conduct. Laws will be enforced appropriately and
courteously and, in carrying out their responsibilities, officers will strive to
obtain maximum cooperation from the public. They will conduct themselves
in appearance and department in such a manner as to inspire confidence and
respect for the position of the public trust they hold.
Discretion
A police officer will use responsibly the discretion vested in his position and
exercise it within the law. The principle of reasonableness will guide the
officer’s determinations, and the officer will consider all surrounding circum-
stances in determining whether any legal action shall be taken. Consistent
and wise use of discretion, based on professional policing competence, will do
much to preserve good relationships and retain the confidence of the public.
There can be difficulty in choosing between conflicting courses of action. It
is important to remember that a timely word of advice rather than arrest—
which may be correct in appropriate circumstances—can be a more effective
means of achieving a desired end.
Use of Force
A police officer will never employ unnecessary force or violence and will use
only such force in the discharge of duty as is reasonable in all circumstances.
The use of force should be used only with the greatest restraint and only after
discussion, negotiation, and persuasion have been found to be inappropriate
or ineffective. While the use of force is occasionally unavoidable, every police
officer will refrain from unnecessary infliction of pain or suffering and will
never engage in cruel, degrading, or inhumane treatment of any person.
Confidentiality
Whatever a police officer sees, hears, or learns of that is of a confidential
nature will be kept secret unless the performance of duty or legal provision
requires otherwise. Members of the public have a right to security and pri-
vacy, and information obtained about them must not be improperly divulged.
Integrity
A police officer will not engage in acts of corruption or bribery, nor will an
officer condone such acts by other police officers. The public demands that
the integrity of police officers be above reproach. Police officers must, there-
fore, avoid any conduct that might compromise integrity and thus undercut
the public confidence in a law enforcement agency. Officers will refuse to
accept any gifts, presents, subscriptions, favors, gratuities, or promises that
could be interpreted as seeking to cause the officer to refrain from performing
official responsibilities honestly and within the law. Police officers must not
receive private or special advantage from their official status. Respect from
the public cannot be bought; it can only be earned and cultivated.
(continued)
ort80008_ch01_001-027.indd 15 11/16/10 9:35 AM

Cooperation with Other Police Officers and Agencies

Police officers will cooperate with all legally authorized agencies and their
representatives in the pursuit of justice. An officer or agency may be one
among many organizations that may provide law enforcement services to a
jurisdiction. It is imperative that a police officer assists colleagues fully and
completely with respect and consideration at all times.
Personal-Professional Capabilities
Police officers will be responsible for their own standard of professional per-
formance and will take every reasonable opportunity to enhance and improve
their level of knowledge and competence. Through study and experience, a
police officer can acquire the high level of knowledge and competence that is
essential for the efficient and effective performance of duty. The acquisition
of knowledge is a never-ending process of personal and professional develop-
ment that should be pursued constantly.
Private Life
Police officers will behave in a manner that does not bring discredit to their
agencies or themselves. A police officer’s character and conduct while off duty
must always be exemplary, thus maintaining a position of respect in the com-
munity in which he or she lives and serves. The officer’s personal behavior
must be beyond reproach.
Source: Reprinted with permission of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, 515 North
Washington Street, Alexandria, VA 22314 USA, 2010b. Further reproduction without express written
permission from IACP is strictly prohibited.
Ethical Leadership by Example

As you will see throughout this book, all police agency personnel have the power
Leadership: to model ethical behavior—becoming ethical leaders by example. Leadership is the
the art and science art and science of ethically using communication, activities, and behaviors to influ-
of ethically using ence, motivate (not manipulate), or mobilize others to action. Ethical leadership is
communication, ethical behavior on display. Subordinates model behavior based on what a leader
activities, and demonstrates. If a perceived leader or supervisor gives “a wink and a nod” when
behaviors to an officer accepts gratuities, followers and subordinates may engage in that same
influence, motivate behavior, even if their agency’s code of conduct defines it as unethical.
(not manipulate), or Just as unethical behavior by one individual can trigger it in another, ethical
mobilize others to behavior can also spread when individuals model it consistently. In fact, researchers
action. have proven that unethical people who become part of an ethical society or organi-
zation soon begin to emulate and embrace ethical behavior (Ritchie, 2007). These
Ethical leadership: findings further underscore the importance of demonstrating ethical behavior—of
ethical behavior on leading ethically by example.
display. In time, policing has overcome the negative image it was previously saddled
with. Many people see it as a complex job that demands the highest level of
communication skills, physical ability, mental acuity, and emotional discipline.
Unethical officers tarnish this image and make it difficult for the police to gain
ort80008_ch01_001-027.indd 16 20/10/10 6:16 PM

and retain citizens’ trust, an essential ingredient for effective police work (Allen &
Sawhney, 2010; Gaines, Worrall, Southerland, & Angell, 2003). Loss of trust due
to unethical behavior on the part of any police agency personnel can also damage
hard-won perceptions of policing as a profession.
You may be wondering whether formal training is available to help police
personnel at all levels acquire ethical leadership skills. The answer is not encourag-
ing. Police leadership development programs endorsed, certified, and/or presented
through state commissions on peace officer standards and training as well as col-
leges and universities, where such development programs exist, focus primarily on
the promotion of police officers to mid- or upper-level management positions. Very
few focus on ethical leadership development at all ranks, including police recruits
(“Leadership Development around the States,” 2009). We strongly suggest that ethi- Profession:
cal leadership training and development are essential for all police officers, regard- an occupation
less of rank. or discipline that
requires its members
Policing as a Profession to adhere to
prescribed standards
A profession is an occupation or discipline that requires its members to adhere of behavior and
to prescribed standards of behavior and competence. All professions—including competence and that
policing—share the following characteristics: has characteristics
• A recognized body of knowledge specific to the profession including common
goals and principles,
• Common goals and principles
a common
• A code of ethics and standards of conduct language, a system
• A public service orientation for licensing or
• Common language and vocabulary credentialing
members, and
• A system for licensing or credentialing members
an association
• An association that promotes the profession’s standards and interests (in that promotes
the case of policing, such associations include the International Association the profession’s
of Chiefs of Police, or the IACP, and the Police Executive Research Forum, standards and
or PERF). interest.
U.S. Attorney General

John Ashcroft
addressing the
111th International
Association of Chiefs
of Police (IACP)
Annual Conference
at the Los Angeles
Convention Center.
ort80008_ch01_001-027.indd 17 20/10/10 6:16 PM

Graduates of a NYPD
Police Academy
class during their
commencement at
Madison Square
Garden.
To qualify as a member of any profession, including policing, people must

gain knowledge and develop skills relevant to that profession. They can do so by
attending special schools, colleges, or training centers. They can also accumulate
experience and expertise by doing the job. The specialized knowledge police officers
acquire through their education, training, and job experience enables them to make
decisions and take actions that others without such knowledge are not equipped to
make. For instance, the average citizen is not expected to apprehend a suspect dur-
ing a robbery in progress. However, a police officer is expected to intervene—and
to have the skills and knowledge to do so effectively.
Much of the knowledge gained by police officers cannot be absorbed by
studying lists of rules but instead must be learned through on-the-job experience.
Consider the way aspiring doctors or lawyers must learn the rules and theories of
their profession before they practice that profession. Police go through a similar
process before they are allowed to work alone on the street.
At various times in the past, experts have characterized police officers as
“unprofessional professionals” (Delattre, 1989) or as an “ambivalent force”
(Niederhoffer & Blumberg, 1976). Some have used the term “impossible” to
describe the directive of police to ensure public safety (Manning & Van Maanen,
1978). These confusing terms reflect the fact that in the United States, the
law gives certain powers to police officers while also restricting their actions
(Goldstein, 1977) to preserve personal liberty in our democratic society. A good
example is the Miranda warning that police are supposed to recite to a suspect
in custody before the person can be interrogated. If the suspect confesses before
the Miranda warning is delivered, the confession may be inadmissible in court
unless the confession falls under one of the judicially recognized exceptions to the
Miranda admonition.
ort80008_ch01_001-027.indd 18 20/10/10 6:16 PM

Leadership on t h e job
Police Academies for All
In a large city on the U.S. East Coast, a police captain create a personal connection: police work is demys-
coordinates an innovative program: a police academy tified for the average citizen, and the police gain
for local senior citizens. Components of the program supporters in the community. The more people know
include a ride-along with patrol officers and the about how police do their job, the more likely citizens
chance to use the computerized firearms simulator will be to support their efforts.
that is used in the recruit academy.
1. What other community groups might benefit from
“If we gave them a gun and a badge, they would
attending an academy like the one described in
do it,” the captain reports. He describes the real pur-
this scenario?
pose of the academy: “Seniors are home during the
day, they see a lot, they’re the staples in their com- 2. What other citizen–police activities might increase
munity. . . . They’re the ones who can bring back that the bond between the police and the community
‘it takes a village’ kind of [mentality]. . . .” they serve?
The program underscores a phenomenon that
occurs every time police and community residents
As mentioned earlier, most police officers consider themselves professionals, and

certainly the world of policing is closed to those who do not have the appropriate
background, training, education, or experience. As police agencies hire more offi-
cers who have higher education and demonstrate personal ethical standards, public
perceptions of policing as a profession will likely strengthen further.
ETHICS IN ACTION
Technology Exposes Officer’s Unethical Behavior
hen a 17-year-old male was arrested for a shooting that occurred
W six days earlier, he was listening to music on his MP3 player. The
detective who arrested him questioned the young man for over an
hour with neither a lawyer nor his parents present. Unknown to the detec-
tive, the young man taped the interrogation using his MP3 player.
During the young man’s subsequent trial, the detective denied that an
interrogation had taken place. When the defense presented the MP3 tape
as evidence, the detective was charged with three felony counts of perjury
and terminated by the police department after his conviction. The young
man received seven years in prison on a weapons charge, but the charge
of attempted murder was dropped after the detective’s perjury conviction.
1. What implications does this case have for any other trials at which the
detective testified in which the defendant was convicted?
2. What are the implications for public safety when officers manipulate
the truth to gain convictions or “not guilty” verdicts?
ort80008_ch01_001-027.indd 19 20/10/10 6:16 PM

LEADERSHIP VERSUS MANAGEMENT AND SUPERVISION
Without strong leaders, any organization can fail. Every member of every police
agency thus has the opportunity and responsibility to become a leader. Leadership
should begin with the chief executive of the agency and spread throughout all
levels of the organization, including the line officer level. Line officers have the
most direct contact with citizens and possess broad discretionary powers. For these
reasons, they must function as leaders whenever they answer a call-for-service—
demonstrating skills such as communication, critical thinking, and problem solv-
ing. Indeed, every time a patrol officer responds to a call-for-service, a leadership
opportunity presents itself. Patrol officers become the stabilizing influence in a crisis
situation and have the potential to affect a citizen’s life in a positive way, even if the
call is nothing more serious than a barking dog.
Choosing to Lead
Police officers at other levels must also demonstrate leadership. Whether working
alone or with partners, all officers must identify and solve problems quickly, and
communicate effectively with a diverse array of individuals who may differ in terms
of age, race, ethnicity, gender, and lifestyle. Whether they wish to be or not, all offi-
cers are problem solvers, and problem-solving ability is a leadership skill.
But merely knowing what skills constitute effective leadership is not enough.
Police personnel, no matter what rank they hold, must also have the courage
New York State

Troopers speak to a
reporter outside the
house of the family
of Linh Voong (L)
on April 4, 2009,
in Johnson City,
New York, a day
after Voong killed
13 people and him-
self at the American
Civic Association in
nearby Binghamton,
New York. Authorities
reported that the
shooter’s name was
Linh Voong and that
he used Jiverly Wong
as an alias to purchase
weapons.
ort80008_ch01_001-027.indd 20 20/10/10 6:16 PM

(a leadership quality) to put those skills into action—within their agency as well as
with community members and partners from other private and public agencies (such
as schools, other police agencies, fire departments, and businesses). Without that
courage, an officer is just another person in the crowd of badges. Demonstrating
courage takes practice. Many police professionals have the knowledge and ability
to lead. Yet, they may choose not to exercise their leadership skills—not to do the
right thing—because they fear losing the rewards that conformity provides (such as
promotion and the preservation of friendships with colleagues). Indeed, a common
saying in the field is, “To get along, you have to go along.”
Understanding Managers’ and Supervisors’ Responsibilities

Middle managers and line supervisors have a dual responsibility when it comes
to demonstrating leadership: They must be role models and authority figures to
both citizens and line officers, as well as communicate executive decisions to the
officers reporting to them. Meanwhile, a police agency’s chief executive must take
responsibility for securing the safety of the community at large as well as be a
public role model for exemplary and unblemished police leadership and conduct
in general.
Managers and supervisors can, and should, also be leaders. However, manage-
ment and supervision are not synonymous with leadership. Managers direct their
subordinates in the completion of tasks toward the accomplishment of a specific
organizational goal. Supervisors oversee the work of their subordinates and are
available to answer questions, provide training for certain tasks, and account to
superiors for their subordinates’ performance.
Leaders may supervise and manage, but they also take responsibility for influ-
encing and motivating others. They empower people by guiding individuals in the
process of change, and they account for subordinates’ actions. While managers and
supervisors focus on directing and maintaining existing operations, leaders guide
growth and change in their organization or group with an eye on the future (see
Table 1-1).
Therefore, it takes a leader to manage a progressive organization and to plan
for the future while also addressing challenges and needs in the present. Throughout
table 1-1 Characteristics of the Manager, Supervisor, and Leader

MANAGER SUPERVISOR LEADER
Plans activities Directs employees Influences and motivates people
Organizes resources Inspects work Displays integrity
Controls costs and quality Evaluates performance Models ethical behavior
Directs employees Rewards good work Creates mission
Corrects poor performance Tenaciously pursues goals
Builds relationships
Focuses on strategy
Sources: Davis & Prawel, 2008; Derrick, 2009; Northouse, 2009; Ortmeier, 1997; Townsend, 1970.
ort80008_ch01_001-027.indd 21 20/10/10 6:16 PM

this book, you will learn more about leadership, how it applies in the administration
of a police organization, and how you can develop and practice leadership skills.
Cultivating Leadership Abilities

A key to becoming a leader is wanting to do so. You can cultivate your own leader-
ship abilities by doing the following:
• Recognize that leaders at different organizational levels will lead differently.
• Recognize that there are leaders at every level of the organization. A person
need not possess an official title to be a leader.
• Make sure you know where your organization is headed strategically and
where you stand in your development as a leader by performing regular
organizational and self-assessments.
• Be certain there is a way for you and other leaders to develop knowledge
and skills throughout the organization by regularly interacting with all
personnel.
• Tailor your strategic efforts to support your organization’s goals and values.
• Regularly communicate your organization’s mission, values, and goals to
subordinates and others (International Association of Chiefs of Police,
2005).
Supervision and management and how they relate to leadership and administra-
tion is covered in greater detail in Chapter 11.
POLICE ADMINISTRATION: COMMON ACTIVITIES
Most large organizations have many complex administrative activities that must
be completed on a regular basis. These include (but are not limited to) planning,
budgeting, hiring and training employees, and purchasing and maintaining equip-
ment and facilities. Police agencies must carry out these activities, too. Large police
agencies have single departments devoted to specific administrative activities, such
as a budgeting department or a facilities management team. In smaller agencies,
the responsibility for each process may rest on the shoulders of the chief executive,
whether that person is a police commissioner, chief, or sheriff.
We can think of a police agency’s administrative activities as falling into three
broad categories: line operations, administrative support, and auxiliary services.
Line Operations
Activities that serve the public and the goals of the organization directly are usually
lumped under a title such as line operations. They can include patrolling, traffic
management, criminal investigation, communication with the public, organized-
crime control, juvenile and community services (such as bicycle inspections and
security at sporting events), controlled substance (drug) law enforcement, and
school services (for example, drug-abuse prevention programs).
ort80008_ch01_001-027.indd 22 20/10/10 6:16 PM

A man is handcuffed
and arrested by Aspen,
Colorado, police
outside the Cannabis
Crown 2010 Expo on
April 18, 2010. The
man was detained by
hotel security after
carrying a large jar of
marijuana out of the
marijuana trade show
in the basement event
space downstairs.
Aspen police then
found the man had
no medical marijuana
license and was
carrying a set of brass
knuckles, which are
illegal in Colorado.
Administrative Support
Activities that serve the agency’s needs and that have very little direct impact on
the community or its residents come under the title administrative support. These
include hiring and training, budgeting, and internal affairs.
Although these activities are not typically outsourced, smaller jurisdictions have
found it cost-effective to outsource some training support by collaborating with
other agencies, and may engage outside consultants for such activities. However,
outsourcing of other activities may be frowned upon. These include the storage of
unclosed case files, property, and evidence. Unclosed case files could contain sensi-
tive and confidential material that, if revealed outside the agency, might compromise
the case resolution. The storage of property and evidence must follow certain proto-
cols imposed by the law and the courts. For instance, if a piece of physical evidence
found at a crime scene is contaminated or lost, the prosecution and defense in a
court case cannot do their jobs effectively.
Auxiliary Services
Activities that support line operations are sometimes known as auxiliary services.
These typically include records maintenance, property and evidence management,
forensic laboratory services, detention, alcohol testing, facilities and equipment
maintenance, and coordination of volunteers. Some auxiliary services can be out-
sourced. For instance, prisoners may be detained at a centralized county facility.
And an agency may hire a private company to provide laboratory services or facili-
ties maintenance services.
As you progress through this book, you will learn about these and other activi-
ties essential to police administration.
ort80008_ch01_001-027.indd 23 20/10/10 6:16 PM

summary
• Principles of Policing. Passage of the Metropolitan Police Act in London in
1829 established the world’s first recognizable local police department, and
came in response to an increase in crime in the city. The British home secretary
Sir Robert Peel envisioned a police firm comprising citizens paid by the
community to prevent (rather than merely repress) crime and disorder. A set
of principles, commonly attributed to Peel, arose to support this vision. These
principles emphasize the notion that police are peace officers first, rather than
crime fighters. The police motto “To protect and serve” reinforces this notion.
• Police Administration: A Brief History. Police administration has evolved in
terms of how police have been organized and what they consider their core
strategy for providing value to the communities they serve. The founding
of the London Metropolitan Police inspired the creation of other local
police departments in the United States. Many state and federal-level police
organizations (such as the Texas Rangers and the U.S. marshals), as well as
police unions, also had early origins. Since the 1850s, notions of policing
strategy have also evolved. During 1850–1930, ideas of policing shifted
from community service to crime fighting. August Vollmer and his protégé
O. W. Wilson laid the foundation for modern policing, by (among other
achievements) initiating the use of police cars as patrol devices and rotating
patrol assignments to reduce corruption. During 1930–1980, policing
strategies proliferated, many of them integrating principles associated with
Sir Robert Peel. Since 1980, police agencies have flexibly mixed traditional
policing with a range of other strategies, and the question of whether policing
constitutes a profession has continued to inspire debate.
• Ethics and Professionalism in Policing. Ethics is the philosophical study of
conduct that adheres to certain principles of morality, and centers on the
demonstration of behavior that reflects specific virtues. More than most
professions, policing presents its members with ethical dilemmas on a daily
basis. The Law Enforcement Codes of Ethics and Conduct, developed by
the International Association of Chiefs of Police, helps establish behavioral
standards to combat unethical behavior. Ethical leadership is ethical behavior
on display. Policing shares characteristics of all professions, including a
recognized body of knowledge specific to the profession, common goals and
principles, and a code of ethics and standards of conduct.
• Leadership versus Management and Supervision. Every member of a police
agency has the opportunity and responsibility to become a leader. Managers
and supervisors can and should be leaders, but management and supervision
are not synonymous with leadership. Managers direct subordinates in the
completion of tasks. Supervisors oversee subordinates’ work and provide
guidance. Leaders influence and motivate others. Managers and supervisors
thus focus on directing and maintaining current operations, while leaders
guide growth and change with an eye toward the future. Anyone can
take steps to cultivate leadership abilities, including knowing where one’s
organization is headed strategically and regularly communicating the
organization’s mission, values, and goals to others.
• Police Administration: Common Activities. Police administration activities
fall into three categories: (1) line operations (activities that serve the public
ort80008_ch01_001-027.indd 24 20/10/10 6:17 PM

directly, such as patrolling, criminal investigation, and juvenile services);

(2) administrative support (activities that serve the agency’s needs, such
as training and evidence storage); and (3) auxiliary services (activities that
directly support line operations, such as records maintenance and property
management).
key terms
ethical leadership
ethics
Law Enforcement Code of Conduct
Law Enforcement Code of Ethics
leadership
Peel, Sir Robert
police administration
principles of policing
profession
self-contained ethical leadership agent
Vollmer, August
Wilson, O. W.
discussion questions
1. Nine principles of policing commonly attributed to Sir Robert Peel arose in the early
1800s. How did these principles reflect Peel’s vision of policing, and how are they
relevant in policing today?
2. What contributions to modern policing were made by August Vollmer and O. W.
Wilson? In your view, which of these contributions are still relevant and which are
not? Why?
3. Why was the decade of the 1960s a critical period for policing and society overall in
the United States? In your view, has there been another period just as critical in the
last 40 years? If so, what is that period, and why do you consider it as critical as the
1960s?
4. Why did the International Association of Chiefs of Police establish codes of ethics
and conduct for police officers? In your opinion, how effective are these codes?
5. Why is ethical leadership important in a police agency?
6. How do management and supervision differ from each other and from leadership?
Why are they not synonymous with leadership?
7. Which administrative activities do you consider most critical for a police agency?
(Consider examples of line operations, administrative support activities, and auxil-
iary services.) Explain your rationale.
ort80008_ch01_001-027.indd 25 20/10/10 6:17 PM

WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

The People Are the Police
One of the most enduring and frequently quoted policing tenets attributed to
Sir Robert Peel is the adage “The police are the people, and the people are the
police.” The truth of the saying is made real when community members play
a hands-on role in making their neighborhoods safe.
In Kansas City, Missouri, a program called Aim4Peace is having some
notable success. Reformed criminals spend time in the most troubled spots in
the city, working with young people to defuse conflict before it can escalate.
Commander Anthony Ell of the Kansas City Police Department’s violent
crimes division reports, “The work they’re doing in that area is having an
impact.”
About a half-dozen reformed criminals, known as street intervention
workers or violence interrupters, resolved 22 conflicts in 2008, and 14 con-
flicts by the middle of 2009. Kansas City’s east side—previously rife with
poverty, gangs, drugs, and the city’s highest murder rates—is no longer listed
as the most dangerous district, according to crime data.
The pilot program for Aim4Peace originated in Chicago, Illinois, and is
known as CeaseFire. The program uses a number of means—including vio-
lence interrupters and community-mobilization tactics—to reduce shootings
and killings in at-risk neighborhoods. The University of Illinois at Chicago,
School of Public Health, initiated the Chicago Project for Violence Prevention
in 1999, and used public health strategies to develop its own. Recent research
confirmed that the program has worked in many targeted neighborhoods,
with a 16 to 28 percent reduction in shootings in four out of six sites.
Among the tools CeaseFire uses are major public education campaigns,
some of which have emphasized the importance of voting, and essential ser-
vices like General Equivalency Diploma (GED) programs, substance-abuse
treatment, and assistance for citizens seeking paid work or affordable child
care. These services, when used, have been shown to improve the lives of all
at-risk youths, including gang members.
CeaseFire has inspired contributions from all members of the community.
For example, clergy have helped communicate the message of peace to church
members, community leaders have done so for neighborhood residents, and
citizens have spread the word to gang members and others by means of
marches and prayer vigils. The universal message is that the shooting and
killing must stop.
When researchers interviewed those at-risk youths who reported ben-
efiting from the program, they found that CeaseFire had become extremely
important to these young people. In particular, youths valued the ability
to contact their outreach worker. In words reminiscent of a participant in
Alcoholics Anonymous, these young people explained that they called or met
with their outreach worker “at critical times, when they were tempted to
resume taking drugs, were involved in illegal activities, or when they felt that
violence was imminent.”
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The program has also helped the violence interrupters. Their employ-
ment with CeaseFire has provided them with meaningful work in their own
troubled communities when, as ex-offenders, they might have had trouble
finding work at all. They have received a second chance to build productive
lives and the opportunity to help their communities, where previously they
had been part of the problem (Gross, 2009; Ritter, 2009).
1. Analyze how the Aim4Peace and CeaseFire programs demonstrate the
tenet “The police are the people and the people are the police.”
2. If reformed violent criminals can successfully counsel at-risk persons to
avoid violence, what other criminal behavior might be stemmed by the
use of former offenders as counselors?
ort80008_ch01_001-027.indd 27 20/10/10 6:17 PM

2
Police managers and officers,
discussing strategy at a weekly
meeting.
Policing Strategies
learning outcomes

• define what is meant by a policing strategy.
• describe the defining characteristics as well as the advantages and
disadvantages of several policing strategies including: traditional
policing, community policing, problem-oriented policing, team and
neighborhood policing, zero-tolerance policing, intelligence-led policing,
and strategic policing.
• explain how and why each strategy evolved.
• articulate how the strategies relate to one another.
Introduction
Many policing strategies have been introduced since the principles of policing
attributed to Robert Peel were formulated. A policing strategy is an approach
to delivering police services based on specific assumptions about matters
ort80008_ch02_028-050.indd 28 11/16/10 9:32 AM

chapter 2 Policing Strategies 29
such as how police and community residents should interact, what causes crime Policing strategy:
to worsen, and how technology might be leveraged. Each strategy has unique an approach to
advantages and disadvantages. Some strategies are mutually exclusive, while delivering police
services based on
others complement or support one another.
specific assumptions
Regardless of which strategies a particular agency uses, most police manag- about matters such
ers agree that strategies should position an agency to deliver the best possible as how police and
performance. Yet proving whether a strategy serves this purpose is difficult, in community residents
part because some outcomes of effective performance—such as crime preven- should interact,
tion as well as quality of life for citizens—are difficult to measure. To complicate what causes crime
to worsen, and how
matters further, since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the increased
technology might be
emphasis on homeland defense has redirected police resources away from civilian leveraged.
policing innovations and toward counterterrorism and homeland security initia-
tives. As a result, many agencies now place less emphasis on policing strategies
designed to prevent local crime and disorder.
In this chapter, we examine several strategies in common use today—
specifically, traditional policing, community policing, problem-oriented policing,
team and neighborhood policing, zero-tolerance policing, intelligence-led policing,
and strategic policing. We do not strongly endorse a particular strategy; rather,
we maintain that police agencies should select strategies based on their situa-
tion and the environment in which they are operating. Modern-day police must
demonstrate flexibility—applying the strategies that best address their existing cir-
cumstances and being willing to shift strategies as conditions change. That being
said, we give special attention to community policing in this chapter, because it
appears to be the most comprehensive approach and encompasses some of the
other strategies described in the chapter.
We also present the policing strategies in an order designed to demonstrate
how policing has evolved—from the traditional twentieth-century, command-and-
control model to progressive models including community, problem-oriented, and
strategic policing. We lay out the defining characteristics of each strategy, explore
how different strategies relate to one another, and consider the strategies’ advan-
tages and disadvantages.
TRADITIONAL POLICING
Traditional policing:
Traditional policing is a highly authoritarian, paramilitary strategy that first took an authoritarian,
shape in the United States during the 1950s in response to rampant corruption in paramilitary strategy
the police service. To understand how this strategy evolved, we need to look further developed to
into the past—as far back as colonial America. mitigate corruption
in the police service.
ort80008_ch02_028-050.indd 29 10/15/10 5:05 PM

British officer being Historical Context

harassed by colonials
in Boston before the In colonial America, polic-
Revolutionary War. ing was shared among
citizens in a community.
This approach made sense
at the time, because the
central British govern-
ment lay an ocean away,
and the colonies were gov-
erned by appointed British
officials with little or no
real authority. Colonial
communities relied on
male citizens to serve as
watchmen who patrolled
the streets at night to pre-
vent and respond to crimi-
nal activity.
During the nine-
teenth century, as reforms
attributed to Robert Peel
reshaped policing in
Great Britain, policing in the United States was formalized through the development
of public police agencies (Cronkhite, 1995). In the early twentieth century, the focus
of American policing shifted from providing service (such as traffic management
and assistance) and maintaining order toward controlling crime and viewing police
officers as crime fighters. Yet the police were still highly politicized; that is, subject
to control by political leaders. As a result, corruption in the police service ran ram-
pant. In response, federal, state, and city governments set out to remove politics from
policing as much as possible. They encouraged a paramilitary strategy as a way to
eliminate corruption. Beginning in the 1950s, police organizations became highly
structured, with strict command-and-control protocols. For instance, decisions about
police operations were made at the highest levels of the organization, and line-level
supervisors and street officers simply complied with command directives.
Defining Characteristics
As the twentieth century progressed, police strategy in the United States became highly
authoritarian. The goal of this strategy was to deliver predictability in police officers’
performance. Advocates of traditional policing promote highly supervised field opera-
tions as well as prescriptive training for officers; for example, training that tells officers
what to do and how to do it rather than fostering individual initiative, leadership, and
creative problem solving. To combat possible corruption, they recommend an apoliti-
cal philosophy (meaning that officers should not succumb to political influence), cen-
tralized administration of police agencies, pinpointed rather than shared responsibility
for results, and strong discipline of errant officers. Through these practices, propo-
nents of traditional policing believe that officers’ behavior can be made “professional”
and “objective” (Goldstein, 2001; Meese & Kurz, 1993; Wilson, 1963).
ort80008_ch02_028-050.indd 30 10/15/10 5:05 PM

A police officer places

someone under arrest.
In a traditional policing environment, officers patrol an area; take action when

they observe illegal activity; and respond rapidly to reported crimes, emergencies,
and calls-for-service. They may also conduct follow-up investigations. Evaluations
of officer performance are based on visible and quantifiable evidence of police activ-
ity, such as increasing numbers of arrests and traffic citations, and reductions in
crime rates.
Traditional policing is based on the assumption that an agency can best control
crime by improving the procedural and disciplined behavior of police personnel
and strengthening the organization overall by creating and sustaining measurable
expected performance standards. This strategy discounts the notion that the police
can also serve a social function; that is, through their positive interactions with
citizens, they can influence and improve the quality of life in both safe and troubled
neighborhoods. In agencies using traditional policing, officers do not routinely
interact with citizens unless the latter are either victims or offenders.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Traditional Policing

The traditional policing strategy has specific advantages. For example, it is predict-
able through a calls-for-service orientation. It is measurable through an emphasis
on reports written, citations issued, and arrests completed. And it is discipline
oriented. It has disadvantages as well. Specifically, it is reactive (police respond to
incidents and problems after the fact) rather than proactive (police work to prevent
incidents and problems from happening in the first place). Moreover, without regu-
lar interaction with community residents, officers cannot develop a sense of crime
patterns. Instead, they respond to random calls-for-service, which take them to
far-flung locations around the jurisdiction. Under these conditions, officers do not
establish collaborative problem-solving relationships with citizens in patrol areas,
ort80008_ch02_028-050.indd 31 10/15/10 5:05 PM

and citizens do not develop any familiarity with the police personnel who patrol
their neighborhoods.
A number of studies have addressed the problems associated with tradi-
tional policing. These studies were conducted by several national commissions:
the President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice
(1967), the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders (1968), the National
Advisory Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence (1969), the
President’s Commission on Campus Unrest (1970), and the National Advisory
Commission on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals (1973) (Goldstein, 1990).
The studies revealed that the basic practices used in traditional policing (for
example, motorized patrol, rapid response, and follow-up investigations) have little
use when it comes to the substantive problems facing neighborhoods, such as drug
trafficking and prostitution. In addition, the bureaucratic and autocratic nature of
police organizations that emphasize the traditional strategy appears to leave citizens
and officers alike unsatisfied. Citizens still fear crime, and officers lack the motiva-
tion to address chronic community problems (Couper & Lobitz, 1991; Ortmeier &
Meese, 2010; Travis & Langworthy, 2008).
COMMUNITY POLICING
Community Community policing reemerged in the 1980s as an alternative to traditional polic-
policing: ing, and emphasizes close interaction between police and the neighborhoods they
an alternative serve. This strategy draws extensively from the principles of policing attributed to
strategy to Robert Peel.
traditional policing
that emphasizes
close interaction Connections to Peel’s Principles
between police and Dissatisfied with traditional policing’s emphasis on separation of police and the
the neighborhoods public, citizens and police began to collaborate in seeking solutions to chronic com-
they serve. munity problems. The modern concept of community policing was born. Yet com-
munity policing is not new. It is what Robert Peel envisioned. As Dean Esserman,
chief of police in Providence, Rhode Island, stated in an interview for Communities
& Banking in 2005:
I worked as an intern with the New York City police department. I would have
never expected that in my first month, I would be delivering a baby in a tenement
with a police officer. Through this experience and others, I came to understand
that the police deliver more babies than they shoot bad guys. . . . We help people
deal with their landlords. We get them heat when they need it. We find children
when they are lost. . . . In many ways, the police are the agency of first and last
resort for people, especially people in poverty. (Esserman, 2005)
The community policing strategy is based on the assumption that police and citizens
of a specific community share the same values. Thus, community policing may work
differently in different communities, depending on what those shared values are.
ort80008_ch02_028-050.indd 32 10/15/10 5:05 PM

This diversity makes it difficult to define the strategy in formal terms. However, we
can still draw some common conclusions about community policing.
In an agency that uses this strategy, policing efforts are customized to the needs
of an individual community. Agency leaders emphasize decentralization of the
organization; for example, by allowing line-level officers to make decisions and to
help solve problems that directly affect citizens’ lives in a particular neighborhood.
And they recognize that crime control (law enforcement) is only one function of
the police. Officers and citizens work together to articulate the problems unique to
that particular community (such as graffiti, abandoned autos, or prostitution). To
identify problems, some agencies use citizen surveys, wherein residents of the com-
munity define the issues they believe the police should focus on. Demographic and
statistical information can also generate important insights, such as which areas
in the community contain more elderly or young people, and where income and
education disparities are widest. Finally, dialogues with community leaders (elected
or unofficial) can produce additional information. The agency and community then
develop solutions to the problems, implement them, and evaluate those solutions’
effectiveness.
Community policing can take many different forms, but key elements include
bonds of trust and collaboration between police and the public. Moreover, agen-
cies that get the most value from this strategy adopt its philosophy and practical
application throughout the organization, rather than merely promoting it in just
one or two parts of the agency (Ortmeier & Meese, 2010). Finally, community
policing occurs every time police officers meet with community members (in
groups or one-on-one) to discuss and resolve community-based concerns, and
every time solutions are customized to fit the unique needs and circumstances of
a community.
A city police officer

speaks with young
people in an inner-city
housing project.
ort80008_ch02_028-050.indd 33 10/15/10 5:05 PM

With these characteristics in mind, we may define community policing by any

or all of the following, drawn from various sources:
• A philosophy, management style, and organizational design that promotes
proactive problem solving and police–community partnerships to address
the causes of crime, fear of crime, and community issues (California State
Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General, 1996).
• A policing philosophy as well as a strategy that promotes community
engagement, participation, and problem solving; action that leads to
the discovery and implementation of solutions to community problems
(Ortmeier, 1996).
• An approach to policing that focuses on crime and social disorder through
the delivery of police services that include aspects of traditional law
enforcement as well as prevention, problem solving, community engagement,
and partnerships. The community policing model balances reactive responses
to calls-for-service with proactive problem solving centered on the causes
of crime and disorder. Community policing requires police and citizens to
join together as partners in the course of both identifying and effectively
addressing these issues (U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community
Oriented Policing Services, 2007).
Praise for Community Policing

In agencies that use the community policing strategy, both police personnel and
community residents may accept that the traditional policing strategy is still valu-
able and appropriate under certain circumstances, such as calls-for-service in times
of emergency. But they forge a more intimate relationship than they do under
the traditional approach. Everyone involved understands that the police not only
enforce the law, they also serve the public. Moreover, unlike traditional policing,
community policing is proactive (police and community members work together to
prevent problems) rather than reactive.
These characteristics create certain advantages, including meaningful com-
munication between citizens and line officers as well as increased communication
between line officers and their immediate superiors—leading to greater confidence
in all agency members. People learn that their individual efforts make a significant
difference. Cities that have successfully integrated the community policing strategy
into their operations have reported increased job satisfaction among all levels of
personnel, as well as a sense of empowerment and of being valued (U.S. Department
of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, 2007).
Criticism and Resistance

Community policing has also encountered some criticism and resistance, particularly
from members of the police service itself. For example, some line officers, as well as
supervisors and command staff, worry that it erodes effective police practices that
took years to develop. In agencies that want to adopt this strategy but in which
concerns about it have emerged, managers can emphasize the new role that line
officers will play in driving the initiative. This new role includes making suggestions
for improving the community. Managers can also point out the community policing
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makes traditional policing more effective because calls-for-service are received from
the same citizens the officers regularly work with.
In some cases, excessive enthusiasm for community policing, coupled with
unrealistic expectations of what an agency can accomplish through it, leads to the
abandonment of the strategy. If police managers favor traditional gauges of police
performance, which value quantitative measurements such as number of arrests, an
agency might also decide to steer clear of community policing.
Some officers have suggested that community policing seeks to turn police into
social workers who take a “soft” line on crime. On the contrary, proponents of this
strategy maintain that individuals who commit crimes must bear the consequences.
However, the vast majority of people with whom the police come into contact are
not criminals. Even in the most crime-infested areas of a city, most residents are law-
abiding citizens. Community policing recognizes that responsible citizens should
not be viewed in the same light as chronic criminal offenders. In fact, the practical
application of community policing involves citizens and police working together to
be tougher on crime.
Another challenge presented by community policing is that it requires knowl-
edge and skills (such as leadership) that differ from those that line officers tra-
ditionally have acquired in their training (Gaines & Miller, 2005; “Leadership
Development around the States,” 2009; Ortmeier & Meese, 2010; Pelfrey, 2004;
Spelman & Eck, 1987). To be sure, fostering a sense of community between police
representatives and residents is no small feat. The fact that police are highly trained
in law enforcement tactics, wear distinctive uniforms, carry weapons, and possess
the authority to enforce laws and arrest people creates real distinctions between offi-
cers and those they serve. An understandable us versus them mentality may arise,
which often erodes communication between police and citizens and, in some cases,
sparks civil unrest.
To combat these problems, police agency members and citizens must strive to
cultivate a strong sense of community in which all share responsibility for reduc-
ing and preventing crime and disorder. As the most visible and readily available
Spotlight on Surveys
Internal and external surveys can generate insights that can help a police agency
strengthen its community policing efforts. Some agencies have circulated
internal surveys among their own personnel, asking for their perceptions of
community policing and their recommendations for improvements. Agencies
can also use external surveys to solicit comments from citizens concerning
their experience with officers who respond to calls-for-service. Many such
surveys ask citizens to rate responding officers on criteria including profes-
sional conduct, level of concern, effort to put the citizen at ease, helpfulness,
and subject-matter expertise. Yet managers must use care when evaluating
comments and data acquired through external surveys. Citizens may not nec-
essarily respond truthfully. And some line officers might worry that manage-
ment will use negative comments from the surveys as justification for denying
them promotions.
ort80008_ch02_028-050.indd 35 10/16/10 9:52 AM

representatives of government, the police can do their part by responding to non-

crime concerns (if the response does not unduly restrict crime fighting) and by refer-
ring citizens to government agencies capable of addressing their concerns. Likewise,
top-level city and county administrators can maintain citizens’ confidence in the
police by ensuring that their respective agencies respond appropriately when police
forward citizen complaints or concerns to them. This kind of collaboration requires
effective leadership by the police. Use of tools such as surveys can also help generate
information needed to fine-tune an agency’s community policing practices. (See the
box “Spotlight on Surveys.”)
PROBLEM-ORIENTED POLICING
Problem-oriented The problem-oriented policing strategy represents the tactical implementation of
policing: community policing. Through this strategy, police and local citizens identify prob-
the tactical lems facing the community and, together, develop solutions to them.
implementation of
community policing.
According to the problem-oriented policing strategy, problems differ from incidents.
An incident is a single occurrence (such as a shots-fired call) requiring a response
from police. A problem is the occurrence of two or more incidents of a similar
nature (for example, several shots-fired calls coming from the same neighborhood).
Some problems (such as a dog that keeps barking, a group of young people who
regularly insult passersby, or a homeless person who frequently sleeps in front of
an apartment building) do not necessarily require a police response. However, they
may still have great importance for the citizens reporting them. Problem-oriented
police officers and managers appreciate the significance of such issues to the com-
munity. They prioritize problems according to their importance to the community
(top priority), their importance to the police agency (next-level priority), and their
frequency of occurrence (next priority). They may also categorize incidents accord-
ing to crime type, nature, geography (neighborhood), time, or people involved
(suspects and victims). Categorizing is useful because it helps an agency identify hot
spots (and times) so it can deploy resources appropriately.
Herman Goldstein, the founder of the modern concept of problem-oriented
policing, suggests that police agencies interested in adopting this strategy should
shift from an inward orientation (using internal evaluation criteria such as number
of sworn officers) to an outward orientation (using external criteria such as the
agency’s impact on chronic problems in the community). Goldstein thus advocates
attention to effectiveness over efficiency. Indeed, agencies using the problem-
oriented policing strategy place less emphasis on statistics and more emphasis on
initiatives designed to eliminate problems (Goldstein, 1990, 2001).
The SARA Problem-Solving Model

One of the most commonly used approaches in problem-oriented policing is the
SARA (scan, analyze, respond, assess) problem-solving model. To use this model,
police and community members progress through four steps:
ort80008_ch02_028-050.indd 36 10/15/10 5:05 PM

1. Scan. Identify crime and disorder problems in the community.

2. Analyze. Gather and examine information about the problem (for example,
offenders, victims, and time and location of occurrence).
3. Respond. Develop and implement solutions to the problem.
4. Assess. Evaluate responses’ efficiency and effectiveness.
The box titled “SARA in Action” shows an example of how one police agency and
community applied this model.
SARA in Action
A city neighborhood struggled with several problems on a particular block.
According to community members, the problems included noise, large groups
of people obstructing sidewalks, illegal drug activity, and debris discarded in
the street. The local police department worked with neighborhood residents
to apply the SARA problem-solving model:
1. Scan. Through reviewing crime reports, field intelligence reports,
and citizen interviews, officers learned that the most visible con-
tributor to all the identified problems was an open-air illegal drug
market.
2. Analyze. While reviewing information about the drug market, police
and community leaders discovered that the illegal drug activity was
backed and assisted by people who owned a clothing store located
across the street from a high school. Analysis also revealed that the
undesirable activities began during the late morning hours and ended
around midnight each day.
3. Respond. Citizens requested an easily recognizable, visible tool that
the drug dealers, their customers, and neighbors would perceive as a
proactive community–police response to the problem. To that end,
the police allocated a van to the program and affixed a sign to its
side panel identifying it as a police–community partnership vehicle.
The sign read “ACT One,” which stood for Against Crime Together,
Precinct One. Neighborhood residents and business representatives
refurbished and equipped the van using a community business grant.
Corporate grant money was dedicated to outfit the van with video-
recording equipment. The city funded insurance for the vehicle. Next,
a local bus company trained and certified citizen volunteers to drive
the van. The volunteers parked it in front of the drug market each day
and videotaped all activity at the store and on the street in front of the
store.
4. Assess. The illicit drug activity emanating from the clothing store
ceased within three months of the ACT One initiative. Subsequently,
the building was leased to a legitimate food service operation. The
initiative was thus judged a success.
ort80008_ch02_028-050.indd 37 10/15/10 5:05 PM

Drug use lends

itself to the SARA
problem-solving
model.
Le adership on the job

Policing Strategies and Social Services
Consider these scenarios: they were hungry for. Social services designed to lure
youngsters away from the gang lifestyle (such as after-
Scenario 1: A Social Services Approach school programs) had generated little change. The
In 2007, San Francisco police officers began collabo- community began adopting law enforcement strategies
rating with social workers to fight so-called quality- such as court injunctions for offenders and multijuris-
of-life crimes (such as prostitution, loitering, minor dictional task forces that engaged in gang suppression
drug offenses, and panhandling) that were disturbing activities over a wide geographic area. These efforts
the peace in the city. The solution the collaboration seemed to bear fruit: fewer young people joined gangs.
generated called for police to apprehend homeless 1. Do you think police officers are also social
people for infractions such as littering, panhandling, workers? Why or why not?
and obstructing sidewalks in tourist areas, and to
escort them to facilities that provided shelter and 2. Is provision of social services an appropriate role
other services. for the police? Explain your answer.
3. Can a traditional policing strategy (such as a
Scenario 2: A Law Enforcement Approach focus on law enforcement) eliminate gangs by
At ever-earlier ages, young people in a New York itself? Explain your opinion.
State community were joining gangs. For these often 4. Are the two policing strategies represented in the
neglected youngsters, gangs provided the structure, previous scenarios mutually exclusive? Why or
sense of belonging, purpose, power, and role models why not?
ort80008_ch02_028-050.indd 38 10/15/10 5:05 PM

Strengths and Challenges of Problem-Oriented Policing

The problem-oriented policing strategy has been used to resolve a wide variety
of specific community problems, including street prostitution (Scott, 2001), graf-
fiti (Lamm Weisel, 2002), shoplifting (Clarke, 2002), and financial crimes against
elderly people (Johnson, 2003). It has also been used to address crime and disorder
problems affecting broad territories (Skogan, 2005).
But problem-oriented policing also presents some challenges. Like many other
progressive strategies, it requires police officers to demonstrate skills that they
would not typically acquire through basic and in-service training programs. These
skills include engaging citizen groups, thinking critically, analyzing situations,
communicating effectively, and assessing the usefulness of responses to problems.
Police managers and officers can gain such skills through leadership development
programs (Meese & Ortmeier, 2004; Skogan et al., 1999).
TEAM POLICING AND NEIGHBORHOOD POLICING

Team policing
Team policing and neighborhood policing are examples of community policing in and neighborhood
action. Both involve use of police officer teams to address issues and to help residents policing:
resolve issues on a small scale. The success of these practices hinges on the quality examples of how
of the personal encounters between the officers and residents. In fact, in some areas community policing
where there is little reduction in actual crime, positive interactions between the may be implemented
police and the public can still markedly decrease residents’ fear of crime. to address problems
on a small scale.
In team policing, teams usually comprise
a supervisor, several patrol officers, a
detective, and a subject-matter expert
(for instance, an expert on gangs or
drugs). The team may be assigned to a
specific area with duties based on the
problems identified through the SARA
model. Through neighborhood policing,
police work directly with residents of a
small geographic area. Officers educate
residents on how to reduce opportunities
for particular types of crime in their area.
Neighborhood watch programs are the
most visible and widespread example of
such policing. Through these programs,
residents and police meet regularly to dis-
cuss concerns, crime prevention strategies,
and the status of crime in the neighbor-
hood. At the same time, police officers Neighborhood Crime
acquire information from residents about Watch sign.
ort80008_ch02_028-050.indd 39 11/16/10 9:36 AM

Example of Neighborhood Policing

An elderly woman lives in a troubled neighborhood in New York State. She
maintains that, owing to her continual conversations with the sector police
captain and crime prevention officers, she has actively helped address prob-
lems with drug dealing and prostitution by asking the police to concentrate
on problem properties and landlords. She has provided immediate feedback
on the effect of any police actions toward landlords. And during police–
community meetings, she has frequently noted that she has the captain’s cell
phone number and uses it freely.
activities and changes in the neighborhood (Jones-Brown & Terry, 2004; Ortmeier &
Meese, 2010).
An Assessment of Team and Neighborhood Policing

The key advantage of team and neighborhood policing is that uniformed officers,
detectives, or investigators, along with crime prevention officers, work as partners
to solve crime. They actively share information on incidents of crime or crime pat-
terns in specific neighborhoods. Thus the solutions they develop are informed by a
detailed base of knowledge. Moreover, police personnel actively engage neighbor-
hood residents and citizens in developing solutions and preventing crime. As a result,
community members feel a sense of ownership of those solutions—which increases
their commitment to them. (See the box “Example of Neighborhood Policing.”)
One disadvantage to team and neighborhood policing is that decentralized
police teams may isolate themselves from the larger organization and focus directly
on their respective neighborhood policing area. This can result in a lack of com-
munication between decentralized teams with respect to the crime problems, pat-
terns, and initiatives the teams are working on. With lack of communication, teams
cannot learn from one another through knowledge sharing.
ZERO-TOLERANCE POLICING
Zero-tolerance Zero-tolerance policing is based on the assumption that full enforcement of the laws
policing: will lead to a decrease in crime and disorder. In some areas, this strategy is referred
a strategy based on to as order-maintenance policing.
the assumption that
full enforcement
of the laws will
ultimately decrease Zero-tolerance policing diminishes the discretionary authority of police officers
crime and disorder. (Henry, 2002). That is, advocates of this strategy expect that virtually every crime,
infraction, or other violation of the law observed by an officer will result in an
arrest or the issuance of a citation. In addition, zero-tolerance policing supposes
that underenforcement or nonenforcement of laws related to low-level crimes and
ort80008_ch02_028-050.indd 40 10/15/10 5:05 PM

Graffiti, abandoned
buildings, and
vandalized property
contribute to
neighborhood
deterioration that can
lead to increases in
crime. The broken
windows theory
supposes that poor
enforcement of minor
offenses leads to more
serious crime.
violations spawns complacency on the part of offenders and officers and thus estab-
lishes an environment in which serious crime can flourish.
Roots in the Broken Windows Theory

Zero tolerance is an outgrowth of the broken windows theory developed by James
Q. Wilson and George Kelling (1989). According to these theorists, abandoned
structures, graffiti, unkempt landscapes, and overall neighborhood deteriora-
tion are associated with increases in crime. Wilson and Kelling postulated that in
communities where police fail to control such minor criminal offenses as graffiti and
vandalism, public disorder reigns—which increases the likelihood that people will
commit more serious crimes. Wilson and Kelling suggested that police can restore
order by enforcing laws related to minor offenses.
Questions about Zero-Tolerance Policing

Zero-tolerance policing may work as Wilson and Kelling anticipated, though observers
have debated this since the strategy was promoted in New York City in the early 1990s.
The NYC police used an approach called CompStat (which stands for “computer sta-
tistics” or “comparative statistics”)—including computer-enabled crime statistics—to
identify where and when specific types of crime and disorder problems were happening.
Mayor Rudy Giuliani held police commanders accountable for developing and execut-
ing effective solutions to problems. And police cracked down on minor violations such
as public drunkenness, prostitution, panhandling, and loitering. Crime rates in the city
decreased dramatically, though some people question whether these decreases resulted
directly from the zero-tolerance practices or from some other forces not related to the
strategy. (See the box “Ethics in Action: Zero Tolerance in New York City.”)
ort80008_ch02_028-050.indd 41 10/15/10 5:05 PM

ETHICS IN ACTION
Zero Tolerance in New York City
rime statistics suggest that zero-tolerance policing in New York City
C during the 1990s significantly reduced the crime rate. However, crit-
ics of the zero-tolerance policing strategy argue that the decreasing
crime rate in New York City simply echoed declines in crime trends that were
occurring throughout the nation during the latter part of the twentieth cen-
tury. Critics also warn that zero-tolerance policing may lead to discrimination.
Targets of the strategy often include young people and persons who are men-
tally ill or homeless, largely individuals who are destitute with few advocates.
1. If evidence suggests that discriminatory law enforcement exists in
some cases (for example, the police target homeless persons because
of their status), how might such discrimination be prevented?
2. Can homeless persons and other “street people” be motivated to
assist in the prevention of crime and disorder? If so, how?
Zero-tolerance
One major disadvan-
policing and saturation tage of zero-tolerance polic-
patrol were used in ing is that it can destroy
New York City in the progress that an agency has
1990s. made in implementing com-
munity policing initiatives.
Zero-tolerance strategies can
distance police from citi-
zens, who may feel victim-
ized by police intolerance of
minor infractions. Residents
often complain that they are
not familiar with (and thus
cannot relate to) the offi-
cers patrolling their neigh-
borhoods (Gau & Brunson,
2010; Hosang, 2006; Hunter
& Barker, 2011; Pollard,
1998). Research also demon-
strates that saturation patrol
tactics often associated with
zero tolerance do not reduce
crime. They merely displace it.
Offenders simply relocate to
areas where zero tolerance
is not employed (Eterno &
Silverman, 2010; Marshall,
1999; Silverman, 2001).
ort80008_ch02_028-050.indd 42 13/12/10 12:13 PM

INTELLIGENCE-LED POLICING
Intelligence-led
Intelligence-led policing integrates problem-oriented policing and zero-tolerance policing:
policing. Through this strategy, police continuously analyze incidents that occurred a strategy that
in the recent past (typically within the last few weeks) and develop action plans for integrates problem-
addressing the problem. oriented policing
and zero-tolerance
policing through
Defining Characteristics continuous analysis
Agencies that emphasize the intelligence-led policing strategy may use CompStat, of information
including Geographic Information Systems, or GIS (such as mapping software) and about problems
frequent meetings to analyze the resulting data. (See Chapter 4 for more detailed and development
of action plans to
resolve problems.
Geographic
Information System
(GIS) technology is
used by police agencies
to identify, analyze,
and respond quickly
to reported incidents
of crime and disorder.
GIS management
systems are used to
pinpoint responsibility
and accountability
for police efficiency,
effectiveness, and
overall performance.
ort80008_ch02_028-050.indd 43 10/15/10 5:05 PM

figure 2-1 Five Steps to Intelligence-Led Policing
Step 1: Identify crime parameters, and

develop questions and define priorities
for collecting raw data and determining
how they will be analyzed.
Step 2: Review existing intelligence

and collect new (raw) data.
Step 3: Analyze data collected and

format them as reports, briefings, and
other presentations.
Step 4: Disseminate the intelligence to

appropriate individuals for review and
storage in database.
Step 5: Gather feedback regarding the

value of the intelligence and recommended
courses of action.
coverage of CompStat.) CompStat aims to reduce crime through a specific series of

actions: gathering of accurate and timely intelligence through direct observation,
surveys, and other sources; use of effective tactics such as surveillance, saturation
patrol, and community partnerships; rapid deployment of personnel and resources
including task forces and teams; and relentless follow-up and assessment of per-
formance outcomes such as citizen satisfaction, police response time, and offender
recidivism (Shane, 2007).
Obtaining and processing the information that makes intelligence-led policing a
possibility is a cyclical, five-step process. (See Figure 2-1.)
Pros and Cons of Intelligence-Led Policing

One great strength of intelligence-led policing is that it gives agencies an opportu-
nity to intercept troubling trends early. Two or more incidents of a similar nature
(for example, several burglaries in a particular part of town) can indicate a trend
toward a major problem. This policing strategy can also be implemented simultane-
ously with other strategies, such as traditional and community policing.
The challenge presented by this strategy is that it demands a high level of
technological sophistication to gather and analyze detailed, timely, and accurate
information. It also requires daily accountability for demonstrating results, and
strong partnerships between the police and the community. Unit commanders must
be available on a daily basis to present incident data from the previous 24 hours. In
addition, they must know about event trends emerging during the past few weeks.
Finally, commanders must have a detailed plan for addressing problems (Burgess,
Giblin, & Shafer, 2010; Dabney, 2010; Martin, 2008).
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Strategic Policing Example

In one city, prostitutes worked their trade on a busy street in the northwestern
corner of the city. For years, police had used a strategy of arresting prosti-
tutes and charging their customers with a violation. But then the police chief,
district attorney, and a community-action group developed a new strategy:
convict men charged with patronizing prostitutes with a misdemeanor crime
rather than just a violation. The more serious charge and conviction were the
first to be handed down in 20 years (Veale, 2009). The new strategy stemmed
from stakeholders’ understanding of the current problem and legal man-
dates, research into past initiatives’ effectiveness, and the decision to tackle
the problem of prostitution from a new angle: the “johns” who frequented
prostitutes.
STRATEGIC POLICING
Strategic policing is an ingredient of community policing and seeks to integrate Strategic policing:
proven private- and public-sector organizational management techniques—such an approach that
as SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis and strategic seeks to integrate
planning—with public policing strategy. proven private-
and public-sector
management
Defining Characteristics techniques with
Agencies interested in adopting strategic policing start by establishing goals public policing
informed by crime and disorder trends, directives from a chief of police or mayor, strategy.
Detroit, Michigan,
Deputy Police Chief
Joyce Motley speaks
about crime and police
issues to residents of
Detroit’s Morningside
neighborhood during
the community group’s
monthly meeting.
ort80008_ch02_028-050.indd 45 10/15/10 5:05 PM

or community input. The agency then develops strategies for achieving those
goals—strategies that are influenced by the priorities of key stakeholders such as
community residents, local government leaders, and area businesses. (See the box
“Strategic Policing Example.”)
Strategic policing can be an element of community policing—which (as we
have seen) allocates police resources in accordance with community priorities.
Community policing emphasizes high visibility of police in the neighborhood,
rapport with the community, fewer arrests due to the more proactive (preventive)
role assumed by the police, and decentralization of the police organizational com-
mand structure. Strategic policing calls for visionary incorporation of established
police operations into a broader mission focused on peacekeeping and the preven-
tion of crime and disorder (Oliver, 2008; Scheider, 2008).
Requirements for Effective Strategic Policing

To use strategic policing, an agency must develop plans, identify key performance
objectives and outcome indicators, and make effective and efficient delivery of ser-
vices a top priority. It must also establish strong alliances with the community (for
instance, through attending neighborhood meetings, establishing police and com-
munity interaction committees, and conducting community assessments of police
services) to address disorder, prosecute criminals, and prevent crime. All employees
should be involved in strategic planning because they are key stakeholders in the
organization and create public value for the agency. Employees understand and
can articulate the agency’s key strengths and weaknesses as well as its formal and
informal mandates. Moreover, the agency must shift from a culture of reaction
and blind compliance to one of self-motivation, empowerment, and neighborhood
ownership of problems and solutions. Everything within the agency—individual and
Los Angeles Mayor

Antonio Villaraigosa
(L) and LAPD Chief
William Bratton
discuss a citywide gang
suppression strategy
with police officers,
managers, and the
news media in 2007.
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Spotlight on SWOT Analysis

SWOT analysis can help a policing agency focus on the right problem and
select the right solutions—thus creating value for the community it serves.
Through SWOT analysis, agency personnel assess the following:
• Strengths: the agency’s existing resources and capabilities. In a police
agency, strengths may include reputation in the community and
highly trained personnel.
• Weaknesses: an agency’s vulnerabilities. These may include reduced
financial resources due to budget cuts or high attrition of personnel.
• Opportunities: changes occurring outside the agency that present
possibilities for enhancing the agency’s efficiency or effectiveness.
Examples might include a new software application that makes it
easier for the agency to track crime-trend data, or heightened inter-
est among community residents in forging partnerships with police
officers.
• Threats: developments occurring outside the agency that may impede
its smooth operation or its ability to serve the community. For
instance, the city council votes to reduce the number of authorized
personnel within the agency.
Through SWOT analysis, police managers combine strengths and oppor-
tunities to move the agency forward in a productive direction. By recognizing
the presence of threats and weaknesses, agency management can take steps to
mitigate or eliminate the vulnerabilities (Bryson & Alston, 2005).
team objectives, rewards, training initiatives, communications—must align behind

agreed-upon strategies.
Like other progressive policing strategies, strategic policing suggests that police
officers are more than first responders and that they should be evaluated on more than
just how many arrests they make or how complete their reports are. Though number
of arrests and completeness of reports may be important, focusing only on these per-
formance metrics will not encourage officers to seek ownership of a strategic plan.
Strategic policing requires managers and employees to understand strategic
plans, their agency’s goals, performance measures used, underlying causes of prob-
lems, and the timelines for implementation of strategic initiatives. Managers and
employees may also need to gain familiarity with some tools commonly used by the
private sector, including SWOT analysis, whereby they take stock of their agency’s
internal strengths and weaknesses as well as the external opportunities and threats
facing the agency. (See the box “Spotlight on SWOT Analysis.”)
Pluses and Minuses of Strategic Policing

Like other policing strategies, strategic policing has its pluses and minuses. On the
plus side, it enables an agency to fulfill its mission, realize its mandates, and adapt to
ever-changing community concerns—thus improving its effectiveness. This strategy
ort80008_ch02_028-050.indd 47 10/15/10 5:05 PM

also enhances efficiency by enabling an agency to focus limited resources on key

priorities—thus extracting more value from those resources. And by prompting
agency leaders to define goals and evaluate progress toward those goals, the strategy
fosters learning.
On the minus side, strategic policing agency managers and employees need to
master the skills of strategic planning and thinking. Developing these skills takes
time and investment—resources that can be in short supply for some agencies.
summary
• Traditional Policing. This strategy usually employs an authoritarian style of

management. Police officers are controlled and directed to complete tasks.
The model assumes that managers know best, that rapid response to events is
always necessary and effective, and that objective performance measurements
present an unbiased view of police productivity.
• Community Policing. Community policing encourages partnerships and
suggests a visible interaction between the police and the public to produce
desired results. This strategy demands a shift in the police management
paradigm from an authoritarian to a participatory model. The shift requires
philosophical adjustments within the organization as well as an attitude
change on the part of the public.
• Problem-Oriented Policing. Problem-oriented policing, the tactical
implementation of community policing, is used to address crime and quality-
of-life concerns within a community. Problem-solving methods, including the
SARA model, require an expansion of police performance measurements as
well as police training in leadership, community interaction strategies, and
problem solving.
• Team Policing and Neighborhood Policing. These strategies are examples of
community policing implemented to solve problems on a small scale.
• Zero-Tolerance Policing. This strategy is an outgrowth of the broken
windows theory, which holds that minor criminal offenses such as graffiti
and vandalism increase the likelihood that people will commit more serious
crimes. According to this strategy, police can restore order by enforcing laws
related to minor offenses.
• Intelligence-Led Policing. This strategy integrates problem-oriented policing
and zero-tolerance policing. Through this strategy, police continuously analyze
incidents that occurred in the recent past (typically within the last few weeks)
and develop action plans for addressing the problem. Agencies that emphasize
this policing strategy may use CompStat.
• Strategic Policing. This strategy is an ingredient of community policing
and seeks to integrate proven private- and public-sector organizational
management techniques (such as SWOT analysis and strategic planning) with
public policing strategy.
• SWOT Analysis. An extensive analysis of an agencies strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities, and threats used to evaluate the organization’s inclination and
ability to succeed.
ort80008_ch02_028-050.indd 48 10/15/10 5:05 PM

key terms
community policing
intelligence-led policing
policing strategy
problem-oriented policing
SARA problem-solving model
strategic policing
SWOT analysis
team policing and neighborhood policing
traditional policing
zero-tolerance policing
1. What are the basic principles underlying the traditional policing strategy?
2. Describe the basic tenets of community policing. In what respects does this strategy
reflect the principles of policing attributed to Robert Peel?
3. How does problem-oriented policing relate to community policing?
4. How do team and neighborhood policing work, and how do these strategies relate to
community policing?
5. Describe zero-tolerance and intelligence-led policing and explain how they may com-
plement each other.
6. Describe the defining characteristics of strategic policing. Why is strategy important
to policing?
7. Can different policing strategies be applied simultaneously in the same neighbor-
hood? In the same city? Why or why not?
WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

Using Problem-Oriented Policing to Combat Prostitution
A city experienced an increase in incidents of prostitution. In conjunction
with community leaders, a local police agency captain developed a plan and
led an effort to abate prostitution in a neighborhood that had businesses and
residents. The captain’s goal was to mitigate prostitution’s negative effects
on people, property values, and business income. Additional related goals
included reducing street-level drug activity, eliminating the unwelcome visible
presence of prostitutes and their customers, and improving prostitutes’ lives.
The agency selected the problem-oriented policing strategy to implement
the plan. It had long used the traditional policing strategy, through which it
deployed a large number of personnel to identify problems, saturate areas
(continued)
ort80008_ch02_028-050.indd 49 10/15/10 5:05 PM

affected by a particular problem, disperse or arrest offenders, and redeploy

resources to the next problem needing attention. Agency managers and offi-
cers hoped that use of the problem-oriented strategy would produce long-term
solutions to the identified problems, as opposed to short-term abatement.
The new plan called for solutions to public health problems related to pros-
titution (such as sexually transmitted diseases, HIV/AIDS, and drug addiction of
prostitutes and their customers); solutions to prostitutes’ personal safety prob-
lems (such as the risk of assault from clients); and solutions to clients’ problems
(including the risk of being robbed during encounters with prostitutes).
The neighborhood in question was disintegrating overall. Prostitutes
were living in minimally acceptable or abandoned houses, and many were
addicted to drugs. Property values were declining, stores and restaurants clos-
ing, and building owners and businesses abandoning their properties. Many
law-abiding residents had fled to safer neighborhoods. Some simply aban-
doned their homes, leaving property taxes unpaid and mortgages in default.
Slumlords snapped up some of these homes for below-market prices. People
moving into the neighborhood openly consumed alcohol on the street, left
trash in their yards and on the sidewalks, played radios at top volume at all
hours of the day and night, and intimidated local residents.
A leadership team consisting of a police officer and a citizen joined with
a neighborhood group to develop solutions to these problems. City court
judges agreed that arrested prostitutes and clients would be required to sub-
mit to mandatory screening for sexually transmitted diseases. In addition, all
drug-related arrestees received an offer of drug court instead of jail time. The
prostitutes’ clients were also sentenced to participate in weekend community
projects and education programs.
Judges agreed to stop allowing unconditional releases for prostitution-
related offenders. Meanwhile, citizens agreed to support new legislation
designed to increase penalties for prostitution, to monitor arrests for
prostitution-related offenses, and to provide social services (such as drug-
treatment programs) for prostitutes before and after they were arrested. Local
clergy led workshops for prostitutes that addressed their health and spiritual
issues, and that encouraged them to obtain high school diplomas.
Did the initiative pay dividends? A reduction in prostitution- and drug-
related crimes over one year and evidence that the neighborhood was recover-
ing (including lack of observable prostitution activity and positive feedback
from community residents) suggest that the project was a relative success.
1. Do you consider the policing strategy adopted appropriate in this case?
Why or why not?
2. Did the strategy used reflect any of the principles of policing attributed to
Robert Peel? If so, which ones?
3. Consider all the strategies in addition to problem-oriented policing that
you read about in this chapter. Which of these additional strategies would
you also consider using to address the issues described in this case?
Explain your choice(s).
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chapter 3 Challenges Facing Police Organizations 51
The U.S. population is

3
becoming increasingly diverse.
Challenges Facing
Police Organizations
learning outcomes

• explain how the U.S. population’s demographic makeup is changing and
what challenges these changes pose for police agencies.
• compare the three types of political dynamics police agencies must
navigate (intra-agency, interagency, and intergovernment) and describe
strategies for navigating each type.
• define political correctness and analyze its advantages and
disadvantages for a police agency.
• trace the evolution of the police role and explain the multiple aspects of
the role today.
• define bias-based policing, misuse of force, and police misconduct, and
examine strategies for combating them.
ort80008_ch03_051-084.indd 51 13/12/10 12:14 PM

• appraise the technological advances affecting policing today and explain how
police agencies can leverage them.
• assess the forces resulting in resource constraints for police agencies and
name ways in which agencies can surmount these constraints.
• explain terrorism’s impact on policing and describe systems and processes
that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has put in place to enable
police agencies to help combat terrorism.
• describe how the National Incident Management System and the
Standardized Emergency Management System work.
Introduction
U.S. society has experienced massive changes over the past several decades—
including an increase in ethnic and cultural diversity, rapid advances in informa-
tion and communication technologies, and intensifying feelings of vulnerability
owing to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and a volatile economy. These
changes have presented new challenges to police organizations. For example,
to communicate with and serve citizens in increasingly diverse communities,
officers must familiarize themselves with a broad range of cultural norms and
perspectives. To extract value from technology, police personnel need to master
new information technology (IT) tools and systems. And to protect the people they
serve as well as ease the public’s fears, police must coordinate their efforts with
an expanding circle of public safety organizations, including the U.S. Department
of Homeland Security. All of this takes time, and most of it costs money—in an
age when many police organizations are operating under tighter-than-ever budget-
ary constraints.
Surmounting these and other challenges also requires an agility and openness
to change that many police organizations find difficult to achieve. Indeed, as a rule,
governmental agencies tend to lag behind private-sector entities when it comes to
altering their operations and processes to stay ahead of new developments and
deliver high-quality services to their constituents. This inability and unwillingness
to change may stem in part from the complex bureaucratic structure and culture
of entitlement that characterize many public service organizations: It is difficult
to nudge any large, complicated organization in a new direction. It becomes even
more daunting when managers and employees in the organization see no need
to change, because they feel (understandably) that their jobs are secure and that
their organization will continue to exist as it always has.
Yet, in today’s increasingly cost-conscious and demanding society, even the
most seemingly enduring public service organizations risk going out of existence
if they cannot show that they are delivering the best possible service in return for
the tax revenues they receive. Police agencies are no exception, and they cannot
afford to look the other way when confronted with change. A good first step toward
ort80008_ch03_051-084.indd 52 20/10/10 6:17 PM

strengthening their ability to change is to understand the challenges confronting

today’s policing organizations—each of which requires change.
In this chapter, we examine seven such challenges: increased diversity, com-
plex political dynamics, the changing role of police agencies, the need for ethical
leadership, technological advances, resource constraints, and terrorism. We con-
sider the ramifications of such challenges for policing organizations and explore
ideas for surmounting each challenge.
INCREASED DIVERSITY
The United States has long welcomed people of all faiths, ethnicities, and cultural
backgrounds. Such diversity has brought a richness of perspectives, skills, and cul-
tural traditions to American society. Yet diversity can also spark tensions, when
people from different religious, ethnic, gender, lifestyle, or cultural backgrounds
have difficulty understanding one another. Unfortunately, this lack of understanding
can spawn mistrust, stereotyping, prejudice, and even hatred between people. Such
problems have been hugely exacerbated by the 9/11 terrorist attacks, which have
heightened tensions particularly between non-Muslims and Muslims not only with-
in the United States but also around the globe. (See the box “Jihad or Crusade?”)
The in-depth report on diversity and the projected race and ethnic changes in
the United States for the years 1995 to 2050 (U.S. Census Bureau, 1999) point to the
need for police agencies to learn about other cultural backgrounds and understand
the perspectives and possible conflicts between races and ethnic values. Table 3-1
table 3-1 Projected Changes in U.S. Population: 1995–2050

(Millions Resident Population)
Race Hispanic Origin
AMERICAN ASIAN
NONMINORITY INDIAN AND
(NON-HISPANIC ESKIMO PACIFIC NON-
YEAR TOTAL MINORITY WHITE) WHITE BLACK AND ALEUT ISLANDER HISPANIC HISPANIC
1995 262.8 69.3 193.6 218.1 33.1 2.2 9.4 26.9 235.9
2000 274.6 77.6 197.1 225.5 35.5 2.4 11.2 31.4 243.3
2005 286.0 86.2 199.8 232.5 37.7 2.6 13.2 36.1 249.9
2010 297.7 95.3 202.4 239.6 40.1 2.8 15.3 41.1 256.6
2015 310.1 105.1 205.0 247.2 42.6 2.9 17.4 46.7 263.4
2020 322.7 115.3 207.4 254.9 45.1 3.1 19.7 52.7 270.1
2025 335.0 125.9 209.1 262.2 47.5 3.3 22.0 58.9 276.1
2030 346.9 136.9 210.0 269.0 50.0 3.5 24.3 65.6 281.3
2035 358.5 148.4 210.1 275.5 52.5 3.7 26.8 72.0 285.8
2040 370.0 160.4 209.6 281.7 55.1 3.9 29.2 80.2 289.8
2045 381.7 172.9 208.8 288.0 57.8 4.1 31.8 88.1 293.6
2050 393.9 186.0 207.9 294.6 60.6 4.4 34.4 96.5 297.4
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 1996, Population Projections of the United States by Age, Sex, Race, and Hispanic Origin:
1995 to 2050, by Jennifer Cheeseman Day, Current Population Reports, P25-1130. Washington, DC.
ort80008_ch03_051-084.indd 53 20/10/10 6:17 PM

figure 3-1 Projected Shifts in Ratios of Nonminority to Minority Populations
1995 2050
American
Asian American Asian
Indian by Race
4% Indian 9%
1%
Black 1%
13%
Black
15%
Hispanic
White
9%
Hispanic
Non-Hispanic White
White 22% Non-Hispanic
(Nonminority) White
74% (Nonminority)
53%
by Hispanic Origin
Hispanic
Hispanic
(of any race)
(of any race)
10%
24%
Non-Hispanic
Non-Hispanic 76%
90%
Total Population: 263 million Total Population: 394 million
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 1999.
highlights the projections of populations in the United States from the year 1995 to
2050. Particularly important in the table is the growth of the Hispanic population
relative to non-Hispanic populations.
Figure 3-1 sheds additional light on demographic changes in the United States.
It shows the percent distribution of the U.S. population and highlights projec-
tions of population by race. Note that in 1995, the nonminority population rep-
resented 74 percent of the nation’s total population, and minority populations
represented 26 percent of the total population. In 2050, the nonminority popula-
tion is expected to shrink to 53 percent of the total, while minority populations will
constitute 47 percent of the total. What is the implication for police agencies? The
demographic makeup of the communities they serve—as well as the personnel they
hire and develop—will grow ever more diverse.
Efforts to Foster Tolerance

U.S. lawmakers have tried to encourage tolerance and appreciation of differences
through such initiatives as affirmative action and hate-crime legislation. And many
schools as well as organizations in the private and public sector offer diversity
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Jihad or Crusade?
Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the word jihad has come to hold a sinister mean-
ing for most people in the United States. But what exactly does the word mean?
Experts agree that from the earliest days of Islam, jihad referred to a holy
war. According to some interpretations of the Koran, those who fight in holy
wars against nonbelievers will be richly rewarded, and those who do not fight
will be punished severely in the afterlife. Jihad allows Muslims (those who
practice Islam) to command good and combat evil in the name of Allah, or
God (Gould, 2005).
Today, most Muslims do not wish to fight in a holy war against Western
civilization. However, a few may wish to heed the call to jihad because of the
larger implication that Allah requires it and will reward it after death.
Some experts also point out a parallel between Islamic jihad and the early
Christian Crusades. In the year 1095, the pope declared that all European
Christians must embark on a crusade to liberate Jerusalem, which at that time
was under Muslim control. In return, the Christians would receive absolu-
tion for all of their sins. More than 60,000 people answered the call and they
killed thousands of people. By 1099, they had conquered Jerusalem, only to
lose it in 1187 to the legendary Saladin, the warrior sultan of Egypt and Syria.
Because of his lenient treatment of his defeated foes, Saladin was a respected
Muslim figure throughout Europe and the Middle East (Phillips, 2009).
After the Crusades, various Western leaders attempted to use the idea
of a crusade as justification for armed conflict with anyone not of their own
religious or political persuasion. Even as late as in 1936, General Francisco
Franco of Spain drew on his affiliation with the Catholic Church to legitimize
his “crusading” fight against rebels. And during World War I, the U.S. gov-
ernment produced a war film titled Pershing’s Crusaders, about General John
“Black Jack” Pershing.
The al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden called on all Muslims to fight
against the “Judeo-Crusader alliance” against Islam, and the 9/11 attacks
were one result of this call. Former U.S. president George W. Bush said in his
response to 9/11: “The United States is presenting a clear choice to every nation:
Stand with the civilized world, or stand with the terrorists” (Phillips, 2009).
The lesson? Whether it is called “jihad” or “crusade,” conflict among
Jews, Christians, and Muslims has a long history. During times such as today,
when tensions between these religions has escalated to unprecedented heights,
citizens and police alike are finding it increasingly difficult to appreciate even
innocuous differences between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
education and training to foster cross-cultural understanding. Clearly, Americans are

committed to encouraging the acceptance and tolerance of differences among people.
International movements reflect a similar vision. According to the United
Nations, all people are entitled to basic human rights, which include freedom
from genocide, slavery, and torture, as well as the right to religious tolerance. The
UN maintains that people are also entitled to a cultural identity—as long as that
culture does not infringe on any basic human rights. For example, suppose a man
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has grown up in a country where it is common and accepted for men to beat their
wives and children. If this man and his family immigrate to a country (such as the
United States) where such behavior violates a basic human right, the man cannot
express this aspect of his culture without being subject to that host nation’s law.
Rather, the right to a cultural identity includes engaging in any activities that do not
violate human rights—such as enjoying art and food ways notable in one’s culture,
practicing one’s religion, and celebrating holidays meaningful in one’s culture (Adler
& Proctor, 2011; Ayton-Shenker, 1995).
Challenges for Police

For police, cultural diversity can present numerous challenges. For example, immi-
grants who come from a country where police are tools used by powerful rulers
to control the population may be unwilling to report crimes against them or to be
interviewed as witnesses to a crime. This unwillingness makes it difficult for police
detectives and investigators to do their work. Officers serving a jurisdiction simmer-
ing with racial or ethnic conflict may be called on frequently to intervene in violent
clashes between groups. And police personnel who work in the same agency and
who come from different cultural backgrounds may harbor prejudicial attitudes
toward one another, preventing them from collaborating effectively.
These challenges are daunting, but to protect and serve effectively, police must
surmount them. Education and training can help. With cultural diversity training
that begins in the academy and continues through in-service training, police can
learn about the cultural differences among the citizens living in the jurisdiction
they serve. For example, they can gain familiarity with citizens’ attitudes toward
and expectations of police and with cultural norms governing behaviors, such as
A Tucson, Arizona,
police officer questions
a woman following a
domestic disturbance.
ort80008_ch03_051-084.indd 56 13/12/10 12:14 PM

how much eye contact people make with authority figures. They can even acquire a
working knowledge of another language, so they can converse with citizens them-
selves rather than through interpreters.
However, in the area of cultural diversity (as in so many other aspects of police
work), there is no substitute for personal contact between citizens and officers. Direct
interaction with actual members of the community (for instance, through foot patrols
and community policing efforts) are invaluable for assuring citizens that the officers
in their neighborhoods know and respect them. Thus assured, citizens are much more
open to collaborating with police in making their streets safer (Hunter & Barker, 2011;
Ortmeier, 2006; Shusta, Levine, Wong, Olson, & Harris, 2011).
COMPLEX POLITICAL DYNAMICS
In addition to increasing diversity, police agencies face a challenge in the form of

complex political dynamics that managers and officers must navigate in their every-
day work. These dynamics unfold in three realms: intra-agency (politics within a
police agency), interagency (politics between a police agency and other public safety
agencies, such as police and fire departments and emergency medical teams), and
intergovernment (politics between a police agency and other government entities,
e.g., sanitation, public works, and officials).
While police managers and officials may wish that they could do their work
unhindered by political maneuvering, they cannot. Politics are a fact of life in all
organizations, and knowing how to navigate the political terrain to achieve impor-
tant goals is an essential skill for everyone—whether in a government agency or a
for-profit corporation.
For most police agencies, political considerations in all three realms become most
visible during the budgeting process. In this process, constituencies within the agency,
neighborhood groups, and competing governmental departments are striving to claim
their share of an ever-smaller financial “pie” available to public agencies. Agency exec-
utives who have the most political clout and who prove the most persuasive will gener-
ally gain the most funding for the coming fiscal year (Ortmeier, 2006). (See Chapter 5
for a more in-depth discussion of the budget process.) Therefore, it is important that
police personnel understand the intra-agency, interagency, and intergovernment politi-
cal dynamics they will need to cope with during budgeting season.
To navigate all three types of politics, leaders must excel at three essential skills:
• Astuteness. Leaders must recognize other individuals’ attitudes and interpret
their body language and speech patterns to determine how best to introduce
subjects needing discussion.
• Networking. Leaders must have the ability to form mutually beneficial
relationships, known as networking, enabling them to create alliances with
all types of people, whether colleagues at a police agency, individuals from
another agency, or people from large government agencies. It is through
alliances that work of any type gets done.
• Sincerity. Through sincerity, leaders demonstrate a genuine desire to do what
is best for the agency and its personnel as well as the community. While
sincerity can be feigned, other astute people will be able to sense a lack of
ort80008_ch03_051-084.indd 57 20/10/10 6:17 PM

sincerity on the part of a leader. Ethics demands that leaders be sincere and
credible, and be able to deliver on the promises they make (Orrick, 2008).
With these three skills in mind, let’s now take a closer look at the three types of
political dynamics police personnel must navigate.
Intra-Agency Politics
Intra-agency politics: Intra-agency politics manifest themselves in the working relationships between
political dynamics individuals, units, and sections (such as investigative services, patrol services, and
taking place within a administrative groups) within a police agency. These dynamics are also expressed
police organization. in the negotiations that take place between those in authority within an agency
over issues such as who should be in charge of which activities or responsibilities
or what goals the agency should be striving toward (Champoux, 2000; Dabney,
2010).
When it comes to intra-agency politics, many people believe that they should be
able to do their job without having to “get political” or “play power games.” But as
we noted earlier, politics are unavoidable in any organization—especially in a police
agency. Why? Police agencies answer to elected officials who represent the people
served by the agency. They are also funded primarily by taxes paid by the public.
Therefore, politics cannot be separated from policing. Managers and officers alike
must learn how to exert political influence within their agency to get work done and
deliver the service that citizens expect.
Exerting Political Influence Exerting political influence means using one’s

strengths, relationships, or personality to effect personal or organizational change
(de Janasz, Dowd, & Schneider, 2006). For example:
• Using one’s strengths: Ricardo, a patrol captain, is often observed driving
a radio car, responding to support line-level officers. Most officers refer
to Ricardo as a “cop’s cop,” one who is unafraid to assist officers in the
field. Ricardo’s participatory leadership and communication style garner
tremendous support from front-line officers and police union officials alike.
• Using one’s relationships: Deborah, a police detective, periodically brings
pastries into the office. On those days, she delivers a pastry in person to
Charlie, the records administrator working in an isolated and remote office
near the rear of the building. Most people at the agency pay attention to
Charlie only when they need something from him. But by treating Charlie
kindly, Deborah has established a human relationship with him. When she
needs him to retrieve specific records for her, he often fulfills her request
before turning to requests from others in the agency.
• Using one’s personality: Akim, a police sergeant, believes that his agency
should adopt a new way of scheduling use of fleet vehicles, to better ensure
that vehicles are available when needed. Thanks to Akim’s long track record
of trustworthiness, his demonstrated intelligence, and his engaging sense
of humor, the police chief ultimately approves the change that Akim has
suggested. Simply put, Akim has a personality that makes people want to
embrace his ideas. He therefore can get things done faster and more easily
than people who lack this source of influence.
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As first responders,
police officers,
firefighters, and
emergency medical
personnel treat an
accident victim.
Political influence is different from political power and therefore must be wielded
differently. See Chapter 11 for a detailed examination of the differences between
power and influence and the sources that police personnel draw on to exert each.
Interagency Politics
Interagency politics express themselves as the relationships between a police agency Interagency politics:
and other public safety organizations—such as fire departments, emergency medical political dynamics
teams, and corrections facilities—serving the schools, residents, and businesses in taking place in the
a particular jurisdiction. All these organizations share a common duty to address interactions between
crises and emergencies quickly and effectively as first responders. As such, personnel a police agency and
in such organizations are trained to do what most people avoid: run toward danger. other public safety
organizations in the
Partnering, Not Posturing To provide high-quality public safety service, per- same jurisdiction.
sonnel from all these organizations must perform the specialized tasks they are
responsible for—without quibbling over questions or concerns such as “Who has
the highest status here?” or “How can I be sure my agency will get the credit for a
job well done?” For example, at the scene of a vehicle collision, police must respond
to the victims, secure the scene, gather evidence, and interview witnesses. Emergency
medical technicians (EMTs) must take care of the injured, and firefighters must
prevent the vehicles from igniting and extricate any victims who may be trapped
inside a vehicle. Given this intimate relationship among public safety agencies and
the urgency under which these specialists routinely operate, a sense of partnership
and collaboration is essential for the delivery of exceptional service.
To foster cooperation between their agency and other public safety entities,
police leaders must train all levels of personnel in critical incident response pro-
cedures, encourage frequent interaction between the various public safety service
ort80008_ch03_051-084.indd 59 20/10/10 6:17 PM

providers, and empower personnel to carry out their unique responsibilities at

emergency and critical incident scenes.
Turnover at the Top Cooperation between and among public safety agencies
begins with these organizations’ chief executive officers. The individuals in charge
of fire safety, emergency medical services, and police services must communicate
regularly about incidents, mutual aid, and future needs so they can collaborate and
coordinate their efforts. But frequent communication becomes difficult when turn-
over among these individuals increases; that is, executive officers vacate roles and
are replaced. For example, as is true of other public safety agencies, police chiefs
are often appointed by the mayor or city manager and must be approved by the
city or town council. And as with many corporate chief executives, there is a high
turnover rate among police chiefs; average tenure of chiefs is three years. Why the
higher rate? Owing to shifts in city or town politics or claims of corruption, a newly
appointed police chief may fall out of favor and be replaced by someone else.
High turnover among police chiefs is problematic (Coleman, 2007) because
every time a chief departs an agency, the relationships formed with other public
safety agency chiefs evaporate, which makes it harder for the agencies to collaborate
on public safety calls. For this reason, a few states have enacted civil service policies
prohibiting agencies from firing chiefs without clear cause.
Community Collaboration In jurisdictions where schools, neighborhoods, and

businesses are suffering from high rates of crime and other problems, police are
stretched ever thinner in an effort to ensure public safety. The problem becomes
even worse when police agencies are operating under tighter-than-ever budgetary
constraints. In such jurisdictions, police must forge partnerships with community
leaders and volunteers to provide the safety that citizens expect. Examples include
North Miami Beach

Citizens Patrol
volunteers greatly
enhance police
presence on the streets.
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collaborations in which police and volunteers develop safety programs for school-
children, elders, business owners, and other stakeholders. (See Chapter 6 for more
information on such partnerships.)
Intergovernment Politics
Intergovernment politics are expressed in a police agency’s relationships with Intergovernment
other governmental agencies that serve or affect the same jurisdiction. These politics:
dynamics also include relationships between a police agency’s personnel and political dynamics
elected or appointed officials who approve funding for police agency initiatives taking place in
and who help define an agency’s goals. Such government agencies and officials interactions between
include the mayor’s office; city, village, or town councils; county and parish a police agency and
boards; state and federal agencies including offices of emergency services (such as other governmental
the Federal Emergency Management Agency [FEMA] and grant providers); over- agencies serving or
sight bodies including state commissions on peace officer standards and training; affecting the same
and significant bureaucrats. jurisdiction.
Building Bridges To create a win–win situation for itself and the other govern-
mental agencies serving the same jurisdiction, a police agency may act as a bridge
or go-between for funding initiatives that a state agency or funding source awards
to a community organization. As an example, a state grant for civilian volun-
teer and police bicycle patrol
was awarded to a commu- A Cascade, Idaho,
police officer on
nity organization that had
bicycle patrol during a
exhibited questionable fund-
Fourth of July parade.
accounting practices. State
leaders asked the affected
police agency precinct leader
to control the funds through
the government entity’s finan-
cial department. (A govern-
ment entity is a town, village,
county, or city government
that has specific offices that
address areas of need in the
community. In this case, the
government entity was a city.)
The police facilitated purchas-
ing of police and volunteer
bicycles and supplies, follow-
ing the government entity’s
purchasing requirements and
processes. All funding had to
be approved by the state and
police agency in consultation
with the community orga-
nization. The entire funding
appropriation was expended
and properly accounted for,
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and the community organization received accolades for implementing a successful

police-volunteer bicycle patrol program.
Collaborating toward the Greater Good Collaboration between and among

police agencies and dissimilar government resources helps all parties involved achieve
desired goals and establishes working partnerships for future challenges. Consider this
example: A county with 13 representative police agencies (including a medium-size
city, a county sheriff’s agency, and 11 town or village police departments) envisioned
a need for recruit officer training that was cost-effective and that met state accredita-
tion and certification requirements. To achieve their personnel goals, agencies with
diverse needs joined with a community college to provide an accredited recruit police
training program that met the state criteria and specific needs of the attending agen-
cies. Agency leaders, college professionals, and police trainers collaborated to form
a police training council that defined curriculum needs and the logistics for recruit
training. The agency leader’s vision of a greater good for all involved agencies (rather
than individual, ego-centered agendas and piecemeal efforts) created a regional train-
ing academy at the community college that currently provides police recruit training,
in-service training, and administrative management instruction.
Spotlight on Political Correctness

For police leaders, the task of navigating intra-agency and interagency political
dynamics as well as intergovernment politics is often complicated by pressure to
Political correctness: demonstrate so-called political correctness—that is, to avoid saying or doing some-
often used to refer thing that risks offending a particular individual’s or group’s sensibilities (Atkinson,
to the avoidance 2009; Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary and Thesaurus, 2006). Consider a police
of saying or doing manager who is attending a meeting of community volunteers striving to address
something that a problem with street drug activity in their neighborhood. During the meeting, the
risks offending police manager sums up the work that the various volunteers have been accom-
a particular plishing. He has noticed that the younger female volunteers have had less success
individual’s or than the older male volunteers with designing wholesome activities for the neigh-
group’s sensibilities. borhood’s youth to engage in. But he steers clear of mentioning this fact for fear
that the young women will take offense. As a result, no one looks into the reasons
behind the two volunteer groups’ different experiences. If they had, they might have
discovered that since most of the neighborhood’s youth were male, the youngsters
tended to feel more comfortable around older males than around younger women.
They could have used this knowledge to allocate volunteers to youths based on the
youngsters’ natural affinities.
Going overboard with trying to avoid being political incorrect thus can prevent
police managers and officers from developing creative solutions to problems in their
community. However, when police managers say things that seem blatantly politi-
cally incorrect, they and their agency can pay a steep price. For instance, a police
manager attending a neighborhood meeting in a troubled urban area known for
drug and gang violence was asked to comment on the police agency’s slow response
to calls-for-service. She calmly stated that the police department was doing the best
it could with available resources and personnel. She further stated that if the citi-
zens were frustrated, they should move to another area or lobby for more police
resources. Citizens promptly reported her response to the mayor’s office and city
council, accusing her of being insensitive and having a negative attitude toward
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the neighborhood. Neighbors lobbied for more police personnel. The police man-
ager was reprimanded for undermining citizen confidence in the police agency and
elected government officials. No one was happy with the end result of the police
manager’s interaction with the community.
Being politically correct may help police leaders keep the peace by not “ruffling
feathers.” But as we read earlier, that benefit comes at a cost. Under pressure to
avoid giving offense, police hesitate to state their true thoughts about a situation or
provide all the relevant facts (Atkinson, 2009).
To offer another illustration, a police precinct captain and the agency’s manage-
ment staff were reluctant to address an urban high school principal regarding the
high level of calls-for-service at the school during school hours. Although the school
had two assigned school resource officers, those officers and additional police per-
sonnel were constantly addressing fights, auto thefts, disruptive student behavior,
and trespassing complaints. The police command was gently reminded that openly
voicing their frustration to school officials about the school’s problems would hurt
the high school and school districts’ image. Calls-for-service escalated, a stolen vehi-
cle chop-shop operated on the high school campus, arrests of students for assault
and weapons charges rose, and additional police personnel had to be assigned to
the school for student arrival, student dismissal, and special occasions. Because the
agency did not address the problem in a timely manner, the police captain and staff
deployed critical staff to the school from other vulnerable geographic areas. The
captain and precinct management staff finally discussed the problem with the school
principal and respective school staff. Together, they gathered facts about the school’s
problems, analyzed the data, and implemented solutions that garnered some good
results. However, the negative image of the high school remains a significant issue
for the school and the school district.
A CHANGING ROLE
Police officers have always been charged with maintaining public safety, but over
time, their role has expanded to include additional responsibilities. For example,
as crime rates increased during the middle of the twentieth century, the media, the
public, and politicians began viewing police officers as primarily crime fighters
rather than public safety officers. In later decades, definitions of police officers’ role
expanded further to include solving community problems.
Solving Community Problems

More recently, with the advent of community policing, experts on policing have
maintained that in addition to fighting crime, police should engage citizens and
help solve quality-of-life problems such as homelessness and abandoned buildings
in the communities they serve. This change spawned some tensions in the policing
profession. Specifically, some officers complained that solving community problems
should be the responsibility of social workers; police (by contrast) should respond to
calls-for-service, solve crimes, and protect people by arresting offenders (Goldstein,
1990; Sherman, 2010).
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Police officers
mounted on horses are
helpful with crowd
control and enhancing
police–community
relations.
But the truth is, no one group can do it all because the problems facing commu-
nities today are bigger than any one group. Only by cooperating for the public good
can police and other experts—social workers, medical personnel, public defenders,
district attorneys—collectively provide the public safety citizens are paying for with
their taxes. For example, police can collaborate with social workers to help address
issues related to homelessness. Police can also work with city or county building-
code departments to condemn and demolish abandoned buildings that function as
drug-use houses or otherwise pose a threat to public safety.
Wearing Many “Hats”

Thankfully, in many jurisdictions, police officers have also learned to function in a
manner reminiscent of social work while still responding to citizen complaints, solving
crime, and keeping the peace. We can think of such officers as wearing many “hats”:
• The public safety provider comes into play when an officer arrests a drunk
driver or reevaluates an elderly citizen’s driving ability to prevent innocent
citizens from being hurt.
• The crime fighter comes to the fore when the same officer apprehends a
robbery suspect. (Note, however, that police officers spend most of their time
in service-related and order-maintenance functions.)
• The social worker emerges when the officer resolves a dispute between two
neighbors by listening to their respective concerns and encouraging them to
arrive at a compromise that satisfies both citizens.
Police officer leaders are generally comfortable multitasking in this way. In
fact, many officers excel at identifying what policing “hat” will be best in any
ort80008_ch03_051-084.indd 64 13/12/10 12:14 PM

given situation. While today’s officers understand that responding quickly to calls-
for-service is a significant part of their role, they also want to find solutions to the
problems confronting the communities they serve. Enlightened officers see the arrest
of an offender as just part of the solution to the problem of crime. They understand
that their role must constantly evolve in response to a myriad of new developments
(such as increasing crime) and emerging political realities (including lack of fiscal
resources) (Stojkovic, Kolinich, & Klofas, 2008).
THE NEED FOR ETHICAL LEADERSHIP
In Chapter 1, we discussed ethics and its role in professional policing. In the pages
that follow, we examine the challenges inherent in providing ethical leadership in a
police agency—including aligning one’s actions with one’s words, combating bias-
based policing, preventing misuse of force, and eradicating police misconduct.
Aligning Actions with Words

Police administrators should define and encourage ethical behavior and adherence
to high moral standards for personnel throughout their agency. But talk, in itself, is
not enough. Administrators must also demonstrate ethical behavior and high moral
standards—through their actions. As the saying goes, “Actions speak louder than
words,” and whenever a person’s behavior conflicts with that individual’s state-
ments, it is the behavior—not the words—that others notice most.
Administrators and managers who function as ethical leaders demonstrate
specific actions, behaviors, and personal qualities, including trustworthiness, com-
mitment to their agency’s mission, courage, compassion, and accountability for
outcomes. By contrast, unethical leaders are secretive and often betray others. They
abuse their authority and power and use information for their own benefit.
Ethical leaders also attract followers by virtue of their honesty with appointing
authorities, with agency members (sworn and nonsworn), and with members of
the community their agency serves. Moreover, they continually model appropri-
ate behavior—explaining their vision through articulate speech, engendering trust
by being reliable, and developing their own skills and using them to good effect
(Ortmeier & Meese, 2010; Schultz, 2008).
Police leaders must demonstrate all these competencies while also fulfilling the
Bias-based policing:
distinct role of public safety officer. In addition, they must always remember that
intentional or
just one instance of unethical behavior can destroy a person’s (and a police agency’s)
nonintentional
trustworthiness and reputation—even if that individual has a long history of ethical
practices that
behavior. Additional information about ethical leadership is presented in Chapter 11.
incorporate
prejudicial
judgments based
Combating Bias-Based Policing on gender, race,
In addition to aligning their actions with their words, ethical leaders must combat bias- ethnicity, and other
based policing. According to a 2004 research study performed by Auburn University differences that are
Montgomery for the state of Virginia, “Bias-based policing includes practices by inappropriately
individual officers, supervisors, managerial practices, and departmental programs, applied.
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A Homeland Security
Officer and a Border
Patrol Agent at a
checkpoint searching
for weapons and
verifying immigration
status. Racial profiling
is a key concern for
police agencies.
both intentional and non-intentional, that incorporate prejudicial judgments based on

gender, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, economic status, religious beliefs, or
age that are inappropriately applied” (Charles, Ioimo, Tears, & Becton, 2004).
Racial Profiling The most blatant example of bias-based policing today is known
as racial profiling. Through this type of profiling, law enforcement representatives
stop or detain people based on their race as a reason for suspicion that the individu-
als have, are currently, or will engage in criminal activity (Amnesty International
USA, 2009). For example, an officer stops particular drivers or questions cer-
tain pedestrians solely because they belong to a specific group (such as African
American, Hispanic, Asian, and Middle Eastern), because the officer believes that
all members of that group cannot be trusted. Racial profiling is unethical because it
is based on prejudice—adverse opinions about members of specific group that are
formed without sufficient knowledge of those individuals.
To understand the harm that racial profiling inflicts, imagine driving your car and
being pulled over by a police officer for no apparent reason: You have not done any-
thing wrong. Yet the officer clearly suspects you of wrongdoing. You gradually realize
that it is the color of your skin that has triggered the stop. How do you feel? Profiling
is an assault on people’s humanity. If you are like most people, you likely feel anger,
perhaps even rage, and you probably lose any trust you once placed in police.
Familiarity: The Antidote to Profiling Racial profiling has fallen out of favor,
and police agencies across the nation have issued formal statements that its practice
will not be tolerated. Experts agree that preventing such bias-based policing begins
and ends with communication between police and citizens. The more citizens know
about how the police do their jobs, the less likely it is that citizens will formulate
misconceptions that distance police from those they serve. And the more officers
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interact with citizens, the more they will come to know and appreciate the similari-
ties and differences among them. We are all people, and familiarity with people—
how they live, how they interact with one another, how they feel—fosters harmony
not only in neighborhoods but also within and between nations (Graziano, Schuck,
& Martin, 2010; Jones-Brown & Terry, 2004; Ortmeier, 2006; Shusta et al., 2011).
Preventing Misuse of Force

In the 1960s and 1970s, the American public turned its attention to the way police
officers conducted themselves. Newspapers reported brutality on the part of police
when they arrested, detained, and interrogated prisoners—especially if the prisoners
were members of minority groups.
Use-of-Force Rules Today, police agencies have strict rules governing officers’
behavior. Aggressive investigations of allegations of abuse, along with severe pun-
ishments, have reduced complaints about misuse of force. In the recruit academy
and during in-service training, new officers are taught, in no uncertain terms, what
they can and cannot do to citizens. For example, during the arrest of a suspected
offender, an officer may use whatever force is reasonably necessary to overcome
resistance but cannot use excessive force. Use of force, especially deadly force, is
strictly governed by laws, policies, and procedures designed to keep officers and
suspects safe. In some jurisdictions, the use of deadly physical force has been supple-
mented by the use of less-than-lethal bean-bag rounds, rubber bullets, or Tasers.
The Use-of-Force Continuum The best way to ensure that an officer does not
“cross the line” regarding use of force is through training from day one. When offi-
cers are aware of alternative methods of handling potentially dangerous situations,
they are more likely to maintain control of themselves as well as others. Effective
tactical communication to reduce conflict is the best alternative. Many police agen-
cies train officers to envision use of force as on a continuum: The type of force an
officer may use depends on the level of resistance presented by the other person.
For example, suppose that an officer responding to a domestic violence call
encounters one person physically threatening another. The officer commands the
person to stop the threat-
ening behavior. The per- Less-than-lethal
son either complies with weapons, such as a
the request or continues Taser device, should be
the threatening behav- considered as a viable
ior. If the person does less-lethal option in
not comply, the officer subject resistance
may use a physical force situations.
hand-to-hand technique
to stop the threat or
restrain the individual, or
deploy a chemical spray
agent to gain compli-
ance. Training and con-
sistent and continuous
mentoring of recruits and
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less experienced officers have reduced the number of complaints of not only misuse
of force but also bias-based policing and other misconduct (Kelling & Sousa, 2001;
Michelson, 1999; Peak, 2007; Whisenand & Ferguson, 2005).
Eradicating Police Misconduct

Along with the realization that police conduct had to change in regard to the use of
force, the U.S. Congress passed and subsequently amended the Civil Rights Act of
1871, which allows victims of alleged abuse to file lawsuits against the police agen-
cies and individual officers responsible.
Liability Lawsuits According to the law—42 U.S.C. § 1983—if police officers deprive
a person of the rights the individual is guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution and
other federal law, that person can seek redress through filing a lawsuit, or a “civil
action for deprivation of rights” (U.S. House of Representatives, Office of the Law
Revision Counsel, 2008). Over time, a segment of law has sprung up that specializes in
liability lawsuits—and not just those where police are involved. For instance, since the
Constitution states that citizens are entitled to “life,” any entity that deprives a citizen
of life is liable for that loss. Not surprisingly, lawyers handling wrongful-death suits
have proliferated. The fear of lawsuits against police agencies has prompted local gov-
ernment and police leaders to analyze agencies’ vulnerabilities with respect to arrest-
and nonarrest-related deaths. Agency training, supervision, policies, officer actions,
and officer assignments all come into question in wrongful-death lawsuits. During the
years 1995 through 2005, the police in the states of California and New York were
involved in 66 wrongful-death lawsuits (Fishel, Gabbidon, & Hummer, 2007).
No police agency can afford to neglect assessing its vulnerability to liability
lawsuits over arrest-related deaths. As highlighted in the U.S. Bureau of Justice
Statistics Special Report, 2007, the number of arrest-related deaths in the United
States increased from 622 in 2003 to 703 in 2005. The total number of these deaths
from 2003 to 2005, including homicide by law enforcement, is 2,002. As shown
in Table 3-2, homicide by law enforcement accounts for 54.7 percent of the total
number of deaths for all causes.
table 3-2 Cause of Death: 2003–2005

NUMBER OF ARREST-RELATED DEATHS PERCENT
CAUSE OF DEATH 2003–2005 2005 2004 2003 2003–2005
All causes 2,002 703 677 622 100

Homicide—
by law enforcement 1,005 364 365 366 54.7
by other persons 11 4 4 3 0.5
Intoxication 252 90 81 81 12.6
Suicide 234 91 87 56 11.7
Accidental injury 140 47 41 52 7.0
Illness/natural causes 113 38 49 26 5.6
Other/unknown 157 69 50 38 7.8
Note: See Methodology for information on missing data by state for each reporting year.
ort80008_ch03_051-084.indd 68 20/10/10 6:18 PM

Also notable, in arrest-related homicides, local police agencies account for

74 percent of such homicides, with sheriff’s agencies accounting for 19 percent and
state and highway patrol 6 percent. Of that amount, arrest-related suicides num-
bered 234, with 67 percent taking place at the scene of the arrest and the remaining
33 percent at the police station or booking facility. The investigation of these cases
of arrest-related deaths was lengthy, involving many levels of government (Mumola,
2007). Police agencies must be ever vigilant to ensure that agency personnel are
properly trained and supervised to address the issue of liability, credibility of the
agency, and the personal health of agency personnel and the citizens the agency
serves.
Table 3-3, which shows arrest-related deaths by most serious offense, empha-
sizes that violent offenses constitute only about half of the offenses in which arrest-
related deaths occur. Property offenses, drug offenses, public-order offenses, and no
criminal charges intended account for 33.4 percent of the arrest-related deaths from
2003 to 2005.
Noted in the Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report (2007), Table 3-4 shows
that the increasing number of deaths from 2003 to 2005 is correlated with the use
of Tasers and other conducted-energy devices (CEDs). Two issues stand out in this
report: first, the number of deaths in which intoxication is a factor and that a violent
offense was involved; second, the number of Taser- or CED-involved deaths escalat-
ing from 3 in 2003 to 24 in 2005.
Police agencies must be
ever cognizant that arrest- The amount of force
related deaths involving law used to effect an arrest
enforcement are on the rise. should be that which
is reasonably necessary
Liability lawsuits are a grave
only to overcome
possibility. Credible and docu-
resistance from the
mented training in the use of
person being taken
both armed and unarmed use- into custody.
of-force techniques is essen-
tial for addressing and pos-
sibly preventing arrest-related
deaths.
Police Misconduct Defined

We have been talking about
police misconduct, but what Police misconduct:
does the term mean, exactly? inappropriate
Many police officers have behaviors (often
asked their agencies to including use
develop a list of behaviors of excessive
that constitute misconduct. force, theft, and
However, most agencies pre- other destructive
fer to examine each incident behaviors) and
in its context before deciding conduct prohibited
whether it qualifies as mis- by a police agency.
conduct and how severe the
infraction is. Police officers
are expected to learn what
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table 3-3 Arrest-Related Deaths by Most Serious Offense
ARREST-RELATED DEATHS 2003–2005
MOST SERIOUS OFFENSE NUMBER PERCENT

All offenses 2002 100
Violent offenses 1,119 55.9
Homicide 177 8.8
Murder of a law enforcement officer 8 0.4
Attempted murder of a law enforcement officer 105 5.2
Other murder/manslaughter 64 3.2
Kidnapping 38 1.9
Sexual assaulta 13 0.6
Robbery 96 4.8
Assault
Assault on a law enforcement officer 251 12.5
Domestic violenceb 57 2.8
Other assault 436 21.6
Other violent 51 2.5
Property offenses 150 7.5%
Burglary 49 2.4
Larceny 14 0.7
Motor vehicle theft 21 1.0
Fraud 11 0.5
Other propertyc 55 2.7
Drug offenses 154 7.7%
Possession 105 5.2
Trafficking 31 1.5
Other drug 18 0.9
Public-order offenses 290 14.5%
Weapons 36 1.8
Obstruction of justice 85 4.2
Obstruction of law enforcement activities 55 2.7
Obstruction of court activities 30 1.5
Traffic violations 36 1.8
Driving while intoxicated 29 1.4
Drunkenness, disorderly conduct 74 3.7
Probation/parole violation, escape 21 1.0
Immigration 1 —d
Other public-order 8 0.4
No criminal charges intended 75 3.7%
Mental health transport 44 2.2
Medical transport 9 0.4
Unspecified 22 1.1
Offense not reported 214 10.7%
a Includes rape and other sexual assault.

b Some domestic violence causes may be reported as assaults.
c Includes arson and stolen property.
d Less than 0.05%
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table 3-4 Deaths and Conducted-Energy Devices

NUMBER OF ARREST-RELATED DEATHS INVOLVING
CHARACTERISTICS THE USE OF CONDUCTED ENERGY DEVICES, 2003–2005
Total 36
Year
2003 3
2004 9
2005 24
Cause of death
Homicide by law enforcement 7
Intoxication 10
Suicide 1
Illness 1
Other/Unknown 9
Most serious offense
Violent 16
Property 8
Drug 2
Public-order 3
No criminal charges intended 2
Offense not reported 5
constitutes misconduct during their training on federal, state, and local laws;
and from their agency’s specific policies and procedures known as general orders,
special orders, and rules and regulations. Some common examples of misconduct
include untruthfulness, discourtesy, use of excessive force, theft, accepting of
gratuities, and impaired driving (by alcohol or drugs) (Graziano et al., 2010;
Ross, 2006).
The Need for Training and Mentoring Discipline of the previously identified
misconduct is covered in Chapter 12, but the best and most proven way to pre-
vent misconduct is through thorough training at the beginning of an officer’s
career, and through ongoing mentoring and in-service training during an officer’s
employment with the agency. Senior officers entrusted with mentoring junior offi-
cers must exhibit the highest standards of ethical behavior themselves. Agencies
should avoid assigning a new officer to any senior or field training officer who
has generated complaints of misconduct in the past. Additionally, mentors and
trainers should monitor officers throughout their careers to identify and address
symptoms of chronic stress or burnout (such as increased absenteeism and dif-
ficulty concentrating on work), which may lead to misconduct. By preventing
misconduct, an agency avoids embarrassing and costly lawsuits (Crowder, 1998;
Morreale, 2002).
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High-Speed Police Pursuits
High-speed police vehicle pursuits often result in their manufacturer with specific technology that can
deaths and injuries to participants and innocent slow the vehicle to 5 miles per hour or less. As an
bystanders—which can trigger wrongful-death or alternative, there is a laser-guided device capable of
negligence lawsuits against the officers and agen- launching a magnetized GPS beacon from the grill of
cies involved. Why are such pursuits so dangerous? a police vehicle at the pursued vehicle. The magnet
Generally, the closer an officer gets to a vehicle being adheres to the fleeing vehicle, and its GPS beacon
pursued, the faster the pursued person will drive, transmits a location signal to tracking systems moni-
increasing the risk that the chase will end in a colli- tored by police.
sion. For this reason, police agencies develop pursuit
1. How might police agencies make additional use
policies and procedures. A few agencies have even
of technology to improve efficiency and effective-
restricted officers’ ability to pursue traffic-law violators,
ness with respect to police chases?
stolen vehicles, and criminal suspects. In such agen-
cies, officers must allow some dangerous people to 2. In your view, could technology eventually make
escape and strive to apprehend them later. human police officers unnecessary? Why or why not?
Emerging technologies may provide a long-term 3. How might a restrictive police-chase policy
solution. For example, the police are experimenting enhance or demean officers’ role? Consider not
with Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking devices only officers’ perceptions but also community
to restrict fuel flow in pursued vehicles equipped by members’ perceptions of the role.
TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES
The biggest technology-related challenges facing police agencies today are plan-
ning for technological advances, anticipating these advances’ effects on the agency,
and keeping the agency current with new and proven technology. Agencies can
best overcome these challenges by keeping abreast of technological advance-
ments and ensuring appropriate financial planning to acquire new technologies.
Performance is mixed on this front: Some agencies have state-of-the-art systems
and have automated everything from report writing and record keeping to forensic
sciences applied to crime scene investigation. In others agencies, officers still take
notes on a lined pad and then use those notes to handwrite their reports back at
the office.
The Value of Technology

True, it is not easy for anyone to keep up with the march of technology. Conventional
wisdom often suggests that each of us should buy a new computer or the latest ver-
sion of a software application every six months—or even sooner—to stay current.
This is not practical for most individuals, never mind for many public agencies.
However, most small police agencies can afford to acquire at least a functional and
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relatively current computer system. And they must acquire it, as such technology is
vital to fulfilling their mission.
Moreover, many criminals are using technology for nefarious purposes. For
example, child molesters may pose as harmless “friends” on social media sites
such as Facebook to attract victims. Police agencies that are not current with such
technologies—or that remain unfamiliar with how criminals are using them—
cannot hope to provide high-quality policing services.
Essential Information Technology

At the very least, police agencies need access to high-speed connection to the
Internet. By searching the Web, officers and detectives can find information that will
help them apprehend suspects and other wanted individuals. In addition, computers
offer access to such crucial resources as the Automated Fingerprint Identification
System (AFIS), the National Crime Information Center (NCIS), and LexusNexus,
which provide users with legal and business information. If criminals can access this
information, it is even more important for police officers to have the same ability.
An exciting innovation for many police agencies has come with the use of lap-
top computers in patrol vehicles. Patrol officers can use the laptops to input calls-
for-service information directly to the main police agency database, print out reports
for complainants to sign, and retrieve information from the Internet about suspects
and other people of interest.
Budgets for police agencies may be strained, and resources may be limited.
Still, police must be technologically up-to-date, as long as the technology acquired
is necessary, to carry out their mission (Ortmeier & Meese, 2010; Young &
Ortmeier, 2011).
Police officer using

a laptop in a radio
patrol car.
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ETHICS IN ACTION
How Deep Should They Go?
any police agencies regularly investigate the online activities of job
M applicants—including which websites they visit, what they write

or read in blogs, what videos they watch, and what images and
information they post in any social networking sites they belong to. Like
all people, aspiring police personnel are less inhibited online than in face-
to-face interactions. Their online personas thus present a potentially rich
source of information about their character and personality.
To understand this, think about your own use of, say, Facebook or
MySpace. If you use such social media, have you posted photos of yourself
drunk at a party, or written a blog entry touting the joys of cocaine? If so,
you are making an impression on hiring managers who access your page—
an impression you may prefer not to make.
Because a person’s online activities reveal so much, police managers
justify their investigation into applicants’ online life as an important exten-
sion of the routine background check conducted during the police hiring
process, which includes finding out whether an applicant has used illegal
drugs or has been arrested.
At the same time, many police agencies face dwindling applications
for employment, so they are considering relaxing their hiring standards by
accepting applicants who admit to having used controlled substances in
the past. Other standards may be relaxed in the future, including an appli-
cant’s admission or online evidence of downloading music without permis-
sion or even viewing underage pornographic sites online. An applicant’s
postings or interactions on questionable websites or blogs may or may not
be cause for an applicant character review.
1. In your opinion, is it ethical and acceptable for police agencies to inves-
tigate potential employees’ online activities? Why or why not?
2. Is an applicant’s behavior before hiring a valid concern for the agency
after a recruit becomes a sworn officer? Why or why not?
RESOURCE CONSTRAINTS
As in many organizations, the hard truth about public agencies’ budgets is that one
department, one agency, or one program will always get the bulk of the money.
Resource constraints for a police agency stem from forces unique to the public
agency arena. But police agencies can still take steps to manage such constraints.
Understanding the Forces behind Resource Constraints

Police agencies in many jurisdictions are in the unique position of being downsized or
eliminated owing to citizen and government representatives’ concern regarding the cost
of police services. (In Chapter 14, we discuss the use of outsourcing as one approach to
cutting police service costs.) For many jurisdictions, police service is the most costly of
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all the services on which the government spends taxpayers’ money. Police agencies must
continually provide statistical data to prove that they are delivering excellent service; for
example, by reducing and preventing crime. Citizens may believe that they have to pay
twice for police services when they have their own town, village, or city police agency
as well as the law enforcement services of the county sheriff’s department.
Meanwhile, other institutions in a jurisdiction are also clamoring for financial
help from their local governing bodies. School systems are demanding more revenue
to pay for teacher salaries; new or renovated facilities; upkeep of buses and computers;
and special education services. Business owners at the local city, town, or village level
are asking for tax relief so they can build their enterprises and enhance their facilities.
Public safety providers including firefighters and emergency medical services teams are
demanding updated equipment and facilities. Many suburban and rural public safety
providers previously had plenty of volunteers to help out. But volunteerism ebbs dur-
ing tough economic times because people need to work longer hours to pay their bills
and feed their families. Indeed, in many jurisdictions, fire and ambulance services are
transforming from all-volunteer services to part-time and full-time paid positions.
Competing for Resources

Police agencies must consider numerous options when competing for scant public dol-
lars within their jurisdiction. One option is to establish a sense of urgency for a specific
program or activity an agency wants to initiate. By making a compelling business case
for the funding, agency leaders may persuade the city council or city manager or mayor
to divert tax revenues from social programs to fund a crime-reduction strategy such as
zero-tolerance policing (typically a very expensive program) or to freeze hiring of civil-
ian support personnel to free up money for existing sworn officers to provide for a safer
community. The needed revenue will enable the police agency to continue providing cur-
rent services and implement innovative crime fighting or quality-of-life enhancements.
A second option is to solicit help from the community the agency serves. For
instance, some agencies have enlisted citizen volunteers to take telephone reports of
incidents that do not require an immediate response. Such volunteers can also per-
form observation patrols by using neighborhood video systems or riding in specially
marked cars and then reporting any suspicious activity to the agency. In addition,
some neighborhood residents have participated in citizen police academies in prepa-
ration for leading or contributing to Neighborhood Watch programs.
This kind of citizen involvement generates a twofold benefit: First, citizens feel
good about helping keep their own streets safe and enabling patrol officers to focus
on incidents that demand their immediate attention and specialized skills. Second,
citizens and police feel a sense of partnership and collaboration that promotes toler-
ance and understanding on the part of both groups (Kotter, 1996; Ortmeier, 2006;
Sherman, 2010; Stohr & Collins, 2009). (See Chapter 6 for more information on
how police can partner with citizen volunteers.)
TERRORISM
A hundred years ago, most police agencies across the United States operated in a
vacuum, confined to their own jurisdictions. To deal with cross-jurisdictional crime,
they often had to get assistance from private police. (Eventually, the Federal Bureau
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New York City’s of Investigation, or FBI, arose

World Trade Center to provide this type of assis-
Twin Towers tance.) Little communication
burning after the occurred between individual
terrorist attacks on police jurisdictions, so crimi-
September 11, 2001. nals found it relatively easy
to move and settle somewhere
else without being detected or
brought to justice.
All this changed in the
twentieth and certainly in the
twenty-first century. Owing
to the terrorist attacks of
9/11, globalization (manifested
as increased flows of people,
information, and goods across
national borders), and interna-
tional unrest, police agencies
can no longer operate in iso-
lated pockets. Instead, agencies
at all levels and in every region
and state in the nation must
share information and resources
to maintain peaceful and safe
communities and to achieve
Homeland security: homeland security. The estab-
public and private lishment of the U.S. Department
policies, procedures, of Homeland Security was a
tactics, strategies, major step toward this goal.
equipment, facilities,
and personnel
designed or utilized The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
to defend the The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), created in response to the 9/11
homeland against terrorist attacks, is dedicated to encouraging an interagency approach to policing
domestic- or foreign- strategy, especially as it relates to terrorism. Published in July 2002, DHS’s National
initiated threats Strategy for Homeland Security identifies three major goals: (1) prevent terrorist
or hazards (for attacks within the United States, (2) reduce America’s vulnerability to terrorism, and
example, terrorism, (3) minimize damage and recover from any attacks.
natural or human- DHS’s stated vision is to preserve freedom through defense of the homeland.
caused disasters, and Its goals include increasing awareness of threats to homeland security; preventing
pandemics). terrorism; and defining and executing strategies to protect the nation, its infra-
structure, property, and people. Local, county, and state police agencies across the
country are required to maintain a heightened state of readiness regarding specific
kinds of threats (such as bombs in subways, deliberate depositing of poisons into
water supplies, and explosives entering the country in containers on ships coming
into ports). In addition, such agencies must provide their personnel with training
in how to anticipate and address homeland security–related incidents. And they
must take steps to control access to the country and its citizens. Airports, train and
bus stations, and ports are extremely vulnerable to terrorist attacks. Those police
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agencies responsible for protecting transportation systems and critical infrastructure

must be particularly vigilant.
Four Phases of Emergency Management Homeland security emphasizes four

phases of emergency management:
1. Mitigation: Public safety agencies mitigate emergencies by assessing a
wide range of risks, with the goal of identifying vulnerabilities not only to
terrorist attacks but also to other catastrophic events such as hurricanes or
earthquakes. They then seek to reduce those risks. Examples of risk-reduction
practices from a homeland security perspective include passenger screening at
airports and the requirement that pilots of private planes report who is on a
plane before it lands in the United States.
2. Preparedness: This phase involves everything from training first responders
to stockpiling supplies. Preparedness facilitates rapid response. It also helps
ensure that medical attention will reach people quickly and that criminal
perpetrators of emergency events will be identified and apprehended swiftly.
With preparation, emergency personnel are regularly trained, tested, and
certified to ensure fast and appropriate response to catastrophic events.
3. Response: Rapid response is what highly trained personnel provide when an
emergency occurs. Personnel respond based on their training and the scope
of the emergency—preserving human life first, attending to the dead in a
respectful manner, and addressing any property considerations (such as fire
suppression). At the scene, responders should function as calm and capable
leaders who bring order to chaos and comfort to the confused and injured.
4. Recovery: This phase comes in the aftermath of an emergency and entails a
return to conditions that prevailed before the event. Public safety agencies
analyze statistical measurements of loss of life, injuries sustained, and the
values of property lost. Specialists attend to the mental anguish suffered by
those affected during and after the emergency.
Homeland security is a comprehensive national public safety strategy designed
to prevent major events and foster effective responses to events that do occur. To
support this strategy, federal, state, county, and local agencies must communicate
and work together (U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Office of Management
and Budget, 2007). They have several powerful tools at their disposal for doing so,
including the National Incident Management System (NIMS) and the Standardized National Incident
Emergency Management System (SEMS) established by individual states. Management System
(NIMS):
a nationwide
The National Incident Management System (NIMS) program by
The National Incident Management System (NIMS) provides a way for public safety which public
agencies to develop policies and processes for working together to prevent and man- safety agencies
age emergencies. Operational protocols, procedures, and standards are developed develop policies
by the secretary of Homeland Security and administered through agencies at the and processes
various levels of government. for collectively
NIMS aims to bring together best practices for addressing critical incidents and preventing
incorporate those practices into a framework that public and private organizations and managing
can use to address emergency situations. NIMS has several key components: emergencies.
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Command and Management Structures Command and management structures

include the Incident Command System (ICS), Multi-Agency Coordination Systems,
and the Public Information Systems. The Incident Command System consists of
operating procedures as well as responders from fire departments, police agen-
cies, emergency medical teams, government, and the Red Cross—all organizations
involved in the various phases of the incident. In one county in New York State, a
central location at a police and fire training facility of a community college serves
as the incident command center for a critical situation where NIMS processes would
be employed.
The Multi-Agency Coordination Systems support incident management by
providing organizational structure, operational procedures, and interactive man-
agement components for those entities engaged in the incident at the federal, state,
local, tribal, and regional levels through written agreements and other arrange-
ments for assistance at critical incidents. These systems define how organizations
cooperate and work together to provide comprehensive and productive service
delivery.
The Public Information Systems refers to those processes, procedures, and
systems for communicating timely and accurate information to the public during a
crisis or emergency situation. This system provides for a public information officer
who communicates directly with the print and electronic media and the operational
leadership of the incident command structure.
Preparedness Activities These activities are instituted before an incident and

include deciding how an agency will use personnel, equipment, and other resources
during an incident. Training is a particularly crucial preparedness activity. DHS has
developed standardized courses on incident command and management, as well as
discipline- and agency-specific incident management courses such as the integration
and use of supporting technologies. DHS also provides hands-on exercises featuring
realistic incident scenarios. For example, participants learn how to operationalize
emergency management protocols in their organizations. Public safety agencies can
hire facilitators from the organizations that developed these courses, and have them
teach the courses to their own personnel or send personnel to locations where the
courses are offered.
Individuals who successfully complete training receive a personnel qualification
certification. Those who can demonstrate that they have acquired and can operate
equipment such as first-responder communication systems, and can demonstrate
that the equipment is compatible with other agencies receive an equipment acquisi-
tion and operations certification.
As part of preparation, agencies are also expected to forge mutual-aid agree-
ments guaranteeing the sharing of resources, facilities, services, and other support
as needed if an incident should occur. Finally, DHS provides standardized forms and
documents such as reporting forms and standardized procedures, which agencies
can distribute to responders in the case of an incident.
Resource Management NIMS defines requirements including standardized pro-

cesses and reporting procedures that establish forms and categorization to describe,
inventory, dispatch, track, and recover resources over the life cycle of an incident.
For instance, with respect to Hurricane Katrina, responders tried to provide housing
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for victims at the Superdome, in temporary trailers, and on cruise ships. But these
efforts lacked coordination. Responders learned that management of those resources
should fall under a specific agency and be responsible to DHS (“Federal Response
to Hurricane Katrina: Lessons Learned,” 2006).
Communications and Information Management The Communications and

Information Management component of NIMS provides guidelines for agency
communications and the use of information during an incident. Effective incident
management hinges on having interoperable communication processes, procedures,
and systems to support an array of incident management activities across jurisdic-
tions and agencies. Communication between fire and police personnel, as well as
between emergency medical services, the Red Cross, transportation services, and
housing services, is critical. Communication systems should be compatible and not
interfere with one another.
Information management guidelines cover topics including how agencies should
collect, analyze, distribute, and share information about the incident (such as num-
ber of people injured, property damage, and additional risks). Such information
must flow easily and quickly to support the agencies and jurisdictions responsible
for managing and directing the incident, the persons or systems affected by the
incident, and those trying to help bring resolution to the incident. Effective deci-
sion making, direction, and the appropriate implementation of critical resources are
driven by vital and timely information management.
Supporting Technologies The NIMS supporting-technologies component

describes the key technologies and technological systems—such as voice and data
communication systems, record-keeping and resources tracking systems, and data
display systems—needed to support and refine NIMS. For instance, video systems
used by emergency response personnel in real-time situations must be interoperable
within and across all involved agencies providing the critical response to the inci-
dent at hand (U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 2006).
Ongoing Management and Maintenance The NIMS ongoing management

and maintenance component identifies activities for evaluating and continuously
improving the system. For example, multiagency practical exercises are assessed to
determine which tactics are in need of improvement or modification.
State-Level Standardized Emergency

Standardized
Management System (SEMS) Emergency
Individual states comply with NIMS by developing state-level emergency man- Management System
agement plans. Most states offer emergency-management guidelines known as (SEMS):
the Standardized Emergency Management System (SEMS). These guidelines aim a set of guidelines
to ensure that state-level agencies’ emergency management system complies with that aims to ensure
NIMS guidelines. To achieve compliance, the state systems should include: that state-level
agencies’ emergency
• Information on emergency management for first responders and their
management system
constituents
comply with NIMS
• Training in how NIMS works guidelines.
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• An information management system that supports effective response to

critical incidents; for example, through compatible communication systems
• Documented procedures for responding to incidents in the field and as an
organization
• Emergency preparedness recommendations for families
• Miscellaneous emergency prevention and preparedness information, including
plans for responding to winter rainstorms and landslides, earthquakes, and
wildfires (California Emergency Management Agency, 2007; California State
Office of Emergency Services, 2007).
NIMS and SEMS are still relatively new. However, they are solidly established
while also evolving as the various organizations that use them gain experience by
applying them to actual emergencies and homeland security issues. Yet, uniformed
local police officers and sheriff’s deputies are most often the first responders to
any emergency. Therefore, it is incumbent on every police agency to prepare these
personnel to respond to natural and human-caused disasters. Further, proactive
counter-radicalization strategies and activities designed to prevent radicalization of
individuals must be employed as well as the typical reactive tactics associated with
counterterrorism (Burress, Giblin, & Schafer, 2010; Haberfeld, 2006; Johnson,
2010; Martin, 2008; Oliver, 2007; Ortmeier & Meese, 2010).
summary
• Increased Diversity. The demographic and cultural makeup of the U.S.

population is becoming increasingly diverse. To better serve diverse
communities, police personnel must understand cultural and ethnic differences
and foster tolerance for differences within their agencies.
• Complex Political Dynamics. Police personnel must navigate three types of
political dynamics: intra-agency (political machinations within a particular
agency), interagency (politics between a police agency and other public
safety agencies serving the same jurisdiction), and intergovernment (politics
between a police agency and other government entities and officials serving
the same jurisdiction). Astuteness, networking, and sincerity can help
personnel navigate all three types of politics. To navigate intra-agency politics,
police also need to leverage their personal strengths, relationships, and
personality. To manage interagency politics, police should strive to partner
with other public safety agencies, control turnover at top management
levels in their agency, and foster collaboration with community leaders.
To manage intergovernment politics, agency leaders must build bridges
to other government entities serving the same jurisdiction and collaborate
toward a greater good. Navigating the three types of political dynamics can
be complicated by pressure to demonstrate political correctness, which has
advantages (such as helping an agency “keep the peace”) and disadvantages
(specifically, it can prevent police personnel from discussing all aspects of a
problem and developing effective solutions).
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• A Changing Role. Police officers’ role has expanded over the years to include
not only maintaining public safety but also fighting crime and solving
community problems. Today’s police officer wears many “hats” and must
learn how to function in each type of role.
• The Need for Ethical Leadership. In providing ethical leadership, police
personnel must grapple with four challenges: aligning one’s actions with one’s
words, combating bias-based policing (including racial profiling), preventing
misuse of force by officers, and eradicating police misconduct. Many of these
problems can be surmounted through proper training as well as modeling of
proper and expected behavior by leaders.
• Technological Advances. Improvements in technology have presented police
agencies with new opportunities to provide better service. But it can be
difficult for some agencies to adopt new technology if personnel are resistant
to changing the way they work, or if an agency has serious budget restrictions.
Keeping abreast of technology and acquiring and using those technologies most
critical to delivering services are two steps agencies must take.
• Resource Constraints. Numerous forces (including competition for tax
revenues) can subject a police agency to resource constraints. To ensure that
they get the funding they need to provide high-quality services, police agencies
must demonstrate that they are providing value in return for taxpayers’
money and make a compelling business case for the funding they need.
• Terrorism. The terrorist attacks of 9/11 made it clear that police agencies could
no longer operate in isolation from one another and from other public safety
organizations at the local, state, and federal levels. In response to the attacks,
the U.S. Department of Homeland Security was created. Its vision is to preserve
freedom through defense of the homeland. DHS requires local, county, and state
police agencies to maintain a heightened state of readiness regarding security
threats through training and emphasizes four phases of emergency management
(mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery). Police agencies have two
tools for achieving these goals: the National Incident Management System and
the state-level Standardized Emergency Management System. key terms
bias-based policing
homeland security
interagency politics
intergovernment politics
intra-agency politics
National Incident Management System (NIMS)
police misconduct
political correctness
Standardized Emergency Management System (SEMS)
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1. In what ways are the demographic and cultural makeup of the U.S. population
changing? What challenges do these changes present for police agencies, and how
can police personnel best surmount those challenges?
2. What are the three types of political dynamics managers and officers of a police
agency must learn to navigate? Of all the skills you read about in this chapter for
navigating such politics, which would you personally want to strengthen most? What
steps could you take to strengthen your skills in these areas?
3. Of the many different “hats” today’s police officer must wear (including public safety
provider, crime fighter, and social worker), which would you find most challenging
to wear? Why? What actions could you take to enhance your ability to fill this aspect
of your role as a police manager or officer?
4. Cite examples of practices that constitute bias-based policing. Why are such practices
unacceptable? How might a police agency discourage such practices among officers?
5. Cite examples of behaviors that constitute misuse of force and police misconduct. In
what respects does each of these problems hurt a police agency and the community it
serves? What steps can an agency take to prevent misuse of force and police misconduct?
6. What types of technological advances do you consider the most promising for police
agencies? Why? If an agency has severe resource constraints, how should it prioritize
its investments in technology?
7. Imagine a new service you would like to see your police agency provide. Funding is tight.
How would you build a compelling business case to persuade your local or state govern-
ment to allocate funding to support development of the service you have in mind?
8. Summarize how NIMS and SEMS work and explain why they are both important to
helping fulfill DHS’s mission.
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WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

The Politics of Loyalty
A medium-size police agency in the eastern part of the United States was sub-
jected to internal disciplinary action and external criminal investigations for
alleged misuse of administrative and police powers. A police chief of extended
tenure who had been previously accused and then absolved of wrongdoing
was again the subject of investigation.
The police chief was known as a friendly and politically powerful indi-
vidual within the department and in the community at large, which happened
to be one of the safest cities in the nation. The chief was known to show
favoritism to officers loyal to his views and direction, rewarding them with
special assignments and promotions. The chief’s circle of colleagues included
other chiefs who demonstrated similar behavior.
Things took a troubling turn after an off-duty police supervisor loyal to
the chief was involved in a hit-and-run motor vehicle accident in which the
victims suffered injury. A special counsel to the town supervisor accused the
chief of not adequately investigating the accident. Another police supervisor,
while on duty, was accused of sexual coercion of a woman who committed
a traffic infraction. Both supervisors were arrested, convicted of felonies, and
dismissed from the agency. They are currently in prison.
The special counsel to the town supervisor maintained that the chief of
police, along with the deputy chief and a police sergeant, had shredded police
documents related to the investigations of the two supervisors. The deputy
chief resigned, and the chief of police and police sergeant were suspended
from their official duties. The community’s special counsel was then asked to
conduct a more extensive internal inquiry into the department.
The inquiry revealed that the two police supervisors had been disciplined
by or fired from a previous police agency. Moreover, both allegedly were
friends of the police chief or other politically powerful individuals. The district
attorney conducted an investigation into possible criminal activities of the
arrested officers and those officers who conducted background investigations
for new recruits. Besides the two convicted police supervisors, the chief of
police and two additional police sergeants have been criminally charged. An
additional police sergeant has been demoted.
1. This police chief’s leadership helped make the community one of the saf-
est cities in the United States. Loyalty and belief in the chief’s philosophy
and practices appeared to support the police agency’s mission of public
safety. If you had worked in this agency during the time before this saga
erupted, would you have strived to demonstrate loyalty to the chief? Why
or why not?
2. Do you believe that a community and police agency should allow a police
chief to use loyalty as a key management principle if the result is a high
level of public safety? Explain your thinking.
3. What steps would you have taken to prevent this situation from
happening?
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ort80008_ch03_051-084.indd 84 20/10/10 6:18 PM
II
Planning, Budgeting,
Organization Design,
and Assessment
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86 part II Planning, Budgeting, Organization Design, and Assessment
4
Newark, New Jersey, police
personnel use the latest
communications and
surveillance technology to
help plan police activities.
The Nature and Practice

of Planning
learning outcomes

• define planning.
• explain the importance of balancing short-term and long-term priorities in
a police agency.
• define values, vision, and mission and explain how they relate to the
planning process.
• describe how a police agency’s values, vision, and mission translate into
goals and objectives.
• describe common planning pitfalls.
• list types of plans frequently developed by police agencies.
• explain what is meant by strategic planning.
• explain what is meant by Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design.
ort80008_ch04_085-108.indd 86 11/16/10 9:34 AM

chapter 4 The Nature and Practice of Planning 87
• describe the three major steps in the planning process.

• explain how police leaders should respond when a plan does not produce
the intended results or cannot be implemented as intended.
Introduction
Policing activities alone (patrolling, writing tickets, arresting suspects) are not
enough to ensure that a police agency achieves its mission and serves its stake-
holders. Like any organization, the agency must also engage in planning —a Planning:
process, formulation, or design used to achieve an intended result. Planning a process,
counts among managers’, supervisors’, and leaders’ core responsibilities. And formulation, or
design used to
because police agencies also interact closely with the communities they serve,
achieve an intended
planning is a key responsibility of citizens and community leaders as well. result.
Effective planning requires a complex mix of skills. Police managers must take
into account available resources, the concerns of agency employees and community
members, and any training and development investments needed for personnel to
carry out the agency’s plans. In addition, planning calls for a balance between short-
and long-term views of the agency’s objectives and future. Managers must ask ques-
tions such as, “How well does the plan we are considering support our values, vision,
and mission? Will this plan get us to where we want to be six months from now? A
year from now? Five years from now?” (See Figure 4-1.) To develop and execute plans,
managers must also avoid common planning pitfalls as well as understand the differ-
ent types of plans available to choose from—and know when to use each type. They
need to take a disciplined approach to carrying out the steps in the planning process.
And they must master the art of self-management, which includes demonstrating
flexibility and calm when the inevitable happens: things do not go according to plan.
In this chapter, we take a close look at all these aspects of effective
planning—starting with the need for a long-term, big-picture view when police
managers are developing plans for their agency.
figure 4-1 Steps in the Planning Process

STEP KEY QUESTIONS YES NO
1 Is there a problem or a need to address future changes? If yes, proceed to step 2.
2 Is the problem or future need adequately defined and understood? If yes, go to
step 3.
3 Has the concern been identified as an immediate issue or based on future
demands? If yes, go to step 4.
4 Is the plan short or long term? If adequately understood, go to step 5.
5 Does the plan support values, vision, and mission? If yes, proceed to step 6.
If no, go back to step 1 and redefine presenting issue.
6 Have 6-month goals and accomplishments been identified?
7 Have 1-year goals and accomplishments been identified?
8 Have 5-year goals and accomplishments been identified?
ort80008_ch04_085-108.indd 87 11/16/10 9:37 AM

ADOPTING A LONG-TERM, BIG-PICTURE VIEW
Unfortunately, in most police agencies, planning centers on small, short-term proj-

ects only, such as initiatives designed to reduce auto theft or vandalism in a specific
neighborhood. Police and citizens work together to formulate and implement a
solution to the identified problem, then declare victory as soon as they begin seeing
results. The more victories an agency can achieve, the more successful it appears
to stakeholders such as government officials, community members, and agency
employees.
Yet limiting planning to this short-term, small-picture approach contains dan-
gers. It makes planning synonymous with validation, an effort merely to prove that
an agency is taking steps to solve problems within its jurisdiction. It can spawn
the attitude that planning is a clerical function performed by a subunit within the
agency—not “real” police work. Most troubling, it does not encourage a thought-
ful, deliberate process that will exert a more lasting impact on crime or quality of
life in the community an agency serves. Instead, agencies react to whichever citizen
complaint or crisis seems most urgent at the time, crafting and executing plans for
dealing with the problem. The difficulty eases for a while, but because the agency
has not developed plans with the long run in mind, trouble soon returns.
A more effective way to plan is to assume that police and citizens are partners
dedicated to solving problems permanently (not just eradicating their immediate
symptoms). Aligning plans with agency and community values, vision, and mission
can help.
U.S. Capitol Hill

police officer listening
to a citizen protester’s
complaint.
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ALIGNING PLANS WITH VALUES, VISION, AND MISSION
Many organizations have formally defined values, vision, and mission. For a cor-
porate entity, these might all revolve around how the company intends to treat
customers and employees fairly as well as conduct its business ethically. For police
organizations, values, vision, and mission usually center on demonstrating integrity,
equality, and fairness; making a commitment to safe neighborhoods; being open
to community issues; responding quickly and effectively to community needs; and
providing a level of service the community expects.
But terms like values, vision, and mission can sometimes seem abstract and
high level. What do they mean, exactly? In the following text we examine possible
answers to this question as well as explain how values, vision, and mission can serve
as guideposts for a police agency’s plans.
Values
Values are fundamental beliefs, principles, or standards that an individual or Values:
members of an organization regard as desirable or worthwhile. Examples include fundamental
honesty, integrity, compassion, respect, and professionalism. Values can be organi- beliefs, principles,
zational or individual. or standards that
In a police agency, organizational values are the ideals that the agency incorpo- an individual or
rates into its basic belief system—those convictions that are reflected in the agency’s members of an
formally expressed value statement and that all members of the department seek to organization regard
demonstrate through their daily actions. Individual values are personal standards as desirable or
that officers hold based on their own beliefs, preferences, faith, or principles (Hitt, worthwhile.
1988; Johnson, 2004; Meese & Ortmeier, 2004).
A NYPD officer
demonstrates
compassion on 9/11.
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Values are most powerful when their organizational and individual forms
align—and when actual behaviors reflect the values. For example, if the agency
and the individual officer publicly state that they value honesty and integrity, daily
police activities should demonstrate correct behavior and honor for all to see. If the
agency has defined honesty as a value but appears manipulative and immoral in its
daily interactions with the community, the resulting dissonance may cause citizens
to view the agency as untrustworthy.
Vision
Vision: A vision is the image an organization or individual has in mind for a desired future
the image an state. A vision is long range and should be so compelling that members of a police
organization or agency will strive to make the vision real through their everyday activities (Hitt,
individual has in 1988). Like other organizations, many police agencies publish a vision statement—a
mind for a desired written expression of the future that the agency wants to realize.
future state. An effective vision statement has numerous defining characteristics. It is clear
and persuasive—inspiring a yearning for that future within all managers and
employees. It expresses an attractive future that members view as achievable, not an
out-of-reach picture that everyone knows will never be real. Finally, it is memorable,
easy to communicate, and can be explained and understood quickly (Kotter, 1996).
(See the box “Sample Vision Statement.”)
Mis sion
Mission: A mission is a short-range task or assignment a police agency wishes to achieve. As
a short-range task with values and vision, a police agency might express its mission in a written statement.
or assignment an The statement may mention values, and it serves as a guide for police managers to
organization wishes develop and implement initiatives that create value for the department’s stakeholders.
to achieve. Agency managers can use the mission statement to direct the agency’s resources toward
its strategic goals (Wood, 2005). An example of a mission statement might be:
“Through a coordinated police–community effort, public order and safety will be
achieved and maintained. We actively encourage community support and partici-
pation in a collaborative effort to achieve a safe community.”
Translating Values, Vision, and Mission into

Goals and Objectives
How do a police agency’s values, vision, and mission relate to its planning efforts?
Agency managers use them to guide the definition of goals and objectives in their
Sample Vision Statement

“Integrity is the foundation of our profession. Therefore, we endeavor to pre-
serve and protect the public trust placed in us by adhering to the highest stan-
dards of honesty and ethical practice. We will work in partnership with citizens
to establish and maintain peace and enhance the quality of community life.”
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figure 4-2 The Role of Values, Vision, and Mission in the Planning Process
Values
Assessment/
Vision
Evaluation
Outcomes Mission
(tied to goals and objectives)
plans. Goals are long-range achievements that are desired by the agency and that Goals:
reflect its values, vision, and mission. An example of a goal might be “Reduce long-range
violent crime.” Objectives are the short-term accomplishments that an agency must achievements desired
reach to achieve a particular goal. For example, to achieve the goal of reducing vio- by an organization.
lent crime, an agency might define objectives involving analyzing violent-crime rates
in the community served and launching crime-prevention initiatives (Wood, 2005). Objectives:
Managers translate statements about the agency’s values, vision, and mission short-term
into the goals and objectives that (if achieved) would express the agency’s values, accomplishments
realize its vision, and fulfill its mission (T. E. Baker, 2006). A plan that lays out clear that lead to
goals and objectives thus serves as a road map for action for the agency. achievement of a
Figure 4-2 shows how values, vision, and mission are all parts of an ongoing, particular goal.
iterative process by which a police agency establishes goals, generates outcomes,
assesses and evaluates those outcomes, and plans changes as needed to produce bet-
ter outcomes.
COMMON PLANNING PITFALLS
Police managers and officers plan all the time: Managers make decisions such as
how many new officers to hire, what technology the agency should incorporate,
and what crime trends to respond to. Officers plan how they will patrol an area,
stop a traffic-law violator, prepare for their next promotion exam, or help train a
new recruit. While engaging in planning, however, police personnel can fall prey to
some common pitfalls.
For example, some police managers treat planning as merely an intellectual
exercise, wherein they think about possible courses of action but never document
their thoughts or put their ideas to actual use. Still others participate in incre-
mental planning: the plan proceeds one small element at a time, especially when
resources are limited. For instance, a police agency’s current budget stipulates only
two upgraded computers. If the agency needs more than two, managers delay the
purchase until funds become available.
Managers may also neglect to assemble a planning task force—which is essen-
tial for all but the simplest of plans. Task forces are particularly crucial for plans
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calling for large-scale changes in a police agency or the community it serves—

changes involving numerous objectives and requiring the efforts of many different
people. Ideally, when a police agency is planning a major change, managers should
put together a task force comprising representatives from all key stakeholder
groups: upper- and mid-level commanders, line officers, civilian personnel, citizens,
and business owners.
By understanding these common planning pitfalls, police personnel can more
easily avoid them. They can further increase their chances of developing effective
plans by understanding the types of plans most often used in a police agency.
Single-use plan:
TYPES OF PLANS
a plan for a one-
time event or special Police agencies use several types of plans that we can think of falling into the major
circumstance. categories of nonstrategic and strategic. Nonstrategic plan types include single-use,
repeat-use, tactical, operational, and contingency. (See Table 4-1.) Such plans are
Repeat-use plan: intended to handle a police agency’s day-to-day responsibilities and are usually
a plan that may be developed by and for specific functions within the agency.
replicated for similar
events or tactical
situations.
Tactical plan: table 4-1 Types of Police Agency Plans

a plan for special
events, unique PLAN TYPE PURPOSE(S) EXAMPLE
or extraordinary Single-use Provide policing services at unique events, To provide policing services for a one-time
circumstances, deal with a one-time community problem, outdoor concert held in town, an agency
or intra-agency or handle a circumstance that may or may develops a plan stipulating how officers will
or interagency not recur. control the crowd and provide security for
operational needs. performers.
Repeat-use Manage recurring events (such as charity When residents of a specific neighborhood
Operational plan: drives or holiday celebrations) where large complain about cars speeding on their
a plan delineating numbers of people will congregate. Develop streets, police create a plan for stopping cars
functional activities tactics that can be used in multiple similar to verify license and registration—discouraging
and agency change settings. people from speeding through the area. The
processes. Drives agency duplicates this same tactic in other
an entire agency neighborhoods within the community.
or units within an Tactical Deal with special crime issues, such as A police agency develops a plan stipulating
agency. persistent and numerous shots-fired calls, when and how to activate a SWAT or other
robberies, rapes, and hostage situations. emergency team in a hostage situation so as
Contingency plan: to contain and end the emergency.
a plan activated Operational Drive change in an entire police agency or An agency that decides to set up a canine
during serious specific units within the agency. unit creates a plan for selecting human
emergencies, critical and canine members of the unit, as well as
training, certifying, and deploying them.
events, or disasters
that affect the Contingency Activate during emergencies, critical An agency develops plans delineating proce-
events, or disasters that affect the agency dures for responding to terrorist attacks and
agency and demand
and demand immediate and prolonged natural disasters (hurricanes, tornadoes, floods)
immediate and/or response. to which the area is particularly vulnerable.
prolonged response.
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Tactical (SWAT) teams

execute tactical plans.
In contrast to nonstrategic plans, strategic plans are long-term intended courses Strategic plans:
of action designed to apply to the entire police organization. Agencies develop long-term courses of
such plans to execute police activities directed toward high-level, overarching goals action intended to
such as enhancing police professionalism, fighting crime, and improving citizen or apply to the entire
community satisfaction with quality of life and policing services (Goldstein, 1990; police organization.
Ortmeier & Meese, 2010).
Strategic plans must not be confused with small, finite series of activities intended
to produce a narrowly defined desired result—such as reducing a particular type of
crime in a specific part of a city. Instead, strategic plans are the result of a more com-
plex and lengthier process through which police use critical thinking, acquire new
knowledge, and execute desired activities to achieve high-level, long-term goals. Like
all plans, strategic plans have no value unless they produce action (Bryson, 2004).
Strategic planning is also an ongoing process. To develop strategic plans, police
managers progress through a series of steps—including defining where the agency
currently is in terms of its operations and performance, establishing what its future
state will be, and designing and implementing the activities needed to produce the
future state—that are repeated over time. They may use frameworks such as SWOT
(strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis (see Chapter 2) to define
overarching strategic goals for their agency and then to articulate the initiatives
needed to achieve those goals and the resources required to execute the initiatives
(Bryson & Alston, 2005). They also take into account the agency’s values, vision,
and mission, as well as the priorities of stakeholders such as community members
and local business leaders.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security Strategic Plan for fiscal years
2008–2013 is an example. The plan calls for “One Team, One Mission, Securing
Our Homeland.” Though it is a five-year plan, the department revisits it yearly,
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A Neighborhood Block Party?
Residents of a city neighborhood decide to throw a gang members and become concerned. Their worries
block party. They schedule the event and obtain the have merit: Suddenly, fights erupt among the gang-
appropriate permits, which reveal that approximately sters. Overwhelmed, the police are unable to prevent
50 local residents and their family members will injuries and property damage.
attend the party. The police department develops a
1. Develop a repeat-use plan that could have been
single-use plan for assigning officers to the event to
implemented at the event just described.
provide security and manage traffic.
On the day of the party, attendance swells to 2. Develop a contingency plan that the police
many times the anticipated number. Many of the department in this story might have used to
party-goers turn out to be members of rival street prevent or contain the violence and property
gangs who have a history of reciprocal violence. At damage that occurred.
nightfall, the officers on detail for the party notice the
assessing core values and guiding principles, defining new goals and objectives, and
implementing activities as needed to ensure achievement of the goals and objectives
(One Team, One Mission, Securing Our Homeland, 2008).
Two especially important planning approaches are Crime Prevention Through
Environment Design (CPTED) and CompStat, an approach that has enabled police
agencies to reduce crime.
Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED)

Crime Prevention As a type of planning, Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED)
Through is the process of deciding how to construct or modify the physical environment to
Environmental deter or discourage criminal activity. By integrating certain elements into physical
Design (CPTED): places, especially during new construction, communities can lower the incidence
the process of of crime and increase community cohesion—resulting in higher quality of life for
deciding how residents (CPTED Watch, 2008). CPTED is an outgrowth of overall thinking about
to construct or how to keep crime from occurring in the first place—rather than just react to crime
modify the physical after the fact. And it hinges on collaboration among police, community residents,
environment to business leaders, and local governing bodies.
deter or discourage Most crime prevention results from the web of security and safety precautions
criminal activity. embodied in the institutional settings that characterize daily life. These institutions
include families, communities, schools, and workplaces, as well as the legal institu-
tions associated with criminal justice (Sherman et al., 1996). Police agencies and
communities can take steps within all these settings to stop crime from taking root.
For example, home-based parenting and counseling combined with programs
for preschool children have helped keep children from committing crimes when they
grow older. In housing developments, restricting access to the homes and the neigh-
borhood’s recreational facilities through gates staffed by private security officers
has made it difficult for criminals to enter the area and commit mischief. In areas
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Technology, such
as surveillance
equipment, is being
used to enhance police
knowledge of potential
and actual criminal
activity.
troubled by problems such as drug dealing or automobile theft, Neighborhood

Watch groups and obvious surveillance by police have helped discourage offenders
from committing these sorts of crimes.
Technology has also proved a potent weapon in CPTED. For instance, police
agencies have worked with communities to install video cameras on streets to record
all activity—innocent and criminal alike—within the lenses’ range. When an inci-
dent of crime occurs, the videotaped record can help police identify and apprehend
the offender. Some evidence also suggests that illuminating areas within a commu-
nity can lower crime rates by deterring would-be offenders who prefer to operate
under the cover of darkness.
If crime can be prevented in places where illegal activity is most prevalent, then
overall crime may be reduced. Long-ranging research has shown that most crime
occurs in areas with concentrated populations; thus, researchers recommend target-
ing those places with crime-prevention plans (Braga, 2008).
CPTED Planning Strategies Four strategies lie at the core of CPTED plans:
• Natural surveillance refers to the use of physical features that increase people’s
visibility in an area. Examples include doors and windows facing streets and
parking areas, night-time lighting, and a willingness among residents to keep
their window coverings open to observe activity in the area.
• Territorial reinforcement emphasizes the use of physical characteristics to
differentiate private and public spaces, and to emphasize the ownership of
private places while discouraging encroachment. Fences, pavement designs,
gates, and landscape architecture can all be used for this purpose.
• Natural access control focuses on ensuring that streets and sidewalks are
in full view of the community; for example, through removal of tall hedges
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and solid fences. This openness discourages would-be offenders who prefer
to conceal themselves behind opaque barriers. Prominent video cameras on
buildings can act as additional deterrents.
• Target hardening involves the use of hardware, lighting, and other elements
(such as alarm systems and guard or pet dogs) designed to make a home
or business less vulnerable to physical intrusion. For example, high-quality
window locks and stout deadbolt locks for doors (rather than flimsy door
chains) can discourage intrusion. Recessed interior door hinges can make it
nearly impossible for burglars to remove hinges and pull a door from its frame.
Pros and Cons of CPTED One important benefit of CPTED as a type of plan-
ning is that it promotes community cohesion. To develop an effective CPTED plan,
neighbors must remain alert to what is happening in their community, and every-
one needs to shoulder responsibility for residents’ overall well-being. But like other
forms of planning, CPTED also has its limitations. In particular, executing CPTED
plans can be expensive if it requires retrofitting existing buildings and neighbor-
hoods with crime-prevention features (Book & Schneider, 2010).
CompStat
CompStat: CompStat is a strategic planning approach that has proven useful for reducing crime
a policing approach as well as enhancing the quality of life in neighborhoods, the most dramatic suc-
involving the cess being demonstrated in New York City during the 1990s (Henry, 2002). (See
generation of as Chapter 2 for more information on New York City’s use of CompStat.) Through
much real-time the CompStat approach, police agencies can use tools including computer software
data as possible applications to track crimes and criminal activity and generate real-time data valu-
about crimes able for reducing crime. The data include offender information, details about guns
and the frequent and other weapons involved in crimes, mapping to discover where criminal activity
evaluation of the has been clustering, and other important intelligence. Crime-coordination personnel
data to develop (civilian or sworn) may input data into the system, using preliminary crime reports
strategies to reduce submitted by reporting officers. Depending on the information technology used by
crime as quickly the agency, officers may also input data from crime reports into a database applica-
and effectively as tion, which automates sorting of the data into categories useful to agency personnel
possible. (such as trends in weapons used or locations of particular types of crimes).
A key element in the CompStat approach is frequent evaluation of the intel-
ligence collected, so police can develop plans for moving quickly and effectively to
reduce crime. Before CompStat, statistical crime reports were available at the end of
each month instead of in real time. By the time commanders read about and reacted
to the statistics, crime trends were days or weeks old. By gathering real-time infor-
mation, police agencies can deploy personnel and resources rapidly to areas where
crimes are occurring. As such, this approach has helped create a sense of urgency
for suppressing crime and apprehending suspects, and it has enabled police agencies
to focus their resources more sharply on where those resources are needed most.
Relentless follow-up and assessment are additional vital elements of CompStat
and help agencies ensure that a crime problem has been solved. For police officers,
this can lead to a sense of accomplishment or closure; for citizens, it demonstrates
an attention to detail that is often lacking in today’s police agencies. Many commu-
nity residents and business owners feel safer and view the police as more competent,
effective, and caring.
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CompStat can be
a great help when
making decisions to
deploy police resources
to locations where
they are most needed.
Although the fundamentals of CompStat methodology appear sound, their

implementation and publicized results have also generated some criticism. Certain
studies suggest that CompStat has a dark underside, even in New York City, where
it was popularized. For example, surveys of retired NYPD police commanders
reveal that many felt pressured by their superiors to downgrade major crimes to
minor offenses after CompStat was initiated in 1995, to give the appearance that
the CompStat approach was effective. If this is true, statistically significant reduc-
tions in major crimes in some cases may have resulted from underreporting instead
of from any impact from CompStat (Eterno & Silverman, 2010; Gao & Brunson,
2010; Henry, 2002; Silverman, 2001).
KEY STEPS IN THE PLANNING PROCESS
There are several models proposing steps in the planning process. Some of these
models are simple (containing a few steps), while others are more complex (con-
taining numerous steps) (Anderson, 2006; Wilson, 1952). Consider this planning-
process model a police agency could use:
1. Establish a sense of urgency by stating publicly that the agency needs a plan
to move toward its future.
2. Identify a facilitator and group to drive the planning process, and ask
everyone to cooperate with them.
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3. Define or adjust the agency’s vision as needed to clarify where the agency
wants to go.
4. Establish or appraise the agency’s mission statement to reflect how the agency
wants to operate.
5. Conduct a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis. (See
Chapter 2.)
6. Articulate the results the agency wants to achieve and pinpoint the steps that
will produce that result.
7. Create a step-by-step outline of how to accomplish the plan.
8. Share the plan with key agency managers and request permission to execute it.
9. While executing the plan, regularly examine results and adjust the plan as
needed to improve outcomes (Hellriegel, Jackson, & Slocum, 2005; Hitt,
1988; Meese & Ortmeier, 2004).
Regardless of the number of steps a particular planning-process model contains,
they can be organized into three steps essential to all planning: assessing needs and
risks, developing alternative courses of action, and selecting a course of action. We
Needs assessment: take a closer look at each of these.
the process an
organization uses to Step 1: Assessing Needs and Risks
determine whether
a need (or problem) A police agency assesses needs and risks to create awareness that a plan of action
exists that could is required. These assessments powerfully shape the rest of the planning process.
be addressed by a
particular course of Needs The agency conducts a needs assessment to determine whether a need (or
action. problem) exists that could be addressed by a particular course of action. Children
A needs assessment
may reveal that safe
places for children to
play are not available.
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Needs Assessment Tools

• Community mapping: Police agencies can use Geographic Information Community
System (GIS) technology to display crime categories, patterns, or mapping:
trends during a needs assessment. Mapping is often used in con- process of visually
junction with the various policing strategies (see Chapter 2) and displaying specific
other databases (such as housing patterns and vacant properties) locations, addresses,
that become part of the assessment process. School, business, and or areas of noted
parks locations, as well as census maps, are overlaid to produce a concern.
comprehensive view of problems associated with drug markets, petty
crime, robberies, burglaries, and stolen autos and correlations with
poverty, gangs, and offenders’ lack of education or employment
(Shane, 2007).
• Crime analysis: Agencies may also use various databases and other Crime analysis:
information to identify crime patterns and trends and decide how best analytical process
to deploy police officers to prevent or disrupt crime patterns and arrest used to define
offenders. Crime analysts are valued specialists who use this tool. current and predict
future quality-of-
life concerns, crime
patterns, or trends.
playing in the street because recreational facilities and parks are not available is an
example of a need.
A needs assessment generates information that guides the actions an agency
might take to achieve a stated goal. To illustrate, if an agency has defined a goal of
reducing crime, it would likely review crime statistics for the past year as part of
its needs assessment. Rising crime rates might suggest the need for a plan to bring
down the rates.
Agency leaders might also use a needs assessment to determine whether manag-
ers and officers must strengthen particular knowledge, skills, or abilities (KSAs) to
meet certain goals—such as satisfying operational and ethical standards, achieving
new efficiencies, or improving the agency’s effectiveness. Leaders can make this
assessment through interviews or casual conversations, or through more formal-
ized information-gathering processes, such as surveys. (The box “Needs Assessment
Tools” offers additional information.) This type of needs assessment yields infor-
mation that can help the agency design or revise training programs to strengthen
Risk assessment:
specific KSAs. It also enables agency leaders to identify trends, clarify priorities,
the process an
and ensure that the agency is adhering to accreditation standards or legislatively
organization uses
mandated standards. to determine
whether a known or
Risks A risk is an undesirable circumstance that has not yet occurred but that
foreseeable threat
a police agency should identify and develop plans for mitigating (Hellriegel et al.,
exists, how likely
2005). An agency conducts a risk assessment to determine whether a known or
it is that the threat
foreseeable threat exists, how likely it is that the threat will materialize, and how
will materialize,
severe the consequences would be if the risk did materialize.
and how severe
Police agencies face numerous types of risks, including the following:
the consequences
• Internal organization risks such as computer network breakdowns or the loss would be if it did
of valued employees to rival agencies materialize.
ort80008_ch04_085-108.indd 99 10/15/10 5:07 PM

figure 4-3 Risk-Assessment Matrix

SEVERITY OF CONSEQUENCES
PROBABILITY OF OCCURRENCE NEGLIGIBLE MARGINAL CRITICAL CATASTROPHIC
Likely Tripped by
uneven terrain
Possible Hit by bicycle Killed by car
courier
Unlikely Mugged Murdered
Rare Raped
• External risks such as damage to police vehicles from high-speed pursuits or

damage to facilities from natural disasters such as floods or hurricanes
• Neighborhood risks such as reductions in quality of life or neighborhood
cohesion and increases in crime rates
In assessing risks, the police as leaders consider two criteria: the probability that
the undesirable circumstance will occur, and the magnitude of the consequences if
it does occur. For risks that are highly probable and that would bring the worst
consequences, an agency would likely want to develop a plan for mitigating those
risks. Police agencies can create a matrix depicting their beliefs about how particular
risks stack up in terms of probability and severity. Figure 4-3 shows a simplified
example of a matrix that an agency might create to show probability and severity
A risk assessment can

be used to determine
if a large crowd may
require additional
police resources.
ort80008_ch04_085-108.indd 100 10/15/10 5:07 PM

of different risks related to pedestrians’ safety in a particular neighborhood. Risks

that cluster near the upper-right-hand area of the matrix are the most probable and
the most serious—and thus merit a plan for mitigation.
As another illustration, suppose agency leaders believe it is highly probable
that conviction of a defendant in a high-profile case will spark riots and that the
riots would be violent enough to put citizens’ lives or personal safety in danger.
In this case, agency administrators and risk managers will likely work with com-
munity leaders to develop a plan for preventing the riots. The resulting plan might
call for the deployment of officers to control and contain crowds, the enforcement
of loitering laws, and the dispersal of large groups before any damage has a chance
to occur.
Step 2: Developing Alternative Courses of Action

After agency managers conduct appropriate needs and risks assessments, they
develop alternative courses of action (possible action plans) for meeting the needs Alternative courses
or mitigating the risks they identified. To develop these plans, managers consider of action:
the fiscal, physical, and personnel resources available; the activities needed to exe- possible action
cute each plan; strategies for managing any resistance to each proposed plan; and plans for meeting
ideas for building support for the potential courses of action. For each alternative identified needs or
course of action, managers evaluate probable desirable as well as undesirable con- mitigating identified
sequences (Welsh & Harris, 2004). They also prepare a budget and a cost–benefit risks.
analysis for each tentative action plan. (See Chapter 5 for more information on
budgeting.)
For example, suppose that a police agency, through its needs and risk assess-
ment, identifies a problem of increasing crime in a particular neighborhood in
Increasing crime can

lead to an exodus of
people and businesses
from the neighborhood.
ort80008_ch04_085-108.indd 101 10/15/10 5:07 PM

its jurisdiction. Agency managers decide that failing to address the problem could
present several risks—including an exodus of citizens and businesses from the
neighborhood. Managers and officers meet to discuss the problem and to generate
possible courses of action for solving it.
Through brainstorming, they generate ideas for potential solutions. To ensure
that they do not limit themselves to just the first idea that comes to mind or to
ideas that seem most familiar, they freely suggest and list ideas without judging any
of them. The meeting leader encourages participants to continue offering ideas until
the “well” seems to have run dry. The result is a long list of possible courses of
action, including the following:
• Increase the number of officers and patrols in the neighborhood.
• Establish a Neighborhood Watch program.
• Implement a comprehensive community policing program, with the goal of
reducing crime permanently in the neighborhood.
ETHICS IN ACTION
Community–Police Partnerships
police agency located in the northeastern part of the United States
A used interaction committees to open lines of communication

between citizens and police officers. Attendees at one of the early
interaction meetings concluded that the police department was trying to
address too many priorities during each calendar year, with the result that
many problems were left unsolved.
The attendees recommended that the citizens define and prioritize
three yearly priority problems for a specific patrol area. The agency then
trained citizens in the problem-solving process, showed them how to use
brainstorming to generate a list of current problems, and helped them
reduce their list to the top three problems they wanted the agency to des-
ignate as priorities. Surprisingly, while the police identified street crime as
a major problem that should go in the top-three list, the citizens did not.
Instead, their list included auto theft.
The police and citizens created a committee for each priority problem.
Committees were responsible for developing solutions to their assigned
problem, putting those solutions into action, and reporting on progress
every month. During this time, nonprioritized problems were treated as
calls for police service per established police procedures.
1. Should a police agency allow citizens to define and prioritize current
agency problems? Discuss how this process might help or hinder
police in providing citizens with more effective service.
2. The police agency and citizens differed in their assessment as to the
most serious problems facing the affected area. In view of this dis-
crepancy, discuss how a police agency can ethically accept a citizen’s
evaluation of priority problems to be addressed.
ort80008_ch04_085-108.indd 102 10/15/10 5:07 PM

Step 3: Selecting a A neighborhood

watch effort.
Course of Action
The final step in the planning
process is to select the best
possible course of action from
the alternatives developed in
Step 2. To choose the final plan,
police managers consider sever-
al criteria—such as which plan
best accommodates the agency’s
available resources, which plays
to the agency’s strengths, which
would garner the most sup-
port from various stakeholders
(Ortmeier & Meese, 2010), and
which would generate the most
enduring positive results. For
example, managers and officers
at the police agency that brain-
stormed a list of alternative
courses of action for reducing
crime in a particular neighbor-
hood compared the choices’
advantages and disadvantages.
Table 4-2 shows their think-
ing on several of the proposed
solutions.
Stakeholders should be invited to contribute to discussions during this step, to
help secure their buy-in for the final choice. When people have a say in decisions
that will ultimately affect them, they are more likely to develop a sense of owner-
ship over those decisions and therefore support them. Police personnel should also
clearly state the goals of each proposed action plan so stakeholders can see how the
plan supports the agency’s mission.
Selecting a course of action from a set of alternatives requires strong decision-
making competence (a leadership skill). Decision making can be more complicated
than it might originally appear on the surface because there are many factors to
weigh (Bryson & Alston, 2005). For example, will a proposed course of action have
enough support from key stakeholders? Does the agency have sufficient resources
table 4-2 Comparing Potential Solutions

SOLUTION EXPLANATION ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES
1 Increase the number of officers and patrols Can be done quickly Expensive
2 Form Neighborhood Watch program Least expensive Takes time
3 Implement a comprehensive community Most effective in Takes time; officers must
policing program the long term develop leadership skills
and citizen–partnership skills
ort80008_ch04_085-108.indd 103 10/16/10 10:32 AM

to implement the selected solution? Will those responsible for putting the plan into
action approach the task with the required urgency?
In choosing a final action plan, police managers may take a number of different
approaches. Several examples include:
• Accommodating stakeholder priorities. In police agencies, the loudest or
most persistent stakeholder usually captures the most attention, and agency
managers often feel pressured to appease that person or group while selecting
plans of action. For instance, perhaps an agency chooses a plan that satisfies
a politically powerful neighborhood group leader who wants the agency to
build a visible citizen–police substation, even though the substation requires
additional resources that will be difficult to obtain.
• Making innovative change. Agency managers may select a final plan based on
its opportunity to effect innovative change. For example, an agency selects an
action plan that includes officers’ use of a Taser electronic device to subdue
agitated or violent subjects without causing injury. A Taser delivers electrical
pulses that affect the suspect’s motor and sensory functions and can reduce
injuries to suspects and officers, which can in turn reduce liability claims
against police (Taser International Inc., 2008).
• Using intuition. Some managers make decisions by drawing on their past
experiences, expertise, knowledge, and intuitive sense for what might
constitute the best course of action for solving a particular problem. This
“sixth sense” approach hinges on the ability to blend information from both
personal and outside sources while arriving at a decision (Angelfire.com,
2009; Casto, 2009; Decision-Making-Confidence.com, 2008; Vaknin, 2006).
• Clarifying decision roles. Managers define what role each participant in the
decision will play. To illustrate, will everyone involved in selecting a final plan of
action provide input and have a say in the ultimate decision? Will the leader of
the planning process consult others and solicit their opinions but then make the
final choice alone? Will the individuals involved need to arrive at a consensus
before the decision is deemed final? Or will they vote on the various alternative
plans proposed, and the plan with the most votes will be implemented?
So, what course of action did the police agency seeking to reduce crime in a par-
ticular neighborhood select from its list of working alternatives? Ultimately, manag-
ers and officers selected Solution 3—implement a comprehensive community polic-
ing program—because they believed it would prove most effective in the long run.
While other choices were faster or cheaper to implement, those alternatives would
not generate the enduring results promised by the community policing alternative.
MASTERING THE ART OF SELF-MANAGEMENT
No matter how carefully a police agency has assessed its needs and risks, developed
a full set of alternative plans for addressing those needs and risks, and selected a final
course of action to implement, events still may not unfold as expected once the plan is
implemented. For example, an unexpected emergency—such as a fire or hurricane or
a raft of gang-related shootings—might consume resources that had been set aside for
ort80008_ch04_085-108.indd 104 10/15/10 5:07 PM

the final action plan the agency Regular exercise

selected. Or the agency may put can help with stress
its chosen plan into action, only management.
to learn that the political sup-
port managers had counted on
has evaporated.
When the inevitable mis-
match between results and
intentions arises, it is all too
easy for planners to grow frus-
trated and even angry. But that
is precisely when they need
to summon their powers of
self-management—the process Self-management:
of monitoring and controlling the process of
their emotions and remaining monitoring and
flexible and balanced (Hitt, controlling one’s
1988). Self-management com- emotions and
prises numerous abilities. But remaining flexible
the abilities most relevant to and balanced
police agency planning are as in the face of
follows: disappointment or
frustration.
• Remaining focused on the
agency’s goals. By staying
focused on agency goals
in the face of frustration or disappointment, police managers and officers can
more easily recover from setbacks and determine how to adjust an action plan
to produce more desirable results.
• Knowing one’s personal strengths and limitations. When managers know
themselves, they can build on their strengths and manage their limitations. For
example, if Barry, a police administrator, knows that he tends to feel stressed
when things do not go according to plan, he can take steps to manage his
stress, such as practicing relaxation techniques or going for a quick walk.
• Learning continually from experience (Buckingham & Clifton, 2001;
Hellriegel et al., 2005; Say, 2007). By monitoring the results that a plan
produces once it is implemented and comparing those results against the plan’s
intended outcomes, managers can identify gaps and then look for causes of
the gaps. Understanding how and why a plan did not produce the intended
results can help managers learn from experience and produce a more effective
plan in the future.
• Assessing the planning process itself. Just as individual officers receive
periodic evaluations, so should the planning process itself. Police managers
can periodically assess planning efforts in their agency and identify areas that
could benefit from improvement. For example, do planners need to be better at
involving stakeholders in developing and evaluating potential courses of action?
Should they use a different decision-making approach when selecting a plan
from a set of proposed alternatives? By taking an honest look at their planning
abilities, police personnel stand a better chance of making needed improvements.
ort80008_ch04_085-108.indd 105 10/15/10 5:07 PM

summary
• Adopting a Long-Term, Big-Picture View. Police agencies must develop plans
for addressing not only small, short-term problems but also major, long-term
issues. But in most agencies, planning centers entirely on the former.
• Aligning Plans with Values, Vision, and Mission. A police agency’s values
(fundamental beliefs, principles, or standards), its vision (image of a desired
future state), and its mission (a short-range task or assignment it wishes to
achieve) guide the definition of the goals (long-range desired achievements)
and objectives (short-term accomplishments that lead to achievement of a
goal) that the agency’s plans contain.
• Common Planning Pitfalls. Pitfalls include failing to put proposed ideas into
action, moving a plan forward one small step at a time owing to lack of
resources, and failure to assemble a task force for plans that call for major
change, numerous objectives, and the efforts of many different people.
• Types of Plans. Plan types include single-use, repeat-use, tactical, operational,
and contingency. Strategic plans are long-term intended courses of action
designed to apply to the entire police organization. Crime Prevention Through
Environmental Design (CPTED) is a type of planning that entails constructing
or modifying the physical environment to discourage criminal activity.
• Key Steps in the Planning Process. Steps include assessing needs and risks
(using tools including community mapping and crime analysis), developing
alternative courses of action for addressing a need or risk (using techniques
such as brainstorming), and selecting a final course of action by comparing
alternatives’ advantages and disadvantages based on criteria such as
cost, efficiency, and ability to deliver sustained results. To select a final
course of action, agency personnel can use additional approaches, such as
accommodating stakeholder priorities, making a selection based on its ability
to effect innovative change, using intuition, and clarifying decision roles.
• Mastering the Art of Self-Management. If a plan does not deliver its intended
result or cannot be implemented as intended (for example, there are fewer
resources or less political support than expected), agency personnel must
practice self-management—monitoring and controlling their emotions
and remaining flexible and balanced. Self-management techniques include
remaining focused on the agency’s goals, playing to one’s strengths while
compensating for one’s limitations, learning continually from experience, and
assessing the planning process itself.
key terms
alternative courses of action

community mapping
CompStat
contingency plans
crime analysis
Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED)
goals
mission
ort80008_ch04_085-108.indd 106 10/15/10 5:07 PM

needs assessment
objectives
operational plans
planning
repeat-use plans
risk assessment
self-management
single-use plans
strategic plans
tactical plans
values
vision
1. Go to your local police agency and ask what its vision and mission are. Then identify
several goals to which the vision and mission might align. For each goal you have iden-
tified, what are several objectives that could help lead to achievement of the goal?
2. What event can force a plan to be implemented in an incremental manner? If you
had to develop an incremental plan for adding computer laptops to patrol cars, what
would your plan consist of?
3. Give an example of a single-use plan, a repeat-use plan, a tactical plan, and an
operational plan.
4. What kinds of events would necessitate a contingency plan for a police agency?
5. How do strategic plans differ from other types of plans in a police agency?
6. What is Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design? How might you use this
type of planning to improve quality of life in your neighborhood, town, or city?
What challenges might using CPTED present?
7. How would you develop a needs assessment process to examine morale in a police
agency?
8. Describe a situation that would require a police agency to conduct a risk assessment.
9. Visit your local police agency to learn whether and how it is using needs assessment
tools such as community mapping and crime analysis. What do personnel at the
agency see as the advantages and disadvantages of these tools?
10. Using the planning process, formulate a solution to address the following problem:
A series of residential burglaries have been perpetrated by at least three persons who
enter the homeowner’s car to obtain and use the garage door opener to gain entry to
the residence.
11. How do you typically react when a plan does not produce the intended outcomes
or cannot be implemented as you had hoped? What steps might you take to manage
any frustration or anger you experience when this happens?
ort80008_ch04_085-108.indd 107 10/15/10 5:07 PM

WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

Investigating the Investigators
A medium-size police agency in the northeastern part of the United States
reviewed its approach to distributing police investigators and conducting
follow-up investigations to felony crimes. In the recent past, the agency had
used a specific approach for these tasks. Police supervisors dispersed crime
cases for follow-up to those investigators assigned to the hourly platoon that
the investigators worked. Crime cases were assigned, deadlines were estab-
lished, and closed cases were submitted by investigators back to the supervi-
sors for review and acceptance. The supervisors were not trained investigators
and generally used a hands-off management style, treating all investigators as
experts with respect to their job duties and responsibilities.
When managers reviewed the investigative process and evaluated the effi-
ciency and effectiveness of the follow-up investigation process, they identified
several distinct challenges, including difficulties with supervising investigators
and case investigations, matching specific cases to investigator strengths, and
evaluating investigators on criteria such as timeliness of case closure, number
of confessions, and number of cases closed by arrest of perpetrators. The
current approach was delivering neither the efficiency nor the effectiveness
required to adequately serve the community.
As a result, the agency named a supervisor (police sergeant) with investi-
gator experience as commander of investigators for the affected precinct. The
commander assigned all investigations, set deadlines for each investigation,
matched investigations to investigator experience and skill level, and evaluated
each investigator’s case load by type of case closure and methods of investi-
gation. He also conducted numerous in-service investigator training sessions
for current investigators. Efficiency and effectiveness improved, as measured
by timeliness and case closure status. And the entire agency soon adopted the
new model.
1. If you were a police leader who had risen through the ranks of a police agency
and investigated numerous crimes, which of the two models of investigator
supervision described would you recommend to your agency? Why?
2. What are the strengths and challenges presented by the first model? What
are the strengths and challenges presented by the second model?
3. Which model best supports the planning process emphasized in this
chapter? Why? Discuss the planning steps reflected in the model you have
selected.
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chapter 5 Budgeting and Fiscal Management 109
5
A Hackettstown, New Jersey,
middle school student and a
Hackettstown police officer
engage in a fund-raising
basketball event to benefit the
school and the Hackettstown
Police Benevolent Association.
Budgeting and Fiscal

Management
learning outcomes

• define budget and explain its purpose.
• describe public budgeting and its constraints.
• describe the public budgeting process.
• explain the need for flexibility in a police agency’s budget.
• identify and compare types of budgets including traditional, line item,
program, performance based, zero based, balanced based, activity
based, operating, and capital.
• identify the main sections that make up a budget.
• list the basic expenditure categories that appear in a budget.
• identify sources of revenue for government entities.
ort80008_ch05_109-133.indd 109 11/16/10 9:34 AM

• explain how police agencies make resource-allocation decisions through

three types of analysis (cost–benefit, return on investment, and value-added
contribution).
• explain how police agencies win support for a proposed budget, including
dealing with budget cutbacks.
• describe how an agency executes its budget, through activities such as
managing projects, calculating maintenance of effort, and auditing.
Introduction
Responsible police managers and line personnel know that public safety is impor-
tant to the average citizen. Safe communities are also fiscally healthy communi-
ties. They stimulate commerce and economic growth, stabilize or grow the popula-
tion, and increase the community’s tax base. To make neighborhoods safe, police
agencies need to partner with community teams to create and sustain a civil and
livable environment.
Public safety thus requires resources, especially financial ones. Police depart-
ments and other law enforcement agencies depend on financial resources—gained
primarily through the taxes that citizens pay—to acquire and maintain equipment
and facilities, and to hire, train, deploy, and retain the right personnel. Typically,
police managers use the budgeting process to determine how much money they
need to build and maintain safe neighborhoods. They present the budget to com-
munity leaders, who then work those funding requests into their own budgets.
Yet police managers often rush through the budgeting process because it
seems to detract from their publicly stated mission of keeping the streets safe.
Indeed, many police personnel, no matter what their level in the organization, view
budgeting as a task that should be done by “bean counters.” However, without a
budget, a police agency cannot allocate financial resources appropriately and use
them wisely. Just as a family budget enables household members to plan for the
future and ensure the family’s financial health, a police agency’s budget positions
the agency to plan for and to safeguard the community’s well-being.
In this chapter, we take a close look at the budgeting process—how it works,
how it relates to the sound fiscal management and administration of police agen-
cies, and what leadership skills it requires.
WHAT IS A BUDGET?
Budget: A budget is a plan expressed in financial terms. Budgeting is the thread that weaves
a plan expressed through a sound fiscal management strategy. You may maintain a personal budget to
in financial terms. compare your income with your expenses on a regular basis (monthly, quarterly, yearly)
ort80008_ch05_109-133.indd 110 10/15/10 5:07 PM

and to determine when you are spending more than you are earning. A family keeps
a household budget to do the same. Companies large and small also use budgets—to
identify revenue streams and estimate expenses for specific time periods. (Large organi-
zations’ budgets can be highly complex, often containing details that relate specifically
to individual business-unit, division, and department levels.) Government entities—
such as police agencies—also use budgets to forecast revenue and expenditures for a
fiscal period (usually 12 months beginning January 1, July 1, or October 1).
Public Budgeting
Any public organization seeking to develop a budget should take into account its
intended strategy, its existing personnel and the services it offers, initiatives in the
pipeline (such as projects aimed at developing new services), the resources these efforts
will need, and capital investment that will be required to achieve strategic objectives.
A budget, in short, shows how the organization plans to make its vision real.
Effective police agencies also use the budgeting process to make and enforce
decisions about how community resources will be allocated to meet civic needs. To
that end, the public budgeting process must also ensure that projected revenue will
cover all authorized expenditures.
Public budgets—such as those used in police agencies—strongly reflect the pri-
orities of the stakeholders served by the organization. For example, a town or city
budget reveals citizens’ preferences regarding how much taxes will be paid and where
the money will be invested. In addition, public budgets reflect the relative power of
individuals and groups to influence how an organization or community allocates its
resources. Finally, public organizations’ budgets can be used as a tool for stakeholders
to determine whether the organization is fulfilling its responsibilities. Unlike personal
households or private businesses, government entities spend the public’s money. Thus,
their budgets are subject to public scrutiny, debate, and accountability.
Public finance is used

to construct new
police facilities.
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Constraints in Public Budgeting

Some police agencies budget for a two-year period, or biennium. However, most
agencies work on the basis of budgeting for a fiscal year, which is a 12-month period
that can cover the calendar year or some other period. For example, the federal
government currently uses October 1 to September 30 as its fiscal year (Heniff,
2003; Lectric Law Library, 2009).
Most public budgets are based heavily on the budget for the previous year.
Unlike budgets for individuals or corporations, a public budget is constrained by
statutory requirements. For example, a state’s constitution, a city charter, or a leg-
islative mandate may stipulate that the budget must be balanced (revenues equal
expenses), or may limit the amount of taxes available to fund the agency. Public
budgets must also reflect citizens’ preferences. For instance, citizens are willing to
pay for services based on the perceived worth of those services, and they resent pay-
ing more than what they see as their fair share.
Public budgeting is also strongly influenced by political dynamics, because it
entails negotiations among different parties with different motivations. Conflict
often erupts when interest groups’ demands clash with the intentions of those who
possess the political power. To illustrate, suppose neighborhood residents want
foot-patrol officers on a continual basis to provide for a perception of constant
police presence. However, the police agency cannot afford foot patrols and wants
to use officers in a different way—deploying them as needed to address serious
incidents of crime. To resolve such conflicts, the various stakeholders must make
compromises. For example, police managers meet with neighborhood residents and
agree to develop a citizen foot-patrol initiative that will be supported by agency
crime-prevention efforts.
Members of the
Chicago Police
Department on patrol.
While expensive, foot
patrol can enhance
police–community
relations and reduce
citizen fear of crime.
ort80008_ch05_109-133.indd 112 11/16/10 9:39 AM

The Public Budgeting Process

The public budgeting process typically proceeds in one of two ways: bottom up
or top down. For organizations that use the bottom-up approach, unit managers
build their budgets, which then get “rolled up” to the chief executive officer (CEO)
and then to legislators and other elected officials. For organizations using the top-
down approach, high-level managers determine a budget without input from unit
managers, and then unit-level budgets are built based on the high-level budget. In
this case, unit managers are rarely provided with detailed instructions regarding
budget requests, policy choices, and spending controls. A public agency may use
either the bottom-up or top-down approach, though top down tends to predomi-
nate when money is tight.
Like other public organizations, police agencies typically advance through three
steps in building and operationalizing their budget:
1. Prepare the budget documents.
2. Obtain approval of the completed budget.
3. Implement the approved budget.
But these steps do not necessarily unfold in a linear manner. At any time dur-
ing a fiscal year, a police manager may be involved in executing the current budget,
reworking a newly approved budget to plan for unforeseen circumstances, forecast-
ing the upcoming year’s budget, and responding to the audit of last year’s budget
(Rabin, Hildreth, & Miller, 1996; Rubin, 2006).
The size of a police agency can influence how the budgeting process unfolds
and who does what during the process. In smaller agencies, the chief of police may
assume the entire responsibility for budget preparation. In large agencies, a budget
manager or officer may coordinate the process. Individual department managers may
Some police officers

face the challenging
task of reviewing
budget documents.
ort80008_ch05_109-133.indd 113 10/15/10 5:07 PM

prepare recommendations for their department’s budget, which then becomes part of
the larger budget document. The chief of police assumes the role of ultimate decision
maker in the final budget approval (Jurkanin, Hoover, Dowling, & Ahmad, 2001).
In large police agencies, bureau chiefs typically get involved in the budgeting
process. Many of them want to promote growth in the agency’s revenue while main-
taining existing services. The agency may also employ an executive-level budget
officer to monitor expenditures, prevent waste, and accomplish policy and political
goals. Executives most involved in budgeting may be those with the most personal
charisma or political “capital.” Or they may have the most obvious problems in
their departments—an example of “the squeaky wheel gets the grease” principle.
Legislators, meanwhile, may make compromises with other legislators to estab-
lish budgets, while seeking to also meet demands from constituents and special-
interest groups as well as solve specific problems plaguing their community. Special-
interest groups may get involved in the budgeting process in numerous ways as well;
for instance, demanding that taxes be earmarked for certain spending priorities. The
courts may also enter the picture, usually after an aggrieved party sues a jurisdiction
or government entity over a disputed current practice, such as the level of taxes a
community levies or a disciplinary fine levied because of inappropriate use of police
powers. Honoring these legal priorities often takes precedence over creating a bal-
anced budget. For example, the judgment of a court may require a jail facility to
maintain a specified level of healthcare for inmates, even if the funds for doing so
are not provided in the budget. The voices of individual citizens are rarely heard
while a large police agency is working out its budget.
The Need for Flexibility

As we have seen, a police agency’s budget represents a financial plan for the organiza-
tion for a fiscal year—showing what revenue the agency expects to receive and how
it intends to allocate that revenue to serve citizens. However, in preparing a budget,
police managers cannot anticipate serious revenue shortfalls or unexpected needs.

High Fuel Costs: A Budgeting Challenge
As soaring fuel costs squeezed police agency budgets in 1. What are some additional methods that would
2008, police chiefs and sheriffs sought ways to maintain enable police agencies to reduce vehicle fuel
services while using less gasoline. Some agencies set consumption while maintaining or even improv-
maximums on per-shift mileage driven. Others modified ing police services?
patrol operations, used alternative fuels, or converted to 2. Can the strategic and tactical use of commu-
fuel-efficient vehicles. Still others increased the use of nity policing and problem-solving methodologies
foot and bicycle patrol, field-based reporting, and citizen lower an agency’s vehicle fuel costs? Explain.
reporting of minor incidents via telephone.
3. How can a police manager anticipate and pre-
Some fuel-saving initiatives led to a reduction in
pare for high fuel expenses?
police services. For example, several agencies reduced
the number of patrol vehicles available for service, thus
increasing time required to respond to calls for service.
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Therefore, the budget must be flexible: Once it is implemented, managers must

revisit it periodically to determine whether actual revenue and expenditures reflect
what they expected while they were preparing the budget. For example, after a bud-
get is approved, a natural disaster (such as a flood) that demands additional police
resources will call for some revenue to be redirected away from other activities.
TYPES OF BUDGETS
There are many types of budgets that public organizations can use, including tradi-
tional, line item, performance based, zero based, program, balance based, operating,
and capital. A single police agency might use several of these types of budgets during
a fiscal year, often simultaneously, depending on how well the different types meet
the needs of the agency and the community as well as fiscal constraints (Rubin,
2006). In the following text we examine each type and consider when and why an
agency might use each.
Traditional Budget
In its most elementary form, a traditional budget reflects a simple percentage Traditional budget:
increase in funding over the most recent budget. A traditional budget for a police a budget that reflects
agency illustrates detailed costs of items by using item accounts. The budget shows a simple percentage
the cost of a class of labor or type of material, along with the organizational unit increase in funding
(for example, the department or division within the agency). Whereas a traditional over the most recent
budget might provide workload information (personnel hours), it does not typically budget.
contain efficiency data (production of services per hour worked) or effectiveness
data (quality of results). Rather, the overall objective of a traditional budget is
Police recruits receive

a supply of new
protective vests.
ort80008_ch05_109-133.indd 115 10/15/10 5:07 PM

control of financial resources. Budget decisions are based on item costs per unit of
contracted service or products being purchased. For instance, police agencies may
purchase a trainer’s services by hours of training rendered or purchase firearms
based on the cost of each weapon (Sunnyvale, 2008).
A major advantage of traditional budgeting is that it is widely used and easily
understood. Moreover, managers can transfer funds among accounts easily and
increase or decrease item accounts as the need arises. Indeed, many managers con-
sider it perfectly acceptable to reformulate the budget throughout the fiscal year.
A key disadvantage of traditional budgeting is that it does not account for spe-
cific policing activities or the outcomes associated with those activities. It thus does
not generate insights about an activity’s efficiency or effectiveness.
Line-Item Budget
Line-item budget: A line-item budget (also called an object-of-expenditure budget) counts among the
a budget in most commonly used of all budget types for most organizations, including police
which each item and other public safety agencies. Each item is described and assigned a place (line)
is described and in the budget with a corresponding dollar value. Line-item budgeting offers a level
assigned a place of detail and clarity that facilitates planning and cost control (Dossett, 2005).
(line), with a Line-item budgeting also promotes strict accountability by forcing decision
corresponding dollar makers to allocate a dollar value to each item on the budget, creating an item-by-
value. item spending schedule. Line-item budgets are easy to audit—another key advan-
tage. The biggest disadvantages of line-item budgeting are its inflexibility (the bud-
get is not updated throughout the fiscal year) and lack of connection to performance
objectives. A line-item budget thus does not show whether policing services called
for in an agency’s strategy have in fact been delivered—or whether they have gener-
ated the intended results.
Program Budget
Program budget: A program budget is a variation of the line-item budget. Programs such as busi-
a budget that ness crime prevention or drug-abuse resistance education (DARE) are presented
presents programs separately in categories very similar to those listed in the line-item budget format.
and services A program budget also focuses on the services an organization provides to its cus-
separately in tomers. For a police agency and the various units within it, “customers” can be
categories. external individuals (citizens) or internal entities (agency units) in need of services.
A program budget enables decision makers to compare and analyze the effec-
tiveness of different programs. This analysis minimizes competition for resources
among programs and prevents duplication of effort. However, the process of
building a program budget may lead unit managers to offer exaggerated expla-
nations for their budget requests to justify how they spend their time and other
resources.
Performance-based
budget:
Performance-Based Budget
a budget that links A performance-based budget focuses on the activities needed to deliver policing ser-
measurable activities vices, with the measurable activity as the basic budgeting unit. Measurable activities
to established are linked to established strategic objectives. For example, suppose an objective calls
strategic objectives. for improving response time to calls for service. Measurable activities associated
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Measurable activities
for police include
traffic citations
issued, arrests made,
vehicles towed, and
vehicle-collision scenes
processed.
with that goal might include increasing the number of patrol officers available.
Likewise, suppose an objective calls for improving relations with a neighborhood
action committee that is concerned about the enforcement of a noise ordinance
regarding loud stereos in motor vehicles. Measurable activities associated with that
goal might include identifying problem locations, tracking the number of noise
ordinance tickets issued, and monitoring the number of vehicles towed owing to
violations of the noise ordinance.
Managers can use this type of budget to assess efficiency of these activities, by
comparing their cost with their results. To illustrate, consider the noise ordinance
example introduced earlier. To enforce the noise ordinance, a police agency must
use a noise meter to measure the volume of noise and distance noises can be heard.
To accomplish this task, the agency establishes a noise ordinance detail and an
area check point. It measures distances, and assigns personnel to various tasks to
adequately establish whether violations of the ordinance have occurred. This is all
costly, and the costs may outweigh any quantifiable benefits gained. Still, the agency
may decide to continue the program because citizens’ perceptions that the police
care about their concerns creates valuable goodwill in the community.
Performance-based budgets usually place emphasis on planning to achieve spe-
cific service objectives rather than basing decisions solely on costs. A major disad-
vantage of performance-based budgeting is that some types of performance (such as
crime prevention) can be difficult to define in quantifiable terms (Dossett, 2004).
Zero-based budget:
a budget in which
Zero-Based Budget all available revenue
In a zero-based budget, all available revenue is allocated to expense categories, is allocated to
resulting in a net zero budget balance. The major advantage to zero-based budgeting expense categories.
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is the high degree of control it provides to decision makers. Police managers can
use this type of budget to examine current programs and rank them according to
how well they support the agency’s goals and to develop new programs that directly
support important goals. Advocates of zero-based budgeting emphasize its ability to
promote innovation, effectiveness, and efficiency.
The disadvantages of zero-based budgeting include its focus on controllable
elements of the budget and the subjective decision making often associated with its
use. Evaluating the results of budgeted programs is difficult and expensive, and the
budget doesn’t take into account interrelationships among organizational programs.
Also, many people find using the type of budget to be cumbersome.
Balanced-Based Budget
Balanced-based A balanced-based budget is often used when a reduction in revenues forces decreases
budget: in expenditures. The budget is based on an estimate of future revenues. Managers
a budget based on allocate funds according to the agency’s needs and the community’s priorities.
an estimate of future Planned programs and activities are clustered together in the budget based on their
revenues. connection to common organizational objectives.
Managers use three processes to determine expenditure levels for a balanced-
based budget: reduction in funding, base level for a balanced budget, and additional
funds and explanation of services at each level. This budget method focuses on long-
range planning, goals, and outcomes of activities. For example, managers may sub-
mit a budget request calling for a 5 percent reduction in funds requested, no change,
or a 5 percent increase. They are expected to justify any increases in expenditures
they request.
Many jurisdictions use balanced-based budgeting to solicit input from agency
personnel regarding which expenditures could be cut, what the costs of maintaining
the same level of services might be, what cost-of-living increases they might need,
and which new initiatives need to be implemented. Police agencies are especially
vulnerable to funding reductions with balanced-based budgets during taxpayer
revolts and periods of financial retrenchment. During such times, agencies may be
forced to reduce workforce headcount, leave some vacant positions unfilled, or even
shut down if elected officials decide to contract with another jurisdiction to provide
police services.
Activity-Based Budget
Activity-based An activity-based budget defines and analyzes all activities that consume financial
budget: resources (such as officers’ responding to calls for service in a particular neighbor-
a budget that defines hood, or police vehicles’ getting into accidents)—not just those activities directly
and analyzes all the required to deliver specific policing services. Managers compare the activities to the
activities consuming agency’s strategic goals, and allocate funds in the budget for any activities relevant
an organization’s to the goals. Unlike a traditional budget, an activity-based budget is not adjusted to
financial resources. reflect inflation or unexpected increases in revenue.
This type of budget enables decision makers to analyze the potential and actual
impact of the agency’s services. It thus provides a formula for calculating return on
investment. Managers can improve efficiency of activities by consolidating several
that support the same strategic goal or by reconfiguring them. Activity-based bud-
geting thus focuses agency personnel’s attention on activities that produce intended
results (Garrison, Noreen, & Brewer, 2006).
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Operating Budget The operating budget

includes vehicle
An operating budget is a short- maintenance. The
term (usually 12 months, or fis- capital budget reflects
cal year) budget that accounts the purchase of police
for the agency’s current operat- vehicles.
ing expenses as distinct from
major financial transactions
or permanent capital improve- Operating budget:
ments (enhancements of per- a short-term budget
manent infrastructure). The that accounts for
operating budget includes items the agency’s current
such as salaries, education and operating expenses
training, repairs, supplies, lease as distinct from
and rental payments, uniforms, major financial
and utilities expenses. It outlines transactions or
the plan for current noncapital permanent capital
expenditures as well as the pro- improvements.
posed means of financing them.
An annual operating budget
is a primary means through
which an agency’s authorized
revenue and financing acquisi-
tions (income), spending, and
service delivery activities are
controlled.
Capital Budget
A capital budget is used for projects and expenses that are designed to yield benefits Capital budget:
well into the future. Capital budget items therefore tend to include fixed assets such a budget that
as land, structures, buildings, streets, bridges, and other infrastructure, as well as shows projects and
police vehicles and other equipment—items of major value with life expectancies in expenses designed
excess of one year. to yield benefits well
The capital budget usually shows expected expenditures on such assets five to into the future.
seven years into the future. This type of budgeting ensures that funding for capital
expenditures is not diverted to the purchase of other shorter-term items or services.
It also helps police agencies replace public safety equipment and structures in an
orderly way. The capital budget process usually comprises three steps:
1. Planning. Managers classify and analyze budget requests, rank the requests
according to how well they support the agency’s strategic objectives, prepare
capital-improvement-plan (CIP) schedules, and forecast necessary and
predictable resources.
2. Budgeting. Managers evaluate projects under consideration, select some for
financing, obtain approval for capital requests from authorizing sources, and
appropriate the approved funding.
3. Implementing. The agency designs or acquires (through purchase or lease)
approved equipment and facilities, or contracts for the construction of such
assets (Rabin et al., 1996).
ort80008_ch05_109-133.indd 119 10/15/10 5:07 PM

Construction of a
firearms range is
an example of a
capital expenditure.
Here recruits use the
Worcester County
Firearms Training
Center in Newark,
Maryland.
In proposing a capital expenditure, police agency managers should ask themselves

two questions. First, is the project necessary? The answer may depend on a number of
criteria. For example, perhaps the project has been mandated by the state legislature.
Or maybe it would help the agency achieve new efficiencies, deliver greater value to the
community, or avoid a particular hazard. To illustrate, managers may determine that
their agency needs a new firearms range because the existing range has been shown to
contain a dangerous level of lead particulates or residue from bullets.
Second, will the community support the project? How local politicians and citizens
rate the project will determine funding priority. For instance, if the jurisdiction’s tax
revenue stream is inadequate to support construction of the new firearms range, voters
may be asked to approve the sale of municipal bonds to cover the project’s costs. In
situations like this, police managers need a can-do attitude, a talent for persuasion, and
a strong grasp of all the issues and facts regarding the project in question.
BUILDING THE BUDGET
To build a budget, police agencies draft specific sections with an eye toward the
expenditures the budget must cover and the revenue needed to fund those expen-
ditures. While deciding how to allocate financial resources across the budget, man-
agers must make tough decisions. Next, we examine the sections that make up a
typical budget, the expenditure categories most agencies will show in their budgets,
typical sources of revenue for police agencies, and analyses that can help police
managers make budget decisions.
Anatomy of a Budget
Most budgets contain four sections: the budget message, the summary schedule,
detailed schedules, and supplemental data.
• The budget message contains a description of the economic situation of the
jurisdiction (municipality, county, state), community priorities, the existence
of special circumstances (such as anticipated special events or a wave of
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personnel retirements), any financial constraints, and key financial and

program changes from the previous year’s budget.
• The summary schedule includes calculations of property and other tax
revenues, total revenue and expenses, expenditures assigned to major
categories, revenue organized according to source, and possibly expenditures
for subunits (such as patrol and support services).
• The detailed schedules are organized by the type of service delivered,
government entity involved (for example, public works or police), and line
items for goods and services to be purchased. In a large agency, exhibits to this
section often include detailed budgets of the various units within the agency.
• The supplemental data include whatever police officials wish to add, such
as an explanation to accompany certain funds, ordinances, capital expenses,
debts, trust and agency funds, and grants (Rabin et al., 1996).
Expenditure Categories
A central function of a budget is to show planned expenditures for the fiscal year
covered by the budget. A typical budget contains at least five basic budget categories Budget categories:
related to expenditures: categories in a
budget representing
• Personnel expenses include all spending associated with agency employee
types of expenses.
payroll (such as wages, salaries, benefits, and state and federal payroll taxes).
This expenditure category usually represents the largest within any police
agency’s budget, consuming as much as 85 percent of the budget.
• Operating expenses are associated with nontangible expenditures; for
example, training and maintenance.
• Supplies and material expenses include tangible objects with a life expectancy
of a year or less, such as fuel and ammunition.
• Capital expenses include tangible depreciable objects with a life expectancy of
more than one year, for instance, buildings and computers.
• Miscellaneous expenses include any expenditures that are not more
appropriately placed in one of the other four basic budget categories, such as
travel to professional conferences (Ortmeier & Meese, 2010).
Table 5-1 illustrates expenditure categories, with examples of the items typically
included within these budget categories. Figure 5-1 shows how expenditures are
allocated in many police agencies.
Sources of Revenue
All police agencies have sources of revenue that are reflected in their budgets. These
sources include taxes, fines, and fees; grants; and donations, fund-raisers, IRS reim-
bursements, and forfeitures. Let’s look at each of these.
Taxes, Fines, and Fees Taxes are a primary source of revenue for most government
entities, including police agencies. Not surprisingly, government officials often want
to raise taxes to increase money flowing into public entities—while citizens want
their taxes reduced. But unless a policy agency can achieve efficiencies that reduce
ort80008_ch05_109-133.indd 121 10/15/10 5:08 PM

table 5-1 Categories of Expenditures in Detail
Personnel Expenses Supplies and Materials Expenses

Salaries and wages (hourly) Fuel
Statutorily-mandated payroll taxes (e.g., Social Ammunition
Security) Office supplies
Health insurance Computer software
Retirement contributions Capital Expenses
Overtime pay Firearms
Operating Expenses Buildings
Lease payments (real estate and equipment) Vehicle, aircraft, vessels
Utilities Computers
Insurance Communications equipment
Legal fees Miscellaneous Expenses
Pre-employment screening Depreciation (of capital assets)
Training Travel (e.g., professional conferences)
Contract services
Maintenance
Professional fees/memberships
Source: Ortmeier, 1999.
its expenses, it is virtually impossible to refrain from raising taxes, for several rea-
sons. First, as the cost and standard of living escalate in a community, agencies need
more financial resources to maintain policing services. Second, external forces such
as the termination of a grant, an economic recession, natural disasters, and war can
reduce the revenue flowing into a police agency. Therefore, there’s a constant need
to increase tax revenue while also recognizing that resistance to raising taxes will
persist.
The main sources of tax revenue for a police agency are local sales and property
taxes and those collected and shared by the state. In some states, police agencies
can generate additional revenue from permit fees (for example, for burning brush),
motor-vehicle violation fines, court fines, parking fees and citation payments, and
pet licensing fees. However, in several states, fine revenue does not flow to the
agency but to the state’s general fund.
figure 5-1 Expenditure Categories for a Police Agency
15%
Personnel Expenses
Operating, Supplies and
Materials, Capital, and
Miscellaneous
Expenses
85%
ort80008_ch05_109-133.indd 122 10/15/10 5:08 PM

Parking fines can

be used as a source
of revenue in some
jurisdictions. In other
jurisdictions, the fine
revenue is transferred
to the state’s general
fund. This photo
displays a car ticketed
in Tampa, Florida.
Some police agencies also charge for services or initiate a special fee structure
for traffic control and officer presence at special community events such as baseball
and soccer games, bicycle races, and neighborhood block parties. Several agencies
charge a fee when they detain an arrestee from another jurisdiction. Other agencies
charge fees after a specified number of responses to house and business false alarms.
During times of fiscal belt-tightening, agencies use volunteers wherever practicable
and reduce overtime expenses by assigning regular on-duty personnel to perform
tasks whenever possible (Rabin et al., 1996).
Grants A grant is an entrustment of funds derived from sources such as individu-

als, corporations, foundations, family bequests, or government entities. Grants are
awarded to help the recipient organization achieve its strategic objectives or develop
or enhance its programs. A grant is interest-free and typically nonrefundable.
The grantor—the individual or entity offering the grant—generally designates
funds to address a specific service objective or problem experienced by the recipient,
or grantee. Thus, to acquire grant funds from any source, a police agency must
often define, articulate, or adjust a strategic project or program goal to match the
grantor’s requirements. To be eligible for funding, the police agency completes a
grant application—which calls for strong writing skills. The information provided
in the application must meet the grantor’s objectives, timelines, and other require-
ments. If the agency is awarded the grant, it must use the money as directed by the Closed-end grant:
granting authority and report regularly on program expenditures and outcomes. limits fund
Grants vary according to type and restrictions. For example, federal grants to expenditures to
a state, county, or municipality typically require the grantee to provide matching narrowly defined
resources. The matching resources may include monetary or in-kind contributions products or services
(for example, personnel or equipment). Grant types include the following: and typically
includes highly
• Closed-end grants limit fund expenditures to narrowly defined products detailed compliance
or services and typically include highly detailed compliance requirements. requirements.
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A jurisdiction may receive a closed-end grant for a particular service or

equipment such as advanced crime-lab technology, with the jurisdiction
matching or paying for any amount exceeding the funds allocated through the
grant (Harvey, 2000; Rabin et al., 1996).
During fiscal year 2008, the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of
Community Oriented Policing Services, offered approximately $13 million
to enhance security in school buildings and on school property. The program
provided reimbursement for up to 50 percent of the cost of implementing options
Categorical grant: such as school safety assessments, placement and use of security technology and
spending is not as equipment, and coordination efforts with policing agencies (U.S. Department of
restrictive as for Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, 2008).
closed-end grant. • Categorical grants typically allow expenditures within a specified category
Expenditures are of spending alternatives. Thus they are limited to a set of defined services
allowed within or programs. In 2005, for example, the municipality of Anchorage, Alaska,
a category of applied for and received a federal categorical grant in the amount of $450,000
programs or that included a necessary local match of approximately $170,000. The U.S.
services. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance awarded the grant to establish
a partnership among local and federal law enforcement agencies, prosecutors,
Block grant: government organizations, and victim service agencies to investigate and prosecute
general-purpose incidents of human trafficking in the area (Municipality of Anchorage, 2005).
award designed • Block grants are general-purpose awards designed to help agencies meet
to help meet specific needs that are otherwise unfunded. The grantor reviews and monitors
unfunded services block grants to ensure that the funds are used for the specified services and
or objectives. Not not used to fill gaps or deficits in general revenue streams. The Criminal
as expenditure Justice Services Division of the Oregon Office of Homeland Security offered
restrictive as closed- a law enforcement block grant program designed to assist agencies in local
end or categorical government and support programs that help reduce crime and enhance
grants.
A forensic latent
fingerprint expert
examining envelopes
at the Nebraska State
Crime Laboratory.
ort80008_ch05_109-133.indd 124 10/15/10 5:08 PM

public safety. As another example, the U.S. Department of Justice Juvenile

Accountability Block Grant (JABG) program provides states with funding to
reduce juvenile delinquency, improve the juvenile justice system, and increase
the accountability of juvenile offenders and the systems that serve juvenile
offenders. Funded projects include drug and teen courts, and police and
probation partnerships. The grants are funded annually, from April 1 through
March 31. A small match from the community is required for these grants.
Donations, Fund-Raisers, IRS Reimbursements, and Forfeitures To generate

further revenue, police agencies can solicit donations to be used for a specific need
(for example, to purchase protective vests for police dogs). Single-event or con-
tinuous fund-raising programs sponsored by private foundations and peace officer
associations can provide additional funds.
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) reimbursements can produce revenue as well.
State, county, and local police agencies are eligible for IRS rewards and reimburse-
ments for investigations. The IRS pays a 10 percent unpaid tax informer’s fee for
information on those who fail to report all of their income. Revenue generated
through illegal activity, for example, is rarely reported as income by criminal per-
petrators. Further, agencies may receive reimbursement from the IRS for expenses
associated with investigations into activities such as drug trafficking or money laun-
dering that lead to the recovery of unpaid federal income taxes. Investigative infor-
mation provided by the police agency must contribute substantially to the recovery
of at least $50,000 in unpaid taxes. Reimbursement is limited to 10 percent of the
unpaid taxes recovered. However, an agency is not eligible for such reimburse-
ment if it receives compensation under an alternate grant or forfeiture program
(U.S. Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, 2010).
Finally, forfeiture laws in many jurisdictions, including individual states and the
federal government, allow police agencies to seize cash and property acquired by
criminals through illegal activity (such as drug trafficking, racketeering, gambling,
and transportation of contraband). If the criminal’s financial gain is proven to result
from an illegal enterprise, the seized cash and property is forfeited to the agency’s
unit of government (the municipality, county, or state). Part or all of the cash and
proceeds from the sale of seized property may be returned to the agency that inves-
tigated and arrested the perpetrators (West’s Encyclopedia of American Law, 2010).
Figure 5-2 shows revenue sources for a typical police agency.
figure 5-2 Revenue Sources for a Police Agency
5%
Taxes, Fines, and Fees

Grants, Donations,
Fund-raisers, IRS
Reimbursements, and
Forfeitures
95%
ort80008_ch05_109-133.indd 125 10/15/10 5:08 PM

Contraband seized
by investigators. The
contraband is forfeited
and destroyed.
Making Resource-Allocation Decisions

To build a budget, police managers must make numerous difficult decisions about
how to allocate available funds—which can be scarce. There are many expenses to
cover, and many new opportunities and programs that may merit investment. How
do managers allocate funding? Three types of analysis—cost–benefit analysis, return
on investment, and value-added contribution—can help.
Cost–benefit Cost–Benefit Analysis Through cost–benefit analysis, a police agency compares

analysis: the cost of a program or initiative to the benefit it provides (or may provide) to
an analysis the agency and/or community. Ideally, the cost should be equal to or less than the
through which benefit derived (Rabin et al., 1996). Cost–benefit analysis can help agencies create
an organization budgets that allocate financial resources wisely, and can help them monitor and
compares the cost control the use of those resources once the budget is implemented.
of a program or We can view cost–benefit analysis from two perspectives: cost and process.
initiative to the Using the cost perspective, police managers compare the cost of an activity to the
benefit it provides product or service generated. For example, an agency might compare the cost asso-
(or may provide) ciated with the issuance of traffic citations to the benefits associated with managing
to the organization traffic and enhancing public safety. Taking a process perspective, the agency would
and/or its determine whether the cost of providing traffic safety produces what the agency
constituents. and the community need. In other words, does an increase in the number of traf-
fic tickets written at a location prone to motor-vehicle collisions correlate with a
reduction in such collisions? If not, the cost is not producing the anticipated benefit
associated with traffic safety. As another example, when police officials measure the
outcome of drug enforcement, they typically count the number of arrests made and
the quantity of controlled substances seized. A cost–benefit analysis should assess
longer-term quality-of-life criteria as well. That is, does drug enforcement actually
ort80008_ch05_109-133.indd 126 10/15/10 5:08 PM

improve neighborhoods in the long term or does it simply (and temporarily) reduce
the availability of drugs or decrease the number of calls for service?
Return on Investment (ROI) To conduct a return on investment (ROI) analysis, Return on

police managers calculate the net savings that result from an activity. Consider a investment (ROI):
major city that is monitoring its downtown area through the use of several uni- the benefits that
formed foot-patrol officers. The city’s police department decides to install surveil- result from an
lance cameras throughout the area, which are monitored by a single officer or activity.
civilian at a central monitoring station. Monitoring personnel dispatch roving patrol
officers to problem areas. If the police department saves more money by using the
cameras than it cost to buy, install, and use them, then it has earned a return on its
investment in the cameras.
Value-Added Contribution (VAC) By conducting a value-added contribution (VAC) Value-added

analysis, a police agency determines the additional value (beyond basic service contribution (VAC):
requirements) that an activity contributes to a program or service. In the business additional value
world, a VAC may be something added by the seller or manufacturer to increase the (beyond basic
value of a product or service to the consumer. (For example, a bottle of shampoo requirements)
comes with a free sample of conditioner. Or a car dealer offers one year of free oil that an activity
changes with the purchase of a new or used car.) In policing, a reduction in crime contributes to a
may improve (contribute added value to) citizens’ quality of life. The reduction in program or service.
crime may also increase the property values in a town or city, making it more desir-
able for residents to remain and invest themselves in the neighborhood.
At first glance, it may be difficult to think of ways that a police agency can
offer a VAC to its customers—the citizens who pay the taxes that make police
services possible. Because the police deliver services (including peacekeeping,
maintenance of order, community education, law enforcement, and public safety),
any enhancements of those services add value for citizens. Yet these VAC are often
difficult to quantify. After all, how does one measure how much crime has been
prevented?
Yet a police organization does make VAC. For one thing, as Sir Robert Peel
is often quoted, “The police are the public and the public are the police” (Lee,
1901). Thus the community has a major stake in the services that the police agency
provides: excellent service translates into safer communities. For instance, when
a police agency exchanges supermarket gift cards for guns, it not only makes the
community safer, it also eases citizens’ fear—which in turn improves their quality
of life even further. Moreover, consumers benefit when police services are effective
and efficient because such services are at the lowest possible price and still create
value for neighborhoods and businesses. Finally, agency employees benefit because
progressive, highly regarded police agencies can attract the best possible candidates
for vacant positions—people who know that the agency enjoys the respect and
admiration of its customers (Brigham & Ehrhardt, 2005).
“SELLING” THE BUDGET
As the next step in the budget process, one or more high-ranking police officials present
the completed documents to those responsible for approving the budget. Those who
ort80008_ch05_109-133.indd 127 10/15/10 5:08 PM

approve the budget may include the mayor, city council members, city manager, county
supervisors, legislators, or other government officials. Approvers scrutinize budget
categories, and presenters explain the rationale behind each entry in the document.
The process resembles that used by sales representatives making presentations
to potential customers. The police officials presenting the budget must be prepared
to defend it and to discuss budget balances, expenditures, impact on citizens, pro-
gram changes, anticipated personnel reductions or additions, and performance
indicators (Rabin et al., 1996).
To win support for the budget, presenters should also inform approvers of
the budget’s ROI and VAC. This information helps approvers see the intended
payoff from requested budget increases for personnel, supplies, equipment, or
facilities. The agency’s customers want to know what they will receive in return
for the taxes and user fees they are paying. To secure the revenue requested in the
budget, police officials must convince stakeholders that the requested resources
are necessary. In effect, they must “sell” the agency’s service and even its brand
image—perceptions of the agency’s worth in the eyes of its customers. For exam-
ple, a recent research report asserted that DARE programs are more effective
when presented by police officers. By pointing out this finding, an agency could
enhance citizens’ positive perceptions of the local police (Hammond et al., 2008).
Presenting a budget calls for a full range of leadership skills. The police must be
knowledgeable about all aspects of their agency’s financial situation—as well as skilled
in the art of persuasion. Selling the budget successfully calls for persistence and a knack
for achieving consensus. Police officials should not come across as risk takers. Rather,
they should demonstrate that they plan to dedicate resources to agreed-upon purposes
that will create value for citizens now and in the future (Kotter, 1996; Rubin, 2006).
Dealing with Budget Cutbacks

Of course, while seeking to sell the budget (and at any other point in the budgeting
process), a police agency may learn of impending budgetary cutbacks. Government
agencies of all types face such cutbacks periodically, usually owing to competition,
declining tax revenues, or reductions in grants awarded. In many instances, funds
are constrained even as the agencies are required to continue providing the same
level of service. Providing more service as well as launching new initiatives are all
but impossible in agencies hardest hit by budget cutbacks.
Typically, agencies respond to cutbacks by canceling personnel cost-of-living
pay increases wherever possible, which is especially difficult when an agency is
staffed by a unionized workforce. An agency may also decide to postpone replace-
ment of older equipment or upgrades to computer systems. Some agencies save
money by consolidating services. For instance, if adjacent cities maintain canine
units, they may combine the units and share the cost. Agencies can make similar
arrangements for specialized services such as crime scene investigation.
Many police managers find creative ways to stretch the few dollars they have
available for their budgets. For instance, they order equipment from online sources
that are less expensive than local providers. They use e-mail instead of paper to dis-
seminate information. They shave training expenses by presenting a single session
for attendees from many local jurisdictions. Or they delay hiring and purchasing,
cut overtime expenses, and establish an internal review process that monitors and
scrutinizes all budget expenditures (Rabin et al., 1996).
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EXECUTING THE BUDGET
If a budget wins approval from stakeholders, the police agency moves to the final
stage in the budget process: putting the financial plan into action, or executing it.
Execution calls for three additional leadership skills: managing the projects pro-
posed in the budget, calculating what is known as maintenance of effort, and audit-
ing. We examine each of these next.
Managing Projects
A project is a major undertaking or initiative, stipulated in a police agency’s bud-
get, that is intended to create value for the organization and its customers. For an
agency, a project may be an innovative program designed to improve service to the
public, a new process intended to achieve efficiencies, or an initiative aimed at pre-
paring for future service requirements.
A project may be a new initiative or an expansion of a current program to improve
service. A project may also call for replacement of a current resource to increase service
capabilities (Brigham & Ehrhardt, 2005). To illustrate, the police may replace computer
hardware with new equipment to make it compatible with new software applications.
Every project requires management. Simply stated, project management is the Project management:
process of planning and guiding an initiative from inception to completion. A proj- the process of
ect might be managed by a single person or a team. In the case of a single account- planning and
able project manager, the individual plans the project, organizes the tasks necessary guiding an initiative
to accomplish the project’s goals, develops timelines, obtains support from skilled from inception to
people who can move the project forward, and reports on the project’s progress at completion.
predetermined intervals. When more than one person manages a project, the various
tasks can be divided among the team members.
Calculating Maintenance of Effort

Maintenance of effort is the annual cost necessary to maintain a police agency’s exist- Maintenance
ing level of service for the fiscal operating year. Usually, police managers calculate of effort:
maintenance-of-effort expenses by determining the actual cost of each activity in the the annual cost
preceding budget period and adding a cost-of-living adjustment to each for the next necessary to
budget. The process is similar to the traditional budgeting model. Before submitting maintain a police
a maintenance-of-effort calculation, police officials should analyze the latest approved agency’s existing
budget to determine which services are providing value to the organization and the com- level of service for
munity. They can use this analysis to project which items in the next budget should be the fiscal operating
eliminated, maintained, or expanded to provide for essential services and public safety. year.
Auditing
An audit is an evaluation of a process, system, or project. A police agency might Audit:
conduct an audit to determine the reliability and validity of information gener- an evaluation of a
ated by a process, to assess a system’s internal controls, or to examine a project’s process, system, or
effectiveness. An audit is intended to provide reasonable assurance that a process, project.
system, or project is free of significant errors or other problems.
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ETHICS IN ACTION
Audit Uncovers Unethical Behavior?
n audit of a major U.S. police agency led to the discovery of sev-
A eral inappropriate bookkeeping activities. One officer appeared to

approve his own overtime. Other officers improperly collected fees
for coordinating officers’ off-duty security-related employment at banks,
bars, and major sporting events. The auditor’s report could not confirm
that the officers involved were guilty of misconduct because the agency’s
poor recordkeeping made it difficult to determine whether the officers had
violated any law or agency policy. Apparently, the auditors could not dif-
ferentiate between honest mistakes and attempts to defraud because the
agency lacked adequate internal controls.
1. Based on the information presented, does it appear that the conduct
of the officers involved was illegal? Why or why not? Unethical? Why or
why not? Can one be sure of either?
2. What internal controls do you believe this police agency should put in
place to ensure compliance and to discourage fraudulent or unethical
behavior?
Financial audit:
an examination
of randomly
Traditionally, audits have been conducted on an organization’s procedures,
selected accounting
policies, operations, financial statements, accounting records, and budget expen-
transactions in an
ditures. In this chapter, we focus on audits of the policing agency’s financial and
organization with
accounting records. Such audits are typically performed by independent third-
the goal of checking
party accountants or auditors who certify, based on generally accepted standards,
for accuracy,
that financial and accounting records fairly represent revenues, expenditures, and
completeness, and
results. An audit can ensure that a budget is being executed according to plan. It
timeliness.
may be a continuous process, or an event that occurs during or after implementation
Fraud examination: of a budget (U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2007).
an examination of Audits associated with accounting systems and fiscal management typically take
each accounting one of two forms. In a financial audit, the examiners look at randomly selected
transaction in accounting transactions for accuracy, completeness, and timeliness. In a fraud
an organization examination, they look at each accounting transaction in search of any discrepancy,
in search of any significant or not. The discovery of a relatively insignificant error could uncover a
discrepancy. fraudulent scheme (Cheeseman, 2009).
summary
• What Is a Budget? A budget is a plan expressed in financial terms and thus

is essential for sound fiscal management. It reflects the resources necessary to
accomplish an agency’s mission. To build a budget, police agencies anticipate
the revenue (income) they will need to cover expenditures for a specified
period of time. Police budgets, like budgets for any public organization, have
a political component, are accountable to the community, reflect constraints
such as taxing limitations, require negotiation and compromise among
numerous parties, and require flexibility.
ort80008_ch05_109-133.indd 130 10/15/10 5:08 PM

• Types of Budgets. Although most agencies gravitate toward a traditional

budget model, which is easy to construct and understand, they may use
numerous types of budget models simultaneously. These additional types
include line-item budgets, program budgets, performance-based budgets,
zero-based budgets, balanced-based budgets, activity-based budgets, operating
budgets, and capital budgets.
• Building the Budget. To build a budget, a police agency develops several main
sections (including the budget message, summary schedule, detailed schedules,
and supplemental data). They document expenditure categories (specifically,
personnel expenses, operating expenses, supplies and material expenses,
capital expenses, and miscellaneous expenses). And they identify sources of
revenue, which include taxes, fines, and fees; grants; and donations, fund-
raisers, and IRS reimbursements. They make resource-allocation decisions in
the budget through three types of analysis: cost–benefit, return on investment,
and value-added contribution.
• “Selling” the Budget. Budget planning, preparation, submission, and approval
are interdependent variables in a dynamic process. To sell (win approval
for) the budget, police administrators must demonstrate excellent skills in
communication, persuasion, and leadership to gain approvers’ trust and
build consensus toward budget acceptance. They must also grapple with the
possibility of budget cutbacks.
• Executing the Budget. To ensure proper implementation of the budget,
police agencies must manage the projects stipulated in the budget, calculate
maintenance of effort, and have examiners conduct audits of the agency’s
financial and accounting records.
activity-based budget key terms

audit
balanced-based budget
block grant
budget
budget categories
capital budget
capital expenses
closed-end grant
cost–benefit analysis
categorical grant
financial audit
fraud examination
line-item budget
maintenance of effort
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miscellaneous expenses
operating budget
operating expenses
performance-based budget
personnel expenses
program budget
project management
return on investment (ROI)
supplies and materials expenses
traditional budget
value-added contribution (VAC)
zero-based budget
1. The budget process is critical to the viability and economic health of a com-
munity. Define the term budget and describe what the budget process attempts
to achieve. Who may be involved in the creation of an acceptable budget for a
police agency?
2. Budgets are generally divided into numerous sections or categories. Describe these
sections. What basic expense categories are typically contained in a budget?
3. Numerous types of budgets are used by police agencies. Most agencies gravitate
toward the traditional budget model. Why?
4. How does the line-item budget compare to the zero-based budget? The activity-based
budget? The performance-based budget? Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of
each type.
5. Describe an operating budget, its importance, and duration.
6. Define and explain capital budgeting process.
7. Articulate sources of revenue for a police organization.
8. Describe the concepts of cost–benefit analysis, return on investment, and value-added
contribution and how they assist with the budget process.
9. Why is selling the budget important to a police agency?
10. How does an auditing procedure help maintain the integrity of a police agency’s
budgeting process?
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WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

Funding a Zero-Tolerance Initiative
The violent-crime rate of a large northeastern city escalated signifi-
cantly. City residents complained loudly about the situation, and many
took steps to protect their children and themselves. For example, they
discouraged youngsters from playing outside, and people no longer
gathered on the steps of their apartment buildings to visit with friends
and family.
The mayor and police chief proposed a zero-tolerance initiative
(see Chapter 2) to bring the situation under control. They estimated
the cost associated with the initiative at more than $300,000 per week,
including expenses associated with police overtime, Neighborhood
Watch teams, street outreach groups, and vehicle fuel costs. The city
council approved the proposal and voted to fund the initiative by cut-
ting costs in other municipal departments and implementing a hiring
freeze.
The zero-tolerance initiative included using saturation patrolling of
neighborhoods, targeting previous offenders and curfew violators, and
proactively addressing street violence before it escalated to homicide.
1. Where would you cut expenses in this city’s budget to fund the zero-
tolerance initiative? Why?
2. How long would you pursue the zero-tolerance initiative if it did not
achieve its intended results? In other words, if shootings and stab-
bings continued unabated, what would you do? Would you consider
other sources of revenue to further fund the initiative? Change the
initiative itself? Design a new initiative? Justify your choice(s).
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6
More and more police
agencies are engaging in
a participatory management
style. Here officers of the
North Miami Beach, Florida,
Police Department engage in
a strategy meeting.
Organizational Design
learning outcomes

• describe the vertical, horizontal, and community relationships that make
up the structure of a police organization.
• analyze the elements and origins of the command-and-control police culture.
• examine the behavioral standards that police organizations adhere to,
and explain how those standards are internalized.
• discuss why the ability to adapt to change is an important behavioral
standard for police personnel.
• compare and contrast radical and incremental change as well as
directed and nondirected change.
• define organizational learning and explain why it is an important
behavioral standard for police personnel.
• contrast adaptive learning, proactive learning, and experimentation.
• explain why ethical leadership and the ability to place customers first are
additional important behavioral standards for police personnel.
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chapter 6 Organizational Design 135
• differentiate the customers whom a police agency serves and explain how
police serve customers and discern their changing needs
Introduction
Humans have been organizing themselves for specific purposes for thousands
of years. For example, the administrative organizations that Egyptian pharaohs,
Alexander the Great, and Julius Caesar used to operate their vast realms still have
the power to astound, especially considering the lack of sophisticated technol-
ogy at the time. Today, most formal organizations are designed to fulfill specific
purposes as well: Hospitals are designed to serve patients; corporations, to
make money; and police agencies, to protect and serve the jurisdictions they are
responsible for.
But what is organizational design, exactly? An organization’s design derives
from decisions managers make about (1) how relationships are structured (for
example, who reports to whom), (2) what kind of culture the organization will have
(for instance, formal command-and-control or informal bottom-up), and (3) what
behavioral standards (e.g., standards or codes of conduct) are considered accept-
able and unacceptable. Structure, culture, and behavioral standards are all tightly
interwoven and strongly affect one another. To illustrate, a police agency that has
a rigid reporting structure will likely also have a formal culture and behavioral
standards that emphasize the importance of obedience to authority figures.
The way police agencies have been designed has changed over time. For
example, in the past, they were structured along relatively simple lines, consisting
of patrol officers, command personnel, detectives, and civilian (nonsworn) workers
such as secretaries. But today’s large agencies are multilayered organizations
that might contain as many as several thousand full- or part-time male and female
sworn officers, with separate divisions for patrol, criminal investigations, drug
enforcement, crime scene technology, marine patrol, internal investigations, and
budget management.
Many large police agencies are bureaucracies. A bureaucracy (as defined by
Max Weber, the founder of the modern science of sociology) is a tiered arrange-
ment of management positions and labor devised in such a way as to encourage
specialization. Still, there is an increasing movement to design police agencies in
the same manner as corporations—including adopting policies designed to enhance
employees’ job satisfaction, using performance-improvement methodologies such
as total quality management (TQM), and making customer service a top priority.
In this chapter, we take a closer look at the key elements of organizational
design in a police agency. We begin by examining structure (how the vertical,
horizontal, and community relationships are configured in an agency). We then
explore culture (defined as the thoughts, speech, actions, values, and beliefs held
by everyone who works in the organization). Finally, we consider the behavioral
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standards established by many police agencies, including the ability to adapt

to change, to learn, to demonstrate ethical leadership, and to put the agency’s
“customers” (citizens and other stakeholders) first.
STRUCTURE: HOW ARE RELATIONSHIPS CONFIGURED?
Organizational A police agency’s organizational structure is reflected in its vertical relation-

structure: refers to ships (who has authority over whom; who reports to whom), its horizontal
the configuration of relationships (who collaborates and communicates with whom), and its commu-
relationships within nity relationships (how agency personnel collaborate with citizens and community
an organization. leaders to deliver better service). Like most organizations, police agencies often have
an organizational chart depicting vertical and horizontal relationships. The levels of
authority and number of ranks, positions, and functions illustrated in the chart dif-
fer depending on the size of the agency as well as the community the agency serves,
the scope and nature of the public safety problems the agency must grapple with,
and the policing strategies emphasized by the agency. Next, we examine vertical,
Chain of command: horizontal, and community relationships more closely. We then consider how the
the notion that policing strategy that an agency adopts influences its structure.
authority and
decision making
should flow down Vertical Relationships
from higher to lower A police agency’s organizational chart depicts those with the highest levels of
levels in a police authority at the top and those with lower levels of authority below them in the
agency. Official chart. Typically, an agency’s chart shows the chief of police, sheriff, director, or
discussions typically police commissioner at the top; captains, lieutenants, and sergeants in the middle;
flow up or down and officers as well as civilian personnel (administrative assistants, clerks, secretar-
through the chain of ies, and budget personnel) near or at the bottom. Individuals report to those above
command. them in the hierarchy. Figure 6-1 shows an example.
These vertical relationships are strongly informed by three concepts: chain of
Unity of command:
command, unity of command, and span of control:
the concept that
each individual • Chain of command. This is the notion that authority and decision making
working in the should flow down from higher to lower levels. Official discussions typically
agency should flow up or down through the chain of command (American Heritage
report to only one Dictionary of the English Language, 2005a; Barron’s Education Services,
supervisor and 2007). Chain of command discourages police personnel from discussing
that each unit or concerns with anyone other than an immediate superior. Indeed, it is
situation should be considered a breach of conduct, maybe even a betrayal, for personnel to
under the control of express a complaint or concern to their immediate superior’s commanding
a single individual. officer first.
Span of control: • Unity of command. This concept holds that each individual working in the
the idea that each agency should report to only one supervisor and that each unit or situation
manager in a police should be under the control of a single individual. For example, in a crisis
agency should situation, an incident commander is designated and must be obeyed—
supervise only a regardless of whether the commander is from the police department, fire
reasonable number department, or some other emergency response organization.
of individuals or • Span of control. This is the idea that each manager in a police agency should
units. supervise only a reasonable number of individuals or units, depending on
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figure 6-1 Sample Agency Organizational Chart
Chief of Police
Patrol Division Criminal Investigation Patrol Division

North Division South
Narcotics Investigations
Section
Field
Investigations
Criminal
Investigations
the agency’s size. Most experts agree that a wider span of control renders a
supervisor or manager less effective. That is because managers have greater
difficulty supervising many people, owing to the increased number and
complexities of tasks and the demand for high-quality results (Iannone, 1987;
Robbins & Judge, 2008).
An incident
commander
communicating at a
crisis situation.
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Horizontal Relationships
An agency’s structure is also determined by its horizontal relationships—collabora-
tions and communication across its various functions or departments (Hellriegel,
Jackson, & Slocum, 2008; Meese & Ortmeier, 2004). For example, Figure 6-2
shows the criminal investigations section from one agency’s organizational chart.
The section is part of the agency’s criminal investigation division and consists of
three same-level units: warrants, violent crimes, and missing persons. Each unit is
supervised by a sergeant or lieutenant. While these unit supervisors do not have
formal authority over one another (rather, each reports to the division head), they
communicate regularly across unit lines to achieve the division’s goals. To illustrate,
the manager of the missing persons unit might meet with the violent-crimes lieuten-
ant to discuss how to determine whether a missing person is a kidnap or murder
victim with the suspect still at large.
Community Relationships
In addition to vertical and horizontal relationships, police agencies have com-
munity relationships—partnerships forged with citizens and volunteers to solve
particular problems. One of the ways police managers form collaborative rela-
Volunteerism: tionships with community members is through volunteerism. If citizens are con-
the process by cerned enough to volunteer for Neighborhood Watch and other civic-minded
which community groups, an effective police organization will involve these community members in
members donate its initiatives. Volunteers on the streets in citizen patrols, acting as eyes and ears
their time and effort for the police, can and do make a contribution to the health and safety of their
to a police agency’s neighborhoods.
operations. Yet many police officers resist the notion of working as partners with citizens.
Police officers tend to operate in a culture that has specific formal and informal
rules governing entry and inclusion. Police and citizens alike often assume that
citizens can never be members of this officer group—for good reason. A police
officer becomes acculturated to a certain way of thinking and acting through atten-
dance at the police academy and through job experience. Citizens have no such
opportunity.
However, when citizens volunteer, they are reaching out to officers and trying to
establish a connection. Officers should make every effort to demonstrate receptivity
to these encounters and to seize advantage of the value that can come with having
more “eyes and ears on the street.” Likewise, citizens who are invited to volunteer
will feel they are “taking back” their streets and sharing with police the burden of
keeping their neighborhoods safe.
figure 6-2 Section from an Agency’s Organizational Chart
Criminal Investigations
Section
Warrants Violent Crimes Missing Persons
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Citizen volunteers with

the Prescott, Arizona,
Police Department.
To welcome citizens into volunteer work, officers must reduce or eradicate what
is known as “occupational arrogance”—the attitude that police are untouchable,
have unassailable authority, and are not to be questioned or challenged in any
way by citizens. In an agency that chooses to orient itself toward its customers,
occupational arrogance will dissipate as officers become flexible and learn how
Engaging Volunteers in Baltimore County, Maryland

Officials in Baltimore County, Maryland, conducted a study about how the
police could connect with citizens to solve community problems. To that end,
they created Citizen Oriented Police Enforcement (COPE) units. The research
program proceeded through three phases:
• Phase 1: Officers pursued preventive patrol as usual and used crime
analysis to help direct those patrols. Citizens had minimal input into how
crime was handled. This is the model most often used in police agencies.
• Phase 2: Police stepped up encounters with citizens by directing
officers to canvas neighborhoods, seek information regarding citizen
problems and fears, and use crime-prevention techniques and com-
munity meetings to reduce fear and gain citizens’ cooperation.
Though this phase increased police–citizen communication, it did not
reduce crime or significantly decrease citizens’ fear, mostly because
officers did not use the information they had gathered.
• Phase 3: Officers gathered information regarding neighborhood
problems and used it to develop and implement new crime-prevention
tactics, conduct saturation patrols, and identify law enforcement
issues that needed resolution. Citizens’ satisfaction increased and
crime decreased (Taft, 1986).
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valuable volunteer citizens can be (O’Hara, 2005). The box titled “Engaging
Volunteers in Baltimore County, Maryland” shows an example.
Use of information provided by citizens has become common practice in such
large cities as Fort Worth, Texas, Los Angeles, California, and Rochester, New
York. There is even a national organization—Volunteers in Police Service (VIPS)—
that helps police departments organize and train volunteers. VIPS provides a broad
scope of assistance, including the preparation of agency personnel to conduct vol-
unteer training and what to teach how to pay volunteers’ out-of-pocket expenses,
and how to manage volunteers once they become active (www.policevolunteers.
org, 2008).
To work with volunteers, police managers must make decisions about a wide
range of matters:
• Policy: What roles will each participant—police and volunteer—play? Who

will report to whom? What will the goals of the partnership be?
• Recruitment: How will the agency describe the volunteer opportunity to
citizens? What will the application and interview process consist of? How
will the agency screen applicants and check references and backgrounds to
determine potential volunteers’ suitability for the work?
• Training: What formal training will the agency provide before deploying
volunteers? And what remedial training and in-service training will it offer to
support ongoing and new activities for volunteers?
• Support: How will volunteers be supervised? How will the agency evaluate
their effectiveness?
• Budget: What materials (uniforms, radios, vehicles, other equipment) will the
agency provide to volunteers, and how will those materials be funded?
A police agency that elects to use volunteers should be committed to giving the
effort the same commitment it gives to other programs—by clearly establishing the
volunteer values, vision, mission, and goals (Citizens Information Board, 1999).
A high-ranking From Policing

member of a police
agency speaks casually Strategy to
(as peers) with a Organizational
lower-ranking officer.
Structure
A police agency’s structure
is strongly determined by
the policing strategies
adopted by the agency.
(Policing strategies are
covered extensively in
Chapter 2.) For instance,
if an agency is oriented
toward traditional polic-
ing, which emphasizes
reducing response time to
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calls-for-service, management may strive to concentrate authority at the top of the

organizational hierarchy and require strict obedience to formalized lines of commu-
nication and reporting. There may be little to no attention directed to forging com-
munity relationships. If an agency is more oriented toward the problem-solving and
community-oriented strategies, management may aim for decentralization—dispersing
authority among lower-level employees and allowing communication outside formal,
vertical lines of authority (Goldstein, 1990, 2001).
Different divisions, units, and departments within an agency may also empha-
size different policing strategies and thus have different relationship configurations
that do not necessarily reflect the structure shown in the agency’s formal organiza-
tional chart. For example, in a division that operates on the principles characterizing
the community policing strategy, unit commanders may communicate freely with
individuals outside formal lines of authority, such as peers in other units and citizen
volunteers.
CULTURE: WHAT DO PERSONNEL

THINK, SAY, DO, AND BELIEVE?
How a police agency is structured has close links to what its organizational culture
is like. For example, an agency characterized by a relatively informal, open culture
may be more likely to have an organizational structure that is less formal and
encourages communication across divisions and between individuals who do not
have formal authority over one another.
What is organizational culture? It is shaped by the thoughts, speech, actions, Organizational
values, and beliefs held by people who work in the organization (McNamara, culture:
2008). Though police agencies may differ somewhat in their culture, they share shaped by the
some common cultural characteristics that make them collectively distinctive from thoughts, speech,
other types of organizations. In the pages that follow, we explore some of these actions, values,
characteristics. and beliefs held
by people in the
organization.
Command and Control
Many police agencies have a traditional command-and-control culture, in which
lines of authority and rules governing communication are rigid. This traditional cul-
ture arose for a few reasons: It enables officers to respond swiftly to calls-for-service
and to resolve crises. When everyone understands who is in charge of which aspects
of a service call or a crisis, people move quickly to fill their roles the instant the
need arises. Such clarity about responsibilities reduces the risk of confusion and
delay in officers’ response time. However, this culture has disadvantages as well. For
instance, it restricts communication among peers and limits innovation and creativ-
ity, as officers conclude that their ideas are not welcome in the agency’s upper ranks.
The traditional command-and-control culture is also believed to prevent police
corruption because such a culture does not foster police–citizen familiarity and it
restricts officer use of discretion.
Elements of the command-and-control culture will always be present in every
police agency because calls-for-service and crises will always arise. Therefore,
anyone wishing to change an agency’s culture—for example, to incorporate
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A police chief can

set the tone for the
organizational culture.
elements of community policing—should build those elements around the

command-and-control structures that are already present, rather than trying to
replace the traditional culture. To illustrate, all personnel in the agency have the
ability to affect those within their sphere of influence, whether or not they are
in positions of formal authority. By demonstrating and encouraging elements of
community policing among those within their sphere of influence, managers and
officers at all levels can slowly alter the culture. Further, the agency’s culture may
change as managers hire new recruits and instruct them in community policing
concepts and applications, and as officers who view community policing with sus-
picion modify their beliefs and community policing practices are integrated with
traditional policing strategy.
Researchers have identified six forces that give rise to the traditional police
culture: law; bureaucracy; safety, competence, and morality; and demonstrated
individual courage (Herbert, 1998).
• Law. The police are responsible for enforcing the law. Because the law
is constant and immutable, there can be no compromise when it comes
to enforcing it. Theoretically, the police must be impervious to pleas of
innocence, tears, or bribes. Furthermore, those who violate the law tend to
want to avoid being arrested, and they will do whatever it takes to do so,
including using violence. Given these facts, police must maintain an attitude of
command and control toward citizens who violate the law.
• Bureaucracy. The bureaucratic structure exists in public organizations, as
in many private organizations, to ensure adherence to established, critical
policies and procedures. In combination with the law, bureaucracy fosters the
formal aspects of traditional police culture.
ort80008_ch06_134-160.indd 142 10/28/10 3:06 PM

• Safety, competence, Citizen safety is a

and morality. These police officer’s number
forces are all directly one priority.
related to police
personnel interactions
with the citizens
the agency serves.
To ensure citizen
and officer safety,
officers must make
it a priority. They
can do so by (for
example) avoiding
police vehicle chases
on crowded streets
and helping people
to safety away from
the scene of a fire or
other disaster before
performing any other duty. Competence means using training to solve whatever
problems present themselves during the course of an officer’s designated shift.
Morality in this context means that officers will deal fairly and impartially with
all citizens. Various cultures may define morality differently, and officers must
acknowledge such differences. But most cultures still uphold universal moral
standards common to virtually any society; for instance, the standard associated
with the moral and legal wrong of murder. (Note: A street gang member who
kills a member of a rival gang may not consider the killing morally or ethically
wrong.)
• Individual courage. While all officers should demonstrate individual courage,
some possess more than others, and this quality appears to determine an officer’s
reputation (Herbert, 1998). Those officers who demonstrate consistent and
visible bravery are often more revered than those who solve problems through
negotiation or who occupy desk jobs that give little opportunity to demonstrate
courage. The command-and-control culture rewards courage. Although it does
not disparage other forms of problem solving such as negotiation, the officer
who garners headlines with reckless, albeit courageous behavior offers the image
of hero that many citizens want to associate with their police agency.
Officer Unity
As a consequence of the command-and-control culture characterizing most police
agencies, many police officers feel isolated from those who do not work in law
enforcement. In addition, they tend to distrust their superiors within the department,
and they often feel comfortable only in the company of other officers who are closely
associated in rank. Moreover, most of them believe that any person who is not a police
officer cannot understand the pressures and unwritten rules inherent in police work.
For instance, there is an almost universal understanding among many police
officers that one does not inform police administrators if a fellow officer’s actions
may be considered unethical or immoral or possibly even illegal. To illustrate, an
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officer who assaults an unruly subject after a brief chase and traffic stop expects that
the backup officer or partner will support the individual and not advise a superior
officer of the “street justice” occurrence. Officers who violate this unwritten rule
about not informing on one another may end up being ostracized by their peers.
This can place the reporting officers in real danger if peers refuse to “watch their
backs” in perilous situations on the job.
Leader Officer or Street Officer?

Individual officers can help soften the hard edges of traditional command-and-control
police culture by shifting fluidly between command-and-control tactics and commu-
nity policing as dictated by the situation. Officers demonstrating this flexibility—we
can think of them as leader officers—are highly effective on the street and elsewhere
because they can adapt their behavior as needed to manage different types of situations.
For example, leader officers are more likely to negotiate with suspects than
approach them with firearm drawn. They do not shy away from confrontation, but
they employ verbal skills first, rather than physical force, to gain control of a situa-
tion and an offender. By diffusing a situation through words rather than a show of
weapons, officers reduce the risk that the situation may turn violent.
By contrast, street officers most commonly exhibit aggressive behavior.
They enjoy arresting persons who may become violent so they can subdue and
control them. These officers
Police officers, as participate enthusiastically in
leaders, can take situations fraught with dan-
control of emergency ger, such as high-speed vehi-
situations and
cle pursuits or foot chases.
deescalate the conflict
Unfortunately, many of them
by using a Long-Range
view leader officers as weak
Acoustic Device to
broadcast warnings or ineffective. Yet street offi-
and instructions. cers tend to be less effective
than leader officers in most
situations. Although stern
command-and-control tactics
may be required in some situ-
ations, most police encoun-
ters do not necessitate strong
verbal commands or the use
of force. Owing to their rela-
tive lack of communication
skills and their exclusionary
attitude, street officers may be
unable to deliver the calm, rea-
soned, and respectful direction
(e.g., tactical communication)
essential for deescalation of
conflict and successful resolu-
tion of an incident.
Through training, street
officers can strengthen the
ort80008_ch06_134-160.indd 144 10/28/10 3:06 PM

“soft” skills—such as communication, negotiation, and tolerance—essential to

being a leader officer. Yet sometimes command and control is the best approach.
Thus, leader officers can and should further enhance their ability to respond with
command-and-control tactics as needed in situations where they, partners, or citi-
zens may be in imminent physical danger.
BEHAVIORAL STANDARDS: WHAT IS

CONSIDERED ACCEPTABLE?
Like structure and culture, behavioral standards (standards of conduct) constitute Behavioral standards
a key component of a police agency’s organizational design. Indeed, behavioral (standards of
standards are strongly interlinked with culture, as these standards influence what conduct):
people say, think, and do in the organization. New members of police agencies go standards of conduct
through a process to internalize the agency’s behavioral standards. Behaviors that as defined by the
are particularly valuable and advantageous in a police agency include adapting to police agency.
change, learning, demonstrating ethical leadership, and placing “customers” first. The standards are
particularly valuable
and advantageous to
Internalizing Behavioral Standards the agency’s culture
Almost all organizations—police agencies included—establish standards for accept- and structure.
able behavior and ensure compliance with these standards through employee
preservice and in-service training and documented and published policies and
procedures. The “Law Enforcement Code of Conduct” you read in Chapter 1 is an
Police supervisors and

field training officers
provide training for
new recruits. Here
Broward County,
Florida, Sheriff’s
Department Police
Explorers engage in a
training exercise.
ort80008_ch06_134-160.indd 145 13/12/10 12:18 PM


Held to a Higher Standard?
Many citizens believe that police officers should be the sheriff is standing his ground and hoping his
held to a higher standard of behavior than the average deputies will follow his lead in insisting on the leave-
person, owing to the authority they possess to enforce your-gun-behind rule. As he put it, “Everyone comes
law and the fact that they carry weapons. The sheriff back to this basic, commonsense truth: Alcohol and
of one California city is now hoping that officers will guns don’t mix. Putting [this] truth to policy makes for
demonstrate commitment to this higher standard by a better, safer city.”
leaving their guns behind when they plan to consume
1. In many jurisdictions, police officers are expected
alcoholic beverages. The reason? In several jurisdic-
to react to disturbances even when they are off
tions, armed and intoxicated police officers, while off
duty. How does the policy just described hamper
duty, used poor judgment and fired their weapons.
this expectation? If officers are still expected to
The sheriff noticed that in a one-year period,
react, how can they do so without a firearm?
there were 65 alcohol-related arrests of off-duty depu-
ties, a marked increase over previous years. Despite 2. How might this policy affect the way citizens view
protests from leaders of the local Police Officer off-duty police officers?
Association and the Association for Deputy Sheriffs,
example of documentation of such behavioral standards. Those who deviate from

accepted behavioral norms are encouraged to change their behavior and, if needed,
to take part in remedial training programs. If a person continues to violate codes
of behavior, the agency will likely initiate a disciplinary process that may start with
a formal reprimand and could move to suspension, resignation, or termination
if the problematic behavior continues. (See Chapter 12 for more information on
discipline.)
In a police organization, new members are first acculturated to the organiza-
tion’s behavioral standards through the academy experience, field training, and the
probationary period. (See Chapter 10.) During this time of acculturation, newcom-
ers learn what behaviors are considered acceptable as well as unacceptable. More
seasoned members of the organization observe and judge new members on how well
they demonstrate acceptable behavior. Police work is unique in that behavior both
on and off duty may strongly influence a police officer’s personal life, relationships,
career opportunities, longevity with the agency, and professional reputation.
Adapting to Change
Like other organizations, police agencies are constantly subjected to change—in the
form of new challenges, new theories and practices about how to better serve com-
munities, new technologies, and so forth. Change can be triggered by both internal
and external events. For instance, when a new police chief is appointed, this internal
change may lead to other management personnel changes as well as modifications
in the agency’s strategies and the day-to-day activities carried out by line officers.
An example of an external change is the election of a new governor or mayor
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who then seeks to fulfill A police agency must

campaign promises by be willing and able
(for instance) mandat- to adapt to change.
ing new safety initiatives Change may imply
that police agencies will that the police must be
be required to imple- ready to adjust and/
ment (Swanson, Territo, or reorder priorities
& Taylor, 2008). especially when
political leadership
The most effective
changes.
agencies adapt fluidly
to new developments;
for example, updating
their IT platform to bet-
ter track and respond to
crime, or modifying their
hiring practices to bring
in recruits with stronger leadership qualities. Police managers and officers who can
adapt to change help their agency achieve the flexibility needed to keep pace with
new developments and deliver increasingly better service to the community.
Change is a large and widely debated subject, and definitions of the term
abound. Here is one way to define it: “to make different, either in a small or large
way, a modification, a shift from one to another, or a transition, transformation, or
substitution” (Merriam-Webster’s, 2006). Change can also take numerous forms.
Within a police agency, change may be radical or incremental, as well as directed or Radical change:
nondirected. Moreover, it presents both challenges and opportunities. new ways of
operation stemming
Radical and Incremental Change Through radical change, a specific innova- from a specific
tion transforms the way a police agency delivers customer service. The introduction innovation that
of the Managing Criminal Investigations (MCI) concept is one example. Officers transforms the way
who subscribe to MCI determine whether a follow-up investigation needs to be a police agency
implemented for a specific incident. A major goal of MCI is to empower patrol delivers customer
officers to conduct a thorough initial investigation of a crime and then determine service.
whether a follow-up investigation by a detective or police investigator has merit.
In making this determination, officers consider questions such as whether a case Two police officers
can be solved in a rea- interrogate David
sonable amount of time Westerfield (R) on
if a follow-up is imple- February 5, 2002, in
mented (Hastings & San Diego, California.
Westerfield was
Rickard, 1976; Young
questioned in the
& Ortmeier, 2011). MCI
disappearance of
thus aims to create a
Danielle Van Dam,
criminal investigation one of his neighbor’s
process that makes more children. Van Dam was
effective and efficient use later found murdered
of police investigators’ and Westerfield was
time and other agency charged, convicted, and
resources. (See the box sentenced to death for
“Spotlight on MCI” for Danielle’s kidnapping
additional information.) and murder.
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Spotlight on MCI
MCI has helped introduce three valuable innovations in processes for police
agencies:
• Improved use of resources. Patrol officers consider several “solvability
factors” while deciding whether to recommend that a case they have
investigated should be closed or referred for follow-up investigation.
Solvability factors might include known witnesses, fingerprints, video
depicting criminal intent, serial numbers on stolen property, and
known suspects. If solvability factors are numerous and significant,
and agency follow-up investigative policy allows, the patrol officers
may recommend that they solve the case themselves. Otherwise, they
might suggest that police detectives or investigators conduct a follow-
up investigation. Additionally, the case may be continued for follow-
up investigation if officers believe that the case would cause consider-
able concern in the community or is part of a current crime pattern.
• Better collaboration. Police officers and investigators collaborate
with prosecutors by seeking legal guidance on cases being presented.
Officers ensure that written documentation offered to prosecutors is
meticulous and provides comprehensive information on events and
investigative resources. Prosecutors may assist police investigators
by monitoring ongoing investigative efforts and suggesting addi-
tional investigative initiative to anticipate successful case prosecution
(Rochester Police Department, G.O. 409, 1996).
• More effective training. Agencies train all patrol officers in the
primary investigation process with the intent that they will become
responsible for this process rather than merely taking reports.
Eventually, patrol supervisors could become investigation supervisors
with the knowledge and skills necessary to assign cases for closure or
follow-up (Greenwood, 1979).
Incremental change:
a police agency’s By contrast, through incremental change, a police agency adapts slowly, over
gradual adoption time, to new or tested approaches. An example might be an agency that agrees to
of new ways of begin participating in emergency communications (9-1-1) arrangements or drug
operating designed enforcement task forces with other agencies to serve communities more efficiently
to improve (Hellriegel et al., 2008).
community service
over time. Directed and Nondirected Change In addition to taking radical or incremental
form, change in a police agency can be directed or nondirected. Directed change is
Directed change: a carefully planned, strategic process designed to improve every area of the agency,
a carefully planned, with progress formally evaluated during and after the change is implemented.
strategic process Directed change is agency-wide, comprehensive, and formal.
designed to improve A good example of directed change is a police agency’s installation of a new
every area of a computer system. This type of change must not be implemented in a disjointed, ran-
police agency. dom manner but must be planned for and executed carefully, step by step. Ideally,
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Information
technology has
dramatically changed
the way police gather,
store, analyze, and
retrieve information.
one person will take charge of the overall implementation, delegating various stages
(such as selecting the system, installing it, troubleshooting, and training personnel to
use it) to subordinates. Without careful planning, the installation of a new computer
system or software may simply speed up the mess, leading to confusion as well as
expensive downtime and repairs.
Nondirected change is a less formal process and affects only those individuals Nondirected change:
who implement it. For example, in an area suffering from high crime rates and drug- an informal process
related problems, command officers might direct their crime-prevention personnel of altering the
to make early-morning stops of all pedestrians to ascertain the identity and purpose way tasks are
of the individuals’ presence. The goal of this change is to stop violence related to accomplished,
the drug culture. affecting only those
individuals who
Opportunities and Challenges Presented by Change For a police agency, change will implement the
presents both opportunities and challenges. For example, during the 1980s and change.
in response to changes in society at large, police experts introduced new leader-
ship concepts and reexamined the policing principles attributed to Sir Robert Peel.
These developments inspired some police agencies to experiment with new ways
of operating. Many agencies began emphasizing the importance of strengthening
relationships with the communities they served. This transformation was further
fueled by several pivotal developments—namely, the advent of community policing,
technology advances such as CompStat (computer or comparative statistics) and
communities’ demand for new standards of professionalism and accountability
from police. These developments demand a new style of police leadership that
promises to extend from the top level of agency management down to line officers
on the street (Meese & Ortmeier, 2004).
However, police officers are notoriously resistant to change. As evidence of this,
consider the massive changes that U.S. society experienced from 1950 through the
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Despite the flood of

women entering the
workforce in the latter
half of the twentieth
century, significant
numbers of women in
policing is still not a
reality.
1970s—including a flood of women into the workplace and an increase in ethnic

diversity in the population. Despite these changes, it still took many years before
significant numbers of women and members of minority groups were allowed or
encouraged to become police officers. In addition, long after corporations had
embraced advances in information technology, police reports in many agencies are
still being written by hand, typed, and kept in paper manila folders in metal file
cabinets.
Leading Change Despite the Challenges A lack of willingness or an inability to

adapt to change can sabotage a transformation effort in any organization, not just
a police agency. Indeed, owing to such resistance, many change initiatives deliver
minimal results or less than the expected benefits to the organization (Hellriegel
et al., 2008; Peak, Gaines, & Glensor, 2010).
How can police leaders wishing to effect organizational change boost their
chances of succeeding? The following guidelines may help:
• Introduce a change initiative slowly and methodically, and make it transparent
to every member of their agency by issuing regular progress reports and
notices of upcoming changes to the entire agency.
• Establish a sense of urgency—a feeling that change must happen for the
agency to survive and thrive. For example, point out that unless the agency
makes a required change, it will lose funding or may be required to implement
a reduction in force (lay off personnel).
• Build a committed coalition of stakeholders including key internal
stakeholders such as supervisors, managers, and union representatives and
key external stakeholders such as business owners, community leaders, and
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residents who embrace the vision of the better future promised by the change.
These stakeholders can help drive change by convincing skeptics of its value
and reassuring resistors that the change will generate important benefits.
• Develop a plan for implementing the change. To illustrate, define when the
new IT system will be installed and how and when people will receive training
on how to use it (Kotter, 1996).
• Continually communicate the change effort’s status to everyone in the agency
(Bryson, 2004; Kotter, 1996).
Learning
An openness and ability to learn is another highly desirable behavior in a police
agency—in part because learning enables people to adapt to change. In the past,
leaders often drove change by having subordinates engage in training. Taking part
in training is no longer sufficient, given the complexity of changes facing police
agencies today. To position agency personnel to adapt to change, leaders must
now create an environment that fosters what is known as organizational learn- Organizational
ing. In such an environment, individuals throughout a police agency—from top learning:
to bottom, and across all functions and units—are constantly strengthening their a social process in
knowledge, skills, and abilities to adapt to change (Greer & Plunkett, 2007; Meese which individuals
& Ortmeier, 2004). interact with one
Organizational learning is a social process in which individuals interact with one another to exchange
another to exchange information that enables them to make well-informed decisions. information that
An organization in which people can learn and adapt as part of standard operating enables them to
procedure is remarkably effective. Individuals excel at absorbing ideas they encoun- make well-informed
ter in one field of endeavor and using those ideas to excel in another field. decisions.
The police can use

community meetings
to learn about citizen
concerns firsthand.
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For instance, town meetings have traditionally been used to enable residents to
express their opinions about such matters as how tax money is to be allotted for town
improvements or whether a traffic light would be beneficial at an intersection where
many car accidents have occurred. However, at some point, an enterprising person
may decide to use this venue to also discover how town or city residents view the qual-
ity of life in their community, as well as the performance of their police department.
Learning Processes In mastering the ability to change, people use several types
of learning processes: adaptive learning, proactive learning, and experimentation.
• Through adaptive learning, people make changes in reaction to alterations in
their environment. To illustrate, if people drive over an unexpected pothole
that jars their vehicles, the next time they drive down that street they will
swerve to avoid the pothole.
• Through proactive learning, they modify their behavior and work processes
more deliberately, by anticipating what might change in their environment
and then deciding how to prepare. An example might be the appointment of a
new police chief. Those who wish to be ready for the new chief might review
information about the other agencies where the chief worked, what changes
were made there, and what changes were promised and not made. Because
learning proactively goes beyond simply reacting to an environmental change
(Robbins & Judge, 2008), it positions people to prepare for the future.
Both adaptive and proactive learning have their place, as there are
situations in which people cannot prepare for a change (such as the September
11, 2001, terrorist attacks) and other situations in which people can prepare
(for example, a job offer that necessitates relocation to another state).
• Through experimentation, people try something new and then use the
information and insights gained from the effort to effect change. For instance,
one police agency conducted an experiment that involved establishing a
Community Volunteer Response Team (CVRT), a police-trained staff of
volunteers who responded to calls from neighborhoods when homicides
occurred. The team’s job was to debrief residents after a homicide, to help
citizens process the event emotionally, and to demonstrate the police’s concern
for the community. But the debriefing process had another important benefit
as well: it generated information that the police, the district attorney’s office,
and homicide investigators could all use in their efforts to solve the crimes.
The experiment with creating a new kind of team thus generated valuable
lessons that enabled the agency to operate more effectively.
Leading for Organizational Learning Organizational learning cannot occur unless

leaders create conditions that foster it (such as systems for generating and exchanging
information) and encourage abilities essential to learning (such as a willingness and
ability to draw lessons from experiences and apply those lessons in new situations).
This long-term process and commitment begins at the top level of the organization
and is directed to subordinate leaders. Thus, a police agency cannot become a learn-
ing organization until it develops leaders at all levels who will drive the effort.
However, most police agencies do not possess managers, supervisors, or line
officers with the leadership talent necessary to spearhead a transition from a
command-and-control culture to one of organizational learning. Therefore, these
ort80008_ch06_134-160.indd 152 10/28/10 3:06 PM

Organizational
learning cannot occur
unless leaders create
conditions that foster
the learning such as
systems for generating
and exchanging
information. Here is a
view of the Real Time
Crime Center at police
headquarters in New
York City.
agencies must groom personnel for this role through an organized leadership pro-
gram (Wuestewald, 2006). The best leadership programs:
• Acknowledge the challenges of transforming an organization’s culture into one
of learning.
• Familiarize aspiring leaders with the change process.
• Explain how continual learning supports an agency’s mission and objectives.
• Provide support for learning in the form of learning teams and executive
coaching (Goleman, Boyatzis, & McKee, 2002).
Still, most police agencies only scratch the surface of organizational learning
by providing in-service training programs that merely refresh topics recruits have
already encountered in school or through other training experiences. To support
organizational learning, leadership programs must go beyond these topics and
cover areas such as organizational change processes and proactive learning, includ-
ing the value of conducting research. These programs also need to teach aspiring
leaders how to make continual learning a core value in their agency; for example,
by rewarding personnel for sharing information, viewing and using mistakes as
opportunities for improvement, and experimenting with promising ideas.
Demonstrating Ethical Leadership

Like adapting to change and learning, demonstrating ethical leadership should (and
has) become a vital behavioral standard in police agencies—in part in response to
the wave of scandals that has marred the reputation of business and government in
recent years. When police administrators and officers behave ethically, they generate
important benefits for their agency. For example, they earn stakeholders’ trust and
ort80008_ch06_134-160.indd 153 10/28/10 3:06 PM

respect. And they help their agency avoid the expenses (such as lawsuits) and criti-
cism that accompany police misconduct.
Ethical leadership is a willingness and an ability to do what “ought” to be done
in any given situation and to encourage, motivate, and influence others to behave
ethically. A leader who is struggling to determine whether a particular behavior is
ethical or unethical can ask three questions:
• Does the behavior in question adhere to laws and government codes?
• Does the behavior adhere to standards of ethical behavior defined by my agency?
• Does the behavior adhere to stated professional standards of what is considered
ethical behavior (Mathis & Jackson, 2005; Ortmeier, 2006; Souryal, 2003)?
If a leader can answer “yes” to all three of these questions, then the behavior in
question is likely ethical.
Of course, it is relatively easy to consult laws, organizational codes of conduct,
and professional standards of ethics to determine which kinds of behaviors are
allowed and which are not. However, these reference sources may not cover situ-
ations where there are many acceptable courses of action but choosing one means
making a trade-off. For example, suppose that Paul, a police supervisor, discovers
that Tonya, one of his best officers, lied about her education credentials. Should he
fire her—and lose the skills and value she brings to the agency? Should he ignore
the lie and keep Tonya on staff—and risk sending a message to other officers that
the agency does not value education credentials as much as it says it does? Paul
ETHICS IN ACTION
How Long before Reporting a Problem?
ewly promoted Sergeant Gina Harris has been assigned to the midnight
N shift. She loves the work. The officers under her command are informal
and experienced, and they appear to accept her without reservation. In
the eight weeks since she assumed her new position, she has encountered
only one real problem: Officer Walter Johnson has appeared at times to be
under the influence of alcohol or drugs. He has called in sick on two occa-
sions and, once, he asked a fellow officer to drive him home after he “fell ill.”
Gina is not eager to make waves, especially since she has no concrete
proof that Walter is abusing alcohol or drugs. Then, one night when Walter
is off duty, the agency receives a call about a hit-and-run accident. Gina
drives to the scene, where she finds an abandoned car that she recognizes
as Walter’s. In the other car involved in the accident, a pregnant woman is
writhing and bleeding in the driver’s seat. She has gone into labor following
the collision. A subsequent investigation reveals that Walter was driving his
car when the collision occurred.
1. At what point should Gina have confronted Walter and then (if neces-
sary) reported his alleged misconduct to a superior officer?
2. What sort of discipline (if any) should she receive for not addressing
Walter’s alleged drinking or drug use sooner?
ort80008_ch06_134-160.indd 154 10/28/10 3:06 PM

could make a reasonable case for either course of action, but each would come with
a price (a true ethical dilemma). To resolve such dilemmas, police personnel cannot
rely solely on documented codes of conduct. They must augment those resources by
learning how to weigh the complex ramifications of each proposed course of action
and make informed judgment calls.
Putting Customers First

Thanks to the concept of the customer-oriented cop (Ortmeier & Meese, 2010),
many police agencies are searching for new ways to engage the public they serve.
Putting customers first by understanding and exceeding their expectations and
requirements has become an important behavioral standard. Police agencies rep-
resent their local and state governments as visible and recognizable providers of
service to customers. But who exactly is the customer, and what does the customer
want? What is customer service? And how can police deepen their understanding
of customers? In the pages that follow, we delve into these questions more deeply.
Who Is the Customer? A “customer” is defined any individual, group, or organization

that receives a product or service and that is directly served by an individual or orga-
nization (Business Dictionary, 2007). Police agencies have several types of customers:
• Citizens: These are individuals (victims, witnesses, violators of public law),
neighborhoods, community groups, and businesses in the jurisdiction a police
agency serves.
• Other public agencies served by the police. For instance, a police agency
provides services to code enforcement officers and emergency medical services
by offering assistance for inspections and helping with the evaluation and
provision of services to hostile patients or victims.
Medical examiners
work with the police,
such as these King
County, Washington,
sheriff’s deputies, at
crime scenes.
ort80008_ch06_134-160.indd 155 10/28/10 3:06 PM

• Internal customers. These are groups or individuals within the police agency
that are served by other groups. To illustrate, a team provides in-service
training to sworn officers, and the medical examiner’s office works closely
with the agency’s crime-investigation unit.
How Do Police Agencies Ser ve Their Customers? Police agencies offer a variety
of services to their customers. Of course, these services comprise the primary activi-
ties police perform, such as patrolling neighborhoods, explaining how residents can
make their homes burglar-resistant, apprehending offenders, and solving crimes.
But an agency’s services also include providing information to customers, such as:
• Crime statistics or motor vehicle-accident reports.
• Written overviews of public safety initiatives launched by the agency.
• Driving directions to individual citizens who request them.
With any of these services, customers generally expect timely, complete, respon-
sive, and empathetic service that is of a higher quality than they may provide for
themselves.
A police organization may also want to offer services that differ from what its
customers are saying they need. For example, the agency may wish to place patrol
cars at strategic locations around schools during the hours that students are arriving
at and departing from school to control potential rowdy behavior and provide for
safe passage.
How Can Police Know Customers’ Changing Needs? Like managers in other
occupations, many police managers have a tendency to focus more on completing
tasks (such as writing reports and responding to calls for service) than on knowing
and meeting customers’ changing needs (Bossidy & Charan, 2002). Like all cus-
tomers, those served by a police agency have constantly evolving needs. To deliver
consistently high-quality service, agency personnel must know how those needs are
shifting. They can do this by gathering information and then using it to modify the
services they provide. For example, an agency may use data to identify seasonal
patterns in convenience store robberies, then design a patrol strategy to ensure that
police are positioned near the most vulnerable stores during times when robberies
are most likely to occur. By knowing how customers’ needs change, police managers
can more effectively allocate their agency’s resources to efforts that will produce the
best possible service for the community.
In monitoring customers’ changing needs, police administrators must determine
not only what each customer wants but also when the service will be provided, why
the particular service is needed, how long it will last, and what other services may be
attached to the request. To illustrate, suppose a town’s citizens ask the police depart-
ment to help discourage high school seniors from drinking and driving on a special
event (e.g., a sports event or a dance) night. To serve this need, the department might
design some public awareness communication campaigns (such as “Don’t drink
and drive!” ads in the local paper). It might also assemble a team of experts and
volunteers to put on a staged “accident” depicting the tragic realities that can come
with drunk driving. Some agencies have even placed a crushed vehicle on the front
lawn of high schools to demonstrate how a car looks after a drunk driver has been
involved in a collision.
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To further determine and fulfill customers’ service needs, police managers can
segment customers into groups based on similar needs, expectations, conduct,
and other variables that affect how a police agency delivers its services and what
kinds of resources will need to be deployed (Wood, 2005). An example of a cus-
tomer segment might be residents who schedule neighborhood gatherings. Police
routinely provide traffic-regulation services such as road-closure assistance and
traffic direction to neighborhood events. But if neighborhood events expand from
simple block parties (requiring limited police resources) to larger events featuring
outside entertainment, the police may have to provide additional services, such
as parking, traffic and crowd control, and security. To anticipate escalations in
these and other needs, police should maintain ongoing contact with neighborhood
customers.
Satisfied customers are crucial to any police agency’s success, if not its very
survival. By working to anticipate and satisfy customers’ needs, “customer-oriented
cops” can help ensure that their agency receives the resources it needs to serve the
communities in its jurisdiction well (Hellriegel et al., 2008). (See Chapter 7 for more
on customer service and satisfaction.)
summary
• Structure: How Are Relationships Configured? A police agency’s structure
is reflected in its vertical relationships (who has authority over whom;
who reports to whom), its horizontal relationships (who collaborates and
communicates with whom), and its community relationships (how agency
personnel work with citizens and community leaders to deliver better
service). An organizational chart depicts an agency’s vertical and horizontal
relationships. The policing strategy that an agency adopts strongly influences
the agency’s structure.
• Culture: What Do Personnel Think, Say, Do, and Believe? A police agency’s
culture is shaped by the thoughts, speech, actions, values, and beliefs held
by everyone who works in the organization. Many police agencies have
a command-and-control culture, characterized by rigid lines of authority
and rules governing communication and officer unity. This culture enables
officers to respond quickly to calls-for-service and to resolve crises. Thus
elements of this culture will always exist in every agency. The command-and-
control culture has been shaped by several factors: law, bureaucracy, safety,
competence, morality, and an emphasis on individual courage.
• Behavioral Standards: What Is Considered Acceptable? Police agencies establish
standards of acceptable behavior and ensure compliance with these standards
through training and written polices and procedures (including codes of
conduct). Failure to meet these standards triggers a disciplinary process. Four
behavioral standards especially important for police personnel are the ability to
adapt to change (whether radical or incremental, or directed or nondirected),
the ability to learn continually (whether through adaptive learning, proactive
learning, or experimentation), the ability to demonstrate ethical leadership, and
the willingness and ability to put customers first (including understanding who
a police agency’s customers are, seeking to improve services delivered to them,
and striving to understand their changing needs).
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key terms
behavioral standard (standard of conduct)
chain of command
directed change
incremental change
nondirected change
organizational culture
organizational learning
organizational structure
radical change
span of control
unity of command
volunteerism
1. What are the three types of relationships that make up a police agency’s structure?
Provide an example of each type of relationship that is different from those provided
in the chapter. Which of these relationship types are depicted on a police agency’s
organizational chart?
2. What are chain of command, unity of command, and span of control? How do they
affect communication and authority relationships in a police agency? What chal-
lenges do they present?
3. Provide an example of how a policing strategy that an agency adopts affects its orga-
nizational structure.
4. What characterizes a command-and-control culture? How did such a culture arise?
What are its advantages and disadvantages? What factors have shaped the command-
and-control culture?
5. What is officer unity? How did it arise, and what challenges does it present?
6. What are leader officers and how do they differ from street officers? Can one be a
leader officer as well as a street officer?
7. Cite examples of common behavioral standards established by police agencies. How
do police organizations ensure compliance with the behavioral standards they have
established?
8. Why is the ability to adapt to change an important behavioral standard for police
personnel? Give an example of radical change, incremental change, directed change,
and nondirected change.
9. What are some practices that can help police leaders successfully drive a change ini-
tiative in their agency?
10. What is organizational learning? How does it benefit a police agency? What are
some processes police personnel can use to foster a culture of continual learning in
their agency?
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11. Why is demonstrating ethical leadership an important behavioral standard for

police personnel? If you were facing a situation where the correct and ethical
course of action was not clear, what steps would you take to determine a course of
action?
12. Why is the ability to put customers first by knowing and exceeding their expectations
and requirements an important behavioral standard for police personnel?
13. Which types of customers does a typical police agency serve? Provide an example of
how to serve each type.
14. What techniques would you use to identify changes in the needs of customers served
by a police agency?
WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

The Value of Volunteering
Before 1999, the Eugene, Oregon, police volunteer program was disjointed
and ineffective. One police manager after another was assigned to head the
program, but the managers already had more than enough work to do and
never made the program a priority. Of the eight volunteers participating in
the program, five were college students and three were retirees. Those citizens
who called to offer their volunteer services were typically transferred from one
person to another, none of whom seemed to know how to handle the calls.
Volunteer activities usually took the form of clerical duties.
In 1999, the city council approved the hiring of a full-time coordinator for
the volunteer program, in an effort to bolster the council’s community policing
efforts. The following year, the Eugene police department launched its new vol-
unteer program. The program focused on developing volunteer opportunities
that would promote the agency’s goals, such as strengthening ties between the
agency and its citizens, as well as attract people of all ages and backgrounds.
Once the department had defined the scope of the program and outlined
an implementation plan, police began disseminating information about the pro-
gram and organized a call for volunteers. The effort paid off: as many as 10 to
20 calls came in each month. The volunteers were required to fill out an applica-
tion as well as go through and interview and a background check. Most of these
first applicants were students, but eventually retirees began applying as well.
One thing that became crystal clear from the beginning was that not all
potential volunteers were interested in clerical duties such as filing, data entry,
or document copying. Retirees in particular expressed the desire to take a
more active role in helping ensure community safety. The police department
responded by establishing the Seniors on Patrol project. Patrol volunteers
(continued)
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participated in a weeklong academy, and today the Seniors on Patrol unit

serves as an auxiliary unit, with their own specially marked police cars.
Members primarily observe and report suspicious activity while providing a
visible police presence in the community.
Over the years, other volunteer opportunities have emerged. These include
Certified Child Passenger Safety Technician, Graffiti Tracking, and various
duties in the Financial Crimes Unit, Forensic Evidence Unit, and Operations
Analysis Unit. The volunteer program is still a strong and viable part of
Eugene’s police agency and its community. It continues to strengthen connec-
tions between agency members and citizens as they work together to make
their city’s streets safer and to deliver important services to the community.
1. In what ways did the Eugene police department’s organizational structure
and behavioral standards hamper the initial efforts to build an effective
volunteer program?
2. What structural changes enabled this police agency to improve the effec-
tiveness of its volunteer program?
3. Imagine that you are tasked with developing a volunteer police program
for a police agency that does not yet have one. Assume that grant money
is available to finance the effort. What organizational structures would
you put in place to ensure the program’s success? What cultural norms
would you emphasize? What behavioral standards would you stipulate as
most crucial for the program’s effectiveness?
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chapter 7 Organizational Performance Assessment and Evaluation 161
7
Police recruit knowledge,
skills, and abilities are
measured against performance
standards.
Organizational Performance
Assessment and Evaluation
learning outcomes

• compare and contrast performance assessment and evaluation.
• describe the benefits of assessment and evaluation for a police agency.
• explain how assessment and evaluation relate to community policing.
• differentiate efficiency and effectiveness as measures of organizational
performance.
• compare and contrast the balanced scorecard and total quality
management (TQM) as performance-management frameworks.
• describe how a police agency can create and use a balanced scorecard.
• describe how a police agency can implement total quality management
(TQM).
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• discuss the costs to a police agency if it provides poor service.

• illustrate how a police agency can use segmentation to improve the quality
of its services.
• analyze the role that accreditation plays in a police agency’s assessment
and evaluation of its performance.
• explain how accreditation benefits a police agency.
• list the steps in the accreditation process.
Introduction
If you are like most people, you regularly assess your performance in many dimen-
sions of your life—work, school, sports, and so forth. For instance, suppose you
train for and run road races. You probably keep track of your pace (minutes per
mile) during every training run to spot patterns, such as whether your pace is
increasing or decreasing overall, whether you run better or worse under certain
weather conditions, and how the terrain affects your performance. Your assess-
ment then leads to an evaluation—a summary of what you have observed and
a statement about the quality of your performance. For instance, your evaluation
might be: “I’m having a lot more trouble with hilly terrain than I thought. It looks
like I need to do more endurance training.” You assess and evaluate your perfor-
mance because you want to identify problems, address them, and improve.
Like individuals, all organizations, including police agencies, can benefit from
regularly assessing and evaluating their performance. These processes enable them
to determine how well they are fulfilling their missions and achieving their goals. For
example, a police agency should periodically take stock of how effectively it is serving
its customers and how efficiently it is allocating key resources such as personnel,
revenue, supplies, and equipment to achieve important objectives. By assessing and
evaluating these and other aspects of its performance, the agency can identify and
address problems—which could range anywhere from inefficient use of resources to
lack of understanding of customers’ needs to errors in core processes such as gath-
ering evidence or interviewing witnesses to a crime. Assessment and evaluation are
thus critical tools for any police agency seeking to continually improve its performance.
In this chapter, we examine key aspects of organizational performance
assessment and evaluation. We begin by looking more closely at why it is impor-
tant to assess and evaluate performance. We then examine two particularly cru-
cial performance measures: efficiency and effectiveness. Next we consider two
performance management frameworks that many organizations use to assess,
evaluate, and improve their performance. We take a closer look at customer ser-
vice, since it constitutes such a prominent theme in any assessment, evaluation,
and improvement effort. Finally, we consider the role of accreditation in police
agencies’ performance-improvement efforts.
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Assessment:
WHY ASSESS AND EVALUATE? the completion of an
appraisal with respect
to an object or an
Assessment and evaluation are powerful tools that can help police agencies con-
activity.
tinually enhance their performance and adapt to the inevitable changes that make
their work more challenging. Yet assessing and evaluating are different in impor- Evaluation:
tant respects. In the following text we examine their differences, discuss how these an examination or
processes support continuous performance improvement, and examine how police deliberation to decide
agencies use these tools. the quality, value,
criticalness, scope,
or necessity of a
Defining Assessment and Evaluation service or activity;
Assessment is the completion of an appraisal with respect to an object (for example, a summary of an
the condition of a police vehicle) or an activity (such as the way a police officer assessment’s findings
conducts a traffic stop of a speeding driver). Through assessment, police agencies and assignment
observe the object or activity in question and offer a value-neutral description of it; of a value to the
for instance, “Two-thirds of the vehicles in our fleet have signs of rust.” performance assessed.
Evaluation is an examination or deliberation to decide the quality, value, criti-
Continuous
calness, scope, or necessity of a service or activity (Ortmeier, 2006). For example,
improvement:
“Our fleet is in poor condition overall, and we need to improve maintenance of our
a process through
vehicles.” An evaluation thus summarizes the assessment’s findings and assigns a
which an organization
value to the performance assessed.
repeatedly assesses
the effectiveness
Supporting Continuous Improvement of the policies
and procedures
To meet and exceed the demands of their internal and external customers, police
it has established
agencies must be committed to continuous improvement—a process through which
for achieving key
objectives.
Police agencies may

share resources during
times of special need,
such as a funeral of a
slain police officer.
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the organization repeatedly assesses the effectiveness of the policies and procedures
it has established for satisfying customers. Because police agencies exist to serve
customers, customer satisfaction ought to be a key agency objective and should be
the driving force behind the agency’s goals and objectives (Toolingu, 2008) as well
as its performance-improvement efforts.
Continuous Continuous evaluation complements continuous improvement by enabling
evaluation: agency leaders to identify gaps between desired and actual performance—with an
the process by which eye toward changing behaviors, policies, or procedures as needed to close those
an organization, gaps. Through continuous evaluation, a police agency, on an ongoing basis (such as
on an ongoing monthly, quarterly, or annually), measures actual outcomes (for instance, percentage
basis, measures reduction in violent crime in the agency’s jurisdiction) against intended outcomes. If
actual performance actual outcomes fall short of intended outcomes (“Violent crime decreased by only
outcomes against 2 percent, and our goal was to decrease it by 5 percent”), agency personnel launch
intended outcomes change initiatives to close the gap.
to identify and
close gaps.
Effecting Needed Change
Continuous improvement through assessment, along with continuous evaluation,
positions a police agency to make the changes needed to improve its performance.
Through assessment and evaluation, managers identify operations that must be
implemented, altered, or discarded to enhance performance.
But agency managers must always keep in mind that improving performance
means delivering better service to customers—the residents, business owners, and
other individuals who rely on the police for service. It does not mean making
changes just to produce outcomes that satisfy internal notions of good perfor-
mance or that alleviate political pressures on the police. For instance, skipping
steps in the crime-investigation process so officers can close crime cases faster may
make an agency’s “numbers” look better and may please a jurisdiction’s political
leaders. But it does not make the community safer if it leads to mistakes such as
those that result in dismissal of criminal cases in court or arresting the wrong
individuals.
When Police and Customer Expectations Conflict

Police agency personnel have a responsibility to identify operations within their
organization that need to be changed. However, the agency’s customers may have
concerns that bear little relation to change initiatives developed by the agency staff.
When this happens, police and customer expectations can come into conflict. For
instance, citizens in a neighborhood served by the agency may believe that good
police work means to prevent the congregation of groups of young people on street
corners. The citizens feel safer under those conditions. The police, however, may
believe that good police work is more accurately defined as responding to service
calls quickly or reducing violent crime in the community. They may see the preven-
tion of gatherings on street corners as a relatively low priority.
While it is true that agency personnel must keep the big picture in mind when
defining goals and providing service, they must also understand that most citizens
have a narrower focus. Any change initiative considered by police must address
both perspectives, not just one or the other. The only way to strike this balance is
to foster open communication between police and members of the community they
serve. A community policing strategy (see Chapter 2) can help.
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Police can gather a

wealth of information
by communicating
with citizens and
business owners.
Assessment, Evaluation, and Community Policing

In agencies that have adopted a community policing strategy, police assess perfor-
mance, identify needed change initiatives, and manage those initiatives using input
not only from managers and line officers but also from customers (e.g., citizens).
ETHICS IN ACTION
To Tell the Truth
ose, a police lieutenant, has been given the task of spearheading the
J accreditation process for the department. Carla, the chief of police,

tells him that accreditation is essential to obtaining additional fund-
ing from the city council for important initiatives. “We need to do every-
thing possible,” Carla says, “to ensure accreditation, even if that means
‘fudging’ a few statistics.”
Jose starts reviewing his agency’s current procedures and policies and
recognizes that the department does not meet all the standards necessary
for accreditation. Additionally, it looks as if the department has not made
any effort toward continuous improvement and is not working toward meet-
ing the required standards of effectiveness that accreditation mandates.
1. Jose decides to approach Carla and express his concerns about what
he is seeing. What issues should he raise in the meeting?
2. As the leader of this effort, and knowing that the agency is not capable
of meeting the accreditation standards, what recommendations can
Jose make to Carla that would help the agency meet the accreditation
standards without “fudging” any statistics?
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Agency personnel demonstrate that they value citizens’ input, and no person’s opin-
ion is discounted, dismissed, or derided.
How do police gather information about citizens’ opinions and suggestions for
change? The process does not necessarily have to be complex or formal. Foot- or
beat-patrol officers can simply converse with business owners and residents during
the course of a shift. Other methods may be more formal, such as surveys as well as
meetings at which citizens and officers discuss the community’s problems and develop
Efficiency: solutions (Haberfeld, 2002; Michelson & Maher, 1993; Ortmeier & Meese, 2010).
a comparison of
what is actually
produced or EFFICIENCY VERSUS EFFECTIVENESS:
performed with
what can be STRIKING A BALANCE
achieved with the
There are many ways to evaluate a police agency’s performance. However, managers
same consumption
must identify desirable outcomes before they can begin. Two outcomes considered
of resources (money,
desirable by many police organizations are efficiency and effectiveness. These are
time, and labor).
very different manifestations of performance, and agency managers must determine
Efficiency is an
whether they want to strive for both, or whether one or the other is more important
important factor in
at a particular time or under certain conditions.
determination of
productivity.
Efficiency
Effectiveness: Efficiency is a comparison of what is actually produced or performed with what
the degree to which can be achieved with the same consumption of resources (such as money, time, and
objectives are labor). It is thus an important factor in determination of productivity. In a police
achieved and the agency, efficiency is often measured in terms of response time, number of callbacks
extent to which (returns by a police officer to a location or incident), number of service minutes
targeted problems allotted per call, and crime statistics. As in many organizations, efficiency in a police
are resolved. agency may also manifest itself as “doing more with less”; for example, speeding
up response time even after
Efficiency is reductions in staff or other
measured against the resources. Efficiency is almost
consumption of labor, always about numbers and
money, and time. easily measurable results, such
as number of citations issued
or number of cases solved.
Effectiveness
Effectiveness is the degree to
which objectives are achieved
and the extent to which tar-
geted problems are resolved.
Because effectiveness is often
subjective, it is more difficult
to measure than efficiency. In
for-profit companies, effective-
ness is often gauged by levels
of customer satisfaction. One
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Police performance
should be measured
by several criteria, not
just the number of
arrests.
can measure customer satisfaction by asking customers how satisfied they are. But
different customers may rate their satisfaction in different ways, using different
criteria. By contrast, the time it takes to respond to a call for service (a measure of
efficiency) can be easily and objectively measured. Unlike efficiency, effectiveness is
determined without reference to costs. Whereas efficiency means “doing the thing
right,” effectiveness means “doing the right thing.”
Another reason that effectiveness in policing is more difficult to assess than effi-
ciency is the existence of conflicting desires among stakeholders. For instance, people
walking on the street may view the police as effective if officers restrain a highly
agitated emotionally disturbed person and take the individual into custody and
transport them to a detention facility to prevent the possibility of violence. But the
family of the mentally ill individual may judge the officers as ineffective because they
believe that the person should have been taken to a mental health facility instead.
Achieving a Balance
Efficiency and effectiveness are important measures of performance for any police
agency. To create a formula for achieving both, police agencies and their custom-
ers must work together to measure agency outcomes according to three criteria:
outstanding performance, unique impact, and persistent durability (Collins, 2005).
Outstanding Performance Outstanding performance means completing assign-

ments in such a way that stakeholders’ needs are met and officers need not make
a return call (Hellriegel et al., 2008). The results are applauded by onlookers and
colleagues alike. Outstanding performance does not necessarily mean heroism, but
it may include acts of bravery. An officer who helps a homeless person find a shelter
and food demonstrates the same kind of outstanding performance as an officer who
performs CPR on a heart-attack victim before emergency medical personnel arrive.
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As a first responder,
a police officer may
perform CPR on a
heart attack victim
before emergency
medical personnel
arrive.
Unique Impact A unique impact (best practice) is evidenced by pride in the agency
on the part of officers and customers, and by the desire in other police organizations
to emulate the agency’s programs or initiatives. Police managers constantly seek the
next innovation in the day-to-day performance of police work. When successful new
programs are highly publicized, decision makers across the nation may recommend
that their own agencies adopt them. A good example is the CompStat program
initiated in New York City in the mid-1990s (Dabney, 2010; Eterno & Silverman,
2010; Silverman, 2001). CompStat was replicated in many jurisdictions.
Persistent Durability With persistent durability, a police agency sustains its effi-
ciency and effectiveness even after its management changes or new developments
and challenges emerge in the communities it serves. Agency administrators foster
persistent durability by creating structures, processes, and systems for transferring
knowledge between seasoned and new personnel. They also put in place a suc-
cession plan to ensure that all sworn officers have the opportunity to rise in the
ranks and assume administrative roles. When such officers are promoted in these
ways, they share their knowledge with lower-level officers—further preserving the
approaches that previously enabled the agency to succeed.
PERFORMANCE-MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORKS
Assessing and evaluating performance with an eye toward improving efficiency and
effectiveness is no small feat. For that reason, frameworks have been developed that
can help a police agency manage these processes. Two of these frameworks are the
balanced scorecard (BSC) and total quality management (TQM).
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With persistent
durability, a police
agency sustains
its efficiency and
effectiveness even after
management changes.
Here a senior officer
discusses a report with
a junior officer in
Dubuque, Iowa.
The Balanced Scorecard

The balanced scorecard is a performance-management framework based on the Balanced scorecard:
assumption that to improve performance, organizations must execute the strategy a performance-
they have defined for generating desired results. BSC encourages organizations to management
translate their strategy into day-to-day operations needed to carry out the strategy, framework based
ensure that all employees understand the strategy and how their own work supports on the assumption
it, make strategy execution a continuous process, and drive strategic change through that to improve
effective leadership (Kaplan & Norton, 2001). The framework also holds that performance,
financial results are only one aspect of an organization’s performance. Additional organizations must
important aspects include the efficiency and effectiveness of the organization’s pro- execute the strategy
cesses, the well-being of its customers, and the growth and learning of its workforce. they have defined
(This attention to a comprehensive range of results, not just financial, explains the for generating
use of the word balanced in the framework’s name.) desired results.
Building a Scorecard Many policing, public safety, and public utility organiza-
tions (along with corporations and educational and health care institutions) have
used the balanced scorecard to improve their performance. To use the scorecard, a
police agency follows this process:
1. Articulate the strategy: For example, an agency might define its strategy
as “Leveraging leading-edge technology to collaborate with partnering
organizations and deliver outstanding service to our community.”
2. Define strategic objectives: Managers work together to define strategic
objectives that must be met in order to carry out the strategy. They define
objectives for all dimensions of performance: financial, customer, processes,
and workforce. For example, objectives for the strategy described in Step 1
might include “Update IT system” (the process dimension of performance),
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“Enhance leadership skills throughout our organization” (the workforce

dimension), “Forge closer partnerships with citizens” (the customer
dimension), and “Increase funding from taxes” (the financial dimension).
3. Select performance measures: For each strategic objective, agency managers
select measures for assessing and evaluating performance on that objective.
For instance, the measure for the objective “Enhance leadership skills
throughout our organization” could be “Percentage of agency personnel who
have completed our leadership training program and earned a passing grade.”
4. Set targets: Managers set targets for each measure. Take the measure
“Percentage of agency personnel who have completed the leadership training
program and earned a passing grade.” The target for this measure could be
something like “80 percent by end of this year.”
5. Define strategic initiatives: Managers identify strategic initiatives needed
to meet the targets they have set for each strategic objective. These
initiatives could be relatively focused change projects as well as large-scale
transformation programs. For instance, to ensure that 80 percent of police
personnel have completed the leadership training program and earned a
passing grade, the agency could launch an initiative that entails revising shift
schedules so officers who have not yet attended the training can do so.
Table 7-1 shows an excerpt from the balanced scorecard created by one police
agency that uses the problem-oriented policing strategy. (See Chapter 2.) The agency
is seeking to improve its ability to reduce homicides and violent attacks in its
community. Sample strategic objectives are depicted for each performance dimension.
table 7-1 Urban Police Department Sample Scorecard

CUSTOMER OBJECTIVES
• Reduce shots-fired calls

• Reduce homicides
• Reduce vacant houses
• Reduce calls for service
FINANCIAL OBJECTIVES
• Secure operational funds

• Secure special overtime funds
• Create special housing capital
INTERNAL PROCESS OBJECTIVES
• Establish partnerships between educational, police, community, and business leaders

• Create an agreement between government and community resources as to strategic objectives
• Align police resources toward objectives
WORKFORCE OBJECTIVES
• Train and improve police officers’ knowledge and skills regarding problem-oriented policing
• Teach the concept of teamwork and how to communicate persuasively with police, government,
business, and community participants
• Establish an environment of enthusiasm
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Using the Scorecard Once a police The agency should

agency has created its balanced score- set a target for
card, it tracks actual performance on performance and
each strategic objective and compares compare it with actual
that to the performance targets it set. performance.
Any gaps between actual and targeted
performance (for example, “Only
60 percent of our personnel have com-
pleted the course and earned a passing
grade, and we targeted 80 percent”)
should trigger a discussion about what
is causing the shortfall and how the gap
can be closed. For instance, perhaps
a particular strategic initiative is not
being managed well, and the agency
assigns a new project leader to guide
the initiative. Or managers launch an
entirely different initiative to ensure
that the performance targets are met
during the next evaluation period.
Total Quality
Management (TQM)
Many police agencies also use the total quality management (TQM) performance- Total quality
management framework to take a disciplined approach to quality control and assur- management
ance. Sometimes used in combination with the balanced scorecard, TQM enables an (TQM):
organization to further assess, evaluate, and improve its performance. a performance-
To understand how the TQM framework operates, we need first to define what management
quality means in the context of policing and then consider several processes (quality framework that can
control and quality assurance) an agency might use to manage its performance. help a police agency
take a disciplined
Defining Quality In the realms of public service and policing, quality means spe- approach to
cific things: quality control and
• Excellent service that satisfies customers assurance.
• Efficient and effective results that support the agency’s mission and that
extract the most value from its available resources
• Outstanding group and individual performance that is applauded by citizens,
makes an obvious impact on neighborhoods, and produces long-term positive
results, not simply news-media headlines (Collins, 2005)
• Performance that is sustained through successive command changes
Using Quality Control Through quality control, police managers verify that an activ- Quality control:
ity is completed correctly (efficiently and effectively) the first time (American Society verifying that an
for Quality, 2008; Wideman, 2001). For example, suppose a police officer responds activity is completed
to a call for service from a citizen who says that someone has broken into her home. correctly (efficiently
The officer resolves the incident by quickly confirming that the home has been bur- and effectively) the
glarized, making sure the burglar is not on the premises, helping the woman secure first time.
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her property so it is no longer vulnerable, and properly documenting (reporting) the

incident. There is no need for a return call to the same incident. This activity was
completed correctly the first time, evidence of a high level of quality control. To exer-
cise quality control related to activities such as responding to calls for service, police
academies and agencies carefully train officers on how to handle such calls.
Quality assurance: Achieving Quality Assurance Quality control helps a police agency achieve quality
ensuring that service assurance—the confidence that service actions comply with agency directives
actions comply with and that they support the agency’s mission (American Society for Quality, 2008).
agency directives Whereas quality control is about taking measurements during delivery of a service,
and that they quality assurance is the outcome gained through “QC.”
support the agency’s In an agency that has achieved quality assurance, initiatives are focused on pro-
mission. viding excellent services that solve customers’ problems and that deliver long-term,
positive impacts. Agency personnel assess not just the quantity of services delivered
but also their quality. Quality assurance indicates that the agency has continuously
improved its performance (Ortmeier & Meese, 2010).
Quality assurance was first used in manufacturing companies to ensure the qual-
ity of products—measured by criteria such as minimum number of product defects.
“QA” was designed to instill confidence in the products consumers purchased.
Through attention to internal processes and operations, coupled with input from cus-
tomers themselves (such as data on defective products), managers tailored their orga-
nization’s operations to provide the best product. But recently, not-for-profit orga-
nizations and service organizations such as police agencies have begun using quality
assurance to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the services they deliver.
Quality assurance
through observation
is used to enhance
efficiency and
effectiveness.
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Implementing TQM To implement TQM, agency managers must:

• Know who the agency’s customers are (internal and external)
• Know what performance outcomes will satisfy each customer group
• Define the mission, goals, and processes for producing those outcomes
• Secure the resources needed to deliver the outcomes
• Establish workforce–management practices to encourage attention to quality,
such as recognition of goals achieved, training, and encouragement
Demonstrating Total Quality Leadership To implement a TQM program in a

police agency (including focusing everyone’s attention on improving service quality),
managers must demonstrate total quality leadership—the commitment and behav- Total quality
ior needed to carry out and ultimately integrate TQM practices throughout their leadership:
agency. Total quality leaders take the following steps: the commitment and
behavior needed
1. Commit to the notion that service quality is a viable and desirable goal.
to carry out and
2. Conduct an internal assessment to determine the agency’s current level of integrate TQM
service quality. practices throughout
3. Actively lead the TQM implementation in the agency; for example, by a police agency.
explaining the importance of improving service quality and helping people
make the changes needed to focus more sharply on quality.
4. Integrate the model of quality throughout the agency by replicating processes
that accomplish goals well (T. E. Baker, 2006; George & Weimerskirch, 1998).
Total quality leaders know that to integrate TQM throughout their agency,
they must convince managers and line officers to reach goals that are community or
neighborhood focused. Such leaders ensure that these goals are clearly stated and
that they express desired outcomes important to customers (not just the agency).
As leaders, agency personnel also establish processes for identifying and collecting
data that agency personnel can analyze to assess progress toward the goals. Analysis
should readily show whether the agency has had a positive, negative, or neutral
impact on the community problems it seeks to address.
For example, suppose an agency has identified an increase in vehicle theft as
a problem. To align managers, supervisors, and officers behind an effort to reduce
vehicle thefts, agency administrators must explain the importance of solving the
problem for the community and identify the customers affected. In addition, they
must describe data the agency is collecting and measurements it is using to assess
progress (such as number of vehicle thefts reported in the coming six months).
Finally, they must define the anticipated results of the quality improvement effort
(for instance, a 10 percent reduction in thefts by the end of the evaluation period).
When an agency has total quality leaders, discussions about agency activities
will no longer center only on questions of efficiency, such as how many weapons
were removed from the street or how many bands of youths were dispersed. Instead,
police managers, front-line officers, and community members will spend more time
talking about how much these efficiency gains have improved the effectiveness of
the agency’s services and the value extracted from the resources used. For example,
they will ask, “Do citizens feel safer now than they did before?” “Are there fewer
injuries and deaths now than before?” and “Are more young people staying in
school longer?”
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A gun buy-back
program can
increase safety in a
neighborhood and
improve its quality
of life.
A CLOSER LOOK AT CUSTOMER SERVICE
The theme of customer service runs through the examination of assessment, evalu-
ation, efficiency versus effectiveness, and performance-management methodologies
we have just completed. For this reason, it is valuable to take a closer look at cus-
tomer service in the context of policing.
As we have seen, in a police agency, serving customers means meeting public
needs. Police agencies provide services for the public benefit while ensuring peace-
ful and safe communities (Jurkanin et al., 2001; Stillman, 2005). Failing to provide
good service can carry a high price.
Understanding the Costs of Providing Poor Service

Customers of any organization who are dissatisfied with the quality of a product or
service may find other sources for that product or service (Hellriegel et al., 2008).
The primary service provided by a police agency is the public safety that citizens
and business owners in the agency’s jurisdiction expect. If any of these customers
consider police services inadequate, they may relocate to actual or perceived safer
neighborhoods or communities, stop reporting crime or suspicious circumstances
to the police, or seek public safety services from other resources, such as vendors
of private security services. Dissatisfied business owners may move their businesses
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Those with financial

resources may
supplement public
police services with
private security.
elsewhere. And people who shop at those companies may start buying from enter-
prises located in areas perceived as safer.
Such migrations out of an unsafe area carry high costs for everyone. For the
jurisdiction, it can mean a shrunken tax base and thus fewer funds allocated to
police. In addition, if people abandon buildings to move to safer places, the aban-
doned structures become eyesores as well as neighborhood hazards when unsuper-
vised children play in them or drug users and dealers congregate in them.
Delivering Service Ethically

For police, delivering high-quality customer service includes paying attention to ethics
while interacting with all customers—whether they are private citizens, business own-
ers or employees, or suspects and arrestees who (not surprisingly) will likely have an
antagonistic relationship with the police. Ethical service delivery means treating all
customers (no matter who they are) with respect, fairness, courtesy, and civility.
It also includes using every means at the police agency’s disposal to provide ser-
vice. For example, after interviewing a robbery victim, a police officer may quickly
enlist agency forensic technicians for evidence collection and seek the cooperation
of the district attorney’s office in prosecuting suspects.
Segmenting Services
Segmenting police services—putting them into groups based on specific criteria—
can help police agencies improve the quality of those services. An agency can group
its services according to the following criteria:
• Customer type served: Customer types include private homeowners, business
owners, citizen volunteers, neighborhood organizations, and schools.
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The police perform

many services
including the storage
of evidence. This
photo depicts an
evidence storage
facility at the Los
Angeles Police
Department.
• Service delivery method: Methods of delivering services include direct

interaction with citizens, preventive patrol, traffic management, follow-up
crime investigation, and specialized operations related to illegal drugs, gangs,
and intelligence gathering.
• Service delivery location: Locations include the agency’s building, specific
offices within the buildings, and places outside the agency’s facility, such as
neighborhood streets, schools, and business offices.
• Service deployment hours: The hours during which a service is deployed
depend on variables such as an agency’s hours of operation, shift schedules,
and customers’ needs.
• Service process type: Within a police agency, there are many different
processes essential for delivery of services, and each may be handled by
a different department (if a large agency). Such processes might range
from developing communications for the news media and the community
the agency serves to safeguarding and storing crime-scene evidence to
performing a background check on citizens applying for handgun permits
(Hodge & Anthony, 1979; Lawrence & Lorsch, 1967; Robbins & Judge,
2008).
Once the agency has segmented its services, managers and officers can analyze
the segments they have defined and determine which changes (if any) in procedures
and policies are needed to enhance customers’ satisfaction while still supporting the
agency’s mission.
For example, managers at one agency discussed with customers the agency’s
current service delivery locations, service deployment hours, and service delivery
methods used. They learned that citizens, volunteers, and business owners
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Unhappy Citizens
Community meetings are not always comfortable for that the citizens want something done now about
police officers to attend, given the unresolved neigh- the thefts.
borhood issues that can stir up unrest among resi-
1. As a leader, how would you decide which officers
dents. Though meetings can be emotionally charged,
are best equipped to accompany the sergeant
they are an important part of policing in today’s
and participate in this community meeting?
world. Suppose that you, a police manager, have
been invited to take part in a neighborhood meeting 2. How would you prepare the officers to attend the
where citizens are complaining about a recent rash meeting?
of vehicle thefts. You cannot make the meeting and 3. What kind of feedback would you expect the
decide to delegate this activity to the evening ser- officers to return from the meeting with?
geant in the precinct. You are advised through neigh- 4. How would you use the information gathered at
borhood gossip that the meeting may be volatile, and the meeting?
wanted visual police presence in neighborhoods during evening hours. This

contrasted sharply with the calls-for-service model the agency had been using,
through which police had been reacting to calls and avoiding interaction with
bystanders.
To provide more of the visible interaction with police that this agency’s cus-
tomers wanted, managers worked with community leaders to establish a small
police–volunteer substation in the neighborhood. The substation became the locus
for police–volunteer interaction, meetings, police report writing and review, and
personal breaks for area officers and volunteers.
THE ROLE OF ACCREDITATION IN

ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION
Accreditation plays an important role in a police agency’s assessment, evaluation,
and performance-improvement efforts. Be it national or state, accreditation ensures
that a police agency meets minimum standards regarding policies, operating proce-
dures, employee knowledge, documentation, and community interaction. Standards
also cover law enforcement responsibilities, relationships with other agencies,
quality of management and administration, agency personnel structure and human
resource processes, traffic operations, prisoner and court activities, communica-
tions, and property and evidence control.
Through accreditation, outside evaluators knowledgeable about police agency
operations and procedures assess an agency’s performance against the standards.
The accreditation process serves as an assurance that the agency being assessed
meets or exceeds accreditation criteria.
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Accreditation can play Accrediting Bodies

an important role
in a police agency’s The concept of police agency
assessment, evaluation, accreditation dates back to the
and performance mid-twentieth century when
improvement efforts. many policing experts and
organizations (along with some
citizens) concluded that setting
minimum standards for police
agency policies, procedures,
activities, and service delivery
could help ensure reliable per-
formance and establish agen-
cies’ credibility in the eyes of
stakeholders. Since then, to
be accredited means that an
agency has received a certification confirming that it adheres to standards that meet
or exceed specified minimum requirements. The Commission on Accreditation for
Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) is an accrediting body that determines those
standards and awards the accreditation to those agencies in compliance. CALEA
includes such distinguished organizations as the International Association of Chiefs
of Police (IACP), the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives
(NOBLE), the National Sheriffs Association (NSA), and the Police Executive Research
Forum (PERF).
Many states have also elected to create their own accreditation programs based
on the expectation that, statewide, a police agency will adhere to or exceed speci-
fied standards. For example, New York State has an accreditation program that was
established in 1989. The program comprises 130 standards and contains four tenets:
• To increase effectiveness and efficiency
• To encourage cooperation among agencies within the community
• To guarantee training standards
• To solicit and retain the confidence of the public
The Benefits of Accreditation

The purpose of accreditation is to create and maintain excellent public safety service
delivery. The advantages of accreditation include recognition of an agency’s profes-
sional excellence by government officials and citizens who gain increased confidence
in the agency. Accreditation is one way to ensure that police agencies across the
country are performing in a consistent and professional manner. Because there are
documented standards, any agency that performs at a higher level than those stan-
dards can rightfully call itself exceptional.
For some agencies, the most important benefit of accreditation is that it
strengthens the agency’s defense against lawsuits and complaints, one of the most
prevalent difficulties faced by police agencies today. Accredited agencies have
proven to be better able to defend themselves against allegations of misconduct as
well as lawsuits. Accreditation thus represents a reduction in agency risk and liabil-
ity exposure. This can help reduce an agency’s liability insurance premiums.
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Disadvantages include the possibility that some officers will view accreditation
as a threat. For example, an agency requires line officers to upgrade their skills
through training so that the agency can meet a minimum standard. Officers must
complete the new training but do not receive additional compensation for their time
or upgraded skills. Another disadvantage is the cost of the accreditation process
which may strain an agency’s budget.
The Accreditation Process

The accreditation process comprises several steps:
1. The agency submits an application for accreditation.
2. It conducts a self-assessment of its performance against the accrediting body’s
standards.
3. Outside evaluators conduct an on-site assessment, by reviewing policies,
procedures, and outcomes.
4. The accrediting organization reviews the application and the findings from all
assessments and decides whether to approve accreditation.
5. If approved, the agency is awarded accredited status (Commission on
Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, 2008; Crowder, 1998).
summary
• Why Assess and Evaluate? Through assessment, police agencies describe in
neutral terms an activity or object important to its performance. Through
evaluation, agencies summarize an assessment’s findings and assign a value to
the performance assessed. Assessment and evaluation help agencies identify
and address problems, and thus continually improve performance by making
needed changes. In agencies using the community policing strategy, customers
provide input into the assessment and evaluation processes.
• Efficiency versus Effectiveness: Striking a Balance. Efficiency is a comparison
of what an activity actually produces or how a person performs with what
can be achieved with the same consumption of resources. Effectiveness is
the degree to which an agency achieves its objectives and resolves targeted
problems. Efficiency and effectiveness are important measures of performance
for a police agency. Police leaders know that their agency has achieved both
when the outcomes generated by the agency meet three criteria: outstanding
performance, unique impact, and persistent durability.
• Performance-Management Frameworks. The balanced scorecard framework is
based on the assumption that to improve performance, a police agency must
execute the strategy it has defined for generating desired results. To build
a balanced scorecard, an agency articulates its strategy, defines objectives
that must be met to execute the strategy, selects performance measures for
each strategic objective, sets targets for each measure, and defines strategic
initiatives needed to reach the targets. The agency reports and tracks actual
performance on each measure against targeted performance, identifies gaps,
and selects actions to close the gaps.
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The total quality management (TQM) framework is sometimes integrated

with the balanced scorecard. TQM uses quality control techniques (verify-
ing that an activity is completed correctly the first time) to achieve quality
assurance (the confidence that service actions comply with agency directors
and support the agency’s mission). To implement TQM, agency managers
must demonstrate specific knowledge and behaviors, including knowing who
the agency’s customers are and securing the resources needed to deliver desired
outcomes. Anyone leading a TQM effort must also possess certain traits
and exhibit specific actions, including explaining the importance of improv-
ing service quality and helping people make the changes needed to focus on
quality.
• A Closer Look at Customer Service. Police agencies are service providers.
Thus, their assessment and evaluation efforts, as well as their use of
performance-management frameworks, typically have customer service
improvement as their central goal. By understanding the costs of providing
poor service, agency personnel can become more motivated to improve
service. The criteria for high-quality service include ethical delivery of
service—treating all customers with respect, fairness, courtesy, and civility.
Agencies can generate ideas for improving customer service by segmenting
their services by various criteria, such as customer type, delivery method,
delivery location, deployment hours, and service process type.
• The Role of Accreditation in Assessment and Evaluation. Accreditation
ensures that a police agency meets minimum standards regarding policies,
operating procedures, employee knowledge, documentation, and community
interaction. Standards are determined by organizations such as the
Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA).
Agencies that receive accreditation gain recognition from stakeholders,
demonstrate that they are performing with excellence, and can better
defend themselves against allegations of misconduct and lawsuits, thus
reducing their risk and liability exposure. The accreditation process starts
with an agency submitting an application for accreditation and includes
internal reviews of its performance as well as reviews conducted by outside
evaluators.
key terms
assessment
balanced scorecard
continuous evaluation
continuous improvement
effectiveness
efficiency
evaluation
quality assurance
quality control
total quality leadership
total quality management (TQM)
ort80008_ch07_161-182.indd 180 10/27/10 2:56 PM

1. What is the difference between organizational performance assessment and evalua-
tion? What benefits does a police agency gain by assessing and evaluating its perfor-
mance continually?
2. How do assessment and evaluation differ in a police agency that uses the community
policing strategy, as compared with agencies that use the traditional policing strategy?
3. What is the difference between efficiency and effectiveness? Give an example of each.
4. Why is it important that a police agency demonstrate both efficiency and effective-
ness in its performance? What three criteria are essential for balancing efficiency with
effectiveness?
5. What is the balanced scorecard? How does it help a police agency improve perfor-
mance? If you wished to introduce the balanced scorecard in a police agency, what
steps would you advise agency personnel to follow?
6. What is total quality management (TQM)? How does it relate to quality control and
quality assurance? If you were tasked with implementing TQM in a police agency,
what knowledge would you need to possess, and what behaviors would you have to
demonstrate? If you were tasked with leading a TQM effort in an agency, what per-
sonal qualities would you need to exhibit, and what actions would you need to take?
7. What are some costs of providing poor service to a police agency’s customers?
8. What does “delivering service ethically” mean? Cite an example not provided in this
chapter.
9. What are some criteria by which a police agency can segment its services? Propose an
example (not the one provided in this chapter) of how segmentation of services can
help a police agency improve the quality of its services.
10. What is accreditation? How can it benefit a police agency? If you wished to initiate
the accreditation process in a police agency, what is the first step you would take?
WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

Determining Service Quality
Ben, a small-town police agency’s newly appointed police chief, wants to
assess and improve the agency’s response to citizen complaints. Because of
limited resources, major crime (such as murder and robbery) in the area is
managed by the county sheriff or the state police. Ben’s agency addresses
lower-level crime (including vandalism and vehicle theft) and quality-of-life
complaints from citizens.
The agency concerns itself with three types of customer service issues:
(1) quality-of-life concerns such as street-drug sales, trash, noise, parking, and
loitering; (2) school-related issues such as crimes committed by or against stu-
dents, safe passages of students to and from school, and general maintenance
ort80008_ch07_161-182.indd 181 10/27/10 2:56 PM

of order; and (3) business or commercial concerns, such as customers who

have parking complaints and companies needing nightly building checks.
Ben believes that analysis of crime rates, complaints regarding police
performance, and the number of calls-for-service do not offer a complete
picture of the quality of service his agency provides. Through informal com-
munication with private citizens, community groups, and business owners,
he has learned that the community does not report complaints of problems
and that police officers do not have high visibility in the community. Further
review revealed that citizens do not call the police because they do not want to
bother or annoy the emergency communication dispatcher (9-1-1) with petty
concerns. This lack of willingness to call in public safety concerns stems in
part from poor police response in the past.
Ben decides to establish a plan for developing a more accurate assessment
of his agency’s customer service. After thoroughly discussing the issue with the
agency’s officers, they decide that Ben and the officers will periodically meet
with citizens by attending meetings with senior citizen groups, the Veterans
of Foreign Wars (VFW), the Lions Club, and other community groups. Ben
institutes a monthly, well-advertised, Speak to the Chief Night featuring topics
such as the role of the police in the community, approachability of police offi-
cers, and the importance of calling 9-1-1.
Ben’s agency also sets up a 24-hour citizen-service phone line. When citi-
zens use the line to express complaints about police service, the complaints
will be addressed by the chief himself within 24 hours. In addition, the agency
develops a Neighborhood Watch crime-prevention program and monthly
business-leader meetings. Finally, Ben institutes a crime follow-up procedure
whereby all crime incidents and reports are reviewed and evaluated by an
objective senior officer.
1. In distinguishing service quality, Ben employed informal methods of
assessment. What methods did he use? Do you think these methods will
produce a more accurate assessment of the agency’s service? If so, why
might these methods be particularly effective in a smaller agency?
2. Ben’s agency, like others, has formal records of service. What are the
agency’s current formal processes? Do you consider them adequate for
service-quality assessment? Why or why not?
3. What additional techniques would you advise Ben to use to accurately
assess and evaluate the quality of police service to the community, and to
improve performance where needed?
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III
Human Resource
Management
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184 part III Human Resource Management
8
Police agencies should strive
to hire individuals who are
attracted to policing because
it gives them an opportunity
to support and serve
communities.
Hiring in the Spirit

of Service
learning outcomes

• describe the hiring challenges facing police agencies.
• explain how police agencies can lay the groundwork for effective
recruiting.
• distinguish effective recruitment strategies.
• explain how police agencies conduct pre-employment screening.
• identify a variety of compensation and benefits programs used to attract
desirable candidates.
• define civil work environment and articulate why it is important to the
hiring process.
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chapter 8 Hiring in the Spirit of Service 185
Introduction
If you are considering a career in policing, what has drawn you to this line of work?
A study released by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2008 suggests that your
goals in building such a career may affect your effectiveness on the job—and your
satisfaction with the work. The study revealed that individuals who are attracted
to a police career because it gives them the opportunity to support and serve
communities are better suited for police work than people who are drawn to the
profession in pursuit of adventurous activities often associated with criminal law
enforcement.
These findings support the contention that people with a predisposition
toward service to the community are better prepared to face the challenges
and meet the demands placed on today’s police officers. Further, the quality of
police services correlates directly with the behavior of individual officers (U.S.
Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, 2008).
The study lends credibility to the notion that police officers should possess and
demonstrate strong ethical leadership and interpersonal skills—which are essen-
tial for community service.
Staffing an agency with such officers begins with recruiting and selecting the
right people to wear a badge—people who demonstrate the skills and attitudes
required to fulfill policing’s increasingly complex mandate. Like any organization
that provides services, a police agency is only as good as its people. A well-
trained, respectful police officer is a credit to the community served, while an
officer with poor training and a cynical attitude can inflict enormous damage on
the community, the reputation of the agency, and the officer.
In this chapter, we focus on how police agencies can hire in the spirit of ser-
vice. We begin by examining the challenges characterizing hiring today and then
consider how police agencies can set the stage for smart recruiting, formulate
effective recruiting strategies, and select the best new hires from candidate pools.
We close the chapter by taking a close look at two additional keys to hiring for
service: designing the right compensation and benefits packages, and fostering a
culture of civility.
UNDERSTANDING TODAY’S HIRING CHALLENGES
Effective agencies develop hiring strategies with an eye toward ensuring that the
organization has the right people doing the right things at the right time to achieve
stated goals and objectives. To make sure all this happens, an agency’s human
resource function must manage several vital activities: recruiting and selecting
people with the best capabilities; training; assessing recruits’ learning and skill
ort80008_ch08_183-208.indd 185 10/27/10 2:56 PM

development; offering ongoing recognition, reward, and retention programs; estab-

lishing a process to develop employees’ cognitive, affective (ethical leadership), and
technical abilities; and helping new employees identify a career pathway (Kearns,
2005). None of this is easy, given the challenges facing agencies seeking to hire
today. These challenges include an increasingly complex mandate for police service,
and the need to build a diverse workforce in police agencies to reflect the composi-
tion of the communities served.
Fulfilling a Complex Mandate

Policing has always been far more than just law enforcement. It encompasses
peacekeeping, order maintenance, traffic management, education of the public,
homeland security, and public safety. Most of all, policing is about serving people
in the community—residents, business owners, schoolchildren, and others. To ful-
fill all these demands, police officers must do more than just enforce the law. They
must also keep order in a society that is increasingly diverse. Policing thus demands
exceptional mental and emotional skills as well as excellent competencies in human
relations, communication, and ethical leadership. Simply put, today’s police officers
must possess people skills.
Yet too many police agencies seek merely to fill the basic (preservice) academy
with bodies. As long as minimum entrance requirements are satisfied (for example,
passing a test; meeting minimal educational, physical, and psychological standards;
and having a satisfactory background check), a person is accepted into the academy.
Once there, many students experience little difficulty completing a probationary
Police officers must

be and remain
physically fit.
ort80008_ch08_183-208.indd 186 10/27/10 2:56 PM

period. Recruits are evaluated at the end of the probationary period to determine
whether they meet the minimum performance standards. They are seldom evalu-
ated on their commitment to helping and serving others in their capacity as police
officers. Lacking these and other people skills, they may ultimately deliver mediocre
performance and find little satisfaction in police work.
Building a Diverse Workforce

The complex mandate police agencies must fulfill includes the need to recruit and
retain a diverse workforce that reflects the community served. Achieving this diver-
sity is difficult for several reasons. To illustrate, what motivates an individual to
enter public service as a police officer varies greatly across cultures. If an agency
cannot tap into the particular motives influencing some individuals’ career choices,
it will be unable to attract those individuals to police work. In addition, men and
women alike increasingly want to have satisfying family and personal lives in addi-
tion to a career. Agencies may experience difficulty recruiting people who view
police work as not conducive to a balanced lifestyle. Finally, the number of qualified
entry-level candidates can fluctuate dramatically, depending on economic conditions
and the attractiveness of other occupations to candidates. For example, if many
Asians or Latinos in a particular community are entering careers other than police
work, an agency may find it impossible to hire members of these groups.
Demographic changes have added to the challenge of building a diverse work-
force. For example, many new police officers are members of Generation Y (those
born after 1980). Their expectations, motivations, values, and priorities differ
from those of the baby boomer generation. “Gen Y” recruits want a package that
includes a decent salary, benefits (medical coverage, retirement, and paid time off),
the opportunity for specialization and promotion, job security and fulfillment, and
pride and excitement in what they do. Police agencies that do not offer this package
will have difficulty recruiting members of this generation.
SETTING THE STAGE FOR SMART RECRUITING
Despite the challenges, an agency can still hire a diverse workforce if qualified men
and women—from a variety of backgrounds, cultures, and life experiences—view
employment with the agency as a worthwhile and rewarding endeavor. To foster
that view and attract qualified candidates, an agency can take steps that set the stage
for smart recruiting. These include conducting a human resource needs assessment
and looking beyond minimum hiring standards.
Conducting a Human Resource Needs Assessment

In addition to considering potential recruits’ needs while developing recruitment
strategies, an agency must also assess its own needs. For instance, managers must
know how many officers are necessary to deliver the services a community requires
and supports, as well as what type of officers are needed and which specific duties
they will be expected to perform (T. E. Baker, 2006; Ortmeier, 1999). Toward this
end, they must conduct a job task analysis to identify actual police tasks the agency
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Drug Use as a Disqualifier
A police agency in a major city experienced difficulty they added, should be evaluated according to the
locating qualified candidates to fill new recruit classes. circumstances and frequency of the drug use.
The mandate from city officials was to hire as many Dissenters maintained that the agency was low-
officers as possible in an effort to increase police ering its hiring standards to an unacceptable level.
presence on the streets. Police managers decided to Some of them argued that many excellent candidates
relax hiring standards and to consider applicants who who had never used drugs were available—why not
had used marijuana, cocaine, heroin, or other illegal select them? Others argued that drug use indicated
substances in the past. Thus, previous drug use no a lack of character and that officers with a record
longer automatically disqualified candidates. of drug use would be more likely to ignore the same
Agency administrators justified this decision behavior in others.
by citing the fact that the FBI, which many people
1. Under what conditions, if any, may a history of
consider one of the most professional law enforce-
drug use be waived by an employing agency?
ment agencies in the country, had begun considering
If you are not sure, where might you find this
applicants with drug use histories. The administrators
information?
also claimed that societal standards had changed
and that a history of drug use is no longer viewed in 2. In your view, does drug use diminish a person’s
the same manner as it was years ago. Each candidate, character? Why or why not?
must carry out. A well-prepared job task analysis also defines the physical, emo-
tional, and character elements of the job: the “who, what, why, where, when, and
how” associated with a task to be successfully accomplished. (See the “Deployment:
Putting Human Resources to the Best Use” section in Chapter 10 for additional
information on conducting a human resource needs assessment.)
Looking beyond Minimum Hiring Standards

Few businesses in the private sector tolerate minimal hiring standards. Managers
know that it is unrealistic and impractical to advertise for workers who meet mini-
mum standards, take time to train the new hires, and then expect them to deliver
top-notch performance. For police officers—who operate in environments requir-
ing the highest ethical standard, effective judgment, and emotional stability in life
or death situations—anything less than outstanding performance is unacceptable.
To employ people who can deliver this level of performance, the agency must look
beyond minimal hiring standards—with an eye toward attracting the best people to
the job in the first place (Jurkanin et al., 2001).
Yet as we have seen, many police agencies recruit merely by identifying how
many people are needed to fill the next academy class. To fill the class, an agency
makes the community aware of its intentions and, if applicants meet the minimum
standards and are available within the acceptable pool of candidates, they are
selected for the academy. Agency managers assume that the majority of the recruits
will graduate from the academy and obtain a permanent job at the organization.
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A police officer
candidate engaged in
an interview in Santa
Ana, California.
Many managers make little effort to determine whether the recruits have a philoso-
phy and passion for service to people. They also neglect to assess whether candi-
dates have an inclination toward policing as a profession and the ethical values that
law enforcement professionals must demonstrate.
Agencies must look beyond minimum hiring standards and seek candidates who
not only meet those standards but also demonstrate the personal qualities (such as
integrity, collegiality, and a desire to learn and to serve) and the skills (including
communication, leadership, strategic thinking, and self-control) that lie at the core
of an excellent (not merely good) police officer. Agencies must measure every can-
didate against these qualities (T. E. Baker, 2006). Those that do so will stand a far
better chance of hiring individuals interested in community service than agencies
that use only minimal hiring standards as criteria for evaluating candidates.
FORMULATING RECRUITMENT STRATEGIES
Recruitment for a police agency is no different than recruiting for any position
of authority in an organization. The agency defines desired qualities and skills in
candidates and uses these as benchmarks of applicants’ suitability. A candidate who
embodies and rates high in the majority of the desired attributes, qualities, and skills
should have a reasonable expectation of being hired. However, developing effec-
tive recruitment strategies is more complex than it might appear on the surface. To
craft strategies that bring in the new hires an agency needs, managers must use the
right channels to reach candidates, develop a positive brand image that will attract
qualified candidates, recruit for diversity, and consider the education levels the ideal
candidate will bring to the table.
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Using the Right Channels

To attract the best people, a police agency should use the right channels to explicitly
seek passionate, enthusiastic, and service-oriented people who are committed to
making a positive difference in others’ lives. An agency can use a number of differ-
ent channels to recruit candidates to fill vacancies. It can recruit internally through
promotion, transfer, or an upgrade in the vacant position. And it can do so exter-
nally, by advertising vacancies and inviting applications through these channels:
• The news media
• Professional journals
• The Internet (for example, job websites)
• Labor organizations
• Employment agencies
• Job (career) fairs (Ortmeier, 1999)
Figure 8-1 illustrates a job posting similar to one that was published in a mid-
western newspaper. This advertisement is particularly effective because it provides
comprehensive information—including an overview of the department that is
recruiting, salary and benefits, basic requirements, the department’s hiring process,
and contact information. Additional points reveal the department’s interest in hiring
women and minorities, and in supporting officers’ acquisition of higher education.
figure 8-1 A Sample Job Posting
Police Officer
Anytown, USA
Anytown Police Department

Personnel/Recruiting Section
10 Police Avenue
Anytown, State, 12345-0000
Phone: 000-000-0000
Website: www.city.state,us/police
Application Deadline: Open until filled
The City of Anytown is seeking men and women from all backgrounds and cultures to join
the Anytown Police Department and help maintain a police department that is responsive
to the needs of the community.
Overview of the Anytown Police Department

The Anytown Police Department operates with the goal of providing the highest level of professional
public service to the residents of Anytown, the largest city in the state of Mind. The city of Anytown is
unique in that it is home to a wide range of ethnic and diverse groups. The police department actively
pursues interaction and involvement with the community to provide better services to the community
and to enhance the working environment of members of the department.
Anytown covers 139 square miles and is divided into 12 police districts. These areas are patrolled by
both uniformed and plainclothes officers.
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Besides patrol duty, the police department has numerous specialized units that offer the career-minded
professional unparalleled opportunities to grow with one of the most progressive police departments in
the country. A few of the specialized units available are the Mounted Equestrian Section, Bomb Squad,
Aviation Section, Harbormaster Section, and Canine (K-9).
Officers with specialized skills are encouraged by the department to use and develop their abilities by
instituting new programs and units within the department.
The Anytown Police Department is one of the best trained and most progressive departments in the
country. You are invited to join this outstanding department and begin your career in law enforcement.
Salary and Benefits
Competitive medical, dental, and optical plans
College tuition reimbursement
Twenty vacation days per year
Eight paid holidays per year
Twelve sick days per year
Pension plan/deferred compensation plan
Department-issued uniforms and equipment
Longevity pay/off-duty court appearances
Shift differential pay (afternoon/midnight shifts)
Uniform cleaning allowance
Required Qualifications (Basic Requirements)
1. Applicant must be at least 18 years old and a U.S. citizen.
2. Applicant’s vision must be 20/20, or corrected to 20/20, in each eye. Depth and color perception
must be normal.
3. Applicant must be a high school graduate or have earned a GED.
4. Applicant must possess a valid driver’s license (at time of application).
5. Applicant must not have been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor involving domestic violence.
Other misdemeanor arrests or convictions are subject to review on an individual basis.
6. Applicant must be capable of performing the essential functions of a police officer with or without
accommodation as determined by the hiring criteria.
Women and minorities are encouraged to apply!
Hiring Process
Applicants must successfully complete the Anytown Police Department’s selection process, as outlined
below. No applicants are guaranteed processing at any stage.
1. Complete an application and meet the basic requirements, including a check of the applicant’s
driving record and a criminal history check.
2. Pass a written examination.
3. Pass a physical agility examination.
4. Pass an initial preinvestigation interview.
5. Complete a background investigation.
6. Pass a final oral interview.
7. Pass a psychological examination and psychological interview.
8. Pass a medical examination.
Contact Information
See the top of this posting.
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Among other
mechanisms, the police
use job fairs to recruit
new officers.
Police organizations considering using an employment agency to locate can-

didates should take steps to ensure that they select the right agency. For example,
managers should:
• Find out how the agency’s costs work. For example, are “finder’s fees” based
on a percentage of the compensation paid to new hires delivered by the agency?
• Provide as much specific and precise information as possible about what
qualities and skills the police organization is looking for in candidates
presented by the employment agency.
• Ask to interview other police organizations’ personnel that have used the
employment agency, to learn their impressions of the agency’s effectiveness.
In addition, agency managers can review applications already on file. Perhaps a
qualified applicant who could not be hired earlier because of budget cuts or some other
constraint could now be offered a position. Word of mouth is another effective recruit-
ing tactic; indeed, 95 percent of police agencies use it. To activate word of mouth, man-
agers can ask current and former employees and agency retirees, as well as employees’
friends and relatives, to suggest candidates. Other useful recruitment methods include
targeting military veterans and graduates of college criminal justice programs. These can
be rich sources of candidates, especially if the agency can offer internships that enable
graduates to explore a career in the profession before making a long-term commitment.
Developing a Positive Brand Image

Candidates should not enter the policing profession with unrealistic expectations of
what the work will be like. Literature can help provide a comprehensive picture, but
nothing is more effective than a sworn officer who speaks with potential candidates
about the positive and negative realities of policing.
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Managers should also stress A poster, sign, or

the positive aspects of policing—by badge can illustrate a
developing a positive brand image. police agency’s brand.
Brand image is an instinctive response The Tulsa Police
from individuals toward an agency or Department’s brand
a service (Neumeier, 2006). Although image is “Justice
the concept is normally applied to for All.”
for-profit businesses, it is also appro-
priate for public organizations, espe-
cially police agencies. Because police
officers interact with the public on a
daily basis, brand image is extremely
important. When citizens of the juris-
diction have a positive brand image
of the local police, they are much
more likely to trust and engage with
officers on levels deeper than just
calls-for-service.
A police agency’s brand must express, through every means possible, how the Brand image:
agency differs from other departments (Neumeier, 2006). For example, the brand an instinctive
could be depicted through posters showing a police officer helping a child, with an response from
accompanying motto declaring an emotional connection to citizens. Brands can also individuals toward
be expressed through taglines such as “To protect and serve” (the Toronto Police an agency or a
Service) and “Serving with pride” (the Rochester, New York, Police Department). service.
Whatever the brand, the agency’s hiring practices should all reinforce the brand
rather than conflict with or contradict it. For example, if an agency identifies its
brand as superior customer service, hiring managers should emphasize such service
in the language used in job postings. They would also look for candidates who dem-
onstrate excellent interpersonal communication skills and other talents essential for
delivering exceptional service to the community.
Recruiting for Diversity

Societies throughout the world are becoming more diverse. The word diversity Diversity:
refers to differences among people with respect to wealth, age, gender, culture, differences among
lifestyle, race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation. Diversity creates pluralistic com- people with respect
munities the police must serve without bias or prejudice. In some jurisdictions, the to wealth, age,
police workforce itself is becoming more diverse. Yet women, minorities, and other gender, culture,
groups are still underrepresented in many police and other public safety agencies. lifestyle, race,
A police force is an integral part of the community it serves; thus, police per- ethnicity, and sexual
sonnel should reflect the composition of that community. An agency should make orientation.
every effort to recruit (as well as promote and retain) qualified members of diverse
groups. Yet latent, and sometimes overt, discrimination against women and minori-
ties still occurs in some jurisdictions. Although career opportunities have improved
for underrepresented groups, agencies should still pursue legitimate and innovative
recruitment (and retention) programs to build the most diverse workforce possible.
For example, if an agency has been having difficulty recruiting Latinos, it can place
job ads in newspapers and on TV and radio stations that are most popular among
Latinos in the community. Or it can sponsor cultural activities, such as games or
musical events, attended primarily by Latinos.
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The diversity of a
police department
should reflect the
diversity of the
community it serves.
But managers must also take care to avoid common missteps in recruiting for
diversity: Recruiting minorities solely in an effort to ameliorate special interests
in the jurisdiction may lead to another kind of discrimination. For instance, con-
sider an agency that hires African American officers specifically to assign them to
prominently black neighborhoods. This can result in these officers’ being denied
regular promotions or reassignments. Why? They are so effective at dealing with
their own ethnic group that the agency wants to keep them in that role. Instead
of pigeonholing officers in this way, police managers must strive to make every
officer—regardless of race, gender, or ethnic origin—capable of dealing with every
person living in the communities the agency serves. Only then can an agency build
a truly diverse workforce (Cordner & Scarborough, 2007; Lord & Peak, 2005).
Recruiting for Educational Level

A great debate surrounds the idea of whether police agencies should strive to hire
people with a college education or maintain the more traditional standard of hiring
those who possess a high school diploma or its equivalent. Over the years, much
has happened on this front. In 1929, the University of Southern California became
one of the first postsecondary institutions to offer a degree in public administration
with a specialization in law enforcement. The need of a four-year college degree as
an entrance requirement for police was reinforced by the Wickersham Commission
in 1931. In the 1960s, the International Association of Police Professors and the
International Association of Chiefs of Police issued proclamations stating that police
personnel should pursue higher education.
Recruiting candidates who have a college degree offers numerous advantages. A
college education based in the liberal arts can help students develop problem-solving
skills and expose them to ideas and concepts that make it easier to accept and work
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within a diverse population. Those with higher education generally possess the abil-
ity to apply their knowledge in a multitude of situations with a minimum of conflict.
In addition, studies indicate that officers with a college education are more adept at
dealing with people and are less likely to use excessive force. They demonstrate a
greater appreciation for diversity, and are better communicators. They also experi-
ence a much lower risk of disciplinary action than their high-school-educated coun-
terparts (Bohm & Haley, 2005; Vodicka, 1994).
However, at a time when our society has more college graduates than ever
before in our history, the police profession still lags behind in employing people
with higher education degrees. One reason may be that requiring a two- or four-
year degree can limit the pool of available candidates. When some police agencies
encounter difficulty recruiting enough college-educated people to fill vacant posi-
tions, they drop the educational requirements so they can attract a full complement
of officers. Another reason may be that many college-educated individuals believe
that they will earn more compensation in fields of endeavor other than police work.
Thus they gravitate toward those other career paths.
The debate continues, with each police agency making its own decision about
recruits’ education requirements. However, as officers without higher education
retire and are replaced by college-educated officers, the value of higher educa-
tion may become more evident (Meese & Kurz, 1993; Ortmeier & Meese, 2010;
“Pressed for Applicants,” 2000). When agencies begin to see that value, they may
step up efforts to seek recruits with college degrees.
SELECTING NEW HIRES
Once a police agency has executed its recruitment strategies and attracted appli-
cants, it must determine which candidates to select for hiring. Like recruitment,
selection is challenging, and the stakes are high. Selecting the wrong people can
result in mistreatment of citizens and do long-term damage to the community and
the agency. Ultimately, all police actions are visible to the public. And in a high-tech
age, inappropriate police actions can be captured on video and broadcast around
the world within seconds. Once published, these images cannot be suppressed,
no matter how talented the police agency’s public relations people might be. The
videotaped image of the 1991 Rodney King incident in California illustrates how
police officers’ actions can attract international attention and accusations of police
violations of the public trust.
Other more recent cases provide additional evidence that a police agency must
be ever vigilant in protecting the public’s perception of the agency’s ethical stan-
dards and worthiness of public confidence. Selecting the wrong hires can lead to
disaster. For example, a medium-size agency in the northeastern part of the United
States has suffered significant damage to its image by the arrest and conviction
of two police sergeants in unrelated incidents. Both officers were hired as lateral
transfer officers from other police agencies and were subsequently promoted to
police sergeant. One sergeant was convicted of leaving the scene of an injury-
causing motor-vehicle collision. The other sergeant was convicted of coercing two
women to have sex with him. Both men are currently imprisoned for their actions.
The chief of police, the deputy chief of police, and other command personnel have
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been suspended from their official duties because of these criminal cases. The
department is under investigation locally by the district attorney (prosecutor).
And public confidence in the agency is at stake even though the town where the
crimes occurred is rated as one of the safest places to live in the United States
(McDermott, 2009).
To improve the odds of selecting the right people, an agency can take the
Pre-employment
following steps: conduct a pre-employment screening, use the assessment center
screening process:
process, and swiftly correct any selection mistakes.
a sequence of steps
designed to help
a police agency Conducting a Pre-Employment Screening
compare job
applicants and select Most police officer candidates undergo a pre-employment screening process to
the most promising determine whether they possess the requisite physical, intellectual, and emo-
candidates. Elements tional abilities to become an officer. Minimum qualification for employment as
of the process include a police officer within the United States generally requires applicants to be an
an employment 18- to 21-year-old U.S. citizen who possesses a valid driver’s license and who has
application/ achieved a specific level of formal education. In addition, the applicant must be
questionnaire, free of any felony convictions or any misdemeanor convictions involving domestic
aptitude test, physical violence.
abilities test, and However, as we discussed previously, it is important for a police agency to
other assessments. look beyond these minimum qualifications in recruiting and selecting officers. A
pre-employment screening pro-
The pre-employment cess can help generate the addi-
screening process tional information needed to
typically begins compare candidates’ potential
with the completion and determine which individu-
of an employment als have the traits and skills
application/ required for community service.
questionnaire. The pre-employment screening
process typically includes many
or all of the following elements:
• Employment application/
questionnaire
• Aptitude test
• Physical abilities test
• Interview
• Background investigation
• Integrity testing
• Psychological evaluation
• Medical evaluation
Taken together, these ele-
ments generate a wide range
of information and data that
an agency can use to evalu-
ate a candidate’s potential and
determine whether to offer the
individual a position.
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Employment Application/Questionnaire Interested individuals complete an

application and a questionnaire that ask them to provide personal information and
write responses to questions about their personal history. The process sheds light on
candidates’ basic skills (such as writing ability and reading comprehension). If both
documents are required, pre-employment screeners can search for inconsistencies in
the applicants’ statements. Candidates can complete these documents at home and
mail them to the agency, or email them if the documents are provided electronically
(online).
The Abington Township Police Department of Abington, Pennsylvania, has an
innovative application process resembling a civil service process for the Montgomery
County Consortium of Communities. Fifteen police agencies use this examination
process (Examination Announcement, 2009).
The online application denotes which police agency an applicant is apply-
ing to, the cost to apply for the examination, and specific questions an applicant
must answer to complete the application. The application consists of 13 questions,
including “Are you a U.S. citizen?” and “Do you hold 60 college credits or have two
years’ police experience?”
Aptitude Test An aptitude test, which usually consists of multiple-choice and

essay questions, further assesses candidates’ basic skills, including reading compre-
hension, vocabulary, writing acumen, and math abilities. Typically this is a general-
knowledge test designed to measure a candidate’s ability to succeed in the basic
academy. It is administered to a group of applicants by agency or other government
employees at a predetermined location (such as the agency, a local college or school,
or a civic center). The test may include a situational judgment component used to
determine the applicant’s ability to analyze and respond to events or circumstances.
Physical Abilities Test The physical abilities test measures a candidate’s endurance,
physical agility, and strength for tasks that are associated with the job. The test consists
of specific job-related physical routines: for instance, running, climbing, and the ability
to move an object with the weight and mass equivalent to an adult person.
The physical abilities test has generated some debate. For example, because of
strength differences, particularly in the upper body, between men and women, some
agencies modify the test to reflect these differences. Modification enables them to admit
more females to the academy and thus increase the diversity of their workforce. At
times, observers have decried this practice as providing special treatment to female can-
didates. Agencies also complain that police officers who passed the test as recruits have
not remained physically fit. These officers would be unable to pass the physical abilities
test later in their careers. However, some experts maintain that these officers are still
effective in their jobs—raising doubts about whether the initial physical abilities test
is really effective or necessary. Whatever the physical abilities test or fitness require-
ments, they should relate to the actual physical tasks performed by police officers on
the job. Further, officers should be encouraged to maintain their fitness throughout
their careers. Fitness for duty is discussed extensively in Chapter 12.
Interview An oral interview generally follows successful completion of the physi-

cal abilities test. During the interview, the applicant is evaluated on oral commu-
nication and interpersonal skills, as well as judgment. To gauge these criteria, the
interviewer may present hypothetical problems (situational judgment scenarios) to
test the candidate’s critical thinking and analytical abilities. In some agencies, the
oral interview is the last phase of the selection process.
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Background Investigation (BI) We recommend that an agency obtain a personal

history from the candidate, ideally provided in the employment application or ques-
tionnaire. The completed personal history statement provides information such as
jobs held, previous residences, drug use, and encounters with the police. But manag-
ers must take care in the questions they include in the history. According to U.S. law,
an agency cannot ask questions in written or oral form about the candidate’s race,
religion, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender, physical capabilities, or
marital status. The only questions permitted are those that are relevant to the posi-
tion the candidate seeks and the requirements of that position (Cheeseman, 2009).
Background The agency uses the personal history to conduct a background investigation (BI)
investigation (BI): on the individual. This investigation is a critical part of the pre-employment screen-
a step in the ing process. Although time-consuming and expensive, a thorough BI may help avoid
pre-employment tremendous grief and liability later. The BI inquiry is conducted through accessing
screening process in of databases as well as questionnaires and telephone and in-person interviews. It
which a police agency should assess the following:
verifies a candidate’s
• Leadership ability: demonstrated leadership competence or the ability to
qualifications
develop leadership skills.
including criminal
and credit histories, • Interpersonal skills: tolerance, sensitivity to diversity (of race, gender, lifestyle,
educational and age, and opinion), social interest, persuasiveness.
employment histories, • Moral character: integrity, honesty, impartiality, trustworthiness, ethical
and claims about behavior, confidentiality, free of substance abuse.
matters such as moral • Intellectual abilities: problem-solving, decision-making, judgment, learning
character, work abilities.
habits, and stress
• Criminal, motor-vehicle, and credit histories: poor credit history, which may
tolerance.
indicate irresponsible behavior or susceptibility to bribes.
• Educational and employment histories: verified educational credentials and
previous employment.
Police recruiters
access databases to
conduct background
investigations on
applicants.
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In some agencies,
applicants are required
to take a polygraph
test as part of the
pre-employment
screening process.
• Work habits: reliable, dependable, responsible, accountable, conscientious.

• Stress tolerance: ability to maintain a positive attitude; maintain an even
temper; ability to confront, overcome, and recover well from stressful
situations and adversity.
Integrity Test An agency should also administer an integrity test to verify infor-
mation provided by the candidate in the employment application and the personal
history statement, and to check for additional concerns. Integrity testing can be
accomplished through a written exam, a polygraph or voice stress analysis, and a
drug test. Agency managers can also phone references to confirm the information
(such as employment history and job performance) provided by the applicant.
Psychological Evaluation Finally, before an agency decides to extend a job offer

to a candidate, it may require the person to participate in a psychological evaluation
to determine whether the applicant’s mental state and personality characteristics are
suitable for policing. Psychological evaluations can take numerous forms, including
the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), the Myers-Briggs Type
Indicator, the Strong Interest Inventory, the California Psychological Inventory, or
the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal. An incompatible personality profile
may indicate that the applicant might develop anger management problems or could
instigate negative confrontations with citizens or fellow officers.
Medical Evaluation A police agency’s offer of employment is also conditional on

the applicant’s ability to pass a medical evaluation. This evaluation is conducted to
ensure that the applicant does not have any medical condition that would restrict
the person’s ability to safely perform tasks required for police work.
Every step in the pre-employment screening process should produce information
that helps the agency determine whether a candidate possesses—or has the potential
to develop—the character traits and skills needed to deliver excellent service to the
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community. As we have seen, these criteria include communicative, judgmental,

and problem-solving abilities, integrity, an ethical orientation, a positive attitude,
intelligence, impulse control (for example, politely rejecting sexual advances from
a motorist stopped for a traffic violation), self-motivation, empathy, social compe-
tence, compassion, leadership potential, and self-restraint (such as refraining from
using excessive force) (T. E. Baker, 2006; Ortmeier, 2006).
Using the Assessment Center Process

In addition to conducting a pre-employment screening, agencies can also use what is
called the assessment center process to determine which candidates to select for hire.
Assessment centers were used by the Germans during World War I to select people
with traits well suited for special intelligence assignments. In World War II, the
centers were resurrected by the Germans and used by the British to select military
officer candidates. In the United States, the federal government used such centers to
determine who would make the best intelligence agents.
Assessment center How the Process Works An assessment center is not a physical place but rather a
process: means to determine a person’s suitability for employment, promotion, or special
a series of activities assignment. The assessment center process includes activities designed to mea-
designed to measure sure an applicant’s or officer’s knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) as well as
an applicant’s or personal attributes and behavioral characteristics related to work-specific scenarios
officer’s knowledge, (All About Performance, 2005). Behavioral characteristics may include judgment,
skills, and abilities decision making, problem solving, initiative, oral and written communication, and
(KSAs) as well as creativity.
personal attributes Through a series of interviews, psychological tests, and job-related simulations,
and behavioral an assessment center can further help an agency detect problems a police recruit may
characteristics related experience with activities such as responding to domestic violence incidents or inter-
to work-specific viewing suspects. During assessment center simulations, the candidate participates in
scenarios. activities that simulate the critical tasks associated with the position for which the
Police officer skills

may be assessed using
simulators such as this
driving simulator in
San Diego, California.
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candidate is being assessed. An example is the high-speed pursuit simulation (which

can be conducted on a computer or in a simulator). Before an officer engages in a
pursuit, the individual must assess the situation and determine its potential danger to
the officer(s) involved, to those pursued, and to innocent citizens. If the officer decides
to engage in a pursuit, the person should discontinue the pursuit if it puts citizens in
peril. Generally, pursuits should also be terminated when environmental conditions
(such as rain, ice, and traffic congestion) dictate. High-speed pursuit simulations
demand split-second decision making based on training and agency policy.
During all simulations, trained assessors observe and rate the candidate’s
responses based on the critical behaviors required to complete the job tasks suc-
cessfully. All measured behaviors are rated against criticality to job performance
for the position. For instance, if decisiveness is being tested, assessors evaluate the
candidate’s ability to make a timely decision. If the simulation demands an immedi-
ate decision and the candidate hesitates too long or cannot make a decision at all,
the person receives a low rating on this behavioral characteristic.
Assessment centers are usually one or two days in length. To shield the process
from claims of bias, an agency may have outside contractors or civil service person-
nel conduct the centers. The assessment centers are often used in conjunction with
standardized testing models, such as a formal written test instrument designed to
determine whether a candidate qualifies for the center.
Advantages and Disadvantages of the Assessment Center Process Many

experts view the assessment center process as a progressive and acceptable method
of determining a candidate’s KSAs. Yet critics of the process express concerns that
it is too lengthy—involving protracted task analyses, assessor training and monitor-
ing, exercise development, and personnel reassignments. Some critics fear that asses-
sors make errors, have mental biases that distort their interpretation of a candidate’s
performance, or pay insufficient attention during simulations. Assessment centers
can also be expensive to operate, owing to the time needed to reassign personnel
to simulations, the use of contracted facilities and personnel for the exercises and
administrative processes, and outside consulting and testing procedures, all of which
need funding (Inn, 2000). Because of the high cost, many police agencies do not use
assessment centers during recruitment and selection phases of hiring. Instead, they
use them for sworn officers who seek a promotion.
Avoiding and Correcting Selection Mistakes

As part of the selection process, a police agency strives to ensure that an employ-
ment candidate has an unblemished history and that nothing in the applicant’s back-
ground points to foreseeable problems on the job. Police agencies are often subject
to accusations of and liability for negligent hiring and retention if anyone can trace
officer misconduct to pre-employment behavior that an agency overlooked, dis-
counted, or dismissed during the screening process. If agency personnel are aware
(or should know) that a candidate is not suitable for employment as a police officer,
the candidate’s application should be rejected.
A thorough background investigation, including a psychological evaluation
of potential candidates during the pre-employment screening process, can help
agencies avoid selecting the unsuitable new hire. With current technology, man-
agers can perform computerized database searches on virtually every individual
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who is alive today, including searches of a candidate’s criminal and credit his-
tory. Further, psychological tests contain key indicators of personality traits
indicative of positive police officer performance; serious psychological problems;
and potential positive, marginal, or negative behaviors. The findings from these
tests can help alert professional evaluators to desirable and undesirable traits in
candidates.
Unfortunately, a candidate may successfully pass all phases of the pre-
employment screening process, including the background investigation, and still
prove to be a problem employee. Although an agency may not be liable for negligent
hiring, it could be liable for negligent retention if it does not take swift, decisive
action after learning that the officer has behaved inappropriately. Action might
consist of remedial training, supervised work assignments, and coaching and coun-
seling sessions. An agency might also put an officer on administrative duty while the
person is under investigation, to prevent further incidents.
Police management may also be held liable for failing to take definitive action
against an officer who injures or otherwise abuses others before or after exhausting
all possible remedies to correct the officer’s actions and behaviors. The jurisdiction
and its management may be held liable if administrators and supervisors fail to
properly supervise problem officers.
The lesson? Agencies must avoid making selection mistakes in the first place. If
a mistake is made, managers should correct it immediately and effectively.
ETHICS IN ACTION
Due Diligence in Hiring
rank, a police officer from a small jurisdiction, transferred to another
F jurisdiction in the same state. Jan, the chief of police of the new juris-
diction, hired Frank without performing a background check or calling
his former supervisor.
One day when he was off duty, Frank observed a young woman driving
on a country road. Frank was in his personal vehicle, a pickup truck that he
had outfitted with blue and red flashing lights on the dashboard. He turned
on the lights and pulled the woman over.
The woman was clearly confused by the stop because she was obey-
ing all traffic laws. When Frank asked questions about her marital and
relationship status, she became suspicious and telephoned 9-1-1. Frank
was arrested and later fined and jailed for acting outside a police officer’s
scope of authority.
1. Do you think that laterally transferring police officers should be sub-
ject to the same background check and psychological reviews as new
recruits? Why or why not?
2. Is the agency that employed Frank subject to a negligent hiring or
retention civil lawsuit by the offended party? Why or why not? If you
do not know, where might you look for information to answer this
question?
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Direct compensation:
DESIGNING COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS PROGRAMS compensation that
includes base pay
(hourly wages
As another key to hiring police officers who are committed to service, agencies must
or salaried) plus
design compensation and benefits programs that will attract them and keep them
overtime pay for
committed to the agency and the work. Compensation for police officers must be
hourly employees.
fair, reasonable, equitable, and tied to what the organization wishes to accomplish—
but also competitive enough to attract and retain valued employees. Variable
Compensation in a police organization includes items such as salary and compensation:
benefits (specifically, medical, dental, life, and disability insurance; vacation and compensation
sick leave; pensions; and uniform allowances) and many other personnel-related that is tied to
expenses (Collins, 2002). Compensation can take numerous forms: personal, team,
• Direct compensation includes base pay (hourly wages or salaried) plus or organizational
overtime pay for hourly employees. performance and
that may include
• Variable compensation is tied to personal, team, or organizational bonuses and
performance and may include bonuses and incentives for special assignments incentives for special
as well as shift differentials. assignments as well
• Rewards-based compensation (merit pay) enhances the earnings of top as shift differential.
performers and places value on people rather than job categories (Hitt, 1988).
• Indirect compensation includes items such as medical and life insurance, paid Rewards-based
time off, pensions, flexible schedules, and education incentives (such as higher compensation:
pay for officers who obtain a college degree) (Mathis & Jackson, 2005). also known as merit
Indirect benefits may also include a take-home police vehicle. (See the box pay; compensation
“A Closer Look at Incentives” for additional information.) that enhances the
earnings of top
In most agencies, compensation packages are powerfully influenced by forces performers and
such as market trends (including changes in labor supply and demand), union con- places value on
tracts, and structured civil service salary schedules. Moreover, agencies may have dif- people rather than
ferent compensation philosophies and practices. Entitlement-oriented compensation job categories.
denotes automatic pay increases for employees, along with increases in benefits. This
philosophy and practice helps reduce personnel complaints, is easy to implement, and Indirect
compensation:
compensation that
includes items such
A Closer Look at Incentives as medical and life
An “incentive” may be defined as that which motivates an individual to action insurance, paid time
or encourages effort (American Heritage Dictionary, 2005b). Incentives are off, pensions, flexible
not generally included as part of a police officer’s base salary. Formal incen- schedules, education
tives include hiring bonuses and bilingual pay, as well as pay incentives linked incentives, and a take-
to special assignments, housing, utility bills, child care, flexible work sched- home police vehicle.
ules, maintenance of uniforms, and paid time off based on length of service.
Indirect incentives may take the form of items in or characteristics of the phys- Entitlement-oriented
ical working environment as well. Police facilities that are modern, well lit, free compensation:
of particulates, and a comfortable temperature will be far more motivating than automatic pay
facilities that lack these qualities. Police vehicles, which serve as police officers’ increases for
mobile offices, should also be in good condition and contain the latest technology employees, along
(Police Officer Incentives, 2009; U.S. Police Officer Compensation Survey, 2004). with increases in
benefits.
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Exemplary is viewed as fair by the poor-to-

performance can be average performers in the orga-
recognized through nization (Hitt, 1988; Mathis &
mediums other than Jackson, 2005). Competency-
financial rewards. based compensation refers
to payment for competencies
acquired and exhibited by
members of the organization.
As members develop and dem-
onstrate increasing levels of
skills, their earning potential
increases. This type of compen-
sation is often received by offi-
cers in airborne, motorcycle, or
canine units.
Competency-based The driving force shaping compensation and benefits in many police organizations
compensation: is a police union. Managers of unionized agencies have little control over the com-
payment for pensation package for individual officers. Rather, salaries, wages, benefits, premium
competencies pay for specialized assignments, and pension plans are prescribed by negotiated union
acquired and contracts. Most unionized agencies do not offer merit pay.
exhibited by Within police organizations, compensation is often equitable within job classifica-
members of the tions requiring comparable knowledge, skills, and abilities, although specific duties
organization. may differ. In addition, compensation may be contingent on the region of the country
in which the police agency is located, the jurisdiction within the region, or the budget-
ary constraints imposed. The high cost of living in certain locales often dictates the
level of compensation available to officers. Low salaries in high-cost-of-living areas can
severely restrict an agency’s ability to attract well-qualified candidates.
For agencies that have little control over their monetary compensation policies, non-
monetary compensation can provide a way to attract and retain talent. Nonmonetary
compensation includes intrinsic social and psychological rewards (such as recognition
and appreciation) that are central to employees’ job satisfaction. An agency can publicly
recognize exemplary police officers not only to keep them engaged but also to garner
community residents’ respect and appreciation for these high performers. For example,
press coverage of officers who have taken dangerous individuals off the streets can
further burnish the officers’ and the agency’s reputations in the community. As another
powerful form of nonmonetary compensation, an agency can give officers opportuni-
ties to develop themselves personally and professionally; for example, through special
training programs or assignments (Hellriegel et al., 2005). Still, debate swirls around
some public safety (e.g., police, fire, corrections) compensation packages and benefits,
particularly retirement benefits, as cash-strapped jurisdictions seek mechanisms to
lower long-term personnel costs associated with retiree pensions and health care.
CREATING A CIVIL WORK ENVIRONMENT
To hire in the spirit of service, a police agency must demonstrate civility during
every phase of the hiring process and while new hires are being acculturated. The
goal is to create a civil work environment, which further encourages excellent
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service to the community. Civility does not mean tolerance of unethical or criminal
conduct demonstrated by police officers. Unethical behavior should be confronted,
and criminal offenders must receive treatment according to established laws,
policies, and procedures. Rather, a civil work environment is characterized by Civil work
positive interactions, optimism, and the dismissal of cynicism and pessimistic beliefs environment:
(Souryal, 2003). a workplace
Until recently, civility in the workplace received little attention. However, the characterized by
emergence of casual or undisciplined work environments in many industries over the positive interactions,
last few decades has spawned a culture of incivility in too many organizations. This optimism, and the
culture’s defining characteristics include discourtesy, constant unapologetic inter- dismissal of cynicism
ruptions, and vulgar language and gossip, as well as rude and distracting emails. and pessimistic
In any business or service environment, such an atmosphere will negatively impact beliefs.
individual, unit, section, or agency performance (Tytel, 2007) as well as customer
satisfaction and loyalty.
Civility matters because it powerfully shapes the culture of a police agency, its
employees, and the community it serves. Civility determines how people interact,
perform, solve problems, and interact within a common work environment. In
policing, life and death situations abound. When people treat each other civilly in
these situations, they are more likely to survive.
Throughout a new officer’s training and probationary period, supervisors, instruc-
tors, counselors, and field training officers must teach civility by demonstrating civil
behavior themselves and by mentoring those who are just starting out in their police
career. Trainers can model civil behavior by showing respect for others and projecting
a positive, can-do attitude; by demonstrating genuine concern for and acceptance of
others; by acknowledging kindnesses and potential; and by actively listening to others’
concerns rather than talking incessantly. Finally, trainers and mentors can demonstrate
anger management (Gulf Coast Community Foundation, 2007a).
A culture of civility during pre-employment screening, basic police academy, and
probationary periods creates productive, service-focused, and satisfied employees.
Officers who are content with and positive about their careers and their agency deliver
excellent service, which in turn produces satisfied citizens. In a civil work environment,
police officers also have more
emotional energy available to Civil work
tend to their personal lives as environments
well as their careers (an uncivil improve morale and
environment saps their energy productivity.
and morale). High morale, open
communication, and productiv-
ity are positive byproducts of a
civil work environment (Gulf
Coast Community Foundation,
2007b).
Despite the benefits of
civility, some trainers and
supervisors subject new
recruits in the academy,
field training period, or final
stages of probation to verbal
abuse. This behavior often
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stems from an antiquated belief that the person in charge must demonstrate
aggressive and dominating behavior. Such individuals often view empathy,
respectfulness, and kindness as weaknesses, and dominance as a sign of strength
(Hartt, 1999).
Although officers should learn to be assertive, the aggressive and dominating
behavior associated with obedience-oriented, military-style police training can be
dangerous. Militaristic training and attitudes produce arrogant officers who may
disregard laws and policies designed to protect citizens as well as the officers them-
selves (City of Los Angeles, 2003; Goldstein, 2001; Kelling, 1999; Ortmeier &
Meese, 2010).
summary
• Understanding Today’s Hiring Challenges. Today’s police agencies face several

hiring challenges, including fulfilling a complex mandate that encompasses
numerous responsibilities, as well as building a workforce that reflects the
diversity of the community an agency serves.
• Setting the Stage for Smart Recruiting. To establish the right conditions for
effective recruiting, police agencies must conduct a human resource needs
assessment and look beyond minimum hiring standards.
• Formulating Recruitment Strategies. To develop effective recruitment
strategies, police agencies must select the right channels for seeking applicants,
develop a positive brand image through every aspect of the hiring process, and
recruit with an eye toward diversity and educational level.
• Selecting New Hires. To improve the odds of selecting the right people from a
pool of applicants, police agencies must conduct a pre-employment screening
(which includes components such as an employment application, aptitude
test, physical abilities test, interview, background investigation, integrity
testing, psychological evaluation, and medical evaluation), consider using the
assessment center process (which comprises activities designed to measure a
candidate’s knowledge, skills, abilities, and personal attributes), and avoid
selection mistakes (while correcting any mistakes made).
• Designing Compensation and Benefits Programs. The right compensation and
benefits programs can further help a police agency hire in the spirit of service.
Compensation may take numerous forms—including direct, variable, rewards-
based, and indirect. Compensation philosophies include an entitlement
orientation and a competency orientation.
• Creating a Civil Work Environment. To hire in the spirit of service, a
police agency must demonstrate civility—expressed as positive interactions,
optimism, and the dismissal of cynicism and pessimistic beliefs—at every stage
in the hiring process and while new hires are being acculturated. A civil work
environment encourages excellent service to the community.
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key terms
assessment center process
background investigation (BI)
brand image
civil work environment
competency-based compensation
direct compensation
diversity
entitlement-oriented compensation
indirect compensation
negligent hiring and retention
pre-employment screening process
rewards-based compensation
variable compensation
1. What are minimum hiring standards a police agency might consider when reviewing
job candidates? Why is it important for an agency to look beyond these minimum
standards while evaluating applicants?
2. When hiring officers, police agencies must identify the qualities and skills they desire
in candidates. Identify five qualities or skills that a police officer candidate should
demonstrate. Why is each important to a police agency and the community it serves?
3. Select two recruiting channels a police agency might use to seek the right job appli-
cants. Decide how you would use those channels most effectively.
4. Police agencies use the pre-employment screening process to identify highly qualified
candidates. What are the elements of this screening process, and why is each element
important?
5. The background investigation (BI) is a crucial part of pre-employment screening.
What are the most important dimensions of the BI? Why are these dimensions criti-
cal to a police agency? How can a thorough BI help the agency defend itself against a
claim of negligent hiring or retention?
6. The question of whether police agencies should emphasize a college education in
their recruitment efforts has stimulated debate. Where do you stand on the issue? Do
you think agencies should step up recruitment of officers with a college education?
Why or why not?
7. Civility is critical for hiring in the spirit of service. Describe the elements of a civil
work environment. How can the lack of civility negatively impact the service a police
agency delivers to a community?
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WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

Stopping the Exodus
A police agency in a major city struggled to reach its goal of 2,000 full-time
sworn police officers on the job. Many of the agency’s junior officers were
transferring to other jurisdictions. The city’s management was unable to pro-
vide a reason for the exodus. Over the course of one year, 9 percent of the
force departed after obtaining employment with other agencies.
A city council member exclaimed, “We have as many people coming
as going because of the competition from other police agencies around the
country!” The agency’s management launched an inquiry and conducted exit
interviews of departing officers to identify the causes of the exodus. According
to exit interviews, 50 percent of the departing officers took lateral transfers
or lower-paying jobs.
The city could not reach its goal of 2,000 officers. For a time, each of
the city’s zones had one beat unstaffed during each shift. Compounding the
problem, police managers included recruits in the total staffing statistics,
although recruits could not be deployed to work the streets for at least nine
months.
The agency’s budget was a major concern for city officials. The city’s gen-
eral fund reflected a deficit of more than $50 million for the previous fiscal
year. The current budget for the agency was almost $150 million—more than
any other city department. Concerned about funding, the mayor refused to
fill 50 vacant positions in the police department. He also enacted budget cuts
and hoped to avoid raising property taxes.
1. If you were a high-level manager in this agency, what recruitment issue
would you strive to overcome to hire new officers and retain tenured
officers?
2. What problems are vacant positions creating for this agency? What would
you do to attract candidates who will remain with the agency?
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9
The police must communicate
in a vast array of settings and
through numerous mediums,
including public speaking.
The Power and Practice of

Effective Communication
learning outcomes

• define communication.
• distinguish the purposes that communication serves.
• describe the nature of communication in a police agency.
• analyze common barriers to effective communication.
• compare and contrast verbal, nonverbal, and written channels of
communication.
• explain how to prepare for and conduct an effective meeting.
• explain how to use newsletters and the grapevine as communication tools.
• demonstrate how to communicate effectively with people from different
cultures and genders, and with members of special populations.
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• assess the quality of a police agency’s relationships with the news media
and other agencies, and explain how to improve those relationships.
• use four important communication skills: facilitation, persuasion, feedback,
and conflict management.
Introduction
Police personnel must demonstrate many different technical skills to do their
job—including knowing how to use a police vehicle mobile data terminal (MDT)
and various speed-measurement radar and laser devices. But technical skills are
just part of the picture; police managers and officers also need to master a set
of nontechnical skills to serve their community and agency. In fact, in a relatively
recent study (Ortmeier, 1996) experts on policing cited effective communication
as the most important nontechnical skill required of officers. The study’s respon-
dents agreed on several additional points as well: Effective communication skills
are critical to success in policing. And police personnel spend more time commu-
nicating with others than they do in any other activity.
Communication is a powerful human activity with wide-ranging impact. For
example, it not only enables us to exchange ideas, it also fulfills a deep social
need to connect with others. (Indeed, studies have shown that people who are
prevented from communicating with others are at greater risk of experiencing men-
tal and physical illness.) Finally, communication is irreversible: Once you convey a
message to someone else—through the spoken or written word, or through some
other medium—you cannot take it back.
Communication also has strong links to leadership. Excellent police leaders
are effective communicators. They use communication to build and sustain trust,
to promote understanding of the agency’s mission, and to empower others to
deliver their best performance on the job. They listen attentively, facilitate interac-
tion between agency members and between police and community residents, and
maintain cohesion among all stakeholders—despite the diversity of views and
priorities that stakeholders often have.
The benefits accrue even further: In police work, exceptional communicators
reduce victim distress and gain compliance from others without having to resort
to force. Moreover, they de-escalate conflict and emotion, and inspire citizens to
participate in solving their community’s problems. In short, they improve quality
of life in the communities they serve and motivate all stakeholders to work toward
realizing a compelling vision of a better future (Ortmeier, 1996).
In this chapter, we examine the art and science of communication. We look at
what communication is and how it functions in a police agency. We consider bar-
riers to effective communication as well as the wide variety of channels through
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chapter 9 The Power and Practice of Effective Communication 211
which communication occurs. We take a closer look at three channels: meetings,

newsletters, and the organizational “grapevine.” And we analyze several types of
special communication challenges police personnel typically encounter—namely,
communicating across cultures and genders, and communicating with special
populations. We then consider how police personnel can communicate most
effectively with two important constituencies: the news media as well as other
agencies. Finally, we explore four particularly essential communication skills: facili-
tation, persuasion, feedback, and conflict management.
WHAT IS COMMUNICATION?
Communication among human beings is a distinctive process that fulfills specific

purposes. Within a police agency, it demonstrates unique patterns in terms of the
directions in which information flows and the formality or informality of communi-
cation. In the pages that follow, we look at these aspects of communication.
A Distinctive Process
Communication is a process, not an event. The process involves an exchange of Communication:
information between a sender and a receiver and includes the transmittal, receipt, a process involving
and sharing of problems, ideas, facts, beliefs, feelings, and values. Communication the exchange of
is also a reciprocal interchange between the parties involved: Through encoding (the information between
translation of information into a communication medium), the sender transmits a sender and a
symbols (characters, letters, words, images) through a channel (such as an e-mail or receiver.
a comment made at a meeting) to a receiver. The receiver then decodes (interprets)
the message. How the receiver responds to the message is strongly determined by
how the person interpreted the message (de Janasz, Dowd, & Schneider, 2006;
Hellriegel, & Slocum, 2009).
For example, suppose that Daniel, a police supervisor, sends an e-mailed request
for information to Paula, an officer. The e-mail goes unacknowledged. Daniel inter-
prets the lack of acknowledgment as evidence that Paula has not taken the request
seriously. Offended, he shows annoyance during his next encounter with her. Now
suppose that Daniel had interpreted the lack of acknowledgment differently—for
instance, as a signal that the agency’s server may have crashed, and that Paula sim-
ply did not receive the message. With this interpretation, his response would likely
have been entirely different, and probably not as negative.
Complex Purposes
Communication serves complex purposes for human beings. Every time we com-
municate with others, we may have several goals in addition to merely exchanging
information. For example, we might seek to fulfill the following goals:
• Be understood. Terry, a police officer, explains to Meredith, his supervisor,
why he handled a shots-fired call as he did.
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Communication is a
process rather than
an event.
• Understand others. Meredith listens to Terry and then asks questions to gain
additional information about how Terry handled the call and why he handled
it as he did.
• Persuade others to take a particular action or embrace a particular idea. Meredith
suggests to Terry how he might handle the next shots-fired call more effectively.
Communication in a Police Agency

In a police agency (as in any organization), communication can flow in several dif-
ferent directions. (See Table 9-1.)
table 9-1 Communication Directions

DIRECTION EXPLANATION EXAMPLES
Vertical Between people who are at different A field training officer sends an e-mail to a new recruit
levels in the reporting hierarchy but whose training he is overseeing, laying out possible
who work in the same function goals for the next training session. The recruit asks the
FTO several questions about the proposed goals.
Horizontal Between people who are at the same The head of IT and the facilities manager in a police
levels in the reporting hierarchy but agency meet to discuss how the agency’s computer
who may work in different functions network should be changed to accommodate facilities
that are being constructed for the agency.
Diagonal Between people who are at different A member of a police agency’s special weapons and tac-
levels in the organizational hierarchy tics (SWAT) team talks with the leader of the hazardous-
but who work in different functions materials team to share best practices (such as specific
safety procedures) that could benefit both teams.
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Communication can
flow through informal
or formal channels,
such as an “all-hands”
meeting requested by
the chief of police.
In addition to flowing in a number of different directions, communication in a

police agency can flow through several types of channels—formal and informal:
• Formal channels are often vertical and represent protocols established by the
agency. They might include all-hands meetings called by the chief of police,
performance evaluations conducted by a supervisor for a subordinate, or
complaints filed by an officer with the agency’s ombudsperson.
• Informal channels tend to be more horizontal. Examples include hallway chats
or e-mail exchanges between fellow officers or members of a task force.
Within police agencies, supervisors and officers tend to prefer a more formal sys-
tem of communication. The language and format characterizing police reports provide
a good example. A police report serves as a written record of an incident, describing
what happened, who was involved, and how the situation was resolved. Managers
and officers can access police reports to clarify procedures or policies or to determine
whether police misconduct has occurred. Police reports are thus important repositories
of information. Figure 9-1 shows a police report form used in New York State.
However, as in any other organization, members of a police agency also engage in
informal communication. These exchanges might be about work or other topics, and
usually take place between people who feel comfortable with one another (regardless
of whether the individuals have a formal reporting relationship). Employees seeking
to communicate informally look for others who make them feel comfortable and who
can help them reach their goals (Hunter & Barker, 2011; Lewis, 1975).
Informal communication often occurs between officers of equal rank or posi-
tion, but it can also take place between new recruits and veterans or mentor officers.
To illustrate, Terry, a new recruit, develops a positive and productive working
relationship with Mark, her field training officer. Some months after completing
field training, Terry stops by Mark’s desk and asks for his advice about some pos-
sible career paths she is considering.
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figure 9-1 Sample Police Incident Report
1 Location 3M D Y R 4 CR #
5 Context of FIF 4. Robbery 8. Weapons 12. Public order 16. Known offender Context #
1. Drugs 5. Sex offense 9. Officer safety 13. Gambling 17. Suspicious person
2. Intelligence 6. Gang activity 10. Arson 14. Organized crime 18. Suspicious vehicle
3. Burglary 7. Forgery 11. Murder 15. Alcohol offense 19. Other
6 Source Source #
1. Informant 3. First hand 5. Police officer 7. Phone
2. Relative 2. Hearsay 6. Other agency 8. Other
7 Evaluation of information
1. Confirmed 2. Probable 3. Doubtful 4. Improbable 5. Unknown
8 Status of information
1. Founded 2. Unfounded 3. Undetermined
9 Evaluation of source (if any)

1. Reliable 2. Usually reliable 3. Unreliable 4. Unknown
10 Address DOB
• Name
Sex Race Height Weight Hair color Hair length Eye color Facial hair Ethnicity Record #
Clothing, distinguishing jewelry Physical oddities
Monicker/Alias Place of employment Phone # On parole Alien Driver

On probation Passenger
Address DOB
• Name
Sex Race Height Weight Hair color Hair length Eye color Facial hair Ethnicity Record #
Clothing, distinguishing jewelry Physical oddities
Monicker/Alias Place of employment Phone # On parole Alien Driver

On probation Passenger
11 Year Make Model Type Color Plate # State Interior

V color
E Exterior Windows Left Other identifying marks/Characteristics
H 1. Custom wheels 3. Vinyl top front
1. Dark tint 3. Damage
2. Custom paint 4. Sunroof
2. Reflective Right Rear
12. Narrative
XC to:
Reporting officer ID # CAR # Section Supervisor’s review/Approval ID #
Source: Chief Charles Koerner, Clyde New York Police Department.

Reproduced with permission from Chief Charles Koerner.
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BARRIERS TO EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
When communication is working as senders and receivers intend, everyone involved

arrives at a shared understanding of how to use the information exchanged. But
communication does not always produce the results participants want. Experts have
identified a number of barriers to effective communication that can derail even the Barriers to effective
best-intended exchanges between police or between agency personnel and com- communication:
munity members. Such barriers frequently take the form of mind-sets or cultural mind-sets or cultural
orientations that stand between a communication receiver and giver, preventing one orientations that
from understanding the other. For instance, a person for whom Spanish is the pri- stand between a
mary language may misinterpret an English speaker’s actual words and intent of the communication
communication (de Janasz et al., 2006). Next, we discuss several common barriers. receiver and giver,
preventing one from
understanding the
Poor Communication Skills other.
In an exchange characterized by poor communication skills, one or more participants
lack the personal traits, experience, training, education, or intelligence to communicate
effectively. For instance, a newly hired officer lacks self-confidence and has difficulty
hearing criticism of his job performance. When his supervisor offers him constructive
feedback on how to improve
his performance, the officer One should work
becomes defensive and cannot to overcome
learn from the feedback. barriers to effective
Poor communication skills communication,
can be frustrating. However, including barriers
that may be based
all individuals can improve
on gender or cultural
their skills through training,
differences.
role playing, and coaching.
Background Differences
For each of us, our experiences,
biases, prejudices, lack of
understanding of cultural dif-
ferences, and personal beliefs
influence how we receive and
interpret a message coming
from someone else. When
people from different back-
grounds try to communicate,
misunderstandings can result.
Consider this exchange
between two new recruits,
David and Antonio, at a police
agency. David grew up in a
neighborhood with little eth-
nic diversity, and was the only
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child in a household headed by parents of English extraction. Antonio was raised in

a large, expressive, and boisterous family of Italian immigrants who had settled in
an ethically diverse community.
Antonio (striding up to David’s desk first thing on a Monday morning): Davey!
How was your weekend, bro? (He slaps David on the shoulder.)
David (wincing): Fine…. How was yours?
Antonio: What’s the matter? You trying to hide something? (He pulls up a chair
and settles into it.) Wait’ll you hear about my weekend.
David (sighing and turning back to the report he is working on): Look,
Antonio, I’ve got a lot of work to do. I don’t really have time to chat.
Antonio: What a grouch! (He gets up and strides off, looking for someone else
to talk with.)
In this exchange, background differences could lead both David and Antonio
to misunderstand one another. David could interpret Antonio’s outgoing style, his
physicality, and his questions about David’s personal life as rudeness. Antonio could
interpret David’s apparent coolness and lack of responsiveness as unfriendliness or
disapproval. Such misunderstandings could cause the two recruits to begin avoiding
each other, unnecessarily preventing them from forging a strong working partnership.
Fortunately, we can take
Amsterdam, New steps to overcome the effect of
York, police officers background differences on our
evacuate a senior communication. Ongoing con-
citizen from her home tact with people who are dif-
as a fire consumes the ferent from us can help, along
property next door. with cultural diversity training.
Noncredible Source
In some communication situ-
ations, the sender lacks cred-
ibility because the person
delivered false or inaccurate
information in the past. Even
if the most recent information
is accurate, the receiver may
still discount it and react to it
inappropriately.
For instance, Hank, a reclu-
sive elderly man living alone in
a small town, has phoned the
police department many times
complaining about a “suspi-
cious” person he sees walking
by his house. Each time the
police have sent a patrol car
out to investigate, there was
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either no one walking down the street, or the person Hank had seen turned out to
be a neighbor out for a stroll or visitors of neighbors exploring the area. One night,
Hank phones the police yet again about a suspicious person. The police, distracted by
a shots-fired call and assuming that (as in the past) Hank has nothing to worry about,
take longer than usual to send a car out to Hank’s street. Before the patrol car arrives,
a burglar has broken into Hank’s truck, hot-wired it, and driven off.
As part of ongoing training, police officers should be encouraged to exhibit sen-
sitivity to people who are vulnerable like older persons, many of whom are fearful of
strangers or may misinterpret what they are observing. Although calls-for-service are
prioritized as to urgency (shots-fired calls are higher on the list than suspicious person
calls), no call should be devalued because it comes from someone with a history of
calls that yield no or limited results.
Complex Communication Channels

When senders use complex communication channels, their message can become
distorted. To illustrate, suppose the chief of police in a large agency describes an
important new initiative verbally to his immediate subordinates, then expects them
to convey the message to their own reports, who will then do the same with their
employees. With such a complicated series of messages, it is likely that by the time
the message makes it to the bottom of the reporting hierarchy, it will be distorted.
A message that started out as “Tell everyone that I want to improve the way we use
CompStat” ends up being interpreted as “We need a new computer network in here.”
The best way police personnel can remove this barrier to effective communi-
cation is to be as clear and specific as possible in their communication and to ask
receivers to confirm their understanding of the message. For example, the chief of
police in the example we just discussed could have said to his direct reports, “Tell
everyone that I want to improve the way we use CompStat. I think the IT platform
we’re using now is fine, but I want to see us analyzing the data more frequently
than we’re doing now—like once a week instead of every 10 days. Does anyone
have any questions about what I’m talking about? If not, I’d like you to present this
idea to your people during your next staff meeting.”
Denial
Messages that conflict with information that a receiver has already accepted as
fact may cause the person to reject them. For instance, suppose that Lewis, the
recruitment director at a large police agency, believes that new recruits who have
a college degree will eventually get bored with police work and leave—costing the
agency heavily in terms of time and money invested in training. Beth, a supervisor,
believes that new officers with a college education would bring more value to the
agency. She suggests to Lewis that he expand his criteria for hiring to include a col-
lege degree. He ignores her recommendation.
To counteract Lewis’s denial, Beth could cite studies about the value of college-
educated police officers. However, she would likely get better results by encouraging
Lewis to talk with those officers who have college experience or a degree. Getting
to know such officers firsthand would probably help Lewis understand that many
police officers enter the profession for more than just exciting car chases and oppor-
tunities to arrest perpetrators.
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Officers should use

simple, ordinary
language when
speaking with citizens,
not police jargon or
legalistic vocabulary.
Unfamiliar Language
The language a sender uses to convey a message may contain jargon—terminology
specific to a profession. To a receiver who is unfamiliar with the language, the message
may be confusing or irritating. Police work is characterized by extensive use of jargon
because officers are taught by academy trainers, field training officers, or supervisors
to speak and write in a legalistic, investigative, and precise way. The resulting lan-
guage can confuse citizens who are not familiar with it. For example, an officer inter-
viewing witnesses to a vehicle collision that injured the occupants may ask a question
using technical language, such as “Did you observe massive hematoma?”
To bridge this barrier, officers can learn to use simpler, more ordinary language
when speaking with citizens. In the previous example, the officer could instead ask,
“Was the person bleeding a lot?”
Lack of Motivation
Lack of motivation on the part of the sender or receiver can act as another barrier to
effective communication. For instance, a police supervisor who must deliver critical
feedback during a performance review for a new recruit may worry about upsetting
the recruit, and so is not motivated to present the feedback in clear, candid terms.
A receiver may also lack the motivation necessary to listen to the message. For
example, the new recruit in the prior example might truly believe she is delivering
adequate performance. She therefore discounts her supervisor’s critical feedback.
The remedy for this barrier when you are a sender is to deliver concise,
to-the-point messages. By using livelier language and pointing out how listening to
your message can benefit your listener, you stir up enthusiasm for your message in
the other person. When you are a receiver, practice paying attention to the content
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of messages communicated to you, even if doing so is difficult. By actively attending

to messages, you increase the chances of absorbing them and interpreting them in
the way the sender intended.
Organizational Culture
As in any organization, the culture in a police agency can have characteristics that
constitute barriers to good communication. For example, in an agency where dis-
tractions and disruptions occur frequently throughout the workday, people may
have difficulty communicating. Consider two officers who have started talking
about how to provide security for an upcoming fund-raising activity in their com-
munity. Their colleagues and supervisors freely stop by and interrupt them with
questions or comments about various topics. The officers will likely find it difficult
to stay focused on their conversation and arrive at agreed-upon strategies.
To reduce distractions and disruptions in their agency, police managers can
provide a separate place for officers to meet to discuss matters such as security for
upcoming events. There are usually conference rooms available. If none happens
to be available, personnel can use an interrogation room that is not needed at the
moment.
The culture at a police agency might also discourage open communication, if the
agency takes a command-and-control approach to policing. When people lower down
in the chain of command learn that their input is not welcome during decision mak-
ing, they stop offering it. Communication dries up and morale erodes. Altering such
a culture requires establishing new rules promoting sharing of opinions and ideas as
well as opening lines of communication (Stojkovic, Kalinich, & Klofas, 2008).
COMMUNICATION CHANNELS
Personnel in a police agency may use a blend of communication channels, depend-

ing on the situation, the relationship and motivation of the parties involved, and
participants’ communication skills. Primary channels used are verbal, nonverbal,
and written.
Verbal Channels
Verbal channels include face-to-face talking, telephone conversations, and trans-
missions over a radio—any channel through which people use the spoken word.
Communication through verbal channels can occur in numerous settings, such as
during one-on-one conversations, team or task force meetings, interviews, interro-
gations, news conferences, and public-speaking events.
To communicate effectively through verbal channels, police personnel—through
their words—must demonstrate respect, cooperativeness, and a willingness and
ability to understand another person’s position (empathy). They should also strive
to minimize differences in social status, authority, or power; to accept others’ view-
points; and to candidly express their own beliefs. By contrast, words that convey
a desire to control, manipulate, or judge; insincerity; aggression; or an air of supe-
riority will only spark defensiveness within listeners (Hellriegel & Slocum, 2009).
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Much of police
work involves
communicating
face-to-face during
an interview or
interrogation.
Consider these examples of effective and ineffective verbal communication by a

police officer who has pulled over a motorist for speeding:
• Effective: “Good afternoon, sir. Could I see your license, registration, and
proof of insurance please? Thank you. I’ve stopped you because you were
going 20 miles per hour over the speed limit in a school zone.”
• Ineffective: “Do you have any clue how fast you were going! You don’t seem
give a hoot about the safety of the kids in this neighborhood.”
On some occasions (for example, when a criminal suspect verbally threatens
an officer), strong, forceful language may be necessary to prevent an outbreak of
violence. However, during most encounters, such language will be neither necessary
nor appropriate. In sum, effective verbal communication is an essential ingredient in
the recipe for deescalating conflict and keeping the peace (Ortmeier & Meese, 2010).
For anyone participating in verbal communication, listening can play a major
role in the success of the exchange. Failure to listen can lead to misunderstandings
that result in costly or fatal mistakes (Cook, 2003). For example, a police officer
who fails to detect the panic in a 9-1-1 phone caller’s voice or who neglects to lis-
ten carefully to the details the caller is conveying may incorrectly conclude that the
caller is not in imminent danger—and might not respond swiftly enough.
Unlike talking, listening does not necessarily come naturally to individuals.
Some people must learn how to listen. The following tips can help:
• Focus on the speaker, giving full attention and concentration to what the
person is saying.
• Do not interrupt the speaker until a natural pause occurs. During the pause,
ask questions if needed to clarify the message.
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• Strive to be objective about what the speaker is saying, rather than judging
what you are hearing.
• Paraphrase or ask for confirmation (“So, what you’re saying is …” “Do I
understand you correctly?”) to ensure that you are hearing what the speaker
intends to say.
Nonverbal Channels
Nonverbal channels of communication—such as body language, facial expression,
and tone of voice—have just as much impact as words during any exchange between
a sender and receiver. In fact, there is an entire science—known as kinesics—
devoted to how people interpret nonverbal cues such as facial expressions, eye
movement, posture, stance, gestures, and other human physiological behaviors and
presentations while communicating (Ottenheimer, 2007). Not surprisingly, police
have long strived to read others’ body language during interviews and interrogations.
Nonverbal communication involves the use of body movements as well as (in some Nonverbal
cases) clothing, hairstyle, physical attractiveness, and speaking style to communicate a communication:
message. Nonverbal cues can be expressed consciously or unconsciously, depending on the use of voluntary
the sender’s intentions and interests. For example, a criminal who is being interrogated and involuntary body
at a police station and who wants to convince the police that he is innocent might movements and, in
consciously strive to sit up straight and maintain a calm tone of voice—behaviors some cases, clothing,
that suggest honesty and credibility. However, the criminal might also unconsciously hairstyle, physical
demonstrate some nonverbal behaviors (such as an inability to maintain eye contact attractiveness, and
or an occasional nervous tapping of fingers on the desk) that reveal his guilt. speaking style, to
Nonverbal communication is often subtle. The meaning of a specific form of non- communicate a
verbal communication can also be ambiguous, depending on the culture, relationship, message.
and gender of the participants. For instance, in some cultures, people show respect by
Nonverbal
communication
includes the use of
body language, facial
expressions, tone of
voice, and gestures.
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making eye contact with a person they are communicating with. In other cultures, mak-
ing direct eye contact with an authority figure is considered disrespectful. A police offi-
cer who is not aware of such differences might incorrectly interpret a witness’s unwill-
ingness to make eye contact as a sign of disrespect or dishonesty. The misunderstanding
could lead the officer to express anger or frustration—causing tensions to escalate.
Oftentimes, receivers pay more attention to a sender’s nonverbal communication
than to the sender’s words. If the two types of communication send conflicting mes-
sages, the receiver will likely consider the nonverbal message more credible than the
verbal one. For example, suppose a police manager says he values officers’ input in
decisions but acts distracted when officers present their ideas. In this case, the officers
will likely conclude that the manager in fact does not want to hear their ideas.
Written Channels
Written channels of communication include everything from interoffice memos,
incident reports, performance evaluations, and motivational posters tacked to a
police agency’s wall to e-mails, text messages, and job postings published in a news-
paper. All officers and civilian employees of a police agency, regardless of rank or
position, must demonstrate the ability to communicate effectively in writing. For
instance, line-level officers must document facts surrounding an incident, an inter-
view, or an interrogation as well as criminal activity occurring in the community.
Many police reports are scrutinized by the judiciary and by journalists, so these
ETHICS IN ACTION
Special Treatment for Business Owners?
any people believe that police officers often give special consid-
M eration to certain constituents—such as business owners in the

community—by providing additional patrols or “turning a blind eye”
to unethical or even illegal practices in return for free coffee, meals, or
other gratuities. Consider the following communication situations in the
light of ethical policing, then decide how you would respond:
1. Your brother-in-law, who runs a restaurant that has been robbed sev-
eral times in the past year, asks you to encourage patrol officers to
patronize his restaurant. He states that it will be “well worth their
while.” How do you reply?
2. Inadvertently, you overhear a veteran officer telling a new officer, “You
can get a free sandwich at the corner diner, the dry-cleaning place next
door will give you a discount on your uniform cleaning, and the deli
down the street gives free coffee to any cop who walks in and stays
for a while.” What would you say?
3. There have been a series of rapes in your jurisdiction. Your supervi-
sor instructs you to file future rape complaints as nonsexual assaults
unless you believe a legitimate rape can be proven. You suspect that
your supervisor has issued this instruction because it will help lower
the overall crime numbers or create the impression that the neighbor-
hood is safer than it really is. How would you respond to this directive?
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documents must be clear, accurate, and language appropriate. Police administrators,

for their part, must write policies and directives; document human resource activi-
ties such as training programs; and transmit information about the agency’s work
to politicians, the news media, and citizens.
Although a detailed discussion of written communication techniques is beyond
the scope of this book, a few basic principles can help police managers and officers
communicate effectively through such channels. Acceptable writing:
• Communicates ideas clearly
• Demonstrates the writer’s understanding of the intended reader’s needs and goals
• Shows a sufficient command of the language
• Is free of typographical errors as well as grammar, spelling, and punctuation
mistakes
• Has a clear organization so that ideas flow smoothly
• Follows established protocol for the type of written document at hand (such
as incident reports or e-mail messages) (Guffey, 2005; Parr, 1999; Wallace &
Roberson, 2009).
A CLOSER LOOK AT MEETINGS,

NEWSLETTERS, AND THE GRAPEVINE
As we have seen, there are numerous verbal, nonverbal, and written channels
through which police personnel communicate. Communication can be formal or
informal. In the pages that follow, we look closely at three commonly used types of
communication: meetings (verbal, formal), newsletters (written, formal) and “the
grapevine” (verbal, informal).
Meetings
A meeting is a formal gathering to exchange information. In part due to the imple-
mentation of CompStat (see Chapter 2), many police agencies organize meetings on
a regular basis to review crime statistics, discuss new initiatives, and communicate
changes to policies or procedures. However, to generate useful information and
outcomes (and to make effective use of time), meetings must be properly planned
and executed. For example, a meeting with a clear agenda and dedicated facilitator
can result in increased agreement among participants on what problems need to be
addressed and how the agency can best solve them.
Before the Meeting The agenda for a meeting should be prepared and distrib-
uted in advance by the person who will facilitate the meeting. An agenda can be
as simple as a list of topics to be covered, or as complicated as a formal multilevel
outline that will be distributed ahead of time to participants. Following are some
tips for developing an effective meeting agenda:
• Time frame: Indicate precisely when the meeting will start and end. When
determining an ending time, consider selecting a time that is difficult to
extend, such as the end of a work shift. A time limit for discussion of each
agenda item may be indicated as well.
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• Order: Position the most important items to be covered in the meeting at the
top of the agenda and the remaining items in descending order of importance.
That way, participants will be able to deal with the most demanding items
early in the meeting—when they are freshest.
• Announcements: If appropriate and if time will allow, list announcements
such as promotions or transfers at the end of the meeting agenda.
During the Meeting If you facilitate a meeting, do everything possible to ensure

that the meeting begins and ends on time. If you get into the habit of starting meet-
ings late, participants will likely begin arriving late as well because they will have
learned that there is no penalty for tardiness. If participants arrive chronically late
to your meetings even though the meetings start on time, consider locking the door
to the meeting room immediately after the start time, to encourage promptness.
Make it clear at the outset of the meeting whether breaks will be given and
whether interruptions (such as participants talking to each other during the meeting,
responding to cell phones, or reading text message alerts) will be tolerated. During
the meeting, also allow participants to offer suggestions regarding the agenda; for
example, “Can we table this issue for now and focus on the next one?” You may
or may not accept each suggestion, but it is valuable to let participants know they
are welcome to contribute ideas. If suggestions are off-topic, create a separate and
temporary list of such topics and display it so all participants understand that these
issues are also important and may be agenda items at a future meeting.
Ensure that discussion centers on the agenda topics and that disagreements do
not take a personal turn. Consider this example from a fictional meeting called to
address an increase in house break-ins in the jurisdiction served by this agency:
Harry: I think we should step up patrols of the area.
Jane (rolling her eyes): Harry, apparently you weren’t paying attention the last
time we tried that. Otherwise, you would have known it doesn’t work.
You (the facilitator): Okay, Harry has offered an idea, and Jane disagrees. Jane,
we can dispense with the sarcasm. To use our time most productively, let’s
discuss the legitimate pros and cons of the various solutions we’ve explored
for this problem.
After the Meeting End the meeting with a summary of the key points covered
and a review of tasks that were assigned during the meeting and their deadlines.
Prepare minutes of the meeting (notes about what happened and what was decided)
as soon as possible afterward, and distribute them promptly to all interested parties.
Keep a copy of the minutes in a file so people can refer to them readily if needed.
Newsletters
Newsletters can be brief (1 or 2 pages) or relatively long (10 or 12 pages), depend-
ing on the subject matter they cover, the goals of the entity publishing them, and
the publication schedule. (For instance, a newsletter that is published monthly may
be shorter than one that is published only twice a year.) Newsletters may also be
published in print or digital form. Online newsletters (often called e-newsletters or
e-zines) are cheaper and faster to publish than their printed versions, and can be dis-
tributed more widely through e-mail or through access of websites where each issue
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Clark County, Ohio,

Sheriff Gene Kelly
displays a “Fight
Crime: Invest in Kids”
newsletter. Kelly spoke
on behalf of police
officials throughout
Ohio in February 2005
to urge that federal
funding for foster care
not be capped.
may be posted. Electronic newsletters may also contain video attachments or links
to other sources of information, advantages that print-only newsletters cannot offer.
Most newsletters published by police agencies are directed to agency personnel,
both sworn and civilian. Topics covered may include acknowledgment of newly hired
employees; advertisements for community activities; and notices of weddings, births,
deaths, and other events of interest to agency personnel. Each issue of the newsletter
can also be used as an educational tool, offering regular columns about topics such as
police ethics or practical skills (for example, report writing or vehicular safety).
The Grapevine
Some people call it gossip. In the Navy, it is known as scuttlebutt. But in most police
agencies, the channel through which people exchange information verbally and
informally is referred to as the grapevine. Through the grapevine, peers as well as
supervisors and direct subordinates may share accurate information as well as rumors
and other unsubstantiated information in an effort to determine what is happening.
The wise police manager pays as much attention to the grapevine as to formal
communication channels (Moore, 2004), because the content of the grapevine
can strongly affect morale—especially if the content is inaccurate. For instance, if
unfounded rumors that an agency will be shutting down its mounted division are
racing through the grapevine, people worried about losing their jobs may panic and
take unnecessary and disruptive action (such as launching a job search). Or they
may obsessively discuss the rumor instead of doing their jobs, eroding productivity.
Yet the grapevine is so deeply embedded in most organizations’ culture that
managers and supervisors should not try to forbid it or discount the information
circulating through it. When a police manager admonishes subordinates not to talk
about something, it is akin to a parent telling a small child not to touch something—
few people can resist doing precisely what has been forbidden to them.
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The wise police

manager is attentive
to the grapevine
and other informal
communications
among officers.
Instead, effective leaders take a productive approach to the grapevine, using

tactics like these:
• Encourage open communication at all levels in the agency. This strategy
causes the grapevine to lose much of its strength. When people are regularly
made aware of the current status of police initiatives, key players, and future
changes, they will feel less compelled to gossip about these matters in secret.
• Use the grapevine as a communication tool. Learn what information is
being circulated through the grapevine to discover how subordinates really
feel about changes or conditions in the agency. Further, allow people to
communicate through the grapevine; you will enable them to experience
the emotional release that comes when people speak freely with peers about
concerns. Likewise, disseminate positive and truthful information (such as
purchasing of new police vehicles and dates for promotions) through the
grapevine, which may be viewed as more credible than information released
through a more formal means, such as a memo from the chief of police.
Grapevines are here to stay. Rather than trying to eradicate them, savvy police
managers build on the strengths of their agency’s grapevine, manage the grapevine’s
negative consequences (such as escalation of unfounded rumors), and use the grape-
vine as a communication tool.
SPECIAL COMMUNICATION CHALLENGES
No matter which communication channel is being used, participants can expect to

encounter several challenges. In the pages that follow, we explore three such chal-
lenges: communicating across cultures, communicating across genders, and com-
municating with special populations.
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Communicating across Cultures

Culture is the pattern of a group’s behavior. It stems from the customs, moral
systems, language, behaviors, and mind-set that give a group a specific identity.
People from the same ethnic background, those identifying as a particular national-
ity, and those in a similar socioeconomic class may all have a cultural identity. But
organizations, including police agencies, also develop cultures. Within an agency,
“microcultures” may exist; for example, members of a SWAT team might have dif-
ferent behavioral norms than members of the management team. People working in
a police agency may be communicating cross-culturally with their own supervisors
and colleagues—as well as with people in the community the agency serves.
Cross-cultural communication occurs anytime a person of one culture sends a Cross-cultural
message to, or receives a message from, a person of another culture. Misunderstanding communication:
can occur easily during this process because individuals from different cultures often a process that occurs
perceive and evaluate each other differently. For example, if a police officer is called to anytime a person of
an incident in a Hispanic neighborhood, the officer should address the male participant one culture sends
if both a man and a woman are present. Not doing so would be considered disrespect- a message to, or
ful, and could cause the participants to refuse to cooperate with the police. receives a message
Police personnel who are aware of cultural differences and who strive to understand from, a person of
cultural norms, forms of address, and nonverbal cues are more effective and experience another culture.
less stress than those who lack these attitudes. They are more resourceful, healthier, and
more satisfied with their work, and they generate fewer citizen complaints. Learn more about
To communicate effectively in a multicultural environment, police personnel cross-cultural
must gain familiarity with cultural differences, respect them, and be willing to communication
adapt to them. All this requires patience. Talking with people from other cultures and strategies
can also help police personnel adapt to these differences (Adler & Proctor, 2011; for managing
Coffey, 1990; Ortmeier, 2006). Following are tips for strengthening your ability to communication
communicate across cultures: conflict through
the University
• Take every opportunity to interact with people of a cultural orientation of Colorado’s
different from yours. If you are on foot patrol, talk with business owners or Conflict Research
other citizens who live and work in culturally diverse sections of the area. If Consortium at
you patrol by car, ask respectful questions during a call-for-service. www.colorado.
• Learn another language. Just as there are nuances in the English language, edu/conflict/peace/
other languages possess them as well and will give you a window into the way treatment.
people from other cultures view the world.
• If you are invited to attend a community event or religious service centered
on a culture other than yours, do so willingly and with an openness to adapt
to that culture’s customs. For instance, if you attend a mosque, be willing to
follow the protocol of removing your shoes.
Communicating across Genders

Consider the following exchange: Maria, a newly recruited police officer, runs into
Tim, a fellow officer, in the hallway and says, “Do you want to get some coffee?”
Tim has just downed a cup of coffee on his way to work and replies, “No thanks.”
Maria, who was hoping that getting coffee with Tim would enable her to talk with
him about her new job and gain some insights, feels disappointed and rejected. She
starts wondering whether Tim has something against her.
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Cross-gender This scenario illustrates the difficulties that can arise during cross-gender
communication: communication. Differences in how women and men communicate and what their
a process that occurs goals are during communication can lead to misunderstanding and conflict in per-
anytime a person sonal as well as professional relationships. For example, some linguists maintain
of one gender sends that women use communication to build relationships, while men use it to accom-
a message to, or plish tasks and to determine where individuals fit in a hierarchy of relationships (de
receives a message Janasz et al., 2006; Githens, 1991; Tannen, 1990). In the previous scenario, Maria
from, a person of used an invitation to coffee to begin building a working relationship with Tim. He
another gender. declined her invitation simply because he had already had coffee and saw no need to
have more. Because both parties had different purposes in mind during the exchange
and used different styles, the exchange failed to generate a positive outcome.
One way to accommodate cross-gender communication differences is to treat them
the same way you would treat cross-cultural communication differences: Acknowledge
the differences, gain familiarity with gender communication styles that differ from your
own, and practice speaking the other gender’s language when you can. For instance,
Maria could try accepting the idea that someone declining her invitation for coffee
might simply not want any coffee—and is not rejecting her personally. And Tim could
consider the possibility that an invitation for coffee might really be a suggestion for
a meeting to discuss career issues. Role playing during cross-gender communication
sensitivity training can also help people master these skills.
Communicating with Special Populations

In their everyday work with colleagues and community members, police personnel
Special populations: often communicate with members of special populations. These populations may
populations that include people with hearing or visual impairments, developmental disabilities, mental
include people illnesses or substance-abuse problems, and those who present an immediate danger to
with hearing or themselves or others. In the pages that follow, we focus on how to communicate effec-
visual impairments, tively during an incident in which a person with mental illness is experiencing a crisis.
developmental Skills crucial for handling such incidents include gauging the situation, communicating
disabilities, mental effectively with the persons involved, and concluding the incident productively.
illnesses or substance-
abuse problems, and Gauging the Situation Individuals with mental illness respond differently than
those who present an mentally healthy people do to ordinary stressors—such as being fatigued, experi-
immediate danger to encing extensive sensory stimulation, or forgetting to take a prescribed medication.
themselves or others. Under these and other conditions, a person with mental illness might become fright-
ened, suspicious, or aggressive. Alcohol or drug consumption may exacerbate the
symptoms of any mental illness and cause these persons to become dangerous to
themselves (for example, wandering into traffic or attempting suicide) or to others
(such as attacking strangers or family members).
If police line officers receive a call about a person with mental illness, they
should gauge the situation as soon as they arrive. Before attempting to communicate
with the individual, they must accept that the person’s behavior could be unpre-
dictable. Officers must also protect the public by isolating the afflicted person and
making dispatchers and response personnel aware of the nature of the situation. In
addition, officers should identify the exits and entrances to the environment, as well
as exercise extreme caution in case the person has a weapon.
Officers should be patient with the person and gauge the level of danger that the
individual presents to self or others. Officers must establish a safe distance between the
person and others. If possible, only one (primary) officer should interact with the subject.
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Many situations
provide special
communications
challenges for the
police, especially when
a subject is mentally ill
or suicidal.
Communicating with the Person After gauging the situation, the primary offi-
cer can engage the person verbally. The officer should initiate conversation with
an introduction and, in a respectful manner, state the reason for the police pres-
ence. Officers should present a calm, confident demeanor demonstrating that the
police are in control of the situation. While engaging the person in conversation,
they should attempt to remove any dangerous objects from the individual’s reach
while maneuvering the person into a safe area. Officers should seek to avoid a
physical confrontation. If the person refuses to communicate, the primary officer
should encourage a response by using simple language; for example, “You must be
very upset that someone stole your car” or “You look as if you need to speak with
someone.” If the person begins to speak, the officer can maintain a dialog by using
leading statements such as “Go on” or “And, then?”
The officer should acknowledge the individual’s emotions yet avoid expressing
agreement with any delusions or hallucinations that the person is experiencing.
The officer should never whisper, laugh, or joke with the individual; minimize the
person’s concerns; or unnecessarily touch the person. Introducing additional stimuli
to the situation may only confuse or upset the individual and escalate any agitation
the person may be experiencing (Wildman & Morschauser, 2007).
Concluding the Incident Hopefully, the person will be taken into custody in a
calm, respectful, and nonviolent manner. A successful conclusion may include a criminal
arrest or a mental hygiene detention, physical transport to and a medical examination
at a local hospital, or an intervention with professionals at a local mental health facility.
Communicating effectively with special populations requires knowledge,
patience, and maturity—all of which officers can develop through experience and
appropriate training. Each encounter and follow-up debriefing with command staff
and colleagues can further help officers strengthen these important skills.
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Le adership on the j ob
The Newsgroup
Police agencies offer citizens several methods of com- officers and sergeants who originally feared that the
munication with the agency: face-to-face discussion, newsgroup would merely become another means for
9-1-1 calls for emergency service, 3-1-1 calls for less citizens to complain about police behavior report that
urgent matters, and written communications (such the newsgroup was not a complaint vehicle. A council-
as letters and e-mail). One police lieutenant in a woman for the city says that the newsgroup has taken
California city, however, brought the agency in that city the mystery out of police work for most residents.
into the twenty-first century by establishing a website The lieutenant’s idea spurred a high-ranking
to foster communication between the agency and the official in the agency to note, “This is real community
citizens it serves. The site featured a live newsgroup policing, citizens and police in real-time, constant con-
that was made available to citizens 24 hours a day tact about real problems and solutions. Now we really
and was monitored by police personnel. belong to the same team; some of us wear uniforms
Through the newsgroup, citizens began communi- and some do not.”
cating in real time with police officers who responded
1. You are a police supervisor in a small agency.
to citizen nonemergency concerns. For instance, one
Your chief approaches you with a journal article
woman sent a message to the agency that vehicles
describing the electronic messaging system just
were speeding out of control on the street where she
described. The chief wishes to implement a
lived. She was reluctant to let her child play in the front
similar newsgroup. How would you respond to the
yard. Within hours an officer responded to her, stating
chief’s request?
that several citations for speeding on that street had
been issued that day. The officer thanked the woman 2. What are some of the communication challenges
for notifying the police and assured her that the area that could arise in a newsgroup system like the
would remain a target of future patrols. one described? For example, could messages
Citizens of this city report that the newsgroup between citizens and police be misunderstood
has given them a better idea of what is happening because of cultural or gender differences? What
in their neighborhoods. They receive information in steps would you suggest the agency take to pre-
a more timely and personal way than before. Patrol vent or surmount any such challenges?
Spotlight on Communication Technology

Advancements in electronic communication technology—cell phones, fax
machines, e-mail, voice mail, text messaging, blogs, wireless access—have made
it easier than ever for police personnel to communicate instantaneously with
various constituencies. The ease and immediacy of electronic communication
has also led to a laxness in professionalism and decorum. People have become
all too willing to send e-mails or text or cell phone messages without check-
ing for errors. The inappropriate inclusion of confidential information, or the
use of improper language is unacceptable. These forms of communication are
easily monitored by outsiders. A lack of professionalism in such messages can
cause a police manager or officer—even the entire agency—to lose credibility.
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Electronic forms of communication demand the same level of professional-

ism as traditional interpersonal and written communication methods. Before
sending a message through any electronic communication channel, ask yourself:
• “Does my message contain any information that I would not reveal in
a face-to-face meeting?” If so, consider omitting the information.
• “Have I made any errors in spelling, grammar, and sentence structure?”
• “Is my message clear and concise?” Rambling, overly lengthy, and
confusing voice or e-mail messages will likely be ignored by your
intended recipient.
• “Have I expressed what I want from the recipient?” For example, if
you would like the recipient of an e-mail you are sending to phone or
visit you to discuss the e-mail’s content, have you articulated this wish
in your message?
• “Does my message contain any inappropriate language?” Avoid use of
obscene or sexually explicit language or images, off-color jokes, and
language that expresses aggression or a condescending attitude. Also,
if someone sends you an e-mail that contains inappropriate language
(such as a racist or obscene joke), do not forward it to others.
COMMUNICATING WITH THE NEWS MEDIA
Police communicate not only with one another and with members of the communi-
ties they serve, but also with the news media. Because of their central role in commu-
nity life, police personnel—especially those in managerial and supervisory roles—are
often interviewed by the press. Of course, like anyone else, police prefer to receive
favorable treatment from the news media. They would much rather see newspapers
and television news programs report stories about officers’ courage and low crime
rates than stories revealing problems or scandals associated with the police.
Yet favorable news coverage of the police is rare. Instead, news stories tend
to focus on the negative—because that is what “sells.” For instance, if an officer
is cited for use of excessive force or other misconduct, the story usually makes
the front page of local and even national newspapers. Stories of horrific crimes,
officer-involved shootings, and high-speed vehicle pursuits also attract the attention
of print and broadcast news media. The adage “If it bleeds, it leads” reflects the
media’s awareness of the public’s hunger for drama and gore.
The police often criticize the media for publishing more unfavorable than favor-
able stories about police behavior and operations. Meanwhile, many broadcast and
print journalists—immersed in mostly sensational stories—accuse the police of being
insensitive to citizens’ concerns and rights and even downright brutal to those they
suspect of having committed a crime. Such criticisms, from both sides, erode trust
between police and the media. Moreover, a preponderance of negative news stories
about the police causes citizens to conclude that life is more dangerous than it actually
is—instilling unnecessary fear. It also jeopardizes police agencies’ chances of receiving
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Communications with
the news media should
be truthful and viewed
as opportunities
to develop positive
relationships with the
press.
funding because it gives the impression that police are not doing their job effectively.
Finally, police operations should be transparent, visible, and accessible to the common
citizen, and the news media provide the best avenue for creating those conditions. For
all these reasons, police agencies should strive to cultivate positive relationships with
the media. Indeed, the quality of an agency’s relationship with the press can strongly
determine how positive or negative news accounts of police activities will be.
Improving Communication with the Media

How might a police agency improve the quality and effectiveness of communication
with the media? The following steps can help:
• Appoint a public information officer (PIO) or clearly designate who is authorized
to speak to the press. This position should be voluntary (not assigned). Also, the
individual who fills this role must be comfortable with and skilled at speaking
to groups and must have a genuine desire to do the job (Rosenthal, 2005). PIOs
should also have a clear understanding of which information is acceptable to
share with the public and which is not (such as details about a crime that could
sabotage the investigation if they were made public).
• Make press releases brief and to the point. Be sure the latest and most important
information appears at the beginning of a press release. Print a brief headline at
the top of the release (Rosenthal, 2003). Provide enough information to satisfy
the media while not jeopardizing investigations or police operations.
• Manage media conferences strategically. Police agencies usually conduct
media conferences after a high-profile incident has generated intense media
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and community interest. Media headlines about

Often, police will discuss the police are not
major cases and ask for always positive.
the public’s help, or they
will use the conference
to inform the public of
an ongoing dangerous
situation—such as an
escaped felon in their area.
As with press releases, the
opening statement of a
media conference should
be brief and to the point,
and answers to journalists’
questions should be
equally short and pointed
(Garner, 2005).
• Control information
leaks. Information
can leak from a police
agency out to the public,
if officers or civilian
workers inadvertently
mention details about an
investigation to someone
during a conversation. Such leaks can jeopardize an investigation. To control
them, police managers and supervisors should strive to be the first to provide
truthful and factual information to the media. That way, journalists will not
be tempted to rely solely on leaks (Gary, 2003; Parrish, 2003).
Building a Positive Relationship with the Media

Police officers should remember that a news reporter’s job is to locate and publicize
a story. Reporters search for stories that will catch the public’s interest. The more
“eyeballs” a news outlet attracts, the more advertising dollars flow to that outlet
from companies seeking to sell their products or services to readers and viewers.
And sensational stories attract the public. Thus the news media’s very business
model means that journalists will tend to focus on the negative, the violent, and the
frightening aspects of police work.
Still, this does not mean that police managers should try to control the media or
refuse to provide information: That would threaten the free and open press that is
vital to our democracy. Instead, the police should build a positive relationship with
the media, through actions such as the following:
• Provide information. A “No comment” statement to the press is like a red flag
to a bull. It makes journalists suspect that the police are concealing information.
• Include media representatives in some police briefings. During these briefings,
share information about how the agency defines and meets goals, and how it
helps the community achieve its vision of a better future.
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• Demonstrate professionalism. Avoid getting into confrontations and shouting

matches with the media. Admit mistakes you have made. Avoid using police
jargon and officious speech. And do not make off-the-record statements.
By building a positive relationship with the media, the police may increase the
odds that journalists will publish balanced and accurate accounts of the work that
a police agency is doing (Ortmeier & Meese, 2010).
COMMUNICATING WITH OTHER AGENCIES
In addition to communicating with the news media, police communicate with people
from other agencies, such as the local corrections department, the prosecuting attor-
ney’s office, fire safety agencies, emergency medical services, social services, security
organizations, hospitals, and nursing homes. But they tend to do so only when it is
necessary, such as when a suspect crosses jurisdictional lines and officers in adjacent
jurisdictions must be informed. However, regular communication among agencies
can increase the effectiveness of each agency involved, because such communication
facilitates the exchange of valuable information and the cooperation agencies need
to make decisions (Estey, 2005).
Technology advances have made interagency communication easier than ever.
One example of a program that uses technology to improve interagency commu-
nication is SAFECOM, instituted in 2004 by the U.S. Department of Homeland
Security’s Office of Interoperability and Compatibility (OIC). According to program
managers, “SAFECOM . . . provides research, development, testing and evaluation,
guidance, tools and templates on interoperable communication-related issues to
state, local, tribal, and federal emergency response agencies” (U.S. Department of
Homeland Security, SAFECOM Program, 2004).
The primary purpose of SAFECOM is to enhance “communication interoper-
ability” among more than 50,000 public safety agencies (for example, police, fire,
and medical emergency services) across the United States. In general, “interoper-
ability” refers to the ability of emergency responders to work seamlessly with other
systems or products without any special effort. Wireless communications interop-
erability specifically refers to the ability of emergency response officials to share
information via voice and data signals on demand, in real time, when needed, and
as authorized. For example, when communications systems are interoperable:
• Police and firefighters responding to an incident can speak with one another
to coordinate efforts.
• Emergency response agencies can respond to catastrophic accidents or
disasters to work effectively together.
• Emergency response personnel can maximize resources in planning for major
predictable events such as the Super Bowl or an inauguration, or for disaster
relief and recovery efforts.
Fostering good working relationships with people from other agencies is essen-
tial to providing optimum service to citizens. Communication can help build such
relationships. For example, police officers should converse with these profession-
als to gain familiarity with how personnel work in each of these settings, what
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Various types of
public safety personnel
(police, fire, emergency
medical, corrections)
must communicate
well among one
another, especially in
emergency situations.
Here, Clearwater,
Florida, rescuers work
to save a small child.
resources the various entities offer, and the limitations of each entity. Informed by
this knowledge, officers can direct a citizen in need of assistance to the agency that
can best satisfy the need.
FOUR ESSENTIAL COMMUNICATION SKILLS
In any communication situation, with any audience, there are several essential skills
that can help police personnel enhance their effectiveness—whether they are seek-
ing to solve a problem, arrive at a decision, or improve their agency’s performance.
These skills include facilitation, persuasion, feedback, and conflict management.
Facilitation
People use facilitation to effectively and agreeably develop solutions to problems. Facilitation:
Facilitation comprises a range of specialized functions that help a group deliber- a communication
ate (Bostrom, Anson, & Clawson, 1993). Although difficult to accomplish in a skill through which
traditional command and control environment, facilitation can motivate others to police personnel
develop and implement new ideas and initiatives by promoting transparency and develop solutions to
synergistic efforts (Eastman Kodak Company, 1995). problems.
Police leaders incorporate facilitation into their daily encounters, whether at a
staff meeting or during spontaneous conversations or encounters with colleagues,
subordinates, or citizens. Hallmarks of facilitation include the following:
• Creating a safe, receptive, and nonthreatening environment in which people
can share ideas and challenge one another’s thinking
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• Encouraging subordinates and others to express themselves openly and freely

• Keeping an open mind; that is, listening without judging
• Seeking to understand what is being said
• Avoiding side conversations and personal agendas
• Respecting others’ opinions
• Making salient points in a calm manner
• Offering and receiving relevant information (Brassard & Ritter, 1995)
Persuasion
Persuasion: The ability to persuade is another essential communication skill. Persuasion is
the ability to the ability to influence outcomes, using methods other than the issuance of direct
influence outcomes, orders. In a police agency, everyone can benefit from mastering the art of persua-
using methods other sion. For example:
than the issuance of
• Paul, an officer, is called to the scene of a domestic dispute and finds a
direct orders.
man holding a woman at gunpoint. By demonstrating calm and helping the man
see how his behavior could lead to devastating consequences for himself and the
woman, Paul persuades the man to drop the gun and give himself up.
• Karla, a new police recruit, is convinced that the agency where she works
could deliver even better service to the community if it updated its computer
systems. She presents the relevant facts to her chief, including information
on the costs of the upgrade and the potential gains, and persuades him to
approve funding for the project.
In the private as well as the public sectors, persuasion has emerged as the
preferred method for fostering change and achieving valued results. That is
because enabling change and achieving results often require collaboration among
people who do not have formal authority over one another. Whenever possible,
police officers should seek to persuade others to take action, rather than dictate
outcomes. Using persuasion more than command and control helps create a more
participatory work environment—which in turn enhances productivity and job
satisfaction.
Effective persuaders exhibit distinctive personal characteristics, including
empathy, credibility (by being knowledgeable about the subject matter at hand),
reliability, humility, confidence, and calmness. They also demonstrate the following
behaviors:
• Readily soliciting and providing feedback
• Thinking creatively about what might be the best solution for all parties
• Presenting information in a manner that facilitates comprehension by others
• Presenting a positive impression through good grooming and dress,
enthusiasm, and impeccable personal credentials
• Connecting with diverse audiences and building consensus
• Inviting alternative approaches to resolving problems
• Articulating and promoting a compelling vision of a desirable future
• Using relevant facts and evidence to make their points
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Communication is
a process that may
involve several goals,
including persuading
others to take action
or embrace an idea.
• Exhibiting passion when presenting their ideas

• Resonating with others’ feelings, fears, values, dreams, frustrations, egos,
needs, and desires (de Janasz et al., 2006)
Feedback
Feedback is a special kind of communication through which a sender gives specific Feedback:
information (a response) to a receiver. Feedback can be given in all types of commu- a special kind of
nication channels—verbal, nonverbal, and written. It can result from a question; for communication
example, a firearms-safety trainer asks learners to rate the training’s value to them. through which
Feedback can also be personal; for instance, after a subordinate completes a project, a sender gives
the supervisor gives an impression of the person’s performance. specific information
Within a police agency, supervisors and managers offer feedback to (a response) to a
subordinates—such as giving praise or offering instruction—on a daily, informal receiver.
basis, over and above what may be given during performance reviews. In all types of
work (including police work), giving immediate feedback can be far more effective
than waiting for a less frequent occasion (such as a quarterly or annual performance
review). Why? When people receive feedback while their action or performance is
fresh in their minds, they learn more from that information.
In some police agencies, supervisors can also ask subordinates to provide
feedback on management’s performance and policies. However, this is not the
norm in such settings. Many supervisors may be reluctant to ask for feedback
from anyone, because it could turn attention to areas where they are lacking
while ignoring their strengths (Cordner & Scarborough, 2007). Moreover, sub-
ordinates may be reluctant to give their superiors honest feedback because they
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fear it will spark retaliation (in forms such as demotions or withholding of valued
professional opportunities).
Feedback can flow not only between personnel in a police agency but also
between the agency and the communities it serves. For instance, an agency might
distribute a written or online survey to citizens asking them to assess the quality of
police services provided. The responses to such surveys can help police managers
modify procedures (for example, providing more frequent patrols of a neighbor-
hood plagued by increasing crime rates) and design needed new initiatives (such as
establishing a mounted equestrian unit to provide better crowd control).
Conflict Management
Conflict is inevitable—part of human nature. It arises when people believe they have
incompatible goals, compete over scarce resources, or interfere with each other’s
efforts. Knowing how to manage conflict through effective communication is a core
skill for all police personnel.
The first step is to understand the difference between productive and destructive
conflict. In a productive conflict, participants balance cooperation with competi-
tion, resulting in a gain for all parties. They also keep the discussion centered on
the issues at hand, rather than allowing it to devolve into personal and character
attacks. In a destructive conflict, disputants often seek to win for themselves rather
than achieve a collective gain, and they resort to personal attacks instead of resolv-
ing the issues at hand.
For example, after learning about an impending budget cut, managers at a
police agency discuss ways to deliver the same services with less funding for the
forthcoming fiscal year. Tension escalates initially, as people lobby to get a signifi-
cant share of the available funding for their own departments and teams. Yet the
participants are then able to move from destructive to productive conflict by keep-
ing the bigger picture in mind: sustaining high quality in the agency’s services. By
looking beyond their individual interests to the larger goal, they arrive at a solution
for allocating funds that benefits the agency overall.
When it comes to managing conflict, effective police managers and front-line
officers seek to de-escalate destructive conflict by watching for and correcting symptoms
of unproductive conflict. These symptoms include participants ridiculing or threatening
one another, impugning each other’s character, refusing to express their thoughts, and
harboring resentments (Adler & Proctor, 2011). For instance, if a police manager lead-
ing a meeting notices that one person is uncharacteristically silent, the manager might
call on that person and encourage sharing of thoughts, concerns, and ideas. Or if the
manager observes several participants making character attacks (“You really don’t seem
to care about this department!” “Can you actually be that ignorant?”), the manager
refocuses the conversation away from personalities and back onto the issues (“Let’s set
aside the personal attacks and return to the decision facing us.”)
Adroit communicators also adapt their communication style to the situa-
tion. For instance, when arresting a suspect, an officer may use an assertive,
task-oriented, and decisive communication style (“Put your hands on your head
and face the wall”). That same officer may use a collaborative communication
style when facilitating a meeting in which task force members will generate ideas
for reducing speeding in a neighborhood (Ortmeier & Meese, 2010; Wallace &
Roberson, 2009). (“Viktor, we haven’t heard from you yet. What are your thoughts
about the strategy currently on the table?”)
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summary
• What Is Communication? Communication is a process involving an exchange
of information between a sender and a receiver. It serves several purposes
including being understood, understanding others, and persuading others.
Communication in a police agency can flow in vertical, horizontal, and
diagonal directions, and through formal and informal channels.
• Barriers to Effective Communication. Barriers include poor communication
skills, background differences, lack of credibility in a message source,
complex communication channels, denial in a message receiver, unfamiliar
language, lack of motivation in senders or receivers, and an organizational
culture that stifles communication.
• Communication Channels. Channels may be verbal, nonverbal, or written.
• A Closer Look at Meetings, Newsletters, and the Grapevine. Before a meeting,
the meeting leader should prepare and distribute a clear agenda. During the
meeting, the leader must clarify rules about interruptions, invite and manage
input from participants, and ensure that the discussion stays focused on agenda
topics and that disagreements do not take a personal turn. After the meeting,
the leader should distribute minutes and keep a copy of minutes in a file. Police
agencies can also use newsletters as a tool for communication with internal and
external constituencies. Police managers can take a productive approach to the
grapevine (the informal verbal communication channel among agency personnel)
by encouraging open communication at all levels and tap into the grapevine to
learn employees’ opinions and feelings about changes or conditions in the agency.
• Special Communication Challenges. Communicating with people from
different cultures, different genders, and special populations (such as persons
who are mentally or physically disabled) presents unique challenges for police
officers. Police can surmount these challenges by, for example, learning as
much as possible about cultures different from their own; acknowledging
and accommodating differences in communication styles between men and
women; and learning how to gauge an incident in which a member of a special
population is involved, engage the person, and conclude the incident effectively.
• Communicating with the News Media. News media and police often have an
antagonistic relationship. This erodes trust between both sides, instills fear in
citizens when news media publish a preponderance of negative stories about
police, and prevents police agencies from making their activities transparent
and accessible to the public. To address this problem, police must improve their
communication with the news media (including controlling information leaks
and managing media conferences strategically) and strengthen their relationship
with the media (for example, by including media representatives in police
briefings and demonstrating professionalism while interacting with journalists).
• Communicating with Other Agencies. Police can improve collaboration with
other agencies by communicating frequently with them and taking advantage
of technological advances such as SAFECOM.
• Four Essential Communication Skills. Four skills that can further help police
enhance their effectiveness are facilitation of problem solving, persuasion to
influence people over whom they have no formal authority, giving feedback
to guide subordinates’ performance-improvement efforts and gathering
feedback from community members, and conflict management.
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key terms
barriers to effective communication feedback
communication nonverbal communication
cross-cultural communication persuasion
cross-gender communication special populations
facilitation
1. Why is communication a process rather than an event?

2. What purposes does communication serve for human beings?
3. What are some examples of vertical, horizontal, and diagonal communication flow
within an agency (other than the examples provided in this chapter)?
4. What are some examples of formal and informal communication channels in a police
agency?
5. Select three barriers to effective communication described in this chapter. What steps
would you take to overcome each of the barriers you selected?
6. Identify ways in which police officers can effectively use verbal channels of communication.
7. Identify strategies that can help police officers effectively use nonverbal channels of
communication.
8. What are some basic guidelines for communicating effectively through written channels?
9. How would you prepare to facilitate a meeting for a task force you are leading? What
challenges would you expect to encounter while conducting the meeting? How would
you address those challenges? What tasks would you perform after the meeting?
10. How would you use newsletters to enhance communication among a police agency’s
personnel and between the agency and the community it serves?
11. Should police managers try to suppress the grapevine (the gossip or rumor mill) in their
agency? Why or why not? If not, how can managers extract value from the grapevine?
12. What steps would you take to learn about a culture that is different from yours?
13. What challenges have you experienced in communicating with people of a gender
different from yours? How might you improve your cross-gender communication?
14. What communication processes should a police officer use when encountering a
person with mental illness who is in crisis?
15. Why is effective communication with the news media important in policing? How might
police agencies improve their communication and their relationships with the media?
16. Why is effective communication with other agencies important in policing? How might
police agencies improve their communication and their relationship with other agencies?
17. For each of the following skills, cite three hallmarks of effectiveness: facilitation,
persuasion, feedback, and conflict management.
18. Some experts on policing suggest that effective communications skill may be the most
important nontechnical skill a police officer can possess and demonstrate. Why?
ort80008_ch09_209-241.indd 240 22/11/10 6:43 PM

WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

De-escalating Conflict at a Rock Concert
At a rock concert in a midsize city, a police agency assigns a detail to provide
crowd control, manage traffic, ensure the personal safety of attendees, and
prevent illegal activity (such as the use of controlled substances). During the
concert, the officers on duty notice that a young Hispanic man seems to be
suffering from negative side effects of substance abuse. He is yelling, slurring
his words, staggering through the crowd, sweating profusely, and gesticulating
wildly. The officers approach the man, and one of them snaps, “Hey buddy,
let’s calm down, okay?” The young man ignores the request and hurls a few
insults at the officer—who promptly arrests him and calls for a transport van.
While waiting for the van, the young man continues to harangue the offi-
cers with belligerent comments. His friends gather and shout additional insults
at the police, calling them names and demanding that they leave him alone.
Most of the concert-goers are young Hispanics and African Americans. The
officers in charge are primarily white and in their middle years.
The confrontation escalates as harsh words are exchanged between the
concert-goers and officers. Some of the concert-goers march up to the officers
and yell, “Listen, you pig! Don’t hurt him!” A few of the officers, driven to the
end of their patience, let loose with some choice words of their own, including
a few racial slurs.
A command officer arrives to find the situation deteriorating rapidly. The
commander approaches the officers. In a calm voice, he says, “It’s okay, guys.
Let’s dial it down a bit, all right?” The commander then addresses the young
man. Again using a calm tone of voice, the command officer says, “Sir, I know
you’re confused and afraid. But we’re worried about the drugs in your system,
and we want to be sure you’re okay. Let’s head for the station, so we can be sure
you get the help you need.” The officer diverts the young man’s attention long
enough for the police transport van to arrive. The man’s friends, listening to the
exchange, realize that the police have no intention of harming the man. Their
friend remains calm and is escorted to the van without further incident. No one
is injured, the crowd disperses, and the concert environment returns to normal.
1. What communication techniques were used by the officers who initially
responded to the scene of the disturbance? If you had been on the scene
as an officer, what (if anything) would you have done differently? Why?
2. What barriers to communication may have led to the confrontation
between the officers and the young man’s friends?
3. In what respect could cultural differences have played a role in the escala-
tion of this conflict? If you had been on the scene, what would you have
done to communicate more effectively across cultures?
4. What techniques did the command officer use to gain control of the situation?
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10
From the beginning of a police
officer’s career to the end,
training is an essential part of
the officer’s job.
Training, Development,
and Deployment of
Human Resources
learning outcomes

• define training and compare three types of training used by police
agencies (basic preservice training, on-the-job or field training, and
in-service or continuous professional training).
• examine how training can be augmented by higher education.
• define development and appraise the forms it can take; specifically, career
planning, leadership development programs, and succession planning.
• define deployment and assess the processes police agencies use
for deployment; namely, strategic or task assignments, workforce
scheduling, and assembly and use of working groups.
ort80008_ch10_242-263.indd 242 11/16/10 3:51 PM

Introduction
A police agency is made up of human beings who uniquely influence citizens’
ever yday lives. Officers and citizens interact with one another frequently, so the
ways in which an agency trains, develops, and deploys its human resources
can make or break the quality of those interactions. Compelling evidence sug-
gests that these three personnel practices—when applied effectively—greatly
reduce the probability that officers will be involved in misconduct (Hughes &
Andre, 2007).
But effective training, development, and deployment require an agency cul-
ture that emphasizes learning and growth. Unfortunately, many police agencies
exhibit a culture that promotes a sense of entitlement instead. Entitlement culture
derives from certain civil service rules (such as nonprobationary status and disci-
plinary procedures); guarantees of retirement benefits based on years of service
and percentages of annual income; and contractual union requirements such as
guarantee of union legal representation, mandated disciplinary processes, and
assignment preference based on seniority.
There is good news, however: Many police agencies are seeking to foster a
culture of learning and growth rather than entitlement (Tichy, 1997). Agencies
striving toward this new direction define staff training, development, and deploy-
ment as top priorities while continuing to provide the swift and effective responses
to crises and calls-for-service that the public expects.
In this chapter, we explore these three crucial personnel practices in detail.
We begin with training, the imparting or enhancing of specific knowledge or skills
to police personnel—including types of training, the role of licensing boards and
commissions in training, and the question of how higher education can aug-
ment training. We then move to the subject of development, or the enhancing of
police personnel’s knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) through ongoing career
experiences. We examine three core forms of development: career planning,
leadership development programs, and succession planning. Finally, we take a Training:
close look at deployment—how a police agency puts its human resources to use knowledge and
through strategic project or job assignment, scheduling, and the assembly of skill development
working groups. and on-the-job
preparation.
Education:
TRAINING: DEVELOPING SKILLS AND the learning of
PREPARING FOR POLICE WORK concepts and
development of
Some people argue that the terms training and education are synonymous, but those problem-solving and
who train and educate may disagree. As a rule, training encompasses knowledge and critical thinking skills
skill development and the kind of on-the-job preparation found in policing. Education through a school,
involves learning and comprehending concepts as well as developing problem-solving college, or university
and critical thinking skills through a school, college, or university experience. experience.
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Firearms training is
a regular part of an
officer’s in-service
training regimen.
Most police academies strive to blend training with education, since police officers
use job-related as well as critical thinking skills during the course of their employment.
For instance, training in firearms usage and safety is skill based, conducted at a location
(a firing range) specifically designed for this purpose. But officers can gain an educa-
tion in firearms usage and safety (as well as other knowledge areas crucial to their jobs)
through college-level courses, seminars, and other educational opportunities.
Much of a police
officer’s training is skill
and abilities oriented.
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chapter 10 Training, Development, and Deployment of Human Resources 245
Teaching adult learners—including police officers—is vastly different from

teaching high school and traditional college-age students. Adult learners have more
life experience and are generally better informed than younger students. Mature
learners expect to apply what they learn, and they may have different learning
styles. For example, one person may learn more effectively by watching others carry
out tasks, while another learns best by reading instructions. By providing different
types of training activities, an agency can deliver experiences that accommodate
many different learning styles.
Types of Training
Police officers undergo extensive training before they become tenured officers and
they continue their training while they are on the job. Training can take numer-
ous forms. In the following pages, we examine the most common and important Basic preservice
types of training, including basic preservice training, on-the-job (field) training, and training:
in-service (continuous professional) training. academy-based
training that
Basic Preservice Training Recruits who are assessed and hired (see Chapter 8) introduces recruits
begin basic preservice training. This training, usually provided at a police academy, to police work,
introduces recruits to police work and provides an overview of the justice system, provides an
including the roles of the police, courts, and corrections agencies. The curriculum overview of the
also includes physical fitness, report writing, criminal and motor vehicle laws and justice system, and
procedures, rules of evidence, search and seizure, communications, patrol strategies, includes classes on
arrest procedures, firearms training, and basic investigations. (See Table 10-1.) specific skills and
Some police jurisdictions provide basic preservice training through an acad- knowledge areas
emy serving that one jurisdiction. Others have a different academy structure. For related to police
instance, many states and rural areas have centralized academy facilities that serve work.
Recruits at the San

Diego County Sheriff’s
Training Academy
engaged in physical
fitness training.
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table 10-1 Sample Academy Curriculum
Although the length and subject areas of preservice training programs may vary, all such programs address the basic knowledge, skills,
and abilities (KSAs) a police officer should possess and demonstrate. As an example of preservice training, the state-established
minimum requirements for California police academy content (learning domains) and hourly requirements are presented below. Most
California police academies exceed the minimum content and hourly requirements.
DOMAIN MINIMUM DOMAIN MINIMUM

NUMBER DOMAIN DESCRIPTION HOURS NUMBER DOMAIN DESCRIPTION HOURS
01 Leadership, Professionalism, & Ethics 8 hours 27 Missing Persons 4 hours
02 Criminal Justice System 2 hours 28 Traffic Enforcement 16 hours
03 Policing in the Community 18 hours 29 Traffic Collision Investigations 12 hours
04 Victimology/Crisis Intervention 6 hours 30 Crime Scenes, Evidence, and Forensics 12 hours
05 Introduction to Criminal Law 4 hours 31 Custody 2 hours
06 Property Crimes 6 hours 32 Lifetime Fitness 44 hours
07 Crimes against Persons/Death Investigation 6 hours 33 Arrest Methods/Defensive Tactics 60 hours
08 General Criminal Statutes 2 hours 34 First Aid and CPR 21 hours
09 Crimes against Children 4 hours 35 Firearms/Chemical Agents 72 hours
10 Sex Crimes 4 hours 36 Information Systems 2 hours
11 Juvenile Law and Procedure 3 hours 37 People with Disabilities 6 hours
12 Controlled Substances 12 hours 38 Gang Awareness 2 hours
13 ABC Law 2 hours 39 Crimes against the Justice System 4 hours
15 Laws of Arrest 12 hours 40 Weapons Violations 4 hours
16 Search and Seizure 12 hours 41 Hazardous Materials Awareness 4 hours
17 Presentation of Evidence 6 hours 42 Cultural Diversity/Discrimination 16 hours
18 Investigative Report Writing 52 hours 43 Emergency Management 16 hours
19 Vehicle Operations 24 hours Minimum Instructional Hours 560 hours
20 Use of Force 12 hours The minimum number of hours allocated
21 Patrol Techniques 12 hours to testing are shown below
22 Vehicle Pullovers 14 hours Scenario Tests (40 hours test administra- 58 hours
23 Crimes in Progress 20 hours tion; 18 hours Scenario Demonstration)
24 Handling Disputes/Crowd Control 8 hours Written Tests (25 hours test administration; 40 hours
15 hours examination review)
25 Domestic Violence 10 hours
Exercise Tests (Physical Skills Pilot Tests) 6 hours
26 Unusual Occurrences 4 hours
Total Minimum Required Hours 664 hours
Source: California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, 2009.
numerous agencies in the region. Small jurisdictions send their recruits to one of
these centralized academy facilities.
The curriculum of most police academies falls into two categories: conceptual
and practical. Conceptual courses may cover topics such as leadership, ethics, the
writings of Sir Robert Peel, and the use of force. Courses focused on practical appli-
cation may concentrate on skill areas such as firearms use, defensive tactics, vehicle
operations, and conflict management. (See Table 10-2.)
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table 10-2 Police Academy Statistics
In 2006, the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) conducted a census of state and local law enforce-
ment training academies. The 2006 BJS Census of Law Enforcement Training Academies findings
included the following:
• Basic training programs averaged 19 weeks in length.

• Topics with the most instruction time included firearms (median of 60 hours), self-defense (51 hours),
health and fitness (46 hours), patrol procedures (40 hours), investigations (40 hours), emergency
vehicle operations (40 hours), criminal law (36 hours), and basic first aid (24 hours).
• Of an estimated 57,000 recruits who entered basic training programs during 2005, 86 percent
successfully completed the program and graduated from the academy.
• Academies with a predominately nonstress (academic) orientation (89 percent) experienced a higher
completion rate than academies with a predominately stress (paramilitary) orientation (80 percent)
(U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2009).
To reflect changes in regulations, American culture, and politics, today’s police

officer should be required to master several topics in addition to the traditional
subjects covered in basic preservice training. These include the following:
• Leadership: Leadership development should begin in the police academy,
where recruits are first introduced to the policing profession; the role of
personal and organizational leadership; and the concepts of power, authority,
and legitimate influence of others. At the academy, instructors must emphasize
motivational leadership—the ability to influence others to do what the leader
wants because it is also what the people want.
• Civil liability law: Gone are the days when line and command officers viewed
the use of force as standard procedure. Today, any officer who uses force may
come under intensive scrutiny by command officers and legal representatives
to determine whether the situation justified the degree of force used. And if
a police officer uses physical force—especially deadly force—the victim or
victim’s family will likely file a civil lawsuit against the officer as well as the
agency. (See Chapter 13 for more information on legal issues in policing.)
• Agency relations: During basic preservice training, police recruits must
also learn which agencies are responsible for which services offered to the
community. For instance, when a fire breaks out in an apartment building,
police, fire service, and emergency medical services (EMS) personnel will
be dispatched to the scene. Everyone involved must know who is in charge
of which activities, such as administering CPR, interviewing witnesses, and
suppressing the fire.
• Terrorism: Since September 11, 2001, the federal government has mandated
that police academies provide training in how to handle mass casualties
and what to do during and after a terrorist attack. The U.S. Department of
Homeland Security also offers similar training and other support to state and
local police agencies to accomplish its objective of preparing first responders.
• Cultural diversity: The United States has always been home to diverse
populations. Thus many police agencies serve communities in which residents
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vary widely in ethnic background, religious belief, economic circumstances, and

other characteristics. A police officer’s primary mission is to protect and serve all
people, regardless of such differences. Cultural diversity training can help officers
learn to recognize and respect these and other differences. For instance, many
recent immigrants hail from countries where citizens fear and mistrust the police.
When they witness or become victims of a crime, they may be too frightened to
talk with officers about the incident. By understanding this particular cultural
legacy, officers can use verbal and nonverbal communication to reassure
witnesses or victims that the police are there to help, and thereby overcome
their fears. Cultural diversity training cannot entirely eliminate any biases an
individual officer may have toward members of specific groups; however, it can
help the officer appreciate differences and understand why people from different
cultures, ethnic backgrounds, or socioeconomic standing behave as they do. The
bottom line is that police officers must strive to treat all citizens with respect and
civility (Police Executive Research Forum, 2004), and cultural diversity training
can help them fulfill this responsibility.
Finally, some police academies emphasize military-style stress programs. Although
instructors must evaluate a recruit’s ability to handle stressful situations, obedience-
oriented, military-style basic training may be detrimental to the learning process
and inconsistent with actual civilian police work. Military-style marching and over-
emphasis of uncritical obedience has little value in the performance of modern-day
police tasks. Stress-related training in police academies should simulate the actual
occupational environment of police officers (City of Los Angeles, 2003; Goldstein,
2001; Meese & Ortmeier, 2004), thus it should be used only to assess a recruit’s
ability to respond and exercise effective judgment in stressful situations encountered
on the job.
On-the-Job (Field) Training After successfully completing the basic preservice acad-
Field training officer emy program, a recruit typically enters on-the-job (field) training under the direct
(FTO): supervision of a senior officer or designated field training officer (FTO). The FTO
a knowledgeable, uses a field training guide (a manual) to instruct the recruit and document the
seasoned, and person’s progress. The field training program focuses on the KSAs required of a
competent police officer on the job. FTOs must assess how recruits apply what they learned in
officer trained in the academy to real-world contexts, placing special emphasis on recruits’ ability to
adult education relate to victims, suspects, citizens, groups, and persons within the agency, includ-
and evaluation ing fellow officers and command staff. The relationship between a recruit and the
procedures, who FTO can be quite close, with the FTO serving as a mentor and role model for the
supervises recruits’ recruit.
on-the-job (field) FTOs should be knowledgeable, competent, and seasoned officers trained in
training. adult education and evaluation procedures. During field training, the FTO sets the
pace and takes the lead, allowing the new officer to slowly assume more duties of a
Field training full-time seasoned officer. By the end of the field training program, the new officer
program: should be performing 100 percent of a police officer’s duties and responsibilities.
training that focuses The FTO writes a formal report that highlights the probationary officer’s strengths,
on the knowledge, weaknesses, and level of competence in subject-matter areas and performance, and
skills, and abilities submits it to a command officer.
(KSAs) required The probationary officer’s training continues for several months, during which the
of a police officer individual works alone but is guided by a first-line supervisor who monitors performance,
on the job. provides remedial training for performance shortfalls or knowledge gaps, and prepares
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and submits monthly evalua- On-the-job training

tions. Upon successful comple- with a certified field
tion of the probationary period, training officer (FTO)
the individual becomes a ten- or supervisor is part
ured full-time sworn officer. of a recruit’s training
Unlike basic preservice protocol.
training methodology, field
training methodology var-
ies considerably. Many police
agencies (as well as acad-
emies and continuous pro-
fessional training efforts) use
progressive training programs,
which emphasize scenario- and
problem-based learning. An
example of such programs is
California’s basic academy and
field training format. The goal
is to help probationary offi-
cers develop critical thinking,
problem-solving, and ethical
leadership abilities.
In-Service (Continuous Professional) Training Like lawyers and doctors,

police practitioners must not only maintain but also periodically update their skills.
They can do so through in-service continuous professional training (CPT). State In-service
commissions on peace officer standards and training, as well as police agencies, pre- continuous
scribe in-service training subject areas and specify hourly requirements. Mandatory professional training
in-service training typically focuses on legal updates, technological advances, and (CPT):
refresher training related to perishable skills such as CPR, use of force, firearms, training designed
defensive tactics, tactical communications, report writing, and vehicle operations. to enable police
CPT can also be optional. Such training may address counterterrorism, fraudu- practitioners to
lent document recognition, or the role of the FTO, or may help officers prepare maintain and
for promotion. For instance, many police agencies as well as licensing authorities periodically update
provide officer training programs in supervision, leadership, and promotion exam their skills.
preparation. (See the box “The Role of Licensing Boards and Commissions in
Officer Training.”)
Additional optional CPT examples include training specifically associated
with traffic safety management. Such training may cover commercial vehicle
code enforcement as well as driving under the influence (DUI) or driving while
intoxicated (DWI) detection, field sobriety testing, and breath analyzer operations.
Training specific to youth services may include juvenile delinquency and drug abuse
resistance education (DARE) for schoolchildren and their parents.
In-service training is usually conducted by certified or proficient instructors who
are experts in the subject matter being taught. It may be offered on a semiannual or
annual basis, and may be provided for individuals, teams, or entire departments. For
instance, an officer who wants or needs to know more about cultural diversity may
receive customized training. Or members of a police agency’s K9 team (officers and
their dogs) may participate in workshops on canine handling and task performance.
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ETHIC S I N ACT I ON
Is Ethics Training Necessary?
ne autumn morning, Sergeant Philip Ross placed his 9mm handgun
O into his waist band and walked into the woods behind his home.
Ross thought of his wife, his daughter, and a close family of fel-
low officers he was leaving behind. A note in his pocket read, “I’m sorry,
please forgive me.” A New Jersey grand jury indictment bearing his name
was attached to the note.
Ross had been indicted for lying to strengthen a criminal case against
a major drug dealer. He lied by claiming in an investigative report that drugs
found in the dealer’s home were the fruit of a search warrant. In fact, the drugs
were uncovered during a protective sweep before the search warrant was
issued, rendering the search illegal and the drugs inadmissible as evidence.
Ross’s wife discovered that her husband had left the house. She ran
into the woods and found Ross in time to stop him from committing suicide.
The two returned home and drove to the courthouse so Ross could face his
criminal charge. Later, Ross said, “For years I trained . . . firearms, tactics,
officer safety, and in the end I destroyed my own career and almost my
life with one stupid decision” (Sutton, 2006). Sergeant Ross’s statement
implies that he received training to prepare him for the physical dangers of
police work, but not the dangers that come with ethical dilemmas.
1. Why might ethics training in police work be as important as skills training?
2. Using what you have learned about ethics in previous chapters, design
an ethics curriculum for police recruits.
Officers engaged in
a refresher in-service
training course in
the use of force and
defensive tactics.
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The Role of Licensing Boards and

Commissions in Officer Training
State-based licensing boards and peace officer standards and training (POST)
commissions set minimum selection and training standards for officers.
Participating agencies agree to operate according to the standards established
by POST. The licensing authorities provide technical assistance, services, and
benefits such as job task assessment tools, research to improve officer selec-
tion standards, management consulting services, reimbursement for training,
and supervisory or leadership development programs.
In conjunction with subject-matter experts (SMEs), who determine what
subject matter will be taught, licensing boards and commissions modify basic
preservice and in-service training curricula and develop new courses as the need
arises. POST commissions certify trainers, issue professional certificates in recog-
nition of officer achievement and proficiency, and maintain a centralized database
of individual officers’ training records. Because most states mandate in-service as
well as basic preservice training of officers, the state-based licensing authorities
also monitor officers’ in-service training requirements and participation.
Augmenting Training with Higher Education

As you read in Chapter 8, study results indicate that police officers who possess a col-
lege education bring numerous forms of value to the job. For example, they exercise
better judgment and understanding of government and its processes than officers
without a college degree, and they are more creative and less rigid when facing difficult
(especially stressful) situations. College-educated officers demonstrate greater empathy
toward others, are more communicative, are less authoritarian and ego-centered, and
are more participative and engaging (Bostrom, 2005; Friedmann, 2006).
Convinced by such studies, many police agencies have begun offering incentives to
officers for advancing their formal education after beginning their careers. These incen-
tives may take the form of tuition reimbursement, promotion points, or higher salaries.
Numerous agencies also require undergraduate and graduate degrees for advancement
to the highest administrative positions. Officers must achieve a certain educational
level to be eligible to take the requisite test before being considered for promotion.
To develop a culture in which everyone in a police agency values higher learning,
agency leaders must send a clear message that higher education defines the professional
police officer. They must explain how higher education benefits officers, the agency,
and the community. Finally, they must reinforce the message by promoting such offi-
cers as well as involving them in the agency’s plans and decisions.
DEVELOPMENT: ENHANCING OFFICERS’

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES (KSAs)
Development of personal and professional KSAs is as important as training for
every police officer because it contributes to officers’ lifelong learning and growth.
Development can take several forms, including career planning, leadership develop-
ment programs, and succession planning.
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Career Planning for an Aspiring Police Sergeant

Patrick, a 10-year veteran police officer, would like to become a police supervi-
sor but has not earned scores high enough on the sergeant’s exam oral boards
to be considered for the promotion. He requests help from his agency’s train-
ing department. Training personnel inform him that the next sergeant’s exam
is in 10 months. They advise him to prepare for the exam by attending train-
ing sessions on leadership as well as communication and presentation skills,
and by reviewing articles, books, and research papers on these topics. They
also suggest that he join a local public-speaking club to further strengthen his
skills. A sergeant from the training department promises to contact Patrick in
a week to follow up and to establish a master plan for reaching Patrick’s goal.
Career Planning
Career plan: The career plan for every police officer begins when the candidate completes an
a document employment application and ends with each individual’s retirement from the law
describing a police profession. A police officer’s career plan may result from a formal department
officer’s personal protocol or an informal process through which the officer creates the plan with or
career vision; without assistance. (See the box “Career Planning for an Aspiring Police Sergeant.”)
a timetable for Regardless of how it comes about, the plan should include a personal career vision;
action; and detailed a timetable for action; and detailed descriptions of any training, education, and
descriptions of any career steps necessary to carry out the plan.
training, education, In-service training is a useful place to begin planning for an officer’s career
and career steps because it focuses the officer’s and supervisors’ attention on the KSAs the individual
necessary to must develop to handle critical job areas such as firearms, defensive tactics, ethics,
complete the plan. leadership, and legal updates. To strengthen particular KSAs through in-service
Many police officers

enhance their career
opportunities by
continuing their formal
college education.
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Miami, Florida,
officers take part in a
certification program
graduation ceremony
of the Canine (K9)
Academy in 2007.
training, officers might take advantage of seminars on particular topics, computer-

based training, and formal training experiences. Self-directed learning can also
prove valuable. This type of learning might take several forms, including reading
police journals, training bulletins, legal updates, study guides for promotions,
and police websites. Officers can also complete formal coursework or audit college
courses.
To further develop their careers, officers can also take advantage of training and
certification programs that focus on special areas of police work—such as evidence
collection procedures, special weapons and tactics, canine or scuba operations, or
equestrian (mounted) or motorcycle patrol. Subject-matter certifications are also
available for collision investigation, explosive devices, and hazardous materials.
Certification in any of these special topics may require a part-time or full-time
commitment from the officer. For example, background investigator and FTO
training prepares officers for part-time department commitments during the hiring
process. A full-time commitment may be necessary for other positions, such as
evidence technician or equestrian officer.
A career plan should include informal enrichment opportunities in addition to
formal ones. For instance, officers can seize advantage of opportunities to learn on
the job—by observing crime-scene procedures, interrogation practices, or the trial
process. Or they may obtain instructor status with the agency or fill an adjunct
faculty position at a local educational institution. Officers can also develop their
careers through formal advancement through the agency’s ranks or by securing a
special assignment such as public relations officer, aid to the chief, or crime analyst.
Lateral transfers to another municipal, county, state, or federal agency can provide
additional career-development experiences.
Regardless of the specifics laid out in an officer’s career plan, the plan should
contain a feedback process through which a mentor or supervisor provides timely
information on the officer’s progress, as well as a follow-up component through which
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the officer can expect a review and update to the plan (Gravenkemper, 2008). However,
no officer should leave a career plan to fate. Officers must take ownership of their plans
and shoulder the responsibility for creating and regularly updating their plans.
Leadership Development Programs

All officers in a police agency can benefit from learning how to lead—that is, how
to influence, motivate, guide, and direct. This includes front-line personnel—the
line-level officers who patrol the jurisdiction, whether on bicycles, horses, or foot,
or in a vehicle, boat, or aircraft. But until recently, leadership training for front-
line officers was not a major concern in most agencies, because line officers were
viewed as call takers, report writers, and crime fighters. Promotions were based
on civil service or other tests that focused on the officer’s potential to move into a
supervisory position. There were virtually no leadership development strategies for
line-level police personnel (Jurkanin et al., 2001; Ortmeier, 1995; Polisar, 2004).
Fortunately, this situation has begun to change, as police officers and agencies
are called on to be more accountable for their actions within the department and
the community. More agencies value leadership at all ranks and have begun provid-
ing leadership development programs at all levels, including front-line personnel.
The best agencies treat leadership development as an ongoing effort for all police
officers—supporting that effort through their communications to the organization
and the community, and through their resource-allocation decisions. By making it
clear that top management values leadership competencies in personnel throughout
the agency, managers encourage officers at every level to embrace this priority.
At first glance, it may appear that leadership development for front-line officers is
not as important as training in other subject matter. But consider these two scenarios:
• Scenario 1: Responding to a possible domestic violence incident. Robert, a
patrol officer, responds to a frantic phone call from a woman who says that her
husband has threatened to kill her. When Robert arrives, no other officers are
present. The woman opens the door, and Robert can see an agitated man pacing
back and forth behind her in the kitchen. Robert is the only voice of authority
for the incident. He must function as a leader—for example, by embodying
calm in a situation where emotions are running high, and by accurately and
swiftly taking stock of the situation. (For instance, does the man have a
weapon? Is there a history of domestic abuse in this household? How likely is
it that the man will follow through on his threat?) If Robert cannot or will not
step into the role of leader, the conflict may escalate quickly, compromising the
safety of everyone present. Or if Robert misreads the situation (for example, by
concluding that the man is not likely to follow through on his threat), things
may take a violent turn after he leaves the premises.
• Scenario 2: Stopping a motorist for a traffic violation. Pauline, an on-duty officer,
is driving along a busy roadway and sees a motorist speed through a red light.
She decides to pull the motorist over, investigate the situation, and determine
how to respond. To do all this, Pauline must exercise an array of leadership skills
to ensure everyone’s safety during this event. For example, she needs to select a
safe place, out of the way of other traffic, for her and the motorist to pull over.
She must approach the driver’s side door from a safe angle, request his license
and registration, and inform him of the violation. She should determine what
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caused the behavior. (For instance, did the motorist simply not see the red light?
Is there an emergency that caused the person to ignore the light?) She will also
need to radio in his license and registration information to see whether he has a
record of criminal activity or whether the vehicle he is driving has been stolen.
While she is doing all this, Pauline will be gathering additional information, such
as whether the vehicle’s inspection sticker is up-to-date. At each point during
this process, Pauline will need to exercise judgment, communicate effectively,
and make decisions based on the information she is collecting—all activities that
require strong leadership skills.
Leadership development in a police environment may take the form of classes
or seminars that help people identify leadership attributes based on personalities
or master leadership behaviors through role plays and other exercises. Supervisors
can also coach employees in the improvement of traits and skills that characterize
excellent leadership—such as the ability to attract followers, to provide focus and
direction, and to strengthen their organization through their efforts (Monteith,
2007). (See Chapter 11 for a focused analysis of leadership.)
Line-level officers who develop their leadership competencies will begin dem-
onstrating specific new behaviors and attitudes. They will earn citizens’ respect
and loyalty, so people want to follow them. They will communicate effectively,
persuasively, and with empathy to colleagues and community members. They will
know what the agency’s mission is and how officers’ everyday activities can support
fulfillment of that mission. If the police agency is committed to community partner-
ing and problem solving, police officer-leaders will understand what these concepts
mean, how they inform their interactions with community residents, and how to
motivate citizens to participate in addressing the problems affecting them.
Training versus Action
On September 3, 2006, a 23-year-old off-duty rookie settle a lawsuit initiated by the player. During the civil
police officer shot and wounded a professional foot- trial leading to the “no-fault” settlement, the officer
ball player after an early-morning vehicle chase. The conceded that his actions (pursuing a suspect while
officer, out of uniform and driving his own car, fol- off duty in his own vehicle) during the incident were
lowed the player, suspecting that he was driving under inconsistent with the training he had received in the
the influence of alcohol or drugs. During the pursuit, police academy.
the officer notified on-duty colleagues while flashing
1. How can agency leaders ensure that police
his headlights in an attempt to stop the other driver.
actions will be consistent with the training that
When the pursuit ended in a residential cul-de-sac,
recruits receive?
the athlete left his vehicle and approached the off-
duty officer—who shot him twice, wounding him in the 2. Describe how the off-duty officer did or did not
back of the left knee and hip. In July 2008, the city use leadership skills effectively. What would you
that employed the officer agreed to pay $5.5 million to have done differently in this situation?
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Succession Planning
In addition to providing career planning and leadership development programs,
police agencies must engage in succession planning to further develop employees’
competencies and ensure that the right talent can be deployed when it is needed.
Succession planning: Succession planning ensures that adequate qualified personnel are available to
activities intended to replace those who vacate positions through promotion, transfer, retirement, termi-
ensure that adequate nation, or agency expansion.
qualified personnel Through succession planning, an agency identifies and grooms people to fill
are available to vacant positions within the organization, taking into account how well a prospect’s
replace those who personality, knowledge, skill level, and attitudes render the individual suitable for
vacate positions the position (Human Capital Advisor, 2005). Agencies skilled at succession plan-
through promotion, ning hire, promote, and transfer employees to new assignments or temporary posi-
transfer, retirement, tions in a manner consistent with the agency’s vision, mission, and goals. Almost
termination, or continuously, they fill positions from inside the organization through promotion or
agency expansion. reassignment or externally through hiring. For example, an agency might fill vacant
positions through promotional testing or appointment by the hiring authority, often
the chief, commissioner, or sheriff. It may also staff special assignments and short-
term projects by using an internal selection process. For example, managers might
know that an officer has experience with or education in public relations and thus
might function well as the agency’s public information officer.
For key positions and assignments, an agency should develop a three- to five-
year succession plan. Thus, this kind of planning requires patience and care. To
ensure successful staffing of critical positions, agencies must select and retain the
right people for these positions; identify and promote the best performers; motivate
and train employees; help them acquire or strengthen the skills needed to achieve
desirable results; and prepare employees to move into new, more challenging posi-
tions (Succession Planning 101, 2007).
To do all this, agency managers assess the behaviors and attitudes required of
potential candidates for specific positions and then determine which candidates fulfill
or have the potential to meet those requirements. An effective succession plan paves the
way for the agency to promote people with the KSAs needed for particular roles (LaPla
& Gravenkemper, 2007) and to groom promising individuals to take on new roles.
To groom individuals to assume specialty, supervisory, and command assign-
ments, an agency provides developmental opportunities, educational incentives,
Deployment of and leadership skills training. For example, officers take on increasingly challeng-
human resources: ing responsibilities through job rotation, community service, and special project
the process of assignments (AME Info, 2007). By developing their personal and professional skills
placing the right through these experiences, officers ready themselves to move into roles where they
person in the right will provide the most value for the community the agency serves.
job or on the right
tasks or projects,
according to a DEPLOYMENT: PUTTING HUMAN
candidate’s strengths, RESOURCES TO THE BEST USE
weaknesses,
knowledge, skills, Deployment of human resources is the process of placing the right person in the right
and abilities job or on the right tasks or projects, according to a candidate’s strengths, weaknesses,
(KSAs)—as well as and KSAs—as well as interests. A police agency can determine how best to deploy
interests. its human resources by using three processes: strategic project or task assignments,
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workforce scheduling, and Emergency services

assembly and use of working (SWAT) team members
groups. in action.
Strategic Project or
Task Assignments
Through strategic project or
task assignments, a police
agency determines its needs and
matches the right personnel—
based on KSAs as well as
interests—to projects and job
assignments so needs are met.
For example, agency leaders
determine who is most suitable
for the SWAT team and who
is best suited for a project that
involves extensive collabora-
tion with community leaders.
Or they identify officers who
excel at and enjoy interacting
with members of the community, and assign them to efforts that require relationship
building. Meanwhile, they assign officers with a strong desire to combat crime to initia-
tives emphasizing law enforcement.
When an agency makes a good match between a person’s KSAs and interests
and a job or project, employees are more motivated and productive, and they derive
greater satisfaction from their work. All this translates into better performance and
stronger loyalty to the agency. These benefits in turn lead to more satisfied com-
munity residents and lower costs for the agency, as managers do not have to recruit
and train new hires to replace defectors.
Yet proper placement of a deserving individual is not always easy. Seniority
rules and union contracts often prescribe who is eligible for special assignments
or promotions. Agency leaders must work within those constraints in seeking to
match the right people to the right types of work. For example, progressive agen-
cies generally negotiate with their police representative bodies to agree that seniority
will be the deciding factor if all other requirements for a position are equal between
employees interested in the job. Those requirements may include physical fitness
standards and a positive disciplinary record for entrance to (for instance) a SWAT
or K9 handler position. Requirements for a firearms police instructor position may
include an above-average score on past qualifying firearms tests, demonstrations
of necessary standards of physical fitness, a firearms instructor certification, and a
history of assisting or instructing classes or individuals in various topics (such as
training volunteers for organizations like the Red Cross).
Workforce Scheduling
In addition to knowing whom to assign to which projects and tasks, agency manag-
ers must also engage in smart workforce scheduling. Through workforce scheduling,
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table 10-3 Sample 8-Hour Shift Schedule
Shift A 2230 hours to 0730 hours (10:30 p.m. to 7:30 a.m.)

Shift B 0630 hours to 1530 hours (6:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.)
Shift C 1430 hours to 2330 hours (2:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.)
Shift D* 1830 hours to 0330 hours (6:30 p.m. to 3:30 a.m.)
*Optional D shift for peak activity period.
the agency determines how many people are required for particular assignments
and how much time they should devote to the work. A needs assessment can help
managers develop a workforce schedule. For instance, if an assignment (area or post)
requires continuous patrol or staffing (24 hours per day, 7 days per week), about 4.5
full-time equivalent (FTE) officers will be required to cover that assignment. This
estimate accounts for vacations, holidays, and sick leave, but not overtime.
A needs assessment should also reveal an assignment’s estimated workload. For
example, information on the number of calls for police service, types of calls, time
requirement per call, and backup officer requirement frequency can help the agency
determine how many officers are needed to adequately staff a service area (such as
a beat or a district). The most effective workforce scheduling maximizes coverage
and service quality while minimizing resources required.
Agencies typically schedule three 8-hour shifts to ensure 24-hour coverage.
Managers may add a fourth shift to cover daily peak activity periods. The resulting
schedule will take into account meal breaks and roll calls. (See Table 10-3.)
To improve morale and reduce overtime and sick-leave abuse, some agen-
cies schedule three 10-hour shifts designed to overlap during peak periods. Fewer
officers are required for each shift, yet a greater number are available during peak
periods. Officers work four 10-hour shifts, with three days off. (See Table 10-4.)
A few agencies schedule 12.5-hour shifts. With this arrangement, officers work
three or four days each week, alternating every seven-day period. The 12.5-hour
shift arrangement necessitates only two shift changes every 24 hours. Decreasing
the number of shift changes typically reduces personnel costs. However, some
might also argue that long shifts introduce inefficiency because officers tire and
therefore become less productive toward the end of the shift. Further, tired officers
can become careless, and with carelessness comes the risk of poor judgment and
mistakes, which can lead to use of excessive force, mistreatment of citizens, and
even officer injuries or fatalities (Ortmeier, 1999, 2009; Payton & Amaral, 2004).
Scheduling personnel in policing and other public safety environments can be
extremely complex and labor intensive. Collective bargaining rules, seniority systems,
table 10-4 Sample 10-Hour Shift Schedule
Shift A 2400 hours to 1000 hours (midnight to 10:00 a.m.)

Shift B 0800 hours to 1800 hours (8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.)
Shift C 1600 hours to 0200 hours (4:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m.)
Shift D* 1700 hours to 0300 hours (5:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m.)
*Shift D optional.
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A typical shift change

at a police agency.
assignment variations, unforeseen emergencies, and around-the-clock operations

complicate the process. However, technological advancements—such as commercially
available software programs—can make scheduling easier. Moreover, police manag-
ers must keep in mind that scheduling should not be based solely on the number
and nature of calls-for-service. They also need to take into account the agency’s mis-
sion, goals, and budgetary constraints when establishing a workforce schedule. For
example, an agency that is prevention oriented may opt to assign police personnel
to a neighborhood even though residents issue only infrequent calls-for-service. This
strategy would not only maintain the neighborhood’s safety, it would also enable the
police to respond quickly to any calls-for-service that do arise.
Working Groups
A third valuable deployment practice is the assembly and use of working groups.
Such groups are assigned to meet specific needs and can be permanent or temporary
(existing for a specified number of days, weeks, or months.) Working groups can
take three forms: teams, task forces, and police–community partnerships.
Teams A team consists of a group of people who receive specialized training and Team:
use that training to address a specific incident. Teams are relatively permanent. For a group of people
instance, an agency summons its SWAT team to respond to a situation in which who receive
an armed suspect has seized several hostages and is barricaded in a building. The specialized training
agency charges the scuba team with recovering a body or a vehicle submerged in and use that training
water. It calls on the bomb squad or hazardous-materials disposal team to investi- to address a specific
gate and dispose of a suspicious package or toxic substance. It deploys the emotion- incident.
ally disturbed person response team (EDPRT) to help a citizen who is threatening
suicide. Or it calls on the gang unit to investigate and address the escalation of
gang-related violence in a particular neighborhood.
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A police scuba team Task Forces A task force is

preparing to dive to a temporary working group
retrieve a body. assembled to address a specific
problem or manage an event
requiring specialized exper-
tise. The group may include
an array of specialists from dif-
ferent agencies who pool their
diverse knowledge and skills
to address a specific need. For
instance, a task force might be
assembled to provide security
in a city that is expecting a visit
from the U.S. president, or to
determine how to reduce pros-
titution or drug dealing in a
particular neighborhood.
Most people are familiar
with task forces through high-
profile serial-murder cases.
Washington State’s Green
River Killer is one example.
In this case, the King County
Sheriff’s Office assembled a
task force in the early 1980s
comprising several detectives,
a criminal profiling expert, and
the sheriff himself to pursue
Task force: leads and to apprehend what seemed to be a serial killer. The task force’s work led to
a temporary identification of Gary Ridgeway as a suspect in 1983. It took many years to compile
working group enough evidence to arrest Ridgeway, which police did in 2001. Ridgeway pleaded
assembled to guilty to 48 charges of aggravated first-degree murder as part of a plea bargain that
address a specific would spare him execution in return for his cooperation in providing information
problem or manage about his remaining victims. He was sentenced to life in prison.
a particular event
requiring specialized Police–Community Partnerships Police–community partnerships often stem from
expertise. an agency’s decision to use a community policing strategy. (See Chapter 2.) In fact,
engagement with citizens to form collaborative partnerships is essential to any worth-
Police–community while community policing and problem-solving effort. How do such partnerships
partnerships: work? Here is an example: Leaders of a community become concerned about the
collaborations lack of a safe play area for children. They alert the police, who join forces with com-
between officers and munity members to develop and implement a solution. The police and community
community citizens ultimately decide to have neighborhood volunteers supervise the children at play.
to address citizens’ Many police–community partnerships focus on noncriminal quality-of-life
concerns. problems experienced by the community the agency serves. For instance, police
might bring together members of diverse populations in the community to brain-
storm and implement ideas for making the streets safer in the community overall,
especially if recreational facilities, playgrounds, parks, and similar venues are not
available, leaving the streets the only place where children may congregate and play.
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A Washington State
Green River Task
Force member ponders
investigative strategy.
summary
• Training: Developing Skills and Preparing for Police Work. Proper training
enhances police personnel’s skills and prepares them to deliver excellent
performance on the job. Types of training include basic preservice training
(academy-based training that introduces recruits to police work, provides
an overview of the justice system, and offers classes on specific skills and
knowledge areas related to police work), on-the-job or field training under
the direct supervision of a senior officer or designed field training officer
(FTO), and in-service or continuous professional training, which enables
police practitioners to maintain and periodically update their skills. Many
police agencies are augmenting training with higher education; for example,
by offering incentives to officers for advancing their formal education after
beginning their careers.
• Development: Enhancing Officers’ Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs).
Development contributes to officers’ lifelong learning and growth. It can take
several forms, including career planning (articulating an officer’s career vision,
developing a timetable for action, and describing any training, education, and
career steps needed to complete the plan); leadership development programs
(which teach officers how to influence, motivate, guide, direct, and make
decisions; and succession planning (which comprises activities intended to
ensure that adequate qualified personnel are available to replace those who
vacate positions through promotion, transfer, retirement, termination, or
agency expansion).
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• Deployment: Putting Human Resources to the Best Use. Deployment is the

process of placing the right person in the right job or on the right tasks or
projects, according to an individual’s strengths, weaknesses, KSAs, as well
as interests and the needs of the police agency. An agency deploys personnel
using several processes. These include strategic project or task assignment
(determining the agency’s needs and matching the right personnel to
projects and job assignments so those needs are met), workforce scheduling
(determining how many people are required for particular assignments and
how much time they should devote to the work), and assembly and use of
working groups such as teams, task forces, and police–community partnerships.
key terms
basic preservice training in-service continuous professional

career plan training (CPT)
police–community partnerships succession planning
deployment of human resources task force
education team
field training officer (F TO) training
field training program
1. The training process for new police officers consists of more than classroom lectures
and tests. How do the three types of training described in this chapter (basic pre-
service, on-the-job or field, and in-service or continuous professional) differ in their
focus and purpose?
2. Basic preservice training is a crucial part of a new police officer’s learning. What are
some examples of the subject areas traditionally covered in police academy curricula?
What are some special topics now covered during basic preservice training because of
changes in regulations, American culture, and politics?
3. How does development differ from training? Select one of the three forms of devel-
opment described in this chapter (career planning, leadership development programs,
and success planning). What are the key defining elements of the development form
you selected? How does the form differ in its purpose from the other two forms?
4. Why is it important for line officers to develop leadership skills? Think of a scenario
(not one of the scenarios presented in this chapter) in which an officer would need to
demonstrate leadership. What skills would the officer need to exercise in the scenario
you have chosen? What risks would arise if the officer failed to lead? In what ways
would strong leadership by the officer in this scenario help produce desirable outcomes?
5. What is meant by deployment in a police agency? How does deployment differ from
development and training in its processes and purpose?
6. What considerations do police agencies weigh while seeking to match personnel to
project or task assignments?
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7. What decisions must a police agency make while developing a workforce schedule?
In addition to trying to maximize coverage and service quality through effective
workforce scheduling, what else does an agency seek to do regarding resources?
8. The assembly and use of working groups are key processes in deployment of human
resources at a police agency. What are the three types of working groups described
in this chapter, and how do they compare and contrast in terms of their purpose,
composition, and length of duration?
WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

Evaluating Evan
You are a sergeant in a medium-size police agency. Evan, a probationary police
officer, has been assigned to you as a direct report. Your agency is currently
understaffed and is experiencing severe budget constraints. For these reasons,
it is not planning to hire any officers for at least one year. Evan has completed
basic preservice and field training, and is finishing the probationary officer
phase of training in two weeks. Your commanding officer has asked you to
review Evan’s performance and submit a report including your recommenda-
tion as to whether the agency should retain Evan.
Evan passed the academy with minimal grades and, in your view, has
demonstrated average to below-average performance. He finally completed
field training only after being allowed to extend the training several times and
after receiving numerous hours of remedial help. He needs constant supervi-
sion, takes longer than his peers to complete assignments, and continually asks
for remedial training from you. Other officers in your platoon have said that
Evan often asks for advice regarding how he should handle calls-for-service.
On the other hand, Evan is never out sick, always arrives at work on
time, and has a positive attitude. He is also well liked by his fellow officers
and appears to get along with other commanders and with members of the
community. Indeed, several community residents have commented on Evan’s
helpfulness and his sensitivity to cultural differences in their neighborhood.
1. After weighing Evan’s positive and negative qualities and performance,
would you recommend that your agency retain Evan? Why or why not?
2. If you would recommend retaining Evan, would you offer him any train-
ing and/or developmental opportunities to help improve his performance?
If so, what types of training or development would you want to provide?
How might you take your agency’s budgetary constraints into account
during this decision?
3. Given Evan’s strengths and weaknesses, along with your agency’s fiscal
constraints, how could Evan best be deployed if the agency retains him?
What types of assignments would make the best use of his skills and
strengths? What types of assignments would be least appropriate for him?
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11
Ethical leadership and
supervisory skills are
essential for all police
officers, regardless of rank.
Leadership and
Supervision
learning outcomes

• compare leadership theories.
• identify major categories of leadership skills.
• distinguish leadership from supervision.
• distinguish authority from power and explain how leaders use both.
• compare leadership styles.
• explain how leadership differs from toxic management.
• demonstrate leadership skills.
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Introduction
When citizens contact the police, they expect responding officers to lead them
from a state of chaos, confusion, or danger to a place of order and safety. This
expectation casts each responding police officer into the role of leader; conse-
quently all officers must develop and demonstrate leadership skills. Leaders
motivate or influence others to action, thus leadership differs from supervision,
through which managers direct others toward the accomplishment of specific
tasks and organizational objectives.
In this chapter, we take a close look at the nature and practice of leadership and
consider how police personnel can serve as effective leaders in their agencies and
communities. We start by summarizing major leadership theories—researchers’
conclusions about the defining principles of leadership. We then describe leader-
ship skills (the abilities required to lead). Although we treat leadership as different
from supervision, we also show how leadership is an ingredient of effective super-
vision. We examine the nature of authority and power, considering how leaders use
these tools. Finally, we examine a range of leadership styles, which constitute the
practices and application of leadership theories. We also contrast effective leader-
ship with toxic, or dysfunctional, supervision.
LEADERSHIP THEORIES
Theories about leadership have evolved over the past century. For example,
researchers in the early twentieth century suggested that leaders had inherent traits
that differentiated them from followers. Later in the twentieth century, researchers
theorized that characteristics of the situations (not a person’s inborn traits) most
strongly determined whether leadership occurred. Still later, researchers began con-
sidering not only how specific situations affected leaders’ and followers’ behavior
but also how such behavior affected situations. Today, many scholars emphasize
leaders’ ability to motivate, influence, and persuade over their ability to control and
direct others. And they argue that with the right training and experience, anyone
can learn to become a leader (Ortmeier, 1995; Ortmeier & Meese, 2010). This is
the stance we take in this book.
Examining the major leadership theories that have evolved over time can pro-
vide you with a foundation of knowledge useful for developing leadership skills
in yourself and others in your agency. It can also help you construct and imple-
ment a leadership style appropriate to your circumstances. To that end, we briefly
describe several types of theories that are categorized based on whether they center
on leaders, followers or situational context, or leader–follower interactions. (See
Table 11-1.) We do not endorse a single leadership theory or approach. Rather, we
encourage you to evaluate them all and to consider how they might best serve you
in your own circumstances.
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table 11-1 Leadership Theory Categories

THEORIES CENTERING ON . . . INCLUDE . . .
The leader • Trait theory

• Behavior theory
• Personal–situational theory
• Interaction–expectation theory
Followers and situational context • Motivation–hygiene theory

• Situational theory
• Contingency theory
• Path–goal leadership theory
• Meta-leadership theory
Leader–follower interactions • Leader–follower exchange theory

• Transactional and transformational theories
• Psychodynamic approach
Sources: Northouse, 2007; Ortmeier & Meese, 2010.
Theories Centering on the Leader

Trait theory: Trait Theory Trait theory represents one of the first attempts to define leadership.
theory that seeks to In the early 1900s, theorists studied great leaders to identify the individual traits
identify the individual that distinguished them and that enabled them to inspire others to follow them.
traits distinguishing These traits included popularity, self-confidence, judgment, humor, aggressiveness,
leaders from desire, adaptability, assertiveness, courage, decisiveness, intelligence, initiative, per-
followers. sistence, and the ability to cooperate (Bass, 1990).
However, in the mid-1900s, research questioning the universality of leadership
traits arose to challenge trait theory (Northouse, 2007). According to these theo-
rists, since settings that require leadership are complex, trait theories cannot fully
explain the nature of leadership (Vinzant & Crothers, 1998).
Behavior theory: Behavior Theor y Behavior theory differs markedly from trait theory. While trait
theory that identifies theorists focus on inborn qualities as well as what leaders do and how they act,
the behaviors behavior theorists suggest that circumstances can cause an individual to take a lead-
distinguishing leaders ership role. Effective leaders, these scholars add, are those who engage in behaviors
who achieve desired that are likely to achieve desired results.
results. Those who study the behavior approach to leadership focus on two general
types of behaviors:
• Task behaviors facilitate goal accomplishment. For instance, a command
officer directs (orders) a line officer to secure (protect) a crime scene.
• Relationship behaviors help others develop comfortable feelings about
themselves, other people, and the situation. For example, the command officer
consults with the line officer about the best way to secure the crime scene.
Effective leaders combine task and relationship behaviors to influence others to
achieve an objective.
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chapter 11 Leadership and Supervision 267
Behavior theory broad- A command officer

ens the scope of leadership directs a line officer
research beyond the limita- to carry out a
tions of trait theory, and it has specific task.
been validated by a wide range
of studies (Blake & Mouton,
1965). However, it still has
its shortcomings. Specifically,
researchers have not estab-
lished a link between leader-
ship behaviors and outcomes,
and they have not identified a
universal leadership style that
could be effective in most situ-
ations (Northouse, 2007).
Personal–Situational Theory
The personal–situational the-
ory was the first to address
leadership’s full complexity.
The theory supposes that a
mix of personal characteris-
tics (an individual’s thoughts, Personal–situational
emotions, and actions) inter- theory:
act with specific conditions in theory proposing that
the person’s environment to a mix of personal
create successful leadership. characteristics
Effectiveness depends on the leader’s ability to understand followers and the environ- interact with
ment in which the followers function, and to react appropriately as followers and the specific conditions
situation change (Bennis, 1961). in an individual’s
environment to
Interaction–Expectation Theor y Interaction–expectation theory proposes that produce leadership.
leadership is the act of initiating a structure (such as a process for accomplishing a
particular task, or an approach to resolving a specific type of problem) that group Interaction–
members support. Members support a structure if it helps solve their problems and expectation theory:
it conforms to group norms, and if they believe that success will result if they follow theory proposing
the leader. Thus, leadership involves initiating as well as fulfilling others’ expecta- that leadership is the
tions (Adler, 2007; Stogdill, 1959). act of initiating a
structure that group
members support.
Theories Centering on Followers and Situational Context Motivation–hygiene
Motivation–Hygiene Theor y Motivation–hygiene theory was developed by theory:
Frederick Herzberg in the 1950s. Herzberg conducted studies to determine which theory proposing
factors in an employee’s work environment caused satisfaction or dissatisfaction. which factors increase
According to Herzberg, job satisfaction, and presumably motivation, and job satisfaction and
dissatisfaction acted independently of each other. He referred to satisfiers (such dissatisfaction among
as achievement, recognition, and advancement) as “motivators” and dissatisfiers employees in an
(including supervision, working conditions, and salary) as “hygiene factors.” organization.
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Herzberg maintained that motivators provide satisfaction arising from the

intrinsic conditions of the job, such as recognition and personal growth. Hygiene fac-
tors do not provide satisfaction, although dissatisfaction results from their absence.
These factors are all extrinsic to the work itself. Basically, positive hygiene factors
(such as good working conditions and an attractive salary) are needed to ensure that
employees do not become dissatisfied (Herzberg, Mausner, & Snyderman, 1959).
Today, most researchers do not view satisfaction and dissatisfaction factors as
existing separately. Further, the theory does not allow for individual differences (for
example, personality traits) that might affect a person’s unique response to a moti-
vating or a hygiene factor.
Situational theory: Situational Theor y Situational theory—developed, refined, and revised between
theory proposing that the late 1960s and 1990s by Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard (1982)—counts among
different situations the most widely recognized theories of leadership. According to situational theory,
demand different different situations demand different styles of leadership. To be effective, leaders
styles of leadership. must adapt their leadership style to specific characteristics of a situation, such as
a follower’s skill level or degree of motivation for completing a particular task or
working toward a goal.
Situational leadership theory is practical, easily understood, and prescriptive (it tells
one what to do) rather than descriptive. It emphasizes leaders’ flexibility, and under-
scores the importance of adapting to followers’ unique needs. However, as with other
theories, critics have pointed out shortcomings. Specifically, few studies have been con-
ducted that justify the assumptions underlying the theory. Moreover, situational lead-
ership questionnaires force respondents to choose predetermined responses that favor
situational theory rather than other leadership behaviors not described in the theory.
Contingency theory: Contingency Theory Similar to situational theory, contingency theory, developed
theory that attempts in the 1960s, reinforces the notion that effective leaders demonstrate styles that fit
to match leaders the situation. Rather than focusing on a person’s ability to adopt a style that fits a sit-
to specific types of uation, contingency theory attempts to match leaders to specific types of situations.
situations. Research suggests that contingency theory is a valid and reliable approach to
explaining effective leadership. Moreover, this theory recognizes that leaders cannot
Path–goal theory: be effective in all situations. However, its critics maintain that contingency theory
theory suggesting that does not fully explain why certain leadership styles may be effective in some situ-
a leader’s role is to ations but not in others. Critics also point out that the theory fails to support the
enhance followers’ notion that leaders can be taught adaptive skills necessary in changing situations
performance by (Fiedler, 1967; Northouse, 2007).
motivating them
Path–Goal Theor y Path–goal theory, proposed in the early 1970s, suggests that a
and by rewarding
leader’s role is to enhance followers’ performance by motivating them and by reward-
achievement of goals.
ing achievement of goals. Unlike situational theory, which suggests that leaders must
adapt to followers’ developmental level, and contingency theory, which supposes a
Meta-leadership: match between a leader’s style and situational variables, the path–goal approach sug-
overarching leadership gests that leaders should use a style that eliminates barriers to achievement of goals
framework designed and meets followers’ motivational needs (House, 1971; Ortmeier & Meese, 2010).
to link organizational
units or organizations; Meta-Leadership Theor y Meta-leadership theory, a recent development, incor-
attempts to transcend porates findings from the research of such theorists as Warren Bennis and Ronald
usual organizational Heifetz. Meta-leadership is an overarching framework designed to link the efforts
confines. of different organizational units or different organizations. Meta-leaders wish to
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transcend usual organizational confines and influence, motivate, and activate change
above and beyond the established lines of their dominion and control. According to
the theory, meta-leaders are driven and motivated by purposes broader than those pre-
scribed by their formal roles (Marcus, Dorn, & Henderson, 2006). However, meta-
leadership theorists tend to define leadership in terms of a recognized span of author-
ity a person holds in a formal role, rather than in informal as well as formal roles.
Theories Centering on Leader–Follower Interactions

Leader–Follower Exchange Theor y Leader–follower exchange theory, which Leader–follower
emerged in the 1970s, departs from theories that focus on leaders (such as trait exchange theory:
and styles approaches) or on context (for example, situational or contingency theory that examines
approaches). Rather than concentrating on what leaders do toward followers the nature and quality
or how leaders and followers behave within specific situations, leader–follower of the relationships
exchange theory examines the relationships between leaders and followers. between leaders and
Researchers discovered two types of relationships: followers.
• In-group relationships arise from expanded and negotiated role
responsibilities. Followers whose performance goes beyond the expected and
who expand their roles with the leader become members of the in-group.
• Out-group relationships result from defined roles such as those found in
employment contracts. Followers who achieve only what is expected are
members of the out-group.
Transactional theory:
Later research into this theory suggested that the quality of the exchange between process in which
leaders and followers is related to positive outcomes for leaders, followers, groups, the leader and
and organizations. Specifically, high-quality leader–follower relationships reduce fol- follower make
lower attrition (such as employee turnover) and result in more positive performance simple exchanges or
evaluations, greater commitment to goal achievement, better attitudes, and more transactions (e.g.,
attention and support from the leader (Graen & Uhl-Bien, 1995; Northouse, 2007). money for work
completed).
Transactional and Transformational Theories Transformational theory was
first introduced by J. V. Downton (1973), but James MacGregor Burns popularized
the theory. According to Burns, most leadership models propose a transactional Transformational
theory (or process), in which leaders and followers make exchanges (Burns, 1978). theory:
For example, a police officer exchanges a verbal warning for a traffic citation if a theory that proposes
motorist behaves civilly when stopped for a motor-vehicle code violation. a process through
Transformational theory proposes a process through which leaders engage oth- which leaders engage
ers and create a connection that enhances motivation and morality in themselves others and create
as well as followers. With transactional leadership, both leaders and followers raise a connection that
each other to higher levels on consciousness and satisfaction. In other words, they enhances motivation
are transformed to a higher level. Transformational leaders possess strong internal and morality in
values and motivate others to put aside self-interest (Burns, 1978). themselves as well as
Transformational leadership theory has weaknesses also. It makes vague refer- followers.
ences to motivation, vision, trust, and nurturing. The theory also tends to treat
leadership as a personality trait rather than as a behavior that individuals can learn.
In practice, transformational leadership can also lead to abuse, if leaders change
followers’ values in a destructive way. When a transformational leader influences
followers to adopt inappropriate values, followers may be steered in the wrong
direction (Northouse, 2007).
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Psychodynamic The Psychodynamic Approach The psychodynamic approach can trace its origin
approach: to the work of Sigmund Freud in his development of psychoanalysis in the 1930s.
an approach It represents an approach to leadership rather than a coherent theory, because it
suggesting that adapts ideas from several behavioral theorists, scholars, and practitioners.
leaders are more According to this approach, leaders are more effective if they have insight into the
effective if they psychological makeup of themselves and their followers. This approach makes none
have insight into the of the assumptions that underlie trait, behavioral, and situational leadership theories.
psychological makeup It does not presume that a particular personality type is best suited for leadership,
of themselves and nor does it attempt to match leadership styles to followers or to particular situations.
their followers. Instead, it emphasizes the importance of leaders’ and followers’ awareness of their own
personality characteristics, and of their understanding of why and how they respond
to each other as they do. According to this approach, effective leaders work to gain
insights into their own tendencies and needs, and they help followers do the same.
Critics of this approach are uncomfortable with the subjective nature of insight
development. They also point out that research on the approach relies primarily on
the clinical observations of psychologists and psychiatrists, whose opinions may
be biased in favor of the approach because it focuses on individuals. Finally, the
approach does not account for organizational variables (such as a company’s cul-
ture, power structure, challenges, tasks) that might influence leaders’ and followers’
behavior (Meese & Ortmeier, 2004; Northouse, 2007; Stech, 2001).
ETHIC S I N ACT I ON
Demotion without Honor
ne skill essential to leaders in a police agency is the ability to decide
O how to handle potential ethics violations. A police chief in a midwest-

ern municipality faced just this situation. With the approval of the
mayor and the city council, the chief demoted a long-time friend and police
captain to a nonsupervisory sergeant’s position. The demotion which came
after a lengthy investigation conducted by the city’s department of civil
rights concluded that the captain gave preferential treatment to officers
with whom he socialized. The captain denied the allegations. Yet city offi-
cials approved the demotion (rather than termination) to avoid further costly
legal action. The city had already spent nearly $500,000 on investigations,
out-of-court settlements, and the suspended captain’s compensation.
Hailed as a trailblazer with innovative ideas when he was initially
promoted, the captain had a troubled tenure. Four officers sued him and
the agency, alleging various acts of discrimination. The civil rights depart-
ment investigation revealed that the captain was involved in three intimate
relationships with subordinate employees. On several occasions, officers
observed the captain embracing another officer while on duty.
1. In what respects were the captain’s actions unethical?
2. Was the captain’s demotion justified? Explain your reasoning.
3. Based on the facts presented, should the captain be terminated
instead of demoted? Why or why not?
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Training of Federal
Air Marshals at
the Federal Law
Enforcement Training
Center.
LEADERSHIP SKILLS
Leadership skill:
A leader is someone others wish to follow, rather than someone who simply issues an ability that can be
commands or coerces others into action (Ortmeier, 2006). As an unknown, ancient measured objectively.
Chinese philosopher is cred-
ited with stating, “When the
best leader’s work is done, the
people will say ‘We did it our-
selves.’” Anyone in a police
agency can be a leader, regard-
less of rank, position, or title.
But leadership requires mas-
tery of specific skills, rather
than possession of particular
qualities (such as inborn per-
sonal traits).
A leadership skill is an
ability that can be measured
objectively; that is, there are
clear metrics for assessing its
results and for determining
whether a person has exhib-
ited the skill. Leadership skills
can be learned and developed An officer of the
through experience, training, Royal Canadian
and education (see the box Mounted Police.
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Training for Ethical Leadership

As we saw in Chapter 1, key leadership skills include demonstrating ethical
behavior. Unfortunately, few police leadership development programs endorsed,
certified, and/or presented through state commissions on peace officer standards
and training as well as colleges and universities focus on ethical leadership
development at all ranks, including police recruits (“Leadership Development
around the States,” 2009). We strongly suggest that ethical leadership training
and development are essential for all police officers, regardless of rank.
“Training for Ethical Leadership”). But while anyone can become a leader, most
studies on leadership skills focus on supervisory-level leadership. For example, in
1996, Anderson and King conducted studies to identify leadership skills neces-
sary for police supervisors and managers in British Columbia (Anderson & King,
1996a, 1996b). A few studies address leadership skills required of front-line officers.
Ortmeier (1996) is one such study—and is believed to be the first. Another such
study was completed in 1997, when the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center
(FLETC), in conjunction with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), devel-
oped a list of leadership skills for police officers.
A Closer Look at the Ortmeier Study

The study conducted by P. J. Ortmeier in 1995 focused on the leadership skills
essential for police officers in an environment that emphasizes community
participation, engagement, and problem solving—all of which are important ingre-
dients for effective policing. Ortmeier defined leadership as the ability to influence
or mobilize individual citizens, groups, businesses, and public and private agencies
to collaborate and participate in activities designed to discover and implement
solutions to community problems. The participants in the study included Herman
Goldstein, who pioneered in the development of problem-oriented policing; former
U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese III; police executives and line officers from
throughout the United States; and law enforcement scholars from Harvard and
Stanford Universities and the John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
Ortmeier grouped the
skills his study identified into
Former U. S. Attorney
General, Edwin five major categories. (See
Meese III. Table 11-2.)
Spotlight on
Communication
Modern policing requires skills
beyond those traditionally
taught in police academies
and college classrooms (Meese
& Ortmeier, 2004). Communi-
cation, for example, must be
nurtured and encouraged with
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table 11-2 Five Skill Categories

CATEGORY SKILLS
Communications and related interpersonal skills • Communicating verbally and in writing
• Listening
• Counseling
• Possessing knowledge of different ethnic and racial cultures and
demonstrating empathy
• Facilitating interaction
• Maintaining group cohesiveness and member satisfaction
• Speaking in public
Motivation • Encouraging creativity and innovation

• Catalyzing proactive behavior in others
• Building teams and cooperative relationships
• Demonstrating persistence and consistency
• Showing enthusiasm
• Committing to assignments
• Recognizing and encouraging other responsible leaders
• Demonstrating intellectual curiosity
Problem solving • Analyzing situations

• Identifying and evaluating constituents’ needs
• Identifying and analyzing problems
• Adapting strategies to situations
• Mediating and negotiating
• Enabling others to attain goals
• Prescribing prioritized actions to solve a problem
Planning and organizing • Promoting needed change

• Creating and maintaining a vision
• Defining objectives and maintaining progress toward them
• Prioritizing and assigning tasks
• Organizing resources
• Creating and maintaining an environment that encourages open
communication
• Providing for and maintaining group processes
• Delegating
Actuation and implementation • Translating a vision into action

• Completing multiple projects on schedule
• Evaluating individual and group goals
• Representing others’ interests and concerns
• Understanding and articulating the police agency’s impact
• Learning from mistakes
Source: Ortmeier, 1996.
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staff, other people in the organization, and the community at large. Residents in
the community served by a police organization may express concern about issues
plaguing their community, such as crime or poverty. All police officers must listen,
understand the issues from residents’ perspective, and reassure residents that action
will be taken. By acknowledging the presence of a concern or problem, officers forge
a connection with community members. And once citizens realize police want to
join with them, change can occur (Davis, Givens, Perez, Bialaszewski, & Wiliams,
2004).
It is thus essential for officers to keep lines of communication open. Effective
police-officer leaders interact daily with other officers, with administrative person-
nel, and with elected or appointed officials. They also regularly encounter people
in the community—citizens as well as residents who are perceived as unofficial
leaders—and ask for their opinions regarding the agency’s performance. Finally,
they encourage fellow officers to follow up with concerned community members.
The best police leaders also take a participatory rather than an authorita-
tive approach to establishing and managing interpersonal relationships. They are
empathetic—able to appreciate other people’s feelings and needs. And they excel at
persuasion and negotiation (de Janasz et al., 2006). All of these abilities hinge on a
talent for communication.
Spotlight on Motivation
Like communication, motivation is a critical skill category for all officers seeking to
strengthen their leadership skills. But motivation is a subjective phenomenon. What
Police executive
speaking with public
officials.
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motivates one person to work toward a goal or to effect needed change may not moti-
vate another. To lead, police officers must understand what motivates others—their
subordinates, their superiors, politicians, and community members. And they must
avoid trying to motivate through fear and control. Great leaders embrace the notion
that people are motivated by different needs, whether for social connection, achieve-
ment, monetary reward, or some other form of value important to them (Hellriegel
et al., 2005). For example, overtime pay may be one officer’s primary motivation,
while another’s may be the opportunity to work on a special project and enjoy the
resulting job satisfaction and pride in improving the way the agency operates.
How can aspiring leaders learn to identify what most motivates another person?
They must become students of human nature—taking time to get to know others
and appreciating others for who they are. At the same time, leaders must recognize
that motivators change: What inspires one person to action today may not moti-
vate that same person tomorrow. For example, a new police officer may initially be
motivated primarily by the opportunity to learn new skills on the job. If the officer
later becomes a parent, monetary rewards or a more manageable work schedule
may become more motivating.
LEADERSHIP VERSUS SUPERVISION
As we have noted, leadership is not the same as supervision (also called manage-
ment). Although the two are interrelated, they represent very different ways of
operating. A leader may also be a supervisor—but not every supervisor is a leader.
Leadership is thus broader than supervision, and it occurs anytime a person moti-
vates another person or a group to produce change. In contrast, supervision occurs
when someone directs others toward organizational goals (Hersey & Blanchard,
1982). Leadership is thus about creating a better future, while supervision is about
maintaining order and consistency (Kotter, 1990). (Table 11-3 shows how one
expert distinguishes between these two ways of operating.)
table 11-3 Comparing Leadership and Management

A leader . . . A manager . . .
Innovates Administers
Is an original Is a copy
Develops Maintains
Focuses on people Focuses on systems and structures
Inspires trust Relies on control
Takes a long-range view Takes a short-range view
Asks what and why Asks how and when
Keeps an eye on the horizon Keeps an eye on the bottom line
Challenges the status quo Accepts the status quo
Is unique Is the classic good soldier
Does the right thing Does things right
Source: Bennis, 1993, p. 214.
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The Police Leader-Supervisor

Some police personnel are both leaders and supervisors. They not only exhibit the
leadership skills we have been examining, but they also demonstrate solid supervi-
sory skills. Their valuable blend of talents includes mentoring and role modeling,
crisis management, resource management, and personnel development.
Mentoring and Role Modeling Police leader-supervisors directly oversee the

individuals who report to them and may act in a supervisory capacity for anyone
who needs guidance. They teach subordinates to complete practical tasks associ-
ated with the job, give directives that others acknowledge and follow, and serve as
mentors and role models, so that subordinates seek development opportunities from
them rather than from others.
Role model: A role model is a person who exhibits values, attitudes, and behaviors consid-
a person who exhibits ered desirable in a particular organization. Through their everyday actions on the
values, attitudes, job, role models demonstrate which behaviors, values, and attitudes are positive
and behaviors and appropriate and which should be avoided. They thus constitute vital human
considered desirable resources in any organization (Clark & Clark, 1996; Concepts of Leadership, 2010;
in a particular Lad, 2010; National Institute of Standards and Technology, 2001).
organization. Role models demonstrate behaviors (such as taking responsibility for tasks
and respecting others) that inspire subordinates and other constituents to grow
and to contribute to the organization in a meaningful way. By acting ethically, they
influence other personnel to behave ethically (Hitt, 1988). Role models also offset
the cynicism and “putting out fires” crisis management style that pervades many
police organizations. All too many police managers merely try to get through each
day instead of working to move their organization forward. They fear change,
and do little more than cope with situations that arise. Subordinates learn inap-
propriate behaviors from these poor managers, which lead directly to inadequate
protection for citizens. Modeling correct behaviors is one of the most powerful
ways to prevent the disasters that can stem from ineffective leadership and perva-
sive cynicism.
Crisis Management Police leader-supervisors also deftly handle crises. They may
make swift decisions on the street or intervene in conflicts between peers, subordi-
nates, or citizens. They always consider the moral, ethical, and legal implications of
any decision, and they function as advisors to others in the agency—whether direct
reports, peers, or superiors.
Resource Management Police leader-supervisors know how to summon the

resources needed to complete the job. For example, they may write or facilitate
search warrant affidavits (sworn applications), thus providing a link to the prosecut-
ing attorney’s office. Or they help a citizen who is mentally disturbed find and take
advantage of community resources available for such problems.
Personnel Development The best leader-supervisors develop their subordinates,

including helping them acquire leadership skills themselves. They challenge those
who report to them to learn new tasks and processes, to reach beyond their job
description, and to find new ways for the agency to accomplish its mission (Davis,
2006; Rosser, 2010). They also take responsibility for organizing the departmen-
tal staff, allocating police vehicles to shifts, creating career development plans for
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Cardinal Sean Patrick

O’Malley serves
Christmas Eve lunch
at the Pine Street
Inn, New England’s
largest homeless
shelter in Boston, on
December 24, 2009.
subordinates, and implementing succession plans designed to position subordinates

to become supervisors in the future.
Clearly, leadership is essential to the success of any policing organization and its
personnel. Yet many officers and police supervisors disregard the art and skill of leader-
ship as it relates to supervision. They should instead make this valuable combination
of skills a high priority and consider it a crucial part of a police supervisor’s role.
LEADERSHIP TOOLS: AUTHORITY AND POWER

Authority:
In any police agency, effective use of two tools—authority and power—constitutes a a legitimate right
crucial aspect of leadership. Authority is a legitimate right bestowed by an organiza- bestowed by an
tion on an individual to direct activities or persons. It is thus a function of the orga- organization on an
nization. Power is the ability of an individual to influence other persons or groups, individual to direct
to shape an organization’s direction and priorities, and to influence situations and activities or persons.
a variety of affairs and objects. It is therefore a capacity of the person. In the pages
that follow, we take a closer look at how leaders use these tools. Power:
the ability of
an individual
Authority to influence
Leaders derive authority from the formal mandates of laws, rules, and organiza- others; shape an
tional directives (Bryson, 2004). This authority gives them the right to enforce laws organization’s
and to take decisive action with respect to a variety of public safety activities. But direction and
authority alone is not sufficient to manage an organization (Hellriegel et al., 2005). priorities; and
It must also come with responsibility (obligation to do what is ethically correct) and influence situations,
accountability (being answerable or liable for one’s actions or inaction). affairs, and objects.
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Authority can also be the formal acknowledgment of power granted by the orga-
nization to a command or supervisory officer. Yet this does not automatically mean
that a person with authority will be followed. Some followers might still subvert,
reject, or refuse to comply with written or verbal directives. Leaders in a police agency
can use formal disciplinary options (including verbal counseling and other protocols)
to correct such behavior. However, the use of formal or coercive power may spawn
resentment and resistance, which can erode morale, performance, and the agency’s
ability to achieve its mission and objectives (T. E. Baker, 2006; Iannone, 1987).
Clearly, formal authority—even when symbolized by a person’s title or rank—is
not enough to ensure that an individual will be considered a leader. Indeed, in addi-
tion to those granted formal authority, unofficial or informal leaders may emerge
in an agency and ultimately exert more influence and power than those with a
high rank, an executive-level position, or an impressive title. Often, such unofficial
leaders derive their authority from charisma and from social norms. (For instance,
in some organizations, someone who is highly regarded and respected attracts fol-
lowers.) Wise police managers leverage informal leaders, acknowledging them and
enlisting their support in promoting the agency’s vision, mission, and goals.
Power
Power and authority may go hand in hand—or they may not. A person may exer-
cise power yet have no authority. An armed robber, for example, exercises power
over a victim but does not have authority (formal or informal legitimacy) to enforce
the victim’s compliance. In a police agency, power and authority often overlap.
Moreover, there are several sources of power. Next, we examine five sources.
Rank Some power derives from a person’s rank in the organization. For example,
police chiefs have both the formal authority (the right) and the power (the ability)
to hire, discipline, and transfer personnel, and to define goals for the organization.
Police officers have the authority and power to enforce laws, make arrests, and
direct others’ actions.
Fear Some people acquire power by evoking fear in others—by coercing or com-
pelling others through the threat of punishment or negative sanction (T. E. Baker,
2006). People whose power comes from this source may have high rank; a special
affiliation with a higher, more influential person or group; or a personal attribute
such as the ability to play on people’s fears or an imposing physical size. An example
of what this type of power looks like in action is a police union president who
pressures union members to protest a change initiative being advocated by a police
agency by playing on union members’ fears that the initiative will cost jobs or result
in wage cuts.
Rewards Some people have power because they have the capacity to distribute
valued rewards (such as recognition, promotions, and special assignments) within an
organization. These rewards may be used to recognize an individual’s or a group’s
accomplishment. Rewards-based power is valuable because timely and personal rec-
ognition engenders a sense of loyalty in others and a willingness to follow. However,
rewards-based power is also subject to abuse if the person with the power discrimi-
nates against a person or group.
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A forensic technician
at work.
Expertise Other individuals are powerful because they have special skills or exper-
tise valued and needed by the police agency. Examples include crime scene technicians,
auto collision reconstruction specialists, homicide investigators, and detectives.
Charisma Some people have power because they are charismatic. Their com-
munication style, personal philosophy, ethical standards, physical attributes, like-
ability, personality, or reputation make others want to follow them (Charisma, n.d.;
Cordner & Scarborough, 2007). Charismatic leaders may appear as saviors to an
organization, especially during times of uncertainty and confusion.
Charisma does not necessarily translate into successful leadership. For example,
Adolf Hitler was a charismatic person who accumulated immense power. Yet he also
became one of the most destructive dictators in human history. He had so much
charisma that his followers accepted his directives unquestioningly and embraced
the horrific values and goals he promoted. True leaders use their power to inspire
followers to new heights of performance on appropriate goals, are humble rather
than highly charismatic, and have a strong will (Collins, 2005).
The Optimal Blend of Authority and Power

In a police agency, leaders are particularly effective when they have sanctioned
(legitimate) authority and power (when they use their power appropriately). Officers
who have unsanctioned authority and who abuse their power may engage in activi-
ties that support their own personal interests at the expense of their agency’s priori-
ties. An officer with sanctioned authority but a limited degree of power may fail to
discipline, reward, or adequately direct subordinates—wanting to be regarded as a
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friend rather than a superior. Finally, an individual who lacks sufficient degrees of
authority and power may try to command authority that the agency has not granted
to the person’s current position. The individual cannot influence others owing to
the lack of position or special circumstance, and will likely disappear within the
organizational structure.
LEADERSHIP STYLES
Leadership styles derive from the practice of leadership skills and may reflect several
leadership theories. There are numerous styles that a police leader-supervisor can
choose to adopt and demonstrate. A particular style derives from how a leader com-
municates and acts to influence followers to give their best on the job. Indeed, effec-
tive leaders adapt their style as needed to get optimal results from their followers.
In the pages that follow, we examine several of these styles (some drawn from
theories discussed earlier in the chapter) and consider when a leader might choose
to adopt them. Again, we do not suggest that one style is better than others. In a
real-world situation, the style (or integration of several styles) a person selects will
depend on the circumstances surrounding the situation.
Meeting Followers’ Hierarchy of Needs

Some leaders adopt a style that emphasizes meeting a hierarchy of needs in their fol-
lowers. This style derives from American psychologist Abraham Maslow’s work on
Hierarchy of needs human needs. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs model depicts five needs: physiological,
model: security, affiliation, esteem, and self-actualization. (See Figure 11-1.) Physiological
Abraham Maslow’s needs are the most basic and are those necessary for human survival: food, water,
framework proposing shelter, and clothing. Only when physiological needs are met will people turn to
five needs that human
beings attempt to figure 11-1 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
meet in a specific
sequence.
Self-
actualization
Esteem
Affiliation
Security
Physiological
ort80008_ch11_264-295.indd 280 13/12/10 12:24 PM

satisfying their security needs—for stability, safety, good health, and the absence of
threats or pain. Likewise, when people feel secure, they next attend to their affiliation
needs, for friendship, belonging, and love. If affiliation needs are met, people take
care of their esteem needs, for self-respect, personal achievement, and recognition
from others. Finally, only after all lower-level needs are met, people strive to fulfill
their self-actualization needs, for personal growth, self-fulfillment, and the realiza-
tion of their full potential (Hellriegel, Jackson, & Slocum, 2005; Maslow, 1970).
How might police personnel demonstrate a leadership style based on Maslow’s
framework? They cannot assume that subordinates’ basic needs (such as for physi-
cal survival and security) are met simply because the employees receive a paycheck.
Effective leaders attempt to determine whether a subordinate is struggling economi-
cally and arrive at solutions if the answer is yes. For example, they may take steps to
reassure a subordinate who is worried about job security during periods of budget-
ary constraints and rumors of impending layoffs.
For subordinates who require recognition and personal achievement, leader-
supervisors can assign projects that will present new challenges and offer recogni-
tion and other rewards for completion of goals. For subordinates who are at the
highest level of need (self-actualization), police leader-supervisors can offer assis-
tance with promotion or transfer to a more challenging position that will provide
opportunity for personal and professional growth.
Line-level officers can practice this style of leadership as well. For example,
they can appreciate that community members who live at or below the poverty
level often feel hopeless as they struggle to keep themselves and their children safe.
Police officers who know that such residents are at the most basic level of need
can help connect people with vital resources such as food banks and organizations
that provide housing assistance. In neighborhoods where residents’ basic needs are
satisfied, police officers can help satisfy the next level of need—for friendship and
self-respect—by communicating respectfully to residents, learning their names, and
listening when they speak. Officers who demonstrate respectful behavior enrich the
community, become role models for young people and others, help ensure their own
safety, and encourage citizen cooperation with the police.
Addressing Followers’ Frustrations

Another leadership style draws its inspiration from Clay Alderfer’s model of needs,
which proposes three categories of need: existence, relatedness, and growth. In
what’s known as Alderfer’s ERG theory, existence needs are for elements (water, ERG theory:
food, shelter) contributing to physical well-being. Relatedness refers to desires to Clay Alderfer’s
establish and maintain good interpersonal bonds. And growth needs include the framework proposing
desire for creativity, productivity, and personal development. (See Figure 11-2.) that human beings
Alderfer’s model contains a dimension called the frustration-regression hypoth- need elements for
esis, which suggests that when people encounter real or imagined obstacles while physical survival,
seeking to meet higher-level needs, they refocus on lower-level needs. This is a prob- relatedness, and
lem because the obstacles restrict a person’s productivity and growth. To support personal growth.
followers’ productivity and growth, leaders should strive to identify and remove
obstacles to achieving higher-level needs (Alderfer, 1972).
For example, suppose that Philip, a police officer reporting to Michelle, is
seeking a promotion (reflecting a need for growth). To adopt a leadership style
drawn from Alderfer’s model, Michelle might speak with Philip to identify and
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figure 11-2 Alderfer’s ERG Theory
Frustration–Regression Satisfaction–Progression
Growth needs
Relatedness needs
Existence needs
Source: Reprinted with the permission of The Free Press, a Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc., from EXISTENCE,
RELATEDNESS AND GROWTH: Human Needs in Organizational Settings by Clayton P. Alderfer. Copyright © 1972 by The
Free Press. All rights reserved.
acknowledge any obstacles he perceives to achieving the promotion he wants. If

Philip mentions that he’s worried about passing an exam necessary for the promo-
tion, Michelle may offer encouragement and perhaps arrange for tutoring from
another officer who has achieved a similar promotion.
Addressing Conflicting Needs

Learned needs theory: Another police leadership style draws from David McClelland’s learned needs
David McClelland’s theory. According to this model, people have three key needs: affiliation (satisfying
framework suggesting interpersonal relationships), achievement (success), and power (ability to control
that human beings and influence others and one’s surroundings).
have three key If more than one motive dominates an individual’s personality, conflict between
needs: affiliation, the motives can occur. For example, a person’s desire for friendships (affiliation) at
achievement, and work may conflict with an equally strong desire to produce and to seek promotion
power. (achievement). When motives conflict, frustration results, leading to poor self-esteem
and low productivity. To avoid such scenarios, police leader-supervisors should strive
to recognize and balance followers’ conflicting motives (McClelland, 1971).
For instance, Jorge, a police manager, knows that Pat, a subordinate, craves
affiliation but that her intense focus on achieving professional goals has been pre-
Expectancy theory: venting her from spending as much time with others as she needs to forge human
Victor Vroom’s connections. So, he assigns tasks to her that not only support her desired career path
framework holding (by helping her develop new skills) but also require interaction with others in the
that people will be agency or the community; for example, as the head of a community task force.
motivated to deliver
their best on the job
if they believe that
Satisfying Expectations about Performance and Outcomes
a specific level of Another leadership style is based on expectancy theory, formulated by Victor
performance will lead Vroom in the early 1970s. Vroom’s theory holds that people will be motivated to
to an outcome that deliver their best on the job if they believe that a specific level of performance will
they value highly. lead to an outcome that they value highly. (See Figure 11-3.) Police leaders who
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figure 11-3 Expectancy Theory
Effort
Expectancy
Performance
Instrumentality
Outcomes: Rewards
Valence
Source: Used by permission of Victor Vroom.
demonstrate this style identify outcomes that followers and community residents
truly value (such as safe streets) and encourage the delivery of job performance that
will produce those outcomes. For example, police officers who place a high value
on safe streets will partner with community residents to encourage and assist with
neighborhood watches. They might also explain to city council members why such
initiatives might generate more value than merely racking up more arrests.
Aligning Followers and Agency Goals while Cultivating Trust

Some police personnel demonstrate a leadership style informed by the work of theo-
rists Douglas McGregor in the 1950s and William Ouchi in the 1980s. McGregor
proposed two theories of leadership and supervision. The first was Theory X, which Theory X:
is manifested as a command-and-control management style common in police envi- Douglas McGregor’s
ronments. Supervisors who subscribe to Theory X make the following assumptions model describing
about their subordinates: command-and-
control management
• The average human being has an inherent dislike of work and will avoid work
style in an
if possible.
organization.
• Because people inherently dislike work, most of them must be coerced,
controlled, directed, or threatened with punishment before they will put forth
adequate effort toward achievement of objectives.
• People are self-centered, prefer to be directed, wish to avoid responsibility,
have relatively little ambition, and want security above all.
Theory Y:
McGregor suggested that Theory X supervisors fail to recognize critical factors Douglas McGregor’s
associated with motivation and thus are not the most effective leaders. For example, description of
human beings are “wanting” animals. As soon as we satisfy one need, we move on to a motivational
satisfy another. Moreover, human needs are organized in a hierarchy of importance. management style in
McGregor proposed an alternative—Theory Y—which he maintained could help organizations.
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supervisors lead more skillfully. Leaders (supervisors) who subscribe to Theory Y

make the following assumptions about their followers (which differ markedly from
assumptions made by Theory X supervisors):
• The expenditure of physical and mental effort in work comes as naturally to
people as play or rest.
• External control and the threat of punishment are not the only means to elicit
the effort necessary to reach objectives. People will exercise self-direction and
self-control in the service of objectives to which they are committed.
• The right rewards can motivate people to work toward a particular achievement.
• Under proper conditions, people learn to accept as well as seek responsibility.
• Most people have the capacity to exercise a relatively high degree of
imagination, ingenuity, and creativity in the search for solutions to problems.
• Under the conditions of modern industrial life, the intellectual potential of the
average human being are only partially realized (McGregor, 1960).
In the 1980s, William Ouchi proposed an adaptation of Theory Y. Ouchi’s
Theory Z: Theory Z is a leadership style that advocates trusting followers and creating an
William Ouchi’s environment in which followers consider themselves as an integral part of the group
adaptation or organization. According to this theory, trust promotes increased productivity and
of Theory Y goal achievement (Ouchi, 1981).
emphasizing a Even if they work in an agency characterized by Theory X leadership overall,
leadership style that police personnel can adopt a Theory Y or Theory Z leadership style within their
advocates trusting sphere of influence. For example, to demonstrate Theory Y leadership, they can
followers and encourage peers and subordinates to pursue goals that enrich the operational unit
enabling them to feel or agency. Managers demonstrating Theory Y leadership can make the transition to
they are part of the Theory Z by showing that they trust followers to have good intentions and the skills
organization. needed to solve problems. For instance, if a particular unit is experiencing a prob-
lem of increasing auto theft within its area of responsibility, leaders can encourage
problem-solving sessions with unit and community members, establish goals, create
steps to reach the goals, implement the steps, and evaluate the results.
Blending Concern for People with Concern for Production

Managerial grid: Another leadership style is drawn from what’s called the managerial grid (later
Robert Blake and renamed the leadership grid) developed by Robert Blake and Jane Mouton (1965).
Jane Mouton’s model This theoretical framework identifies five leadership styles that show varying
identifying five degrees of concern for people and for production (such as number of arrests made
leadership styles that or calls answered, or degree of crime-rate reduction). (See Figure 11-4.)
vary in concern for Each axis on the managerial grid has a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the lowest
people and concern and 10 the highest. Each style is positioned on the grid according to where it rates
for productivity. on the scales. For example:
• The impoverished managerial style demonstrates low concern for people and
production. Managers utilizing this style exert minimal effort and seek to
maintain the status quo. They place a high priority on their own personal
security within the organization.
• Through the country club style, managers demonstrate high concern for
people but low concern for production. They try to create an atmosphere of
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figure 11-4 The Managerial Grid
High
(1,9) (9,9)
9 Country Team
club style style
8
7
Concern for people
6
5
(5,5)
4 Middle-of-the-road style
2
(1,1) (9,1)
1 Impoverished Produce or
style perish style
Low
Low 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 High
Concern for production
Source: The Managerial Grid used by permission of Grid International, Inc.
high morale and loyalty and hope that their subordinates will perform at a
high level without further involvement from them.
• Low concern for people and high concern for production characterize the
produce-or-perish management style. Managers practicing this style use
coercion and rule enforcement to achieve high production. (If this style sounds
familiar, that’s because it strongly resembles Theory X behavior as defined by
McGregor.)
• Through the middle-of-the-road style, managers strive to balance follower
needs with a concern for production. They try to maintain employee morale
at a level just high enough to ensure that minimal performance goals are met.
• Through the team style, managers demonstrate high concern for people as
well as production by fostering inclusion, agreed-upon goals, and commitment
among members of the organization. Blake and Mouton saw this as the
optimal management style. It is consistent with McGregor’s Theory Y.
Adapting to Followers’ Readiness

Some leaders adapt their style based on followers’ readiness—that is, their level of Situational leadership
skill, experience, and motivation. This approach echoes the work of Paul Hersey model:
and Ken Blanchard, who created the situational leadership model suggesting four Paul Hersey and
styles: delegating, supportive, selling, and telling. (See Figure 11-5.) Ken Blanchard’s
With followers who are mature, competent, and motivated (in other words, very model suggesting
ready), leaders might elect to use the delegating style, giving followers responsibility four leadership
for taking on tasks. With followers who are less ready (for instance, they lack con- styles: delegating,
fidence in their abilities or experience?), leaders might use the supportive style to supportive, selling,
encourage, assist, and maintain communication with these followers. With followers and telling.
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figure 11-5 Hersey’s Situational Leadership Model
Four leadership styles
High Low High

task and high task and high
relationship relationship
(Supportive
behavior) S3 S2
Relationship
S4 S1
behavior
Low High
task and low task and low
relationship relationship
Low
Task behavior
Low High
(Directive behavior)
High Moderate Low

R4 R3 R2 R1
Follower readiness
Source: Adapted and printed with permission from Dr. Paul Hersey, Management of Organizational Behavior:
Leading Human Resources, 9th ed. (Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc., 2008), p. 134.
who are even less ready (perhaps they are confused about their role, unmotivated,
or skeptical about what they are being asked to do), leaders might adopt the selling
style—providing some direction, encouraging communication, building confidence,
and motivating these followers. Finally, with followers who are not at all ready (they
have no experience with or knowledge of the tasks they are being asked to do), lead-
ers might select the telling style, supplying clear and specific instructions (Hersey &
Blanchard, 1982).
A leader can (and often must) blend all four styles at once, especially in complex
situations. To illustrate, when a community expressed concern about rising auto
theft, police managers assembled a team comprising officers and members of the
community as well as an outside consultant. Together, they developed a plan that
called for police managers to use the selling style to enlist subordinate’s commitment
to solving the problem. Managers used the supportive style with community resi-
dents who favored the project and were motivated to get involved. They delegated
tasks to police-team members with experience and an interest in confronting the
Vroom–Jago Time– auto-theft problem. And they used the telling style to train citizens on auto-theft
Drive Leadership prevention who were not familiar with the strategies. The effort paid off: Within
Model: one year, auto thefts had decreased by 48 percent.
Victor Vroom’s model
postulating that time
constraints drive a
Weighing Contingencies
leader’s decision- Police leader-supervisors can also decide on a leadership style using the Vroom–Jago
making process. time–drive leadership model. (See Figure 11-6.) This model postulates that time
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A Long Beach,
California, police
officer explaining a
situation to a group of
citizens.
constraints drive a leader’s decision-making process. The model also identifies con-
tingency variables (including team support and goal sharing, likelihood of follower
commitment, and significance of a decision) that a leader should consider when
selecting a leadership style. Victor Vroom created a Windows-based computer pro-
gram that enables supervisors to record the strength of presence of each contingency
variable in a given situation.
The model also identifies five leadership styles leaders can select from, depend-
ing on how strongly present the contingency variables are:
• Decide: The leader decides on the best course of action and then directs followers.
• Consult individually: The leader makes a decision after consulting with
followers individually.
• Consult team: The leader makes a decision after holding an open meeting
with all followers.
• Facilitate: The leader facilitates problem solving and decision making by
building consensus for a potential course of action within the team.
• Delegate: The leader allows followers to arrive at a decision within limits
prescribed by the leader (Vroom, 1964, 2000).
Owing to the complexity of the Vroom–Jago model, it works best when a police
organization is trying to drive massive change or is experiencing a problem the
resolution of which requires extensive analysis and teamwork. For instance, if an
agency is committed to moving from a traditional (professional) model of policing
to a more community-oriented style, managers must solicit opinions from all levels
of the organization and enlist the commitment of every person—from line officers
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figure 11-6 The Vroom–Jago Time–Drive Leadership Model
Importance of
Likelihood of
commitment
commitment
competence
significance
expertise
expertise
Decision
Problem
support
Leader
Team
Team
Team
Suggested style
H ..... ..... ..... Decide
H Delegate
H H H
H L
L L ..... Consult
L ..... ..... team
H Facilitate
H H
H L
H H ..... Consult
L
L ..... ..... individually
H H Facilitate
H H L
L H
L ..... Consult
L ..... ..... team
H ..... ..... ..... ..... Decide
H H Facilitate
L ..... H H L
L ..... Consult
L ..... ..... individually
H ..... ..... ..... Decide
H ..... H Delegate
L L ..... .....
L Facilitate
L ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... Decide
Note: An “H” indicates a high level of importance with that contingency variable, an “L” indicates a low
level of importance, and a dashed line (.....) indicates “not a factor.”
Source: Used by permission of Victor Vroom.
to the chief. In this scenario, change leaders conduct meetings, define goals and
communicate them to all parties, and establish a detailed timeline. Because a major
organizational transformation can take years, constant open communication and
complete dedication to the goal is critical.
Path–goal
motivational
leadership model:
Tapping into Followers’ Motivation
R. J. House’s Another model—R. J. House’s path–goal motivational leadership model—calls for
framework suggesting tapping into followers’ level of motivation in determining a leadership style. (See
that followers will Figure 11-7.) The assumption underlying this model is that followers will be moti-
be motivated to vated to give their best if they believe that they are capable of performing the tasks
give their best if assigned, that their efforts will produce certain results, and that the rewards for
they believe that completing tasks are worthwhile. The leader-manager’s challenge is to demonstrate
they are capable of the behaviors that best motivate a particular follower to accomplish a specific goal.
performing the tasks The model identifies eight possible behaviors: directive, supportive, participa-
assigned, that their tive, achievement-oriented, work facilitation (helping followers achieve tasks),
efforts will produce group-oriented decision processes, work-group representation of stakeholders
certain results, and and networking, and leadership behaviors based on organizational values (House,
that the rewards for 1996). The model reminds leaders/managers that their central purpose is to moti-
completing tasks are vate and assist followers with goal achievement in the most efficient manner pos-
worthwhile. sible (Meese & Ortmeier, 2004; Northouse, 2007).
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figure 11-7 The Path–Goal Motivational Leadership Model
Obstacle
Followers/ Goal(s)
Path Path
group members (productivity)
Path–goal leadership
- Define goals - Clarifies path
- Removes obstacles - Provides support
Source: “Path-goal theory of leadership: Lessons, legacy and a reformulated theory” by Robert J. House from
THE LEADERSHIP QUARTERLY, Autumn, 1996, Vol. 7, No 3, p. 30. Reprinted by permission of Elsevier Ltd.
Serving Followers
Some leaders adopt a style that emphasizes sensitivity, awareness, and empathy, per
Robert K. Greenleaf’s servant leadership concept, which he introduced in a 1970 Servant leadership:
essay titled The Servant as Leader. This essay made a lasting impression on leaders, Robert K. Greenleaf’s
educators, and others around the world. More than a theory, the concept of the approach to leadership
leader-as-servant is a way of life that encourages those in management positions to emphasizing
discover how they can best serve the people they lead (Greenleaf, 1991). sensitivity, awareness,
Since the Industrial Revolution, many managers have viewed subordinates as and empathy toward
tools to be used or as parts in a well-oiled machine. If one of these “tools” or “parts” followers.
wears out, managers simply replace “it” with no loss of productivity. Servant leader-
ship returns humanity to the workplace by assuming a symbiotic relationship (one
of mutual dependence) between worker and supervisor. The concept thus blurs the
line between leader and follower, and requires both to hold themselves and one
another to a higher standard of behavior and understanding.
Here is an example of servant leadership in action: In a particular community,
reducing auto theft is a high priority for community members but not for the police.
Nevertheless, police servant-leaders demonstrate appreciation for the community’s
concern and commit to reducing auto theft. Police and community leaders then
work together to develop solutions, implement those solutions, and evaluate the Level 5 leadership:
results. Jim Collins’s concept
proposing that
leaders channel their
Building the Best Possible Organization ambition toward
Police leaders who adopt a style that emphasizes the organization’s interests over building a better
their own interests are drawing from management expert Jim Collins’s concept of organization rather
Level 5 leadership, which he described in his book Good to Great and the Social than promoting
Sectors. Simply stated, Level 5 leaders channel their ambition toward building a themselves and their
better organization rather than promoting themselves and their personal agendas. personal agendas.
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A police officer using

sign language with a
deaf man.
Level 5 leaders are humble; they credit their organization’s success to factors other
than themselves, but they take responsibility for poor results. Though modest,
they are driven to produce long-lasting change. They groom peers and subordi-
nates for leadership, ensuring the organization’s future success. Although Level 5
leaders may not occupy the spotlight, they exist in almost every organization
(Collins, 2001).
One Level 5 leader was a police chief who took the job knowing that the agency
was mediocre. He set out to improve the situation. The chief gathered the right staff
and designed various projects and activities based on ideas from all. He allocated
funds to complete the projects and activities, asking only to be kept informed on
progress. The chief communicated a compelling vision of a better future for the
agency and guided staff to take the steps needed to make that vision real. As a result
of this leader’s style, the agency established successful canine patrols; family crisis-
intervention teams; criminal-investigation management strategies; indoor and out-
door firearms training ranges; and programs supporting police-citizen partnership,
stress management and field training for officers, victims’ assistance, and officers’
use of Spanish and sign language.
TOXIC MANAGEMENT
Within many police organizations, certain barriers can prevent individuals from
practicing leadership and effective supervision—no matter how many theories and
styles are available to draw from. Understanding these barriers and the problems
they present can bring the contrast between good and poor supervision into sharper
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relief for aspiring police leader-supervisors. In the following text we examine several
barriers:
• Nepotism. Nepotism is the promotion and preferential treatment of a
manager’s close friends or relatives whether they deserve it or not. Nepotism
in an organization breeds mediocrity in the favored employees and cynicism in
workers who witness it (Collins, 2001).
• Paramilitary culture. Many police organizations are characterized by a
paramilitary culture. In such agencies, upper management does not tolerate
differences of opinions among employees and lower-level managers (Davis
& Colaprete, 2005). Sensing the intolerance, people stop contributing their
ideas, depriving the agency of the fresh and diverse thinking needed to provide
excellent service to the community.
• Misguided assumptions. One of the most insidious barriers to effective
leadership consists of misguided assumptions among leaders or supervisors
themselves. Unfortunately, many police managers literally point at
subordinates and tell them what to do, assuming that employees are unwilling
or unable to carry out needed tasks. Others threaten employees with
punishment, believing that people consistently do whatever it takes to avoid
unpleasantness or pain (Beauchamp, Bowie, & Arnold, 2009).
• Fadishness. In some policing organizations, supervisors and commanders
promote whichever management fad is currently occupying the headlines,
without considering whether the advocated approach is right for their
organization. They may try to force people to adopt the latest fad, only
to activate intense resistance that blocks progress. Ultimately, they waste
significant time, effort, and even financial resources.
• Hypocrisy. In other policing organizations, managers pay lip service to well-
regarded leadership theories that emphasize eliciting ideas and opinions from
subordinates. But when employees offer their input, managers do not value or
use them. As a result, employees feel disfranchised. They also grow cynical,
realizing (correctly) that their managers do not trust employees’ ideas or
respect their opinions.
These and other barriers can create organizations characterized by toxic man- Toxic management:
agement (Davis & Colaprete, 2005). Toxic managers exhibit poor judgment and a situation in which
negative behaviors, have no skill at building rapport and positive relationships, and a manager exhibits
cannot cultivate an environment of mutual respect. Such supervisors and managers poor judgment and
will damage the human resources of any organization, especially in a police agency negative behaviors,
(Reed, 2004). They alienate staff and project an image of weakness. They also has no skill at
spawn an atmosphere in which people refuse direction and contradict management. building rapport and
Simply put, toxic managers create a poisonous environment. positive relationships,
In some organizations, if a toxic manager cannot be removed, an effective leader and cannot cultivate
(toxic handler) may emerge to minimize the manager’s destructive impact on people. an environment of
Sometimes this takes the form of serving as a buffer between the manager and the mutual respect.
workforce. For example, the toxic handler may translate the ineffective manager’s
harsh language or autocratic dictates into more palatable terms for employees. Or
the toxic handler might urge people not to take the manager’s tirades personally.
The danger with relying too much on toxic handlers is that they can eventually burn
out (Frost, 2003; Toxic Bosses and Toxic Handlers, 2004).
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Le adership on the j ob
A Lesson Learned Early
Over 20 years ago, young police officer Ricardo I needed it.” The experience helped shape Captain
Alvarez was wrestling with a belligerent drunk on a Alvarez’ management style.
dark street corner. Alvarez radioed for backup just Today, Alvarez manages 160 police officers and
in case. Within moments, as Alvarez handcuffed 40 civilian employees. He spends a lot of time in
the drunk, a police car arrived. The driver yelled: the field, often responding to radio calls himself. He
“Ricardo, you need my help?” Officer Alvarez looked listens to his officers and does not micromanage.
up in amazement, recognizing the driver as his Captain Alvarez is quick to exclaim: “It’s not about me.
captain. “No sir,” Alvarez replied. “I’m OK, but thank It’s about the team.”
you.”
1. What leadership style did Captain Alvarez (and
Over two decades later, Alvarez is a police
his captain before him) demonstrate?
captain himself, having risen through the ranks of
his 2,000-officer agency. He recalls the backup and 2. Should high-ranking officers in large police agen-
personal presence provided by his captain years cies engage in line-level (operational) police
earlier. “I can’t tell you how great that felt, knowing activities, as Alvarez and his former captain have
my captain knew my name and was there to help if done? Why or why not?
summary
• Leadership Theories. Theories about what distinguishes leadership and what its
defining principles are have evolved over time. Major theories focus on leaders’
inborn traits, their behaviors (such as facilitating task accomplishment or
relationship building), the interaction of a leader’s personal characteristics with
situational characteristics, the impact of followers’ expectations, the importance
of adapting leadership style to situations and to followers’ motivational needs,
ramifications of the quality of relationships between leaders and followers,
distinctions between merely transactional interactions between leaders and
followers and transformational interactions, and the importance of leaders’
understanding their own and their followers’ psychological makeup.
• Leadership Skills. Whereas theories attempt to identify leadership’s defining
principles, skills are the abilities needed to exercise leadership. These skills
can be acquired through education, experience, and training. Five categories
of skills are suggested as indispensable for police officer effectiveness:
communications and related interpersonal skills, motivational skills,
problem-solving skills, planning and organizing skills, and actuation and
implementation skills.
• Leadership versus Supervision. Leadership differs from supervision in
numerous ways. Leadership is broader than supervision: While a leader may
also be a supervisor, not all supervisors are leaders. Police leader-supervisors
exhibit a valuable blend of talents, including mentoring and role modeling,
crisis management, resource management, and personnel development.
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• Leadership Tools: Authority and Power. Authority is the legitimate right

bestowed by an organization on an individual to direct activities or
persons. Power is the ability of an individual to influence others, to shape
an organization’s direction and priorities, and to influence situations and a
variety of affairs and objects. Leaders exhibit a blend of authority and power.
They derive their authority from sources such as formal mandates, personal
charisma, and social norms. They derive power from sources such as rank,
fear, rewards, expertise, and personal charisma.
• Leadership Styles. Leadership styles derive from how leaders communicate
and act to influence others. Styles consist of practices and the application
of leadership skills. They may be influenced by a combination of different
leadership theories. Styles include meeting followers’ hierarchy of needs,
addressing followers’ frustrations and conflicting needs, satisfying followers’
expectations about performance and outcomes, aligning followers’ and agency
goals while cultivating trust, blending concern for people with concern for
production, adapting to followers’ level of readiness, weighing contingencies,
tapping into followers’ changing motivations, serving followers, and building
the best possible organization. Exceptional leaders can demonstrate a blend
of styles and change styles to meet the needs of their own unique, changing
circumstances.
• Toxic Management. Barriers that can prevent individuals from demonstrating
leadership and effective supervision include nepotism, a paramilitary culture
in an organization, misguided assumptions, faddishness, and hypocrisy. Toxic
managers damage the human resources of any organization. If they cannot be
removed, sometimes leaders known as toxic handlers will emerge to mitigate
a toxic manager’s destructive impact. But overreliance on toxic handlers can
cause them to suffer burnout.
authority
key terms
behavior theory
contingency theory
ERG theory
expectancy theory
hierarchy of needs model
interaction–expectation theory
leader–follower exchange theory
leadership skill
learned needs theory
Level 5 leadership
meta-leadership theory
managerial grid
motivation–hygiene theory
path–goal motivational leadership model
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path–goal theory
personal–situational theory
power
psychodynamic approach
role model
servant leadership
situational leadership model
situational theory
Theory X
Theory Y
Theory Z
toxic management
trait theory
transactional theory
transformational theory
Vroom–Jago time–drive leadership model
1. Define leadership. Is leadership an inborn capacity, or can anyone become a leader?

2. Select and review three leadership theories from this chapter. Can each theory be
applied in a police organization?
3. Review the major categories of leadership skills presented in this chapter. How might
front-line officers, supervisors, and commanders in a police organization exercise
these skills?
4. How are supervisors/managers and leaders different? How are they similar?
5. How do the concepts of leadership and supervision complement one another in a
police organization?
6. How does authority differ from power? Where do leaders derive their authority and
power? Does a leader need both of these tools to be effective?
7. Select and review three leadership styles described in this chapter. What would cause
you to adopt each style you selected? What are the advantages and disadvantages of
each style?
8. Have you ever worked in an organization that had a toxic manager? If so, what
behaviors characterized the person? What impact did this individual have on the
organization? Have you ever served in the toxic handler role? If so, in what ways did
you mitigate the damage created by the toxic manager in question?
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WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

Leadership on a Bike
The bicycle patrol in a midsize northeastern city was highly successful at
apprehending suspects in places inaccessible to police patrol cars. By 2003,
however, the agency had significantly reduced the number of officers assigned
to bicycle patrol, owing to budget cuts and a shift in priorities. Moreover, only
half of the remaining officers had serviceable bicycles.
Mark, a former bicycle patrol lieutenant, decided that the bike patrol
should be revitalized, to enhance public relations and because officers had
been experiencing difficulty apprehending suspects in places inaccessible to
patrol cars. Mark’s captain, Cheryl, advised him to develop a plan that would
make use of existing equipment, since no funds were available to purchase
new bikes. Cheryl placed Mark in charge of the project, and supported the
brief action plan that he developed and presented.
With his plan approved, Mark salvaged parts from unusable bicycles to
repair those that were less damaged. The strategy resulted in 10 complete
and functional bicycles. Additional officers were trained for bicycle duty, and
many previously trained bike officers returned to the reactivated bike patrol.
Impressed by the bike unit’s results, including enhanced public relations and
an increase in the number of drug suspects arrested, agency management bud-
geted $10,000 for the purchase of new bikes. The bike patrol became a model
patrol methodology in urban neighborhoods, won praise from residents, and
was sought after as a prestigious assignment by police officers. The patrol’s
success was attributed to the leadership skills of a motivated lieutenant and a
supportive police captain.
1. What leadership style did Cheryl exhibit with Mark?
2. What leadership theories are reflected in this story?
3. What leadership skills did Mark use to plan and implement the bicycle
patrol project?
4. If you had been in charge of the project, would the leadership style that
Cheryl exhibited have come naturally to you? If not, what might you have
done to develop your ability to use that style?
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12
The police are subject to
periodic individual performance
appraisals.
Human Relations Challenges

in a Police Agency
learning outcomes

• describe how a police agency develops and uses general orders.
• explain how an agency uses policies, procedures, and job descriptions
and specifications to evaluate individual officers’ performance.
• discuss how performance appraisals help police agencies foster
excellence.
• identify two purposes that individual performance appraisals can serve.
• define succession management and assess its importance in policing.
• identify protocols a police agency might use to make promotion decisions.
• recognize practices that police agencies use to develop promising
candidates for specific roles.
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• assess the negative impact high workforce attrition (turnover) can have on a
police agency.
• illustrate the use of clear communication of agency values and policies to
improve talent retention.
• explain how collaboration among individuals with fresh perspectives and
skills can improve employee retention.
• explain how a police agency can motivate officers to give their best on the
job, and how high motivation leads to lower turnover.
• examine the rise of citizen review boards and explain their role in responding
to complaints about possible police misconduct.
• compare differing perspectives on citizen review boards’ value for police
agencies and the communities they serve.
• trace the process that police agencies use to discipline officers accused of
misconduct.
• discuss how police agencies can establish early warning systems to identify
and address problematic police conduct before it escalates.
• identify symptoms of stress in police agency personnel and describe
practices for mitigating dangerous levels of stress.
• explain how police agencies can help officers mitigate the impact of stress
on their private lives.
• differentiate training that prepares police officers to survive on the street
while they are on and off duty from training that can prepare them to
navigate political dynamics within their agency.
• distinguish between moral and immoral political power.
Introduction
In the world of policing, many challenges that arise have less to do with actual
policing and more to do with human relations. For example, how can a police
agency develop and communicate clear policies and procedures, so officers and
other personnel know what behaviors and attitudes are expected of them? How
might police managers and supervisors appraise individual officers’ job perfor-
mance to strengthen their knowledge, skills, and abilities as well as help them
develop their careers? Speaking of career development, through what means
should an agency manage the succession of officers and other individual contribu-
tors into managerial and supervisory roles—or lateral roles for those who are not
interested in or are not ready for management?
Once an agency has deployed talented individuals into key roles throughout
the organization, how can it keep them there to avoid the high costs of replacing
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departing employees and training newcomers? Moreover, if officers and other per-
sonnel break the rules laid out by the agency in its policies, procedures, and other
behavioral mandates, how should agency leaders respond? What recourse do the
civilians served by the agency have?
Of course, even under the best conditions, police officers have one of the
toughest jobs around, and many of them suffer from job-related stress. How can
agencies design stress-management programs to protect officers’ health and
enable them to consistently deliver top-notch performance on the job? Finally,
while officers know all about how to survive the physical perils of police work, most
know much less about how to survive the political machinations swirling within the
organization that employs them. How can an agency help them understand and
navigate the political terrain so they master the art of exercising power and influ-
ence appropriately—a defining competency of ethical leadership?
In this chapter, we address each of these questions in turn. We closely exam-
ine the human relations challenges at hand and offer suggestions for how police
organizations can surmount them. Tackling the complexities of human relations
will never be easy, but by putting the right systems and practices in place, agency
leaders stand a better chance of ensuring that officers and other personnel are
motivated to excel, loyal, effective, and physically and mentally healthy.
POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
Policies (how a police agency intends to operate) and procedures (the steps
needed to put policies into action) form the backbone for employees’ behavior. In
most policing organizations, documented policies and procedures are known as
General orders: general orders, modeled on those found in the U.S. military services (Delattre &
a police agency’s Behan, 2003).
documented policies
and procedures.
Developing General Orders
Policies:
Ideally, a police agency develops its policies—its basic principles directing and
the basic principles
limiting its actions in pursuit of long-term goals—first and then defines the cor-
directing and limiting
responding procedures, or the sequence of activities or courses of action that must
a police agency’s
be followed to correctly perform tasks. The agency’s chief executive officer (for
actions in pursuit of
example, the chief of police, sheriff, or commissioner) typically writes the policies
long-term goals.
or directs their creation. Policies might relate to a broad range of topics—including
Procedures: the agency’s general goals and objectives, press relations, public relations, employee
the sequence of conduct, administrative matters, and community relations, among others. Once
activities or courses an agency establishes its policies, it can develop procedures, which help embed the
of action that must be policies into the agency’s culture and into officers’ everyday behavior (National
followed in a police Advisory Commission on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals, 1973; Stohr &
agency to correctly Collins, 2009). National and state accreditation standards may provide additional
perform tasks. guidance for agencies seeking to develop or modify their general orders.
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chapter 12 Human Relations Challenges in a Police Agency 299
A police agency’s general A woman whose

orders usually begin with a LAPD father was
description of how the agency killed in the line of
is structured; that is, who duty is comforted by
reports to whom, and how another LAPD officer.
the organization’s departments
and units are configured. The
document may then describe
the duties of specific groups
of officers, such as sergeants
and patrol officers, or provide
a broad overview of personnel
duties. All general orders also
document policies governing
the agency’s daily operations
(such as patrol assignments
and traffic management),
investigations, training, and
the legal process. The format
of the general orders may
range from very formal (with
an identifying numerical tag
for every paragraph) to rela-
tively informal (paragraphs
with numbered lists of direc-
tives as appropriate). However, almost every general order will begin with a state-
ment of the policy to which the procedures apply.
General orders for a police agency commonly state the agency’s policies for specific
areas and then provide procedural guidelines for fulfilling those policies. For example,
a police agency in the northeastern United States has a policy for notification of agency
personnel’s immediate family in the event an officer is injured in the line of duty. The
policy states that the agency assumes the responsibility of notifying an officer’s family in
such an event. The procedures associated with that policy spell out actions to be taken
by the injured officer’s immediate supervisor, the Office of the Chief of Police, and any
agency personnel who notify the news media of the event. Procedures direct how infor-
mation will be gathered before the family is notified and stipulate that the notification
will be made in person by police command (Rochester Police Department, 2001).
The most effective written policies and procedures use active rather than passive
voice, for easier understanding by everyone in the agency. For example, instead of
reading “A supervisor’s signature should be obtained on the form,” the document
should read, “Take the completed form to your supervisor for signature.”
Using General Orders

The most important thing about general orders is that they guide police officers’
behavior in a myriad of common and uncommon situations that officers might
encounter. Behind the general orders is the understanding that police are expected to
act within the law at all times, even while officers know that they have an enormous
amount of discretion in performing their duties.
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Leadership on the j ob
Work-Prep Overtime Policies
Several police officers filed a lawsuit against the city decided to carry out routine tasks (such as loading
that employed them, contending that certain tasks equipment into patrol cars) before their work shift for
they performed as preparation for duty constituted specific reasons (for instance, so they could lay claim
uncompensated “work” as defined by federal law. The to their favorite vehicles) (Bernstein, 2009).
officers claimed that they were owed back pay and
1. In your view, did the officers have a legitimate
overtime pay because city policy required them to
case regarding their back pay and overtime
load equipment into their police vehicles and review
claim? Why or why not?
e-mail before their shifts officially began at roll call.
The city’s attorney contended that the tasks for 2. Do you see this lawsuit as frivolous or as impor-
which the officers claimed extra compensation could tant regarding employment conditions and the
be performed after the work shift officially began. provision of public safety services? Explain your
During the trial, a few officers testified that they reasoning.
Police officers do not need to know every detail of their agency’s general orders.
Nevertheless, they should familiarize themselves with those policies and procedures
that apply most closely to their job responsibilities, whether their responsibilities cen-
ter on firearms usage, arrest and detention practices, or crime scene investigations.
OFFICER PERFORMANCE APPRAISALS
In Chapter 7, you learned how a police agency assesses and evaluates its overall
Performance performance as an organization. But a performance appraisal—an assessment of
appraisal: an individual’s job performance—is also important for each employee working
assessment of an within a police agency. In traditional police agencies, performance evaluations for
individual’s job officers typically center on quantifiable outcomes, such as number of arrests made
performance in an or number of citations issued. However, in agencies that have adopted the com-
organization. munity policing strategy (see Chapter 2), appraisals also consider more qualitative
results, such as citizens’ perceptions of their safety and the quality of life in their
neighborhood. The ideal performance evaluation addresses an officer’s quantitative
and qualitative impact on the community the agency serves (Michelson & Maher,
1993; Ortmeier & Meese, 2010).
Linking Performance to Policies, Procedures,

and Job Descriptions and Specifications
Most police agencies have used traditional performance evaluations to measure
officers’ knowledge, skills, and abilities, as well as their ability to adhere to the agen-
cy’s policies and procedures. When an officer’s performance is good or excellent,
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that evaluation suggests that the supervisor and other superiors responsible for that
officer have effectively guided and developed the individual (Whisenand & Rush,
2007).
Performance evaluations are also typically structured on the job description and
specifications for the positions in question. Of course, police officers must thor-
oughly understand the details of their job to fulfill its requirements. During perfor-
mance appraisals, supervisors evaluate officers according to how well they have met
their job responsibilities, how much effort they have extended, how knowledgeable
and skillful they are in carrying out their duties, and how appropriate their conduct
has been. A positive evaluation in these areas indicates that the officer’s level of
performance is acceptable (Crowder, 1998; Haberfeld, 2002).
Fostering Excellence in the Agency

However, performance appraisals are not just a means to evaluate how a police
officer is performing on the job. They can—and should—also help an agency create
and sustain a culture of growth, service excellence, professionalism, and continu-
ous individual and organizational improvement. An agency that is dedicated to the
development of its employees uses evaluations to analyze past problems as well
as anticipate and address future ones. Through performance appraisals, supervi-
sors provide valuable feedback to employees at each stage in their careers. These
appraisals commence in the recruit academy and continue through field training,
probationary periods, regular assessments held annually or semiannually, and dur-
ing times of promotion. With every evaluation, employees receive feedback on their
strengths and on the areas where they need to improve.
Distinguishing between Appraisal’s Dual Purposes

Performance appraisals serve dual purposes. A police agency may use them as an
administrative tool; for example, to determine whether an employee “fits” in the
organization in terms of its culture and values, to decide which assignments an
officer would best fill, and to gauge an officer’s qualification for promotion and
other rewards. The agency may also use appraisal as a career development tool.
For instance, during an officer’s performance appraisal, a police supervisor may ask
“Where would you like to go in your career?” or “What abilities would you like to
strengthen to take the next step in your career?” The supervisor might then share
information about training, job assignments, and other developmental opportuni-
ties that would help the officer achieve career goals.
This dual-purpose nature of performance appraisals can present challenges
for a police agency. Specifically, officers may be reluctant to talk about their
career goals—including discussing knowledge areas, skills, or abilities they would
like to improve—if they think that acknowledging the need for improvement in
specific areas would disqualify them for promotion or earn them criticism from
their supervisor (Mathis & Jackson, 2005; Morreale, 2002). For this reason,
some management experts suggest conducting performance evaluation discussions
separately from career development discussions. For supervisors who adopt this
approach, it is vital to explain during a career development discussion that infor-
mation shared during the meeting will not affect the officer’s performance rating
or compensation.
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Moreover, whether a performance appraisal is used for administrative or career-

development purposes, the person conducting the appraisal should apply the follow-
ing practices:
• Be candid about the employee’s strengths and areas for improvement or
growth. As difficult as it might be to deliver negative feedback to an officer,
such feedback is essential if the officer hopes to deliver improved performance.
• Provide specific examples. While evaluating an officer’s performance,
appraisers should provide specific examples to back up their assessments,
rather than general or vague comments. For example, instead of saying,
“You’re doing a great job with public relations,” the appraiser could say
something like, “The driver safety event you organized was a huge success.
Eighty percent of the town’s high school students attended it. That was a
major increase over last year’s attendance.”
• Connect performance to agency goals. Appraisers should consistently connect
the person’s knowledge, skills, and abilities to the agency’s operations and
strategic plans. For example, “To execute our community policing strategy, we
need more officers to learn at least one other language in addition to their first
language. The more we can speak the languages used by the citizens we are
serving, the better we can help them. So, might you be interested in signing up
for one of the language classes we are offering this year?”
• Conclude with an action plan. The supervisor and employee should conclude
the appraisal by developing an agreed-upon plan for meeting performance or
career objectives. The development of a plan for the employee’s improvement
Succession and growth within the agency is the best way to ensure that topics discussed
management: and decisions made during the appraisal are translated into actions that
preparation of deliver the desired outcomes (Bossidy & Charan, 2002).
individuals in a
police agency who
are interested in
leadership for higher-
SUCCESSION MANAGEMENT
level management
and supervisory If a police agency expects to survive and thrive, it must excel at succession man-
positions as well agement. Through this crucial process, agency managers prepare those who are
as specialized interested in leadership for higher-level management and supervisory positions. Of
assignments. course, not everyone in an organization necessarily wants to become a manager. Nor
is every person suited for a managerial or supervisory role. Succession management
Succession planning: thus may also include developing the knowledge, skills, and abilities of employees
the identification who wish to make lateral career moves; for instance, from a patrol position to one
of high-potential involving crime scene investigation and analysis.
employees in a
police agency and
the provision of
Understanding the Importance of Succession Management
training, coaching, Why is succession management so important? Through effective succession planning,
and developmental an agency establishes continuity of service and execution of its strategic plan by
opportunities needed identifying high-potential employees and providing them with the training, coach-
to enable them to ing, and developmental opportunities they need to move into influential or special-
move into influential ized positions (Mathis & Jackson, 2005).
or specialized Succession management also helps agencies ensure that they have enough talent
positions. in the right roles. In any organization, if a key position remains vacant for too long,
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the organization will have difficulty operating as it should. Imagine trying to manage
a police agency that has no one to head the crime investigation unit or the informa-
tion technology (IT) department. In police agencies that successfully orchestrate suc-
cession management, leaders anticipate vacancies in key positions long before they
occur; identify employees who have the skills, ability, interest, and potential to fill the
vacancies; and recruit, prepare, or promote promising talent to move into those posi-
tions. By staying ahead of anticipated vacancies, leaders help create a pool of talent
they can tap to ensure that the right people move into the right roles when needed.
Applying Promotion Protocols

Most police agencies have a limited number of management and supervisory posi-
tions, a condition that constrains individual officers’ ability to gain promotion into
such roles. Given this constraint, agencies must ensure that the process of promoting
officers to these positions is fair and above reproach. As in other professions, not
every officer is a good prospect for a management or supervisory position. To iden-
tify those who are, agencies should look for officers who demonstrate leadership
ability, excellent communication skills, and consistent positive performance—and
consider them first for promotion into management. For employees who are inter-
ested in making lateral moves into key positions that are not at the management
level, agencies can help those individuals develop the knowledge, skills, and abilities
needed to excel in their new roles.
Most police agencies use written tests to determine which officers to select for
first-line supervisory positions (such as corporal or sergeant) and mid-level positions
(including lieutenant or captain). The written promotional exam may include ques-
tions testing officers’ knowledge of the agency’s current policies and procedures,
effective supervisory and management practices, ethics, leadership, current criminal
law and procedure, and vehicle and traffic statutes and laws. The exams may also
Officers use agency

policy manuals,
textbooks, and other
resources to prepare
for promotion exams.
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An assessment panel
is typically used to
decide whether to
promote an officer.
assess officers’ comprehension of written material. Most police jurisdictions advise

promotional applicants to review and become familiar with certain approved police
textbooks, agency policy manuals, and the current state and federal laws affecting
police competence and performance.
In addition to the written test, agencies may also use an oral interview, situ-
ational assessment exercises, and past performance appraisals to make promotion
decisions. In larger agencies, the decision process may be led by a promotion or
assessment panel and may include a review by the commissioner, chief of police,
or sheriff. Evaluators consider candidates’ education and any specialized training
candidates may have received, along with their specific skills, productivity levels,
personal appearance, commitment to community service, and loyalty to the agency’s
vision, mission, goals, and leadership.
Although officers aspiring to advance into management will likely be familiar
with their agency’s promotion protocols, the succession management process is
organized and directed at the supervisory level. For instance, a sergeant who expects
to retire soon may single out a first-line officer who exhibits the correct attitude and
behaviors for a supervisory position, then coach that officer in how to attain the
sergeant’s rank. There is no guarantee that the retiring sergeant’s job will be filled by
that officer, but the officer receives the benefit of the sergeant’s years of experience.
And the retiring sergeant helps identify and groom a possible replacement—saving
the agency the time and expense.
Developing Promising Candidates

Succession planning should be an ongoing, proactive process rather than a one-time
event that a police agency initiates only after a key position has been vacated. The
goal of this process is to widen the agency’s pool of talent so employees can be pro-
moted or moved laterally into roles as needed. That way, the agency avoids the risk
of having positions remain vacant indefinitely.
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A young police officer

“job shadowing” a
senior colleague.
The succession management process should also be simple and transparent, so

prospective candidates and leaders can focus on candidates’ talents and skills. For
instance, when an agency develops clear and concise job descriptions and specifi-
cations, everyone involved in the succession management process knows what is
expected of those who may fill a vacant position. Moreover, even if the agency’s
human relations department spearheads the definition of promotion protocols,
managers must take ownership of the process of identifying and developing promis-
ing employees (deKoning, 2005; Hunter & Barker, 2011).
When a manager or supervisor identifies a successful candidate for promo-
tion or lateral movement in the agency, on-the-job development should begin. For
instance, suppose that Carol, a patrol officer, is interested in eventually working in
the area of crime investigation. Paul, her supervisor, should encourage her to talk
with police detectives and perhaps even spend some time “job shadowing” to learn
more about how they do their work. Paul might also “sculpt” Carol’s job—giving
her assignments that present her with new challenges related to the work she is
interested in. To illustrate, he might advise her to survey neighborhood residents
to discover their perceptions of how well the agency prevents crime in their com-
munity and to suggest potential solutions to problems identified in the survey
responses. Paul should then coach and support Carol as needed while she carries
out the assignment. For instance, perhaps she needs suggestions for how to design
the survey questions or how to interpret community residents’ responses to the
questions.
Last, all managers should encourage and help promising candidates to forge
mutually beneficial connections with peers, superiors, and others within and out-
side the agency. These connections will help candidates learn how to collaborate
and interact effectively with subordinates, superiors, and customers. Members
of an aspiring manager’s support network can teach the person a lot about the
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core responsibilities of management—including how to achieve important goals

through other people, develop direct reports’ talents, and inspire exceptional per-
formance. According to some estimates, roughly 40 percent of newly promoted
managers and supervisors fail within 18 months of promotion because they do not
know how to cultivate strong relationships with colleagues and subordinates. It is
much better to set the stage for success early rather than wait until a promotion
has occurred—and then hope that the person can handle the job (deKoning, 2005;
Stevens, 2011).
TALENT RETENTION
Police officers who resign or retire early from an agency may cause high attrition
(turnover) among remaining personnel. Turnover raises daunting challenges for the
agency. Specifically:
Morale: • High turnover levels can erode morale—defined as the state of the spirit of
the state of the a person or group as exhibited by confidence, cheerfulness, discipline, and
spirits of a person or willingness to perform assigned tasks—in those who remain at the agency.
group as exhibited Employees begin wondering why so many of their colleagues are leaving, and
by confidence, their own commitment to the agency may waver.
cheerfulness, • If the next class of recruits is unable to assume their positions for several
discipline, and months, the agency risks being unable to provide the public safety so crucial
willingness to to its mission.
perform assigned
• Screening, hiring, and training new officers are expensive.
tasks.
• It often takes time for inexperienced officers to begin performing at acceptable
levels (Haarr, 2005). If an agency loses experienced officers on a regular basis,
its overall effectiveness will diminish.
In all these respects, high turnover is costly for an agency.
Despite turnover’s high price tag, police and other public safety agencies often
devote enormous resources to recruiting and selecting employees—and then neglect
to retain their best performers. To keep valued employees onboard, an agency
can take several powerful steps—including communicating values and policies
clearly, bringing in new people with fresh perspectives, and sustaining talented
professionals’ motivation to excel on the job.
Communicating Values and Policies

When an agency clearly communicates its values and policies to applicants as
well as existing employees, newcomers and old-timers alike know what to expect
from their employment there. And when realities match their expectations, they
are much less likely to experience disappointment with the job and seek to work
elsewhere.
Agency administrators have numerous channels at their disposal for this com-
munication. For example, during pre-employment and promotion interviews, they
should describe negative as well as positive aspects of the job, along with how the
agency operates and what its core values are. During orientation of recruits and
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Cleveland, Ohio,
police recruits during
their first week on the
job in October 2006.
those who have earned a promotion, they can further explain values and policies as
well as the behaviors and results expected in the new position. Finally, by providing
proper training, including remediation of skill deficiencies, agencies can reinforce
messages about values and policies. Training also helps officers improve their
performance—which often strengthens loyalty to the agency.
Bringing in Fresh Perspectives and Skills

While costly, turnover also presents a vital opportunity for an agency: to bring in
new employees with fresh perspectives and skills, such as an openness and ability to
effect change or a commitment to ethical behavior. Some officers who are leaving
the agency might have opposed earlier changes, become ineffective in their jobs, or
developed unethical behaviors (Orrick, 2008). Their attitudes and actions can cor-
rode morale and loyalty in their colleagues: No one likes to work with incompetent
fellow employees or colleagues who harbor negative attitudes. And no one wants to
work for an organization that seems to accept or even reward mediocrity.
Whenever a problematic officer leaves an agency, leaders should take an hon-
est look at not only any knowledge or skills the person had but also the shortcom-
ings embodied in that individual. The agency can then work to replace any assets
that are being lost as well as bring in someone new who possesses the talents,
attitudes, and values lacking in the person who left predecessors. When agencies
bring in new individuals with fresh perspectives and skills, morale and loyalty in
the remaining staff often improve. That boosts the agency’s chances of keeping its
best performers.
Sustaining Officer Motivation

Often, high turnover in a police agency stems in part from lack of motivation.
To keep officers motivated to give their best on the job, managers must recognize
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achievement and offer incentives that people see as attainable and worth the effort.
Leaders also motivate sub-ordinates by empowering them to make decisions central
to their jobs. In turn, empowerment breeds self-confidence and well-being, essential
ingredients for accomplishing goals. And when people accomplish goals, they feel
motivated to achieve even more.
Another way to motivate officers is to offer stimulating experiences, such as
job rotations, new and challenging responsibilities, and assignments that stretch
people beyond their comfort zone. Job rotation can be as simple as changing an
officer’s shift; every shift offers unique problems and challenges. When an officer
makes a more significant change, such as moving from gang intelligence inves-
tigations and surveillance to drug enforcement, the challenge can prove equally
motivating.
Increasing officers’ responsibilities within their current job posting is also
a potent motivational tool. For example, an officer can participate in a special
community project or prepare a statistical report. Such experiences can constitute a
refreshing change from “business as usual.” To help officers embrace new respon-
sibilities, supervisors can explain that such projects generate important results
for the agency and the community, as well as supporting the officer’s own career
development.
Job challenges related to community policing and problem solving are particu-
larly useful for enhancing morale and officers’ job satisfaction. After tackling such
challenges successfully, officers feel they are making a real difference in the commu-
nities they serve (Orrick, 2008). Such experiences—for instance, working with citi-
zens to make their homes and businesses more resistant to burglars or strengthening
relationships between citizens and the police—also help develop officers’ critical
thinking skills. And they give officers opportunities to learn new ways of analyzing
problems and crafting solutions.
Executing challenging assignments helps make officers feel empowered to gener-
ate results for the agency and shape their own careers. Supervisors and managers who
fail to provide such empower-
Police officers must ment risk seeing their direct
be sensitive to the reports develop a negative atti-
racial and ethnic tude toward the job and an
backgrounds of others. unwillingness to do anything
beyond the minimum require-
ments for the patrol officer role.
Minimum job performance or
job effort becomes the new stan-
dard. If one officer develops this
attitude, it can spread through-
out the agency, leading to poor
morale in others. In the worst
cases, officers may even fear
taking any initiative, because
they believe that the agency will
not support them in their efforts
to grow (T. E. Baker, 2006;
Shusta et al., 2011).
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ETHICS IN ACTION
ICE 287(g): Controversial Crime-Prevention Program
he U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, a part
T of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, has a program known

as 287(g). This program allows the agency to empower state, county,
and local police officers to enforce immigration law. Through 287(g), local
police officials can question individuals about their immigration status. If
that status appears uncertain, law enforcement personnel can refer the
individuals for possible deportation. Until the inception of this program,
immigration monitoring was solely the purview of federal authorities.
Opponents of 287(g) point out that detaining an individual because
that person might someday commit a crime goes directly against one of
the United States’ oldest tenets: a person is innocent until proven guilty.
Opponents further say that making line police officers responsible for
enforcing immigration law will seriously hamper police efforts in areas char-
acterized by a high concentration of immigrants. In particular, questioning
people about their immigration status makes it harder than ever for police
to build trust between themselves and the citizens in the communities their
agency serves.
To further complicate the situation, some immigrants who could be
deported have lived in the United States long enough to give birth to chil-
dren, who are U.S. citizens by law. Thus, deportation may separate family
members, parents, and children.
For these reasons, many police jurisdictions have refused to join
the ICE 287(g) program. Others that have joined are facing mounting
complaints about the program and have been forced to modify their
participation; for example, by refraining from inquiring about immigra-
tion status unless the person in question is suspected of a felony
(Shahani & Greene, 2009; U.S. House of Representatives Committee
on the Judiciar y, the Republicans, 2009; U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement, 2009).
1. If police take on the task of enforcing immigration laws in addition to
their usual crime fighting and community policing responsibilities, what
impacts—positive and negative—could this added responsibility have
on their ability to do their job? Discuss.
2. To question individuals on their immigration status, local police should
develop unrelated criteria for determining who to stop and question.
For example, if a motorist is stopped and detained for a motor-vehicle
infraction, the police can inquire about the detainee’s immigration
status. Stopping someone simply because of skin color could be
classified as racial profiling, a practice deemed illegal in many areas.
Currently, the law is unsettled with respect to stopping someone and inquir-
ing of their immigration status. In your opinion, is this practice legal? Why
or why not? Is it ethical? Why or why not?
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MANAGEMENT OF POLICE MISCONDUCT
We discussed police misconduct in Chapter 3, but in the pages that follow, we

look at several particular aspects of misconduct: the role of citizen review boards
in drawing attention to misconduct, use of discipline in response to misconduct,
and use of early warning systems to detect problem officers before they act
inappropriately.
Working with Citizen Review Boards

Almost every police agency across the United States has a formal process in place for
citizens to file complaints against individual officers. Some complaints focus on the
use of force or discourtesy; others on possible unethical or illegal behavior. Usually,
Citizen review board: a citizen review board—an independent group comprising local citizens appointed
an independent group by the mayor or other politicians—investigates complaints, decides whether a com-
comprising local plaint is justified based on the evidence at hand, and offers recommendations. The
citizens appointed recommendations may include officer discipline, new training initiatives, refresher
by the mayor or training, or notification to the complainant that the police actions taken were
other politicians proper and justified.
that investigates
complaints, decides A Controversial Concept The concept of the citizen review board has sparked
whether a complaint contention between police and citizens since the mid-1960s, when disfranchised
is justified based groups in almost every major city began demanding protection of their civil rights
on the evidence at and liberties. Today, some police still resist such boards because of what they
hand, and offers view as civilians’ lack of understanding about the complex realities of police work
recommendations.
In many jurisdictions,
citizen review boards
are used to review
complaints made
against police officers.
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and the indignity (according to police) of being reviewed by someone outside the
agency (Peak et al., 2010). Police who resist civilian oversight assert that such
oversight is politicized and destroys the credibility of the police as a group and
that police misconduct is not as pervasive as citizen review boards would have the
public believe.
Those who support such boards maintain that police officers cannot be objec-
tive about one another’s behavior and that police subculture pressures officers to
support each other even if a fellow officer commits illegal behavior. Supporters
further contend that a greater number of officers are found guilty and disciplined
through civilian oversight than through their agency’s internal processes or the
formal justice system, that the punishment serves as a powerful deterrent, and that
civilian oversight improves an agency’s image by demonstrating its willingness to
work with the community to prevent abuse of police power.
A Variety of Complaint Processes Because no ideal system of civilian review

exists as yet, police jurisdictions have developed methods for processing complaints
that suit their unique characteristics, their citizen population, and their police force
(Farrow, 2003).
For example, in some jurisdictions, citizens file complaints initially with the
command officers where the incident occurred or with the agency’s internal affairs/
professional responsibility section. Those who file a complaint through such chan-
nels and who feel that the complaint has not received sufficient attention have the
option of presenting the complaint to the citizen review board. The board then
assesses the investigation’s thoroughness, analyzes the findings, and makes recom-
mendations for changes in agency policy, procedure, or training. In other jurisdic-
tions, community residents present complaints directly to a citizen review board,
which then initiates an investigation by addressing the appropriate department
within the police agency.
Words versus Deeds Numerous police agencies say they are committed to the
complaint procedure and to taking action against officers found guilty of miscon-
duct. However, police agencies in many jurisdictions have managed to stall or even
halt the complaint process by responding slowly to complaints. In some instances,
agencies have even “lost” a complaint altogether. But even if an agency processes a
complaint appropriately, there is no consistent form of discipline.
For instance, in San Francisco, 70 percent of officers who were accused of using
excessive force between 1996 and 2004 received only a reprimand or perfunctory
intervention (such as verbal counseling or a written memorandum of record). Even
though voters established the Office of Citizen Complaints to remedy the situation,
the office was understaffed, lacked effective leaders, and met with fierce opposition
from the police agency itself and its union, the Police Officers Association (Sward,
Wallace, & Fernandez, 2006).
The Importance and Limits of Civilian Review No police agency can afford to
ignore citizen complaints about police conduct, agency policy and procedure, and
service quality. Such complaints may signify serious problems with an agency’s
management of personnel or its ability to fulfill its mission. Complaints also shed
light on where citizens may lack understanding of current laws, enforcement
practices, police procedures, and service priorities. For these reasons, agencies
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Many jurisdictions are

installing dashboard
video cameras in police
vehicles to substantiate
that officers act
properly, and to
protect officers from
unfounded complaints
by citizens.
must handle all citizen inquiries and grievances swiftly and thoroughly. The right
response can help the agency build trust and strengthen its credibility with its
customers.
Of course, the possibility exists that some citizens will make false allegations
against the police. In most states, it is a criminal offense to file a false allegation of
police misconduct. In some situations, video cameras mounted on police-vehicle
dashboards and on light poles at city intersections have helped police agencies
prove that an officer has acted properly—thus exposing a false allegation. In
other cases, analysis of a complainant’s medical condition has proved that the
person’s injuries could not have been caused by police behavior cited in the
complaint.
Two Models of Citizen Review Some police jurisdictions use an agency-focused

citizen review model; others use a customer-focused model. Those with the agency-
focused model use citizen review to address problems with employee competence,
policy and procedure compliance, and personnel behaviors and attitudes. This
model drives strict adherence to or possible minor adjustment of the agency’s cur-
rent systems.
In jurisdictions with the customer-focused model, agencies use citizen review to
improve service quality. This model encourages agency management to solve prob-
lems, anticipate the community’s future needs, and devise ways to meet those needs.
It thus fosters proactivity and a spirit of innovation (Walker, 2001).
Regardless of which model an agency uses, leaders must be able to clearly define
the model for personnel throughout the organization. Through such clarity, every-
one in the agency knows how they are expected to behave and what the agency’s
priorities are.
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Disciplining Officers Accused of Misconduct

If clear and verifiable evidence of police misconduct exists, experts recommend swift
and fair discipline—actions taken to correct problematic behavior—to satisfy the Discipline:
complainant as well as the general public and to discourage further misconduct. In actions taken to
most police environments, discipline is progressive: It starts with remedial training, correct problematic
then (if misconduct recurs) moves to oral reprimand, written reprimand, and even- behavior.
tually the loss of vacation or compensatory time off. The most serious infractions,
incompetence, or continual progressive disciplinary cases may lead to retraining or
transfer of the offender to a less challenging assignment, suspension (with or with-
out pay), demotion, or even termination.
Criminal prosecution of police personnel accused of misconduct generally sus-
pends the administrative disciplinary process until the case is resolved. Agencies may
also offer an employee the opportunity to resign from the organization in lieu of the
possibility of demotion or termination.
Leading by example and delivering a reprimand in brief, pointed increments is
preferable to a public or even private “dressing down” of an officer. When a repri-
mand is necessary, the following process is recommended:
1. Reprimand the officer as soon as possible after the problem behavior has
occurred.
2. Be specific about what is wrong with the behavior; that is, why it creates
problems for the officer, the agency and the community the agency serves. For
example, “You arrived late for your shift twice this week. When you do that,
we risk not having the coverage we need to respond to calls for service. And
someone else has to cover for you.”
3. Express specific feelings about the behavior. For instance, “I’m upset and
disappointed.”
4. Pause to let silence emphasis those feelings.
5. Assure the officer that the person’s contribution to the department is valued
and that the agency thinks well of the individual. However, the problem
behavior in this instance is unacceptable (T. E. Baker, 2006; Bennett & Hess
2007; Blanchard & Johnson, 1982).
Establishing Early Warning Systems

Many police agencies have established an early warning system to identify and Early warning system:
address problematic behaviors before they can reach disastrous levels. For specific a set of practices
individuals, the agency documents behaviors that have the potential to escalate into enabling a police
more frequent and serious problems, using indicators to monitor trends. Indicators agency to identify and
include the number of citizen complaints filed against an officer within a specified address problematic
time period, use of excessive force incidents, number of police-vehicle accidents, and behaviors before they
excessive firearm discharge reports. can reach disastrous
Early warning systems enable an agency to intervene promptly when managers levels.
see negative behaviors emerging. Counseling, remedial training, and stricter super-
vision can help to change an officer’s problem behavior. The first-line supervisor
or sergeant plays a crucial role in this effort, as this individual should know the
problem officer quite well. In fact, problem officers tend to be known by others in
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the agency as having chronic performance problems. Such problems may manifest
themselves as work that is below or at minimum performance standards, question-
able arrest practices, lack of performance documentation, and high-risk behaviors
such as substance abuse or dangerous leisure-time activities (Ortmeier & Meese,
2010; Walker, Alpert, & Kenney, 2001).
STRESS MANAGEMENT
The second most stressful job in the United States is police officer (the first is
inner-city high school teacher) (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2006).
Officers are the first people exposed to situations in which human beings have
behaved badly toward one another. Death scenes, domestic abuse injuries, drug
overdoses, fatal car collisions, child molestation, and other incidents are regular
parts of a police officer’s life. The average citizen may see no more than one or two
dead bodies or seriously injured people in a lifetime; an officer who works in a large
city may see one or two dead bodies weekly and often encounter people who have
suffered horrific injuries.
While officers may become conditioned to viewing horrible sights and may
not be shocked by these tragedies after a few years’ experience, the scenes can still
leave their mark on their psyche. Officers learn that life is fragile, and many feel
frustrated by the limitations of the help they can give. Given these harsh realities, it
is easy to understand how the effects of stress can build within a person. As physi-
cal, emotional, and spiritual
Police officers witness damage from stress accumu-
disturbing scenes lates, the officer may become
such as this scene of a cynical, depressed, and angry.
fatally injured Dallas Stress can also shorten life
Police Department spans. In the United States,
motorcycle officer average life expectancy for
resulting from a men is a little over 74 years; a
collision while little over 80 years for women.
escorting Hillary For police officers with 10 to
Clinton’s motorcade. 19 years on the job, life expec-
tancy is just 53 to 66 years
(Aveni, 1999; Lindsey & Kelly,
2004; Violanti, 2002).
What is cutting so many
officers’ lives short? More
than one hundred police offi-
cers die in the line of duty
each year. Stress-related dis-
eases associated with cancer
and heart ailments also take
their toll. In addition, active-
duty and retired police offi-
cers commit suicide at a rate
nearly three times the national
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average. Evidence suggests that police officers are eight times more likely to take
their own lives than they are to be killed by a criminal while on duty (National
Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, 2010; National P.O.L.I.C.E. Suicide
Foundation, 2010).
Recognizing the Symptoms of Stress

Symptoms of psychological stress can include boredom, depression, hostility, para-
noia, and sudden mood changes. An officer’s colleagues and family members who
witness such behaviors can ask questions, express concern, and empathize with
the officer. Superiors can take affected officers aside and strongly recommend that
they seek help independently or through the agency-sponsored employee assistance
program without a report being filed in the officers’ personnel file. However, most
observers, be they family, friends, colleagues, or supervisors, hesitate to address
stress-related concerns because they fear violating the officer’s super-hero persona—
the sense that the individual is in charge and can deal with any situation.
The worst manifestation of psychological stress is posttraumatic stress disorder
(PTSD). After experiencing a traumatic event (for example, combat, rape, or a car
crash), an individual who then suffers from PTSD can exhibit symptoms including
nightmares, emotional numbness, and difficulty controlling thoughts of the event.
Whereas these symptoms may diminish or disappear, others may arise, such as
anger, a sense of detachment from others, increased startle response, difficulty sleep-
ing or concentrating, headaches, stomach problems, and chest pain. Some PTSD
sufferers even feel suicidal.
To address PTSD promptly, police officers and managers must understand how
the disorder manifests itself. To that end, some police agencies have instituted train-
ing in PTSD to inoculate officers before they experience a traumatic event. Agencies
may also provide immediate psychological debriefing and follow-up counseling
services to police officers affected by the traumatic incident.
Mitigating Dangerous Stress

To mitigate dangerous levels of stress for officers, police agencies must excel at
stress management by putting in place a blend of prevention, training, and interven- Stress management:
tion programs for all employees. Many agencies have developed their own stress- a blend of prevention,
management programs. Agencies unable to do so because of budgetary or other training, and
constraints can join a community-based employee assistance program or encourage intervention programs
officers to take advantage of a program offered through the agency’s health care that a police agency
provider. Although most programs include professional counseling and addiction puts in place to
treatment options, many agencies have additional prevention options available. mitigate dangerous
The box titled “A Tri-Level Stress-Prevention Program” shows one example from a levels of stress among
police agency in the northeastern United States. officers.
The tri-level program succeeded because it delivered stress-management and
anger-management training to all in-service and new police officers. Every agency
employee—from police recruit officer to police chief—had access to the training.
Data collected from agency personnel who attended the training revealed that
attendees had gained a basic awareness of stress and its effects. Students expressed
awareness of how to manage the negative effects of stress, including anger, and how
to access needed counseling services. Students qualitatively stated that the training
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A Tri-Level Stress-Prevention Program

A police agency in the northeastern region of the United States instituted a
tri-level program to prevent negative impacts of stress on individual personnel
and the organization overall.
PRIMARY LEVEL SECONDARY LEVEL TERTIARY LEVEL
• Basic stress management • Peer counseling training • Individual counseling
training for recruits, and intervention and referral services
supervisors, mid-level • Traumatic incident • Inpatient services
managers, and executives debriefing for groups • Substance-abuse
• Significant-other training and individuals treatment programs
• Traumatic incident • Gambling treatment
training program
• Women in policing • Psychiatric treatment
training and care
• Anger-management
training
Sources: Davis, 1994; Quick, Quick, Nelson, & Hurrell, 2003.
had a positive effect on the way they handled on-the-job and personal/relationship
concerns.
In this program, primary level referred to training-based offerings intended
to support personal growth and professional development. This training included
group presentations as well as practice exercises on stress awareness and stress-
management techniques (such as relaxation exercises, breath control, and muscle
relaxation). Secondary level provided for early intervention for those officers expe-
riencing stress-related problems. Traumatic incident debriefing was mandatory for
all officers involved in deadly physical force occurrences such as police shootings—
whether an officer was the one who used deadly physical force, was the victim of
a gunshot, or witnessed a police shooting incident. Through the peer counseling
intervention part of this level, trained officers diplomatically approach and address
officers who appear to be experiencing negative stress in their lives or for whom
stress seems to be affecting job performance. Finally, the tertiary level provided
agency-paid confidential psychiatric visits, in-hospital care, and alcohol or drug
abuse inpatient or outpatient treatment for agency personnel in need. All three levels
in the program emphasized positive health and personal well-being for officers, not
discipline. All treatment remained confidential and was not documented in officers’
personnel records.
The best stress-management programs cover the topic of how to recognize the
behaviors, emotions, and verbal statements suggesting that a person is suicidal.
Through peer counseling programs, officers can learn when and how to approach
and offer assistance to a fellow officer who may be at risk of suicide. Stress-
management programs should also include a written policy on confidentiality for
training sessions, peer counseling, traumatic incident debriefing, and tertiary care
services. Without confidentiality, officers may be reluctant to take advantage of
these much needed services, for fear that their problems will be made public.
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Police officers may

attend classes that
focus on stress-
management
techniques.
Easing Stress’s Impact on Officers’ Private Lives

Policing is not a job that someone can easily “leave at the office” at the end of a
workday. When officers are suffering from dangerous levels of stress, their loved
ones often do, too. Many officers who have families worry intensely about their
spouse’s and children’s safety because they see every kind of appalling and frighten-
ing behavior every day on the job. They may refrain from discussing work at home
to avoid alarming their loved ones. This decision is understandable, but it can make
officers feel isolated from their families. And isolation, in turn, causes them to
suppress stress and other corrosive emotions, which can then spawn physical and
mental health problems.
Difficulty Transitioning Out of the Workday During academy training, police

agencies invest enormous time and money to train officers for the profession of
policing. As we read in Chapter 10, officers learn to keep the peace, take com-
mand and be assertive, observe safety measures while enforcing the law, and solve
problems. However, few academies have trained police officers on how to transition
out of their stressful role at the end of their shift. Many spouses and life partners
of officers have noted that when their loved one returns from a day of policing the
streets, the individual continues exhibiting police behaviors, such as barking orders
at others, acting suspiciously, and practicing officer safety techniques when in pub-
lic places. For example, off-duty officers enjoying a meal with family members or
friends may keep their back to the wall and consistently scan the room and patrons,
looking for suspicious or dangerous activity.
Left unaddressed, this inability to navigate the transition from police officer
to ordinary family member can have serious consequences, including alcoholism,
infidelity, emotional indifference, and drug abuse. It can also lead to mental and
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One of the best stress

relievers for a police
officer is to relax at
home with family and
friends.
physical health problems, as well as officer suicide or domestic abuse of significant

others.
Strategies for Easing the Transition Stress cannot be totally eliminated from
police work. However, fortunately, many police academies and agencies have begun
offering educational programs that teach officers not only how to cope with the
demands of the job but also how to disconnect from the job after hours so their
home lives are not negatively affected. Techniques for disconnecting from the job
at the end of a shift include “leaving the job behind” by making personal respon-
sibilities and commitments a priority. Many officers also learn to manage stress
effectively themselves; for instance, by following a vigorous exercise regime, eating
a healthy diet, and developing interests that have nothing to do with policing. These
practices require a firm commitment and a conscious effort to separate professional
from private life (Haberfeld, 2002; Ortmeier, 2006; Stress and the Police, 2007).
Many police academies’ curricula also now include training for family members
as well. Known variously as “family programs,” “significant-other training,” or
“police-spouse seminars,” these programs aim to educate police officers’ families
about the nature of police work: how shifts work, what police jargon means, what
salaries and benefits their loved ones have, and what types of incidents, individuals,
and equipment officers deal with. Some offer ride-along programs, which enable
family members to observe police officers in action. Developers of such pro-
grams hope that by demystifying the police profession, the programs help families
understand what officers face on a daily basis. Informed by this understanding,
spouses and significant others may work with their officer life partners to overcome
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Many agencies have

ride-along programs in
which family members
and others (such as the
media) are allowed to
ride with and observe
police officers in
action.
stress-related challenges that might interfere with healthy personal relationships.

For example, they can commit to having dinner together as a family at least a few
nights a week, or agree to spend time each week discussing the stresses they are
experiencing and exchanging emotional support.
SURVIVAL ON THE STREET AND IN THE AGENCY
Police officers face two survival challenges: how to stay alive on the street while
they are on and off duty (with or without family members), and how to navigate the
political and ethical terrain within the agency that employs them. Many officers are
more comfortable with the former challenge, because much of their training focuses
on strengthening their on-the-street survival skills. Through such training, officers
learn how to rely on verbal adeptness, unarmed defense tactics, and (if necessary)
deadly physical force to stay alive in the face of peril, whether they are on duty or
off duty. But training says little about how to survive agency politics—the political Agency politics:
machinations, ambitions, and personal agendas that shape interpersonal dynamics political
within a police agency, and that can “kill” an officer’s career. machinations,
ambitions, and
personal agendas that
Navigating the Political Landscape shape interpersonal
Although officers may personally loathe internal politics and agency managers may dynamics within a
insist that “politics has no place in policing,” agencies are organizations made up police agency.
of human beings. Thus, politics is a fact of life in all police agencies—like it or not.
Navigating the political terrain can be difficult for some people, but officers can still
learn how to survive and even thrive politically in their agency.
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Moral versus Immoral Political Power Politics can be defined as a competition

over power and position in an organization. (See Chapter 11 for more discussion
of power and authority.) Contestants can compete for these two things using moral
Moral political or immoral tactics. Individuals who practice moral political power seek to influence
power: and motivate others with an eye toward achieving agency goals rather than satis-
attempts to influence fying their own interests. They take time to learn what subordinates do and what
and motivate suggestions they might have for improving the services the agency provides. They
others with an eye promote their most promising direct reports and forge mutually beneficial relation-
toward achieving ships with other departments (Dwyer, 2008).
organizational goals Individuals who manipulate others only for personal gain are exercising
rather than satisfying immoral political power. They do not communicate effectively; in fact, they rarely
one’s own interests. give credit for work well done, and they frequently and publicly criticize subordi-
nates and peers. Moreover, they are unaware of or disregard the permanent dam-
Immoral political age they inflict on other employees’ morale and the agency’s performance (Quimby,
power: 2009).
manipulation of
others for personal Tactics for Exerting Moral Political Power Politics is a reality in policing
gain. because the authority granted to the police and control over the police ultimately
rest with elected representatives of the people. The police are thus responsible for
and accountable to the electorate, yet police officers often find themselves caught
between politics and the realities of policing. They themselves may become politi-
cal targets when they are unable to contain or control a crime or disorder prob-
lem. Agency personnel are often blamed for situations (such as crime spawned by
poverty or lack of effective social institutions) that lie beyond their control. Police
officers may also be confronted by political leaders who wish to pacify voters even
though voters’ desires are not consistent with the law.
Successfully balancing politics with the police mission requires agency personnel
to serve all citizens well while also respecting the values and wishes of each political
leader’s constituency. No single strategy works well in all communities. However,
unbiased professional behavior on the part of the police will operate as a defense to
charges of police discrimination (Coffey, 1990; Goldstein, 2001).
One of the best ways for police officers, supervisors, and managers to navigate
among the various political players within their agency is to identify, observe, learn
from, and support leaders who exercise moral political power. By aligning with
such leaders in these ways, aspiring leader deepen their own understanding of what
moral political power is, why it is important, and how people acquire and use it
(Quimby, 2009). Additional strategies for mastering the art of moral politics include
the following:
• Identify your agency’s goals and suggest ideas for achieving them.
• Clarify your career goals and formulate a plan for reaching them that does
not involve taking advantage of others or preventing others from reaching
their own career aspirations.
• Cultivate mutually beneficial relationships with leaders, peers, and others in
your agency who demonstrate ethical behavior and integrity.
• Learn to listen carefully to what people are saying, and offer help when it
seems appropriate.
• Ask questions to start conversations. Invite others to join in the discussion
and explain what they know about the subject.
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• Avoid people who insist on gossiping or spreading hurtful rumors; excuse

yourself from the conversation as soon as possible. If the gossip involves the
harassment of one employee by another, inform a superior as soon as possible
(Dwyer, 2008).
An agency’s vision and mission, shared and supported by all officers, can help
sustain an environment that minimizes the impact of political interference.
Avoiding Ethical Pitfalls

According to Randy Sutton, a 29-year police veteran one of your authors inter-
viewed, ethical pitfalls are at least as prevalent as physical perils for police officers—
and officers are better protected against the latter type of danger (Sutton, 2006). As
Sutton explains, “In my department alone, for every officer lost in the line of duty
in the last five years, 70 were fired for ethical misconduct. And unlike those who
died honorably, these officers are alive but disgraced.”
Sadly, ethical misconduct does not always manifest itself as flagrant breaking
of rules. It can consist of behavior that is not covered by a rule—such as accepting
discounted refreshments at local eateries or discounts on dry-cleaning of uniforms.
Without rules laying out the dos and don’ts of ethical behavior, officers may mis-
takenly assume that a behavior is ethically sound.
While training can prepare officers to avoid such ethical pitfalls, Sutton notes
that self-definition—knowing who you are and respecting yourself and others—is
equally important. Some experts have defined ethical behavior as the conduct one
displays even when no one else is looking. If that is true, then such behavior must
become so ingrained in officers’ psyche that there will be no question about what to
do in questionable circumstances. Ethical behavior will have become second nature.
• Policies and Procedures. In most policing organizations, documented policies

and procedures are known as general orders. Agencies develop policies first
summary
and then procedures, and use the resulting general orders to guide officers’
behavior.
• Officer Performance Appraisals. Police agencies can use policies, procedures,
and job descriptions and specifications to evaluate individual officers’
performance. The resulting performance appraisals can help an agency foster
a culture of excellence. Agencies can use performance appraisals to make
decisions such as which rewards an officer is qualified to receive as well as to
help police personnel develop their careers. The most effective performance
appraisals candidly cite the employee’s strengths and areas needing
improvement, provide specific examples of each, connect performance to
agency goals, and conclude with an action plan for building on strengths and
addressing improvement areas.
• Succession Management. Through succession management, a police agency
prepares those who are interested in leadership for higher-level management
and supervisory positions. Success management is essential for ensuring that
police agencies have enough talent available for the right roles when the need
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arises. Agencies use several means to make promotion decisions, including

written tests and interviews. They strive to make succession planning an
ongoing, proactive process rather than a one-time event initiated only after
a key position becomes vacant. Agencies can use several means to groom
an individual for another position, such as job shadowing and redesign of
current responsibilities.
• Talent Retention. High turnover among police agency personnel raises daunting
challenges, including erosion of morale and costs to train replacements for
the vacated positions. To combat high turnover, agencies can communicate
their values and policies clearly to job candidates so they understand what is
expected of them and can determine if a job with a particular agency would
be a good match for them. Agencies can also strive to bring in new hires with
fresh pespectives and skills, which often improve morale and loyalty among
remaining staff and persuades high performers to stay. Sustaining officer
motivation (for example, by giving them challenging stretch assignments) is
another powerful weapon for reducing turnover: motivated individuals often
achieve more goals, which inspires them to strive for even more success. And
success makes people want to stay with their current organization.
• Management of Police Misconduct. Many police jurisdictions have citizen
review boards that investigate complaints of possible police misconduct and
offer recommendations for action. Opinions differ on the value and role
of citizen review boards for police agencies, and methods for processing
complaints differ across agencies. If police misconduct is proved, an agency
should apply a swift and fair process for disciplining the officer(s) involved.
They should also establish early warning systems to spot and address
problematic behaviors before they can escalate. Such systems can be used
to track indicators such as citizen complaints filed against an officer, use-of-
excessive-force incidents, and number of police-vehicle collisions.
• Stress Management. The second most stressful job in the United States
(behind inner-city high school teacher) is police officer. Symptoms of
dangerous stress include mood swings, depression, and hostility (among
others). Posttraumatic stress disorder is the worst manifestation of stress. To
mitigate dangerous stress, police agencies must establish prevention, training,
and intervention programs. Such programs can help officers manage stress
on the job as well as make the difficult transition from their workday to
their private lives. Many police agencies also have programs that help family
members of police officers learn more about the sources of stress officers
must face and about ways to help manage stress.
• Survival on the Street and in the Agency. Officers receive extensive training
in how to survive the perils of the job, but many receive far less guidance
on how to navigate the political landscape in their agency and how to exert
moral political power. One effective way to survive agency politics is to
identify, observe, learn from, and support leaders who exercise moral political
power. To avoid ethical pitfalls in exercising power, officers can also strive for
self-definition—knowing who they are and respecting themselves and others,
and displaying ethical behavior even when no one else is watching them.
These practices can help ensure that ethical behavior becomes ingrained in
officers’ psyches.
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key terms
agency politics
citizen review board
discipline
early warning system
general orders
immoral political power
morale
moral political power
performance appraisal
policies
procedures
stress management
succession management
succession planning
1. Why should an agency’s chief of police or sheriff be inherently involved in the devel-
opment of the agency’s policies and procedures? Should police personnel also provide
input? Why or why not?
2. If performance appraisals are used for the development of the employee, what areas
should the supervisor document to ensure that each appraisal produces meaningful
insights?
3. Most police agencies have not established a formalized approach to succession
management. What challenges might this raise for an agency?
4. How might poor morale affect the performance and retention of quality police
officers?
5. In what respects are citizen review boards valuable to police agencies? In what ways
have they generated controversy?
6. Why is discipline necessary in a police agency, and what are the benefits of a progres-
sive disciplinary model?
7. Police officers are affected by stress in numerous ways. Outline an effective stress-
management program for an agency in your geographical area. What components do
you believe would be absolutely necessary for your program?
8. Being a police officer is like being a doctor, in that officers are never really off duty.
Discuss how this situation may have a negative effect on police officers’ professional
and private lives.
9. How would you advise police officers to navigate the complex political environment
characterizing police agencies?
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WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

Failure to Follow Procedures Ends in Officer Deaths
When faced with several bound volumes of general orders, new police officers
might groan in frustration. How can anyone hope to learn so many rules,
much less abide by them? Unfortunately, not following the rules can have
grave consequences, as they did in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
A call came in on 9-1-1 that a woman was fighting with her son, and two
officers were assigned to the call with a third assigned as backup. The opera-
tor who answered the call was aware that the son had guns in his possession,
but she did not tell police dispatchers because, reportedly, she did not think
the guns were a factor. Her conversation with the man’s mother was casual,
and the woman mentioned nothing about feeling threatened. The operator did
not elicit any additional information from the caller, which is against 9-1-1
procedure. Because dispatchers did not know about the guns, they could not
warn the responding officers.
Unaware of the weapons, the responding officers approached the house
expecting to face a simple domestic dispute. When the man’s mother opened
the door, she allegedly did not know that her son was standing behind her
with a gun. He shot and killed two of the officers, then went outside and
killed the third (Staff, Associated Press, 2009).
1. In this case study, the 9-1-1 operator failed to give complete information
to the dispatcher, who could not know there were guns involved and
therefore could not inform the responding officers. This may have been
a faulty judgment call on the part of the original operator or a flaw in
her training. If you were tasked with developing a method for training all
those involved in the reporting of and response to 9-1-1 calls, what type
of training would you propose?
2. Is there anything the responding officers could have done differently, even
with their lack of knowledge? If so, what? If not, should police take respon-
sibility for asking for more information before proceeding with any call?
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IV
Collateral Functions
and Future Trends
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326 part IV Collateral Functions and Future Trends
13
Courtroom trial in session.
Legal Aspects of Police

Administration
learning outcomes

• recall federal employment laws and explain how they are intended to
foster fairness in the workplace.
• discuss the implications of affirmative action for police agencies.
• describe the challenges of hiring for diversity in police agencies.
• analyze the development of unions, including police unions and other
representative groups.
• examine the implications for police officers of the Boston Police Strike
of 1919.
• describe labor laws affecting unions and unfair labor practices.
• compare nonnegotiable and negotiable management rights.
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chapter 13 Legal Aspects of Police Administration 327
• discuss the reasons individuals decide to join unions.

• assess the complexities of the relationships between police union leaders,
union members, and police agency managers.
• explain trends in union influence over time.
• explore the process of labor negotiation, including collective bargaining,
binding arbitration, and meet-and-confer.
• describe the information that is included in a labor contract.
• explain how the grievance process works and why it is important in the
realm of labor-contract law.
• compare expressed and implied contracts as well as valid and breached
contracts.
• describe the basic concepts related to administrative law, property law,
tort law, and privacy law, and explain why police administrators should gain
familiarity with such law.
• contrast three types of liability and propose ways in which police administrators
can help their agencies and the officers employed there avoid liability.
Introduction
All organizations with employees—including police agencies—are subject to laws
concerning whom they employ, what they can ask during the hiring process, the
minimum wages they must pay employees, and additional human resource and
management concerns. While police officers must obey laws governing how police
provide services to the public, police agency managers and supervisors must also
adhere to laws concerning the employment of police officers. These laws include
how police management and government entities work and negotiate with labor
unions or other representative groups.
This chapter addresses employment law that applies to police administration,
as well as general labor laws in the United States. The chapter also discusses
laws regarding managers’ interaction with labor unions. In addition to federal
hiring laws, police administrators must also be knowledgeable regarding state
employment laws mandating what public safety employees can and cannot do.
For instance, almost all police officers are prohibited by law from going on strike.
Because the states vary so widely in their employment laws, it is not possible to
explore state laws in detail in this book. If you are interested in learning more
about a particular state’s laws, you can locate this information at your nearest
physical or online library.
After examining national employment law, this chapter discusses police
unionization, including the emergence of unions, labor laws affecting unions,
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unfair labor practices, management rights, reasons for joining a union, the labor
negotiation and grievances processes, and other relevant topics. We then examine
five areas of law with which police administrators should be familiar: contract law,
administrative law, property law, tort law, and privacy law. We conclude the chapter
with a section on how police agencies can mitigate their legal liability.
NATIONAL EMPLOYMENT LAWS
Over the years, the U.S. government has enacted numerous employment laws
intended to foster fairness in the workplace. All organizations are subject to such
laws in some fashion. These federal mandates have a common theme: protecting
employees against discrimination based on characteristics such as gender, age, sex-
ual orientation, race, ethnicity, religion, and ability. Theoretically, if an individual
has the skills, education, and physical and mental abilities required to perform the
activities and tasks entailed by a particular job, that individual should be seriously
considered and possibly hired for the position.
If a police recruit applicant can adequately pass the written and physical agility
tests, as well as the medical screening, psychological tests, psychiatric interview, and
any other criteria developed by a police agency (including the background investiga-
tion), the applicant should be considered for employment. If the person is not hired
but believes that all the required testing was satisfactorily completed, then the appli-
cant may individually or upon consultation with an attorney appeal the decision.
The person may also initiate a lawsuit against the department citing hiring practices
that do not conform to labor laws. See the box “Federal Employment Laws” for a
sampling of laws enacted in the United States since the 1960s.
Legislative efforts to ensure fair employment in the workplace have inspired
public dialogue about how organizations might achieve diversity in their workforces.
In the United States, a concept known as affirmative action arose in the public dis-
course as a path to workforce diversity. For police agencies, efforts to build a diverse
workforce have faced unique challenges. We discuss affirmative action and diversity
in police agency workforces in more detail in the following pages.
Federal Employment Laws

Equal Pay Act of 1963
Employers are not allowed to pay different wages based on gender. For
instance, if a man and a woman are performing the same job, they should
receive equal compensation.
Civil Rights Act of 1964, amended in 1972 as the Equal Employment
Opportunity Act
Private employers, unions, and employment agencies of 15 or more persons
are not allowed to discriminate against persons with respect to race, color,
gender, religion, or national origin. This law extends protection to individuals
(continued on page 330 )
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The Constitution of
the United States.
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regarding employment, promotion, professional advancement, training,

and compensation. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
(EEOC) has enforcement powers with respect to the Equal Opportunity
Employment Act.
Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) of 1967 (amended in 1975)
Employers are not allowed to discriminate against applicants and employees
based on age for individuals 40 years of age and older with respect to hiring;
promotion; discharge; compensation; or terms, conditions, or privileges of
employment. The ADEA is enforced by the EEOC.
Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970
Employers must furnish a place of employment that is free of recognizable haz-
ards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm. All
employers and employees must comply with all the rules, occupational safety
and health standards, regulations, and orders pursuant to the act. The act is
administered by the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA).
Title IX of 1972, Education Amendments
All people are entitled to education benefits if provided (such as tuition reim-
bursement and adequate participation opportunities for female students in
athletics) regardless of their race, religion, gender, color, or national origin.
Rehabilitation Act of 1973
Individuals who are disabled may not be discriminated against by the federal
government and/or those who have contracted to provide services or products
to the federal government.
Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978
Employers who have 15 or more employees, as well as government entities,
unions, and employment agencies, may not discriminate against individuals
because they are pregnant or have given birth.
Civil Service Reform Act of 1978
The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 replaced the Civil Service Law of 1883. The
act established the federal Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the Merit
Systems Protection Board (MSPB), and the Federal Labor Relations Authority
(FLRA). The act calls for greater accountability of federal employees for their
performance and establishes protection for “whistle blowers,” employees who
report government abuses. This act also requires the federal government to
ensure that its workforce reflects the diversity of the nation’s population. Many
police agencies have embraced the spirit of the act by hiring a diverse employee
base to reflect the population of the communities the agencies serve.
Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986
Qualified noncitizens may not be discriminated against on the basis of their
national origin.
Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) of 1988
WARN protects workers, their families, and communities by requiring most
employers with 100 or more employees to provide a 60-day notice of plant
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closings and mass layoffs. Workers covered under this act include hourly
workers, salaried employees, managers, and supervisors.
Employee Polygraph Protection Act (EPPA) of 1988
The EPPA generally prevents private-sector employers from using a truth veri-
fication or similar test for pre-employment screening or during an employee’s
tenure with an organization. The act reads that an employer may not require
or request any employee or applicant to take the test and cannot discipline
or discharge an employee or applicant for refusing to take a polygraph test.
There are exemptions for certain private organizations (such as drug and secu-
rity companies) and public safety agencies (for example, police organizations).
Some police agencies administer a polygraph test during the pre-employment
screening process to verify information provided by the applicant but rarely
use the polygraph with current employees.
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990
Employers who have 15 or more employees may not discriminate against
individuals who have a physical, medical, or emotional disability. The ADA
forbids discrimination against persons who are disabled with respect to
employment and forbids testing or questioning applicants for physical or
medical disability until after a conditional offer of employment is made.
The job offer may be conditional on the successful completion of a medical
A U.S. Army soldier.
(continued)
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examination. The act also directs employers to make accommodations for

employees who are disabled.
The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993
Employers who have 50 or more employees must give employees 12 weeks of
unpaid leave of absence during any 12-month period for the birth and/or care
of their child, a spouse, or a parent who has a serious health problem, or for
a serious health problem that makes it impossible for an employee to perform
the necessary tasks associated with the job.
The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act
(USERRA) of 1994
This law was enacted to ensure that no person called to serve on active military
duty suffers loss of seniority, status, or wages for a cumulative period of five years
unless a noted exception (such as initial enlistment of more than five years) exists.
USERRA protects the rights of military veterans and members of military reserve
and national guard components. It also protects veterans with disabilities by
requiring employers to make reasonable efforts to accommodate the disability.
Sources: T. E. Baker, 2006; Cheeseman, 2009; Kearney, 2009; Ortmeier, 2006; U.S. Department of
Labor, 2010b, 2010c, 2010d, 2010e, 2010f; U.S. Office of Personnel Management, 2010; Vaughn,
2003; Vikesland, 1998.
Understanding Affirmative Action

Affirmative action: Affirmative action, a term originating in the United States, is the means by which
the means by which employers ensure that applicants and persons seeking advancement in their respec-
employers ensure tive agencies or companies are not discriminated against or denied employment or
that applicants and promotion based on race, creed, color, or national origin. Similar procedures are
persons seeking known by different names in other countries; for example, reservation in India,
advancement in their positive discrimination in the United Kingdom, and employment equity in Canada.
respective agencies Through affirmative action, businesses, public organizations, and educational insti-
or companies are tutions seek to use recruitment, hiring/admissions and promotion practices, and
not discriminated other initiatives (including training and outreach efforts) to build a workforce or
against or denied student population that represents the percentage of minorities in the community or
employment or society at large (Cahn, 1995; U.S. Department of Labor, 2010).
promotion based on For example, employers and educational institutions that support affirmative
race, creed, color, or action maintain that if 25 percent of the general population consists of Hispanics,
national origin. then at least 25 percent of a company’s workforce or a university’s student body
should consist of Hispanics. Groups that have been statistically underrepresented in
the workforce and in academic enrollments (where such requirements exist) include
(but are not limited to) African Americans, Asians, Hispanics, Native Americans,
individuals with disabilities, members of certain religious groups, people with alter-
native lifestyles, those with substance-abuse problems, veterans, women, and young
people (Walker, Spohn, & Delone, 2004).
Affirmative action is not in itself a law, and employers and educational institu-
tions vary in their policies regarding it. For example, there are no affirmative action
requirements in California state employment or state-funded colleges or universi-
ties. The laws listed in the previous box support affirmative action by specifying
nondiscriminatory practices in hiring, promotions, and educational admissions.
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However, confusion and controversy have surrounded affirmative action. For

example, some state laws (such as in California and Michigan) restrict the use of
affirmative action procedures in state-tax-supported employment. Yet the Civil
Rights Act of 1964 guarantees that public agencies must conform to affirmative
action guarantees if the government entity the agency represents receives federal
financial assistance (Cahn, 1995; Robbins & Judge, 2008). Meanwhile, the U.S.
Supreme Court has ruled that the use of mandatory quotas for such populations
is actually unconstitutional, owing to the unintended consequences that have come
from reverse discrimination (Scuro, 2004). For example, an employer who hires
a member of a minority population to meet a diversity quota, even if that person
is not as qualified for the job as an applicant who is a member of the majority, is
engaging in reverse discrimination.
Clearly, affirmative action is a complex concept that will continue to evolve as
lawmakers and the public consider its implications.
Hiring for Diversity in Police Agencies

The notion of affirmative action has inspired many police agencies to make a con-
certed effort to recruit and hire members of populations that have long been under-
represented in the police workforce, especially African Americans, Hispanics, and
Native Americans (Ho, 2005). After all, an agency that purports to serve all should
be represented by all who live in the community. But hiring for such diversity in
police work can be challenging. Many minorities are not interested in public safety
occupations, or they obtain gainful employment in other career streams. In addition,
they may be discouraged from entering police work by family and friends.
To surmount this chal-
The police officers
lenge, many police agencies
of an agency should
seek to laterally transfer offi- reflect the diversity of
cers who represent special pop- the community they
ulations from other agencies serve.
that already have an adequately
diverse workforce. An agency
may use additional strategies as
well, such as initiating outreach
programs targeting underrep-
resented populations, hosting
career days to attract poten-
tial new hires from different
groups, developing mentoring
programs, and helping appli-
cants prepare for written and
physical-agility exams.
If any employer—including
a police agency—violates or
is perceived to violate equal
opportunity standards regard-
ing hiring or promotion deci-
sions, the affected person or
group may take legal action.
For example, some individuals
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The Struggle for Diversity
Most police agencies across the United States are particular test they were required to complete but which
committed to providing a diverse police force to the was later deemed unfair. In addition to the monetary
citizens they serve. However, fulfilling this commit- settlement, the state was required to provide priority
ment has proved more difficult than many thought. job offers with retroactive seniority and pension relief
In Montgomery County, Maryland, 13 percent of the (Justice Dept. Settles Lawsuit regarding Delaware Police
county’s population is Latino, but only 5 percent of Hiring Practices, n.d.). In Chicago, the police depart-
the police force is Latino. Asians comprise 13 percent ment is giving serious thought to discontinuing the
of the population, but just 3 percent of the police police entrance exam to widen its selection of qualified
agency is Asian. Only the African American population minority candidates (Bryant, 2010).
comes close: 14 percent of the police agency is black, The New York City Police Department (NYPD)
nearly matching the 15 percent in the general popu- appears to be progressing toward true diversity. Of the
lation. Mauricio Veiga, one of the agency’s recruiting 5,593 officers hired between 2006 and 2010, 1,042
officers, says that it is always a struggle to find quali- were foreign born, representing 88 different countries.
fied minority candidates. Many who pass the written The NYPD has over 35,000 officers, of which 263 come
and physical agility exams are eventually disqualified from the Dominican Republic, 78 from Haiti, 59 from
because of an undesirable background or drug use Jamaica, 29 from Pakistan, and 18 from Russia. The
uncovered during the candidate’s background investi- latest graduates of the NYPD police academy include
gation (Londoño, 2006). individuals who represent speakers of 28 languages,
In Reading, Pennsylvania, the population is including Bengali, Punjabi, Yoruba, and Creole (NYPD
51 percent Hispanic, while the police force of 206 Working to Improve Its Diversity, 2010). To facilitate
sworn officers has only 14 Hispanics, a mere 7 percent its diversity employment efforts, the NYPD employed
of the force (Montgomery, 2008). In Rochester, New Wilbur Chapman, who had served as commander of
York, where the population is 52 percent nonwhite, the department’s Recruiting and Applicant Processing
only 9 percent of the police force is African American, Division in 1992. Chapman was instrumental in bringing
10 percent is Hispanic, and 2 percent is Asian. onboard NYPD’s most diverse group of recruits and over-
Reverend Marlowe Washington, speaking at city high saw the department’s training efforts (Faherty, 2007).
schools shortly before a graduation, implied that
1. What steps would you advise your local police
nonwhite students today want to get the police, not
agency to take to evaluate the diversity of its
be the police. Rochester’s Mayor Robert Duffy blamed
workforce and to set and achieve diversity goals?
the 50 percent school dropout rate for the dearth of
qualified candidates for police work (Sharp, 2009). 2. In your view, is workforce diversity a legitimate
In 2003, the state of Delaware was compelled to objective for a police agency? Why or why not?
pay $1,425,000 to qualified African American police 3. If an agency has difficulty hiring and/or retaining a
recruits who were denied employment because of a diverse workforce, what consequences may it face?
have filed petitions to the federal courts for legal remedy or have filed liability law-
suits against employers for such violations. Police agencies perceived as violating
equal opportunity standards for hiring may be subjected to a judicially mandated
decree dictating the ratio of minorities and underrepresented genders to majorities
for an academy class. One police agency in the northeastern part of the United States
is currently under a decree reading that it must employ one minority candidate for
every three majority candidates it hires.
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UNIONIZATION
Just as police administrators must be familiar with national employment laws to

ensure that their agency is obeying federal law, administrators must also understand
how unionization affects their agency. Unionization is not unique to police agencies,
nor is it unique to modern workplaces. However, police unions differ in some ways
from other types of unions, and administrators must understand such differences in
order to manage their agency’s workforce effectively. But before we explore police
unions in particular, it can be helpful to consider unionization from a more general
perspective, including how unions emerged and what laws the U.S. government has
defined regarding unions.
The Emergence of Unions

People with specialized knowledge and skills have been joining together in groups
since ancient times. For example, physicians in ancient Greece would not share
their medical treatment secrets with anyone except other physicians. By the Middle
Ages in Europe, tradespeople such as glass workers, shoemakers, and stonecutters
were banding into guilds, often seen as the precursors to unions. Many guilds had
a common fund to which members contributed, and some of the money was used
to sponsor apprenticeships for young workers. Guild members were self-employed
and owned the materials and tools of their trade. They powerfully influenced com-
merce by maintaining trade secrets, protecting proprietary information and work
processes, and controlling membership numbers and wages.
Today, unions are a more common mechanism through which workers join
together to gain influence over their working conditions including hours and com-
pensation. They do so through a process known as collective bargaining (discussed
in more detail later in this chapter). Experts debate when the first union took shape
in America. Some sources maintain that shoemakers in Philadelphia formed the first
recognizable union in 1792. Others assert that Boston shoemakers created the first
union earlier, in 1648 (Kearney, 2009).
Regardless of who is correct, unions have traveled a rocky road in their evo-
lution. For many years, business owners fought to keep collective bargaining out
of industrial plants, but unions per-
Medieval guild
sisted. They gained ground by stop- members engaging in
ping work until their employers met their trades.
their demands, despite business own-
ers’ efforts to constrain them with
court injunctions and yellow dog con-
tracts that forbade new employees
from joining unions. Since the 1930s,
unions have benefited from the passage
of labor laws protecting employees’
right to bargain collectively. The box
titled “Labor Laws Affecting Unions”
describes such legislation.
While industrial workers labored
to set up the first unions, police offi-
cers made fledgling efforts to unionize
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by receiving charters from the established traditional trade unions. Many of these
efforts faltered because states passed laws forbidding public employees (such
as police, fire, and corrections) from going on strike. As a result, police officers
forged their own worker-support groups in the form of fraternal organizations. An
example is the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), a national organization founded in
1915. The FOP works to advance the health and welfare of police officers, including
providing death benefits for the families of officers who have lost their lives in the
line of duty. At the state level, similar organizations were formed, such as the Police
Officers Research Association of California (PORAC) and local police associations.
The Boston Police Strike of 1919

In 1919, Boston police officers went on strike to protest harsh working conditions,
including wages that could not keep up with inflation, 70- to 90-hour workweeks,
the requirement that officers purchase their own uniforms, and work assignments
based on favoritism. During several September evenings that year, the lack of
adequate police coverage resulted in widespread hooliganism in the city, in which
the National Guard struggled to suppress the disorder. Gunfire and rioting left seven
dead, resulted in hundreds of injuries, and wrought vast property damage.
The officers who went on strike were fired. However, their replacements reaped
the benefits of their actions. The new officers received higher salaries, the city
Boston police strike

of 1919.
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created a pension system for the police, and the agency provided officers with uni-
forms instead of insisting that they buy their own. Police officers began demanding
that they be treated as professionals and that they have a voice in their working
conditions (Allen & Sawhney, 2010; Peak et al., 2010).
Still, the strike had some negative consequences as well for police. Boston had
suffered much damage while the police were striking. Bowing to political pressure,
the American Federation of Labor (AFL) revoked the charters it had granted to the
police. This action ended efforts for police unionism, until after World War II. Thus,
it was mandated that police officers could not legally go on strike.
Police Unions Today

Today, unions for police agency members typically fall into one of three categories:
benevolent associations (created to function as fraternities for the betterment of the
police and their families); agency, regional, or state-affiliated independent unions;
or affiliations with national unions like the American Federation of Labor-Congress
of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO).
Unlike many other groups, police officers have numerous organizations in addi-
tion to unions that represent them and protect their rights under the contract. The
oldest is the FOP. Such national-scale organizations also include the International
Brotherhood of Police Officers, the American Federation of Police, and the National
Association of Police Organizations. This last entity is actually a collection of
federal-, state-, and municipal-level police unions and associations. These groups
monitor organized-labor organizations for collective bargaining purposes and lobby
for various constituencies; for example, active-duty and retired law enforcement
officers and their families. Some states’ laws also provide for a police officer bill of
rights, which stipulates (for example) that officers are entitled to due process while
under investigation and that they cannot be prevented from engaging in political
activity (such as seeking election to a local school board) (Adams, 2007).
Unfair Labor Practices

To fully understand police unionization, a brief review of unfair labor practices is Unfair labor
necessary. The term refers to actions taken by unions or employers that violate the practices:
U.S. National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The actions are investigated by the actions taken by
National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). This subject is addressed in great detail in unions or employers
the U.S. Code, Title 5, Government Organization and Employees, which sets forth that violate the U.S.
statutes regarding what is permissible by government agencies, employers, and labor National Labor
organizations regarding unions (U.S. Government Printing Office, 2008). As stated Relations Act
in Title 5, a government agency (including a police agency) may not do the following: (NLRA).
• Interfere with any employee who exercises any right under this code
• Encourage or discourage union membership by discriminating in hiring,
tenure, or promotion
• Assist any labor organization except to furnish, upon request, services and
facilities (such as a meeting hall and time) if these are also furnished to other
labor organizations on an impartial basis
• Discipline an employee for filing a complaint, affidavit, or petition under
this code
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Labor Laws Affecting Unions

The Norris-LaGuardia Act of 1932
This law controls how employers can use court injunctions to prevent unions
from initiating work stoppages. The law also makes yellow dog contracts
(through which employees pledge not to join a union) illegal. The act defines
the term labor dispute and stipulates that a federal court can issue an injunc-
tion against a work stoppage only after an appropriate court hearing
The National Labor Relations Act of 1935
This law, also known as the Wagner Act, made collective bargaining legal by
guaranteeing employees the right to organize, create, join, or help labor orga-
nizations bargain through representatives. It required employers to engage
in fair bargaining efforts with their employees’ representatives or union
delegates, and forbade unfair labor practices (such as refusing to bargain col-
lectively) by employers. The act created the NLRB to arbitrate deadlocked
labor–management disagreements and to assist, where necessary, with demo-
cratic union elections.
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938
This act established standards for a minimum wage and for overtime pay of
one and one-half times the regular rate of pay. It also established standards
for the employment of children under the age of 16. For example, minimum
ages of employment and hours of work for children are regulated by federal
law. In addition, it set standards for children under the age of 18 regarding
their employment in dangerous jobs such as mining.
The Taft-Hartley Act of 1947
This act banned several unfair labor practices to balance power between
unions and management. For example, it declared that the practice of closed
shops, which prohibited management from hiring nonunion workers, was
illegal. It permitted union shops only when the majority of employees voted
for them. The act addressed the issue of strikes, determined that certain labor
activities (such as prohibiting nonunion workers from crossing pocket lines)
were unfair, and forbade unions from donating money directly to local, state,
or national political campaigns. The act has since been modified to allow
labor unions, along with other restricted entities like corporations and special-
interest groups, to create political action committees for the sole purpose of
supporting political campaigns (Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 2007b).
The Landrum-Griffin Act of 1959
This act, officially known as the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure
Act, required regular elections of union officers using a secret-ballot system
and regulated the handling of union funds. The act included a bill of rights
protecting freedom of speech for union members. It also addressed the issue
of union corruption by regulating unions’ internal affairs and their officials’
relationships with employers
Sources: Bernstein, 2010; Cheeseman, 2009; Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 2007a; eNotes, 2010;
“Our Documents,” 2010.
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• Refuse to consult or negotiate in good faith with a labor organization

• Fail or refuse to cooperate in impasse procedures and decisions
• Enforce any rule that conflicts with a collective bargaining agreement that was
in effect before the date of the rule
Title 5 also spells out restrictions on labor organizations (that is, unions).
Specifically, it reads that labor organizations may not do the following:
• Influence any employee in the exercise of an employee’s right under this code
(such as refusing to bargain with the employer of the employees it represents)
• Cause an agency to discriminate against any employee who exercises any right
under this code
• Hinder or impede a union member’s work performance or the discharge of the
member’s duties as an employee
• Discriminate against a union applicant with regard to the terms or conditions
of membership in the labor organization on the basis of race, color, creed,
national origin, sex, age, preferential or nonpreferential civil service status,
political affiliation, marital status, or disabling condition
• Refuse to negotiate in good faith with a government agency
• Refuse to cooperate in impasse procedures and decisions Nonnegotiable
• Participate in a work stoppage or slowdown or picketing of an agency in a management rights:
labor–management dispute if it interferes with an agency’s operations what the management
• Refuse employees who desire union membership if they meet reasonable of a government
occupational standards uniformly required for admission and/or pay dues agency may do
required as a condition of membership without having to
negotiate with a labor
organization.
Management Rights
Title 5 also spells out nonnegotiable and negotiable management rights. Nonnegotiable Negotiable
management rights describe what the management of a government agency may do management rights:
without having to negotiate with a labor organization. For example, according to areas wherein nothing
Title 5, management has the nonnegotiable right to: in Title 5 precludes
an agency or a
• Determine the mission, budget, organization, number of employees, and
labor organization
internal security practices of the agency
from negotiating
• Hire, assign, direct, lay off, and retain employees in the agency, or suspend, the numbers, types,
remove, reduce in grade or pay, or take other disciplinary action against such and grades (ranks)
employees of employees or
• Assign work, make determinations with respect to contracting out work, and positions assigned to
determine the personnel needed to conduct agency operations any organizational
• Make selections for appointments from among properly ranked and certified subdivision, work
candidates for promotion or from any other appropriate source project, or tour of
duty; the technology,
• Take whatever actions may be necessary to carry out the agency’s mission
methods, and means
during emergencies
of performing work;
Negotiable management rights describe those areas wherein nothing in Title 5 or the procedures
precludes an agency or a labor organization from negotiating the numbers, types, an agency uses to
and grades (ranks) of employees or positions assigned to any organizational exercise authority.
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subdivision, work project, or tour of duty; or the technology, methods, and means
of performing work. For instance, police management and a police union may nego-
tiate how many officers are assigned to a particular patrol area. This includes the
number of police lieutenants, police sergeants, and patrol officers assigned to each
eight-hour shift within that patrol area, as well as the types of patrols (such as foot,
vehicle, and bike).
Negotiable management rights in Title 5 also include the procedures that agency
managers will observe in exercising any authority and the appropriate redress
for employees adversely affected by the exercise of authority. To illustrate, police
managers and police employee organizations may negotiate how discipline will be
exercised in the agency. A police sergeant may commence the agreed-upon discipline
process by giving oral instructions and remedial training to an officer who has vio-
lated agency rules and regulations. Additionally, the police sergeant may be obliged
to document the disciplinary actions by issuing a counseling memorandum. Police
officers who believe that they were adversely affected by the supervisory action or
were directed to take an action that violates the contractual agreement have the
right to exercise the provisions of the grievance procedure mutually agreed on by
management and labor.
Reasons for Joining a Union

Employees, including police officers, enroll in a union for many reasons. A funda-
mental reason is to have a representative group negotiate the next labor contract
through the collective bargaining process (Etheridge, 2008). A union has the respon-
sibility to negotiate numerous contractual issues, including working conditions, pay,
and benefits (for example, health insurance, retirement options, and seniority rights)
(Ivers, 2008).
Unionized workers
in the early twentieth
century lobbying for
shorter workdays.
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A Police Agency Negotiates an Agreed-upon Workweek

Police agencies have had difficulty accommodating a 40-hour workweek.
For example, an agency in the northeastern United States currently has a
workweek of 41.25 hours. The additional 1.25 hours represents the daily
15-minute roll call required for each shift. The roll call has been deemed so
important that the union and management have agreed that only in an emer-
gency may an officer respond to a call for service during roll call.
In the same agency, union leaders and managers have agreed that training
is mandatory and that it counts as a full 8.25-hour workday. In special cases
such as half-day firearms qualification, trainees are assigned to the academy
for about half of the 8.25-hour workday. During regular patrol duties and
agency training periods, this agency continues conducting its usual roll calls.
Another primary reason for joining a union may be dissatisfaction with job con-
ditions. However, workers must also believe that their demands will be met, in full
or in part if they join a union, and that their union representatives have the will and
power to effect change. For example, unionized workers lobbied for years from the
1800s to the early mid-1900s to have their workdays shortened to eight hours, with
overtime wages paid for any hours worked over the maximum eight hours (Kearney,
2009). Their efforts produced results: Today, the eight-hour day is still the norm for
most hourly employees. (See the box “A Police Agency Negotiates an Agreed-upon
Workweek.”)
Some individuals join a union because they feel there is a lack of communication
between management and line officers, and that management is generally uncon-
cerned about employees’ needs. Others join under peer pressure or because they
believe that management is unfairly favoring some employees over others. Groups
of employees may opt to join because they feel powerless against management. They
know that unions, owing to their strength in numbers, have a greater chance of
negotiating for change than an individual employee has.
Union Leaders, Union Members, and Management:

A Complex Relationship
In any organization, relationships among union leaders, union members, and man-
agement can be complex and even adversarial. In a police agency, these complexities
can present unique challenges. For instance, if a police chief severely punishes an
officer for misconduct, the union may accuse the chief of pandering to the media
and community activists. But if the chief shows leniency toward the officer, the
media and those same activists may charge the chief with pandering to the union
(DeLord & Sanders 2006).
Thankfully, most police union leaders and agency managers have a more con-
structive, albeit still complex, relationship. At the very least, elected union officials
must balance the needs of those they represent with the expressed desires of the
agency’s management. For instance, union demands for salary and benefits must be
balanced against the government entity’s ability to pay. Police managers (especially
an agency’s chief executive) must also strike a balance—addressing the needs of
not only union members but also other government officials as well as community
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constituents. To illustrate, unions may demand salary increases, forcing manage-

ment to lay off workers.
In a police agency (just as in any organization), tensions can also arise between
union leaders and the employees they represent. For example, union leaders must
take care not to give the impression that they are collaborating with or siding with
the agency’s management. Perceptions of such collaboration may spawn distrust
of union leaders among members, which can lead to discontent and an inability to
trust leaders’ recommendations.
Police agency managers and union leaders can also end up on different sides
of political campaigns—a situation that can spark tensions within the agency. For
instance, police unions have been known to involve themselves in elections, by sup-
porting one candidate or another who seems most willing and able to serve their
needs. If the union supports a candidate who ultimately loses the election, tensions
can arise between union members and the winning candidate—as well as between
members and police agency managers who supported the winning candidate.
A further difficulty for police managers is that union participation can differ
radically among jurisdictions. For example, one city’s police agency may have a
large, active union, while an adjacent city’s agency has a small union. As a result,
the agencies may have difficulty knowing how to work together on challenges of
mutual interest. The best thing a police executive can do in such a situation is to
strive to maintain positive relationships with everyone in the department, with the
union leadership, and with politicians in the controlling government entity. By stay-
ing in touch with day-to-day operations, police executives will never be blindsided
by unionized line officers’ demands. Instead, they will constantly be aware of what
line officers most desire—and that awareness will foster more fluid communication
about those desires and how to meet them.
Union Power
Despite national and state laws prohibiting public agencies (including police) from
going on strike, many police unions have considerable power in their jurisdictions.
In some cities, the union has succeeded in preventing the establishment of a citizen
review board. (See Chapter 12 for a full discussion of citizen review boards.) In
other cities, they have constrained the funding of the citizen review board so tightly
that the board is understaffed and cannot investigate complaints properly (Sward
et al., 2006). A strong police union can finance political advertising and thus influ-
ence the outcome of elections to key positions (such as mayor and judge), as well as
influence how officers are disciplined for misconduct.
Union membership in government organizations has been expanding beyond
such membership in the private sector. In 2009, for the first time in American his-
tory, union membership for public agencies stood at 7.9 million employees, while
7.4 million private-sector workers belonged to unions. Within the public sector,
police officers, teachers, and firefighters are highly unionized. That is, larger per-
centages of their workforces belong to unions, or their unions are more powerful, or
their unions deliver more benefits to members. The decline of private-sector union
membership has been especially apparent in the manufacturing and construction
industries, and has stemmed from the recession. Unionized employees who go on
strike are replaced with lower-paid nonunion workers. And as companies go bank-
rupt, they are replaced with companies that are not unionized.
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Union membership strength in the public sector also varies across states.
For example, New York has the highest union membership rate at 25.2 percent,
while North Carolina has the lowest rate at 3.1 percent (Greenhouse, 2010; U.S.
Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2010). These differences reflect the
differences in local culture and the history of unions in each area.
As another manifestation of their power, some police union members have
found ways to get around laws prohibiting officers from going on strike. For
instance, officers can slow their agency’s production when officers feign illness,
becoming afflicted with the so-called blue flu, calling in “sick” simply to make it
more difficult for managers to deploy officers effectively. If they do report for duty,
they may decline to write the usual number of traffic or parking citations or to
respond quickly to calls-for-service.
While police unions have been powerful in the past, many unions across the
nation have been weakened by economic downturns. For instance, some communi-
ties seeking to save money and balance their budgets have outsourced their entire
police department to county sheriffs’ offices or to the state police. Many cities have
initiated hiring and pay freezes for municipal employees. In some states, pension
benefits are also being reduced for new police recruits. In the face of such severe
lack of funding for law enforcement services, unions have far less power to bargain Collective bargaining:
for the interests of their members. Only time will reveal what these realities imply a series of steps
for unions in this country. through which
certified unions and
employers arrive at
Labor Negotiation collective agreements.
Labor negotiation is the process through which union leaders and managers create
or modify a labor contract. This process is also known as collective bargaining, Collective agreement:
which, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment Relations Service a labor contract that
(2009a), is a series of steps through which certified unions and employers arrive at covers two or more
collective agreements. A collective agreement is a labor contract that covers two or employees who are
more employees who are union members. union members.
Large police agencies may
have a union that represents
line officers, another union for
sergeants, a union for lieuten-
ants, and yet another union
for civilian employees. In such
agencies, labor contracts for
each union must be negotiated
individually. The collective
bargaining process can thus
become confusing for mem-
bers and management alike.
Collective bargaining is a
time-consuming and compli-
cated procedure even under the
best of conditions. According
to the Employment Relations People sitting at a
Act of 2000, such bargaining bargaining table and
must be exercised in good faith. negotiating.
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Good faith: Good faith, as highlighted by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment Relations
bargaining behaviors Service (2009b), mandates that opposing parties:
required by the
• Use their best endeavors to agree to an effective bargaining process.
Employee Relations
Act of 2000. • Meet to consider and respond to proposals made by either side.
• Continue to bargain about any matters on which they have not reached
agreement, even if they have come to a standstill or deadlock.
• Respect the role of the other’s representative by not seeking to bargain directly
with those for whom the representative acts.
• Do nothing to undermine the bargaining process or the authority of the
other’s representative.
• Not undermine collective bargaining or collective agreements by automatically
passing on collectively bargained terms and conditions to employees not
covered by that collective bargaining or agreement.
• Conclude a labor negotiation, unless there is a genuine reason based on
reasonable grounds not to do so. A genuine reason does not include a party’s
opposition or objection to the principle of collective bargaining or being
covered by a collective agreement. It also does not include a dispute over
whether the collective agreement should include a bargaining fee clause.
The Collective Bargaining Process Where unions exist, the state determines
what method of collective bargaining the two sides can use. The steps generally
include gathering information on items to be negotiated, bargaining in good faith,
calling in a mediator if the parties reach an impasse, conducting binding arbitra-
tion, finding facts on matters such as finances, and arriving at a final decision by a
governing body such as a city council. The goal of the collective bargaining process
is to complete labor–management contract negotiations (Guild, 1998).
The process begins with each side developing a detailed list of what it wants. For
example, unionized police officers may cite wants such as a 5 percent pay increase,
full medical coverage, and additional compensatory time off in the form of vacation
days. The police agency’s management team might identify wants such as a wage
freeze, employees’ paying a higher percentage of health care costs, and elimination of
the seniority system. In most police agencies, the union and management can come to
agreement on many items on the list without dissension and therefore do not need to
negotiate these items. For example, perhaps a reserved parking space may be desig-
nated for the person who receives the officer of the month award. Some items are non-
negotiable, such as (as we have seen) agency management’s right to determine how
many officers to employ (Nowicki, 2003; U.S. Government Printing Office, 2008).
Other items (such as the amount that the government entity contributes to
employees’ retirement system) require more time and effort before labor and man-
agement arrive at agreement, with each side making a concession where possible.
Finally, the two sides may become mired in hotly contested issues that require the
intervention of an arbitrator, depending on the laws of the state. In police agencies,
these tough-to-resolve issues often center on salary and working conditions.
Police services are very difficult to negotiate, because (depending on an agency’s
size), these services may be impossible to provide through other means if officers stop
work to bargain for some desired gain. While an agency that employs one to five
officers may be supplemented by a sheriff’s department or state police agency, a large
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A police officer
receiving an award
at an assembly in
Landover, Maryland.
agency that employs hundreds or thousands of police officers cannot be replaced.

As we have seen, taking into account the issue of community public safety and the
complexity of a government response to a labor strike by police, federal and state
laws prohibit police strikes (Kearney, 2009; U.S. Government Printing Office, 2008).
Negotiation through Binding Arbitration Binding arbitration is a common

negotiation method. Through binding arbitration, the involved parties agree to Binding arbitration:
adhere to an arbitrator’s decision and award (West’s Encyclopedia of American a negotiation process
Law, 2008a). The arbitrator makes a decision according to state law and labor through which the
standards, and bases the decision on the arguments made by management and union involved parties
representatives. Decisions can be made on an issue-by-issue basis, by which each agree to adhere to an
issue is decided separately and is not subject to the position of management or the arbitrator’s decision
union. A final decision can also be made on an issue-by-issue basis, through which and award.
each issue is decided according to the position of either management or the union.
Last, in a total package decision, the arbitrator chooses the entire set of positions of
management or the union (Aitchison, 2004).
Negotiation through Meet-and-Confer In some states, the law stipulates that

unionized police officers and agency managers use a meet-and-confer process.
Through this process, the police union may prepare demands and negotiate directly
with management representatives, who are not obligated to do anything other than
meet and confer in good faith with union representatives. This method offers sev-
eral advantages for management and labor. For example, it forces both parties to
continue the conversation and discussions. Management need not adjust its offer,
and labor may continue to stress its positions. However, it does not provide for any
means of resolving a dispute on any of the issues under negotiation. Management
can simply present its offer to the employees, and the union must accept that offer.
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In this instance, wise leaders will try to satisfy employee requests for the sake of
morale and agency efficiency while still pushing forward agency-wide goals and
objectives (Burke, 2009; Texas Municipal League, 2009).
When Bargainers Lack a Negotiation Mechanism In states that have no formal

labor negotiation mechanism in place, communication can decay between a police
agency’s management and rank-and-file officers, spawning poor morale and high turn-
over. To avoid this scenario, managers must develop some method for learning what
line officers want and for satisfying requests that appear reasonable. For example,
they can work toward flexible scheduling that helps accommodate officers’ lifestyles.
The Content of a Labor Contract Most labor contracts forged through the
labor negotiation process begin by specifying who is covered by the contract and
ETHICS IN ACTION
To Rehire or Not
deputy of a large midwestern sheriff’s agency was driving drunk one
A night while off duty. He telephoned the county dispatcher to learn

whether one of his close friends was one of the deputies on patrol,
so he could avoid being arrested for driving under the influence. In a sepa-
rate and much earlier incident, the deputy had hampered an investigation
by giving a friend a ride after a domestic dispute. He then denied doing
so. As a result of these incidents and others, many for which he was dis-
ciplined, the deputy was fired.
The terminated deputy was a member of his agency’s police union. He
filed a grievance that led to arbitration, and the arbitrator ruled that the
deputy should get his job back. The sheriff appealed this decision because
the deputy provided no evidence that he had addressed his serious drink-
ing problem. The sheriff fought back by accusing the arbitrator of showing
favoritism to the deputy and the union, and of ignoring the deputy’s long
history of alcohol-related behavior problems on and off duty.
The arbitrator countered with the accusation that the sheriff’s office
had issued less harsh penalties to employees who committed similar indis-
cretions. (Later, it was discovered that these employees were not sworn
officers.) The sheriff maintained that deputies must be held to a higher
standard, both on and off duty. At the time of this writing, the disciplined
deputy was on unpaid leave for over a year.
1. In your view, should an arbitrator have the authority to force a police
agency’s chief executive to rehire an employee who has exhibited
unethical and illegal behavior consistently? Why or why not?
2. What is the effect on the public’s perception of a police agency and
union when the union supports questionable behavior in police offi-
cers? What is the effect on other members of the police agency?
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who is not. The contract also states the responsibility of union members and their
representatives, as well as the responsibilities of nonunionized managers. Important
provisions of the contract include wages, work hours, disposition of uniforms and
equipment, vacations, holidays, sick, bereavement, and personal leave time, and
other employment conditions.
Because the contract is a binding legal instrument, the language used to write it
must be precise and resistant to misinterpretation. Ambiguities in the language can
result in future grievances filed or the need for arbitration. For instance, if the con-
tract states that the agency will provide uniforms for officers, it should provide details
specifying exactly what the uniforms will consist of, such as “two pairs of pants, two
short-sleeve shirts, and two long-sleeve shirts.” The more explicit the language, the
less likely controversy or misunderstandings will arise.
After all concerned parties have ratified the labor contract, the parties are
bound to operate according to its terms. Therefore, union members and agency
managers should have a thorough knowledge of those terms. All parties will receive
a copy of the final contract.
While the average person might have difficulty wading through the legal lan-
guage in the contract, most police agencies augment contracts with explanatory
charts or summaries written in more ordinary language. Short excerpts of these
charts or summaries may be included in a contract; for example, a chart reflecting
different pay grades for different police officer ranks with expected pay increases
over a two- or three-year period. However, owing to the increased complexity
of labor negotiations, explanatory charts may soon be a thing of the past. For
example, a village in upstate New York is facing possible dissolution. The police
agency labor organization agreed to a 2 percent reduction in wages to help reduce
government spending in the village. In addition to the wage decrease, manage-
ment and labor also discussed an increase in educational benefits for employees,
changes in police pensions, and an increase in health expenses for different cat-
egories of police officers. It is possible that the complexity of the terms in the
resulting labor contract could not be adequately captured in explanatory charts
(Morrell, 2010).
Grievances
A grievance is an employee claim that a policy or contract provision has been misap- Grievance:
plied, interpreted incorrectly, or violated, thereby causing injury, loss, or inconve- an employee claim
nience to the employee. Examples of grievances include the following: that a policy or
contract provision
• A police agency does not compensate employees appropriately.
has been misapplied,
• Managers inflict unfair discipline on an employee. interpreted
• An agency does not promote an employee. incorrectly, or
violated, thereby
In all kinds of organizations, grievances can be filed by any employee—
causing injury, loss,
unionized or not—though individuals filing grievances may have more success if
or inconvenience to
they have the support of a union behind them. In a police agency, only employees
the employee.
covered by a union contract can bring grievances. For employees who are not union-
ized, grievances proceed through whatever formal or informal process the organiza-
tion has established. If an agency is not unionized, it should establish a mechanism
for handling grievances.
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The Grievance Process Most police agencies’ grievance processes specify a series
of steps the employee must take to obtain redress of the grievance. For instance,
the employee usually has to document the grievance in writing and submit it to
the individual’s immediate supervisor. The supervisor has a certain time period to
respond to the grievance. If the employee is not satisfied with the supervisor’s resolu-
tion, the grievance may proceed to the next supervisory level, the chief of police or,
subsequently, the city manager or mayor.
There is always a time constraint placed on responding to grievances, because
failure to respond in a timely manner may constitute a grievance in itself. In union-
ized police agencies, an unresolved grievance may result in arbitration by a third
party to obtain a resolution.
If grievances are not contract based and do not concern salaries, benefits, or
conditions of employment that were negotiated during labor negotiations, they can
usually be resolved by the employee’s immediate supervisor. The individual (or indi-
viduals) bringing the grievance meets with the supervisor to discuss the situation,
explore alternative solutions, and arrive at an agreement for resolving the grievance.
In most cases, it is best if grievances can be addressed and resolved informally, with
all involved parties arriving at a mutually agreeable consensus.
Mediation and Arbitration of Grievances If the grievance is contract based and/

or cannot be resolved at any of the usual steps in the process, the parties may decide
to bring in a third party to mediate or arbitrate. Through mediation, the neutral
third party hears both sides of the grievance argument and recommends a resolu-
tion based on the available information. Neither party to the mediation is bound
by this resolution.
Arbitration is a more formal process than mediation. An arbitrator listens to
both sides, just as the mediator does. However, the recommended solution to the
grievance made by the arbitrator will often be binding on both opposing parties, a
fact that the parties know when they choose arbitration.
A grievance meeting
between two parties
may be held with a
third-party arbitrator.
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Depending on the level of communication and willingness of management and

union representatives to work together, grievances could be frequent or rare in a par-
ticular police agency. Studies suggest that open, honest communication and coopera-
tion between labor and management can minimize grievances by giving concerned par-
ties a balanced and fair outcome (Kearney, 2009; Section 11.45. Contract Grievance
Procedure, 2008; United University Professions, 2006) and by fostering trust.
CONTRACT LAW
In addition to labor contracts, a police agency may forge a number of additional

types of contracts. For instance, it may contract with a service vendor to handle
certain business processes, such as police-vehicle maintenance or 9-1-1 emergency
communications. Or perhaps the agency arrives at a contract with an office-building
owner to lease or purchase a facility. Or the agency contracts with a weapons or
radar systems manufacturer to purchase equipment required for law enforcement.
A contract is any legally binding, voluntary promise between two or more Contract:
people that contains the following: legally binding,
voluntary promise
• An agreement (offer and acceptance)
between two or more
• A consideration (something of value that is being exchanged) people.
• Legal subject matter (service or purposes)
• Contractual capacity (assurance that each party is of an age or mental
capability permissible to enter into a contract)
Expressed and Implied Contracts

An expressed contract is writ-
ten or verbal, with all terms
explicitly stated. Expressed con- A contract.
tracts are most often used in
labor agreements as well as pur-
chasing or leasing of buildings,
equipment, or services. Written
expressed contracts do not nec-
essarily have to be in hard-copy
form. For example, electronic
mail (e-mail) contracts are valid
if they contain all required ele-
ments of a contract. Indeed, the
federal Electronic Signature in
Global and National Commerce
Act of 2000 provides that
an electronic signature in an
e-mailed contract is as enforce-
able as a handwritten signature
on a piece of paper.
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An implied contract is unwritten and unspoken but results from the actions of
the parties to the contract. For instance, a custom that permits senior officers to park
closer to the entrance to police headquarters may be construed as an implied contract.
Valid and Breached Contracts

Contracts are valid if an offer and an acceptance are arrived at through good-faith
negotiation (Cheeseman, 2009; Mann & Roberts, 2006; Ortmeier, 2009). Such
negotiation can include counteroffers—instances when an individual considering
an offer proposes modifying the conditions of the original offer. For example, the
owner of an office building offers to rent space to a police agency for a specific
amount. The agency’s facilities manager expresses interest in inking a deal but sug-
gests an amount lower than what the building owner has proposed.
Breach of contract: A breach of contract may occur if any party to the contract fails to comply with
failure of any party to the terms and conditions spelled out in the contract. Examples of such breaches
a contract to comply include the following:
with the terms and
• A police agency that has agreed to rent office space for a specified monthly
conditions spelled out
amount fails to pay the rent on time.
in the contract.
• The building owner who has rented space to the agency neglects to make
repairs stipulated in the rental agreement.
• A service provider with whom an agency has contracted to analyze crime
scene evidence does not complete evidence analyses within the time frame
specified in the contract.
• The police agency that has contracted with the evidence-analysis service
provider fails to preserve the evidence in ways it agreed to while forging the
contract.
A breach of contract may be resolved through negotiation, mediation, arbitra-
tion, legal action, or termination, depending on the breach-of-contract language
that should be expressed in the contract. Most breaches are resolved through nego-
tiation and mutual agreement between the parties.
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW
Administrative law: Administrative law is public law (rules and regulations) promulgated by administra-
public law tive agencies at the federal, state, and local levels—such as the U.S. Department of
promulgated by Homeland Security, the Internal Revenue Service, the OSHA, state-level departments
administrative of motor vehicles (DMVs), and municipal entities. The public law coming from such
agencies at the agencies affects police agencies in specific ways. To illustrate, federal law specifies
federal, state, and that anyone convicted of a felony or a misdemeanor involving domestic violence
local levels. cannot possess a concealable firearm. Further, with few exceptions, one cannot
board a commercial airline flight without being screened by U.S. Transportation
Security Administration personnel. The privilege to drive a motor vehicle is issued
through a state’s DMV.
Administrative agencies are created through passage of federal and state
laws. Because the legislative process is time consuming, state legislatures and the
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A Transportation
Security
Administration (TSA)
screening checkpoint
at an airport.
U.S. Congress allow these administrative agencies to respond quickly to imme-

diate or ever-changing conditions by formulating and implementing rules and
regulations that carry the impact of law. Examples of such rules and regulations
affecting police agencies include homeland defense, health and welfare, and traf-
fic safety.
Administrative agencies usually have the authority to investigate and prosecute Learn more about
violators of their rules and regulations. However, their powers (for example, to U.S. federal, state,
search for evidence of the rule or regulation violated) are subject to the same U.S. and territorial laws
constitutional restrictions as those of other government law enforcement personnel through the Law
who are searching for evidence of a crime (Cheeseman, 2009; Mann & Roberts, Library of Congress’
2006; Ortmeier, 2009). Guide to Law Online
at www.loc.gov/law/
public/law-guide.html.
PROPERTY LAW
In addition to contract and administrative law, property law directly affects police
agencies. The concept of property holds an eminent place in free societies. In
a democracy, property includes almost every right protected under law except
the right to personal liberty. Property can be tangible (physical), such as a vehicle
or building to which one holds a possessory title or right. Property can also be
intangible (nonphysical); for example, a possessory right contained in a copyright,
corporate stock, or proprietary information.
Personal property includes almost any form of tangible or intangible prop-
erty, excluding land and its permanent or semipermanent fixtures (for instance,
buildings). Real property (real estate) includes a building or landscaping (trees,
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A vehicle is personal
property.
plants, minerals) that is affixed to land. If a building is separated or plantings or

minerals are removed from land, the building or plantings and minerals are trans-
formed into personal property.
Property rights are also distinguished by ownership and possession. One who
owns property holds title to it. One who leases property holds a possessory right
to the property, not title to it. Whether owned or leased, tangible or intangible,
property can be insured against damage or loss, tort liability/negligence, or criminal
activity (Cheeseman, 2009; Mann & Roberts, 2006; Ortmeier, 2009).
Property rights are relevant to police agencies in several respects. Specifically, a
local police agency’s responsibilities include protecting community members’ prop-
erty; for instance, by patrolling neighborhoods to prevent break-ins. To protect citi-
zens’ and business owners’ property, officers must be familiar with property laws,
such as rules stipulating when it is legally permissible to enter a private residence.
In addition, the agency itself may own or lease tangible or intangible forms of prop-
erty. Police administrators must understand the laws regarding (for example) how
the agency may use a facility it is leasing or how it may protect intellectual property
such as police criminal intelligence reports and criminal history information.
TORT LAW
Tort: A tort is a private wrong committed against a person or a person’s property.

a private wrong Examples of torts include the following:
committed against a
• Negligence (improper performance of an act)
person or a person’s
property. • False imprisonment (an unlawful violation of a person’s liberty)
• Wrongful death (the causing of another person’s death through negligent
conduct)
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Land and buildings

are real estate (real
property).
Torts can be unintentional or intentional, and each type has specific implica-
tions for the individual or organization involved.
Unintentional Torts
An unintentional (accidental) tort may be committed when an individual fails to
act with ordinary, reasonable, and prudent care, and another person is injured as
a result. For example, a police officer improperly handcuffs a suspect, and the act
leads to injury. In such cases, the injured party can sue for damages. The accused
can be held civilly liable if the individual owes a duty of care to the plaintiff, was
derelict (breached) in the duty, the dereliction was the direct cause of the injury, and
there is legally recognizable injury (damages) to the plaintiff.
In such cases, the person who is civilly liable is deemed negligent for the wrong-
ful act or failure to act. Individuals as well as an entire organization may be held
civilly liable for negligence. For instance, if a police agency hires an officer who has
a tendency toward violence, and the officer uses excessive force on a crime suspect,
the agency is liable and may have to pay compensatory and punitive damages.
Invasion of privacy, false arrest, use of excessive force, and failure to protect confi-
dential personal information are other situations that can constitute unintentional
torts for which a police agency can be held liable.
Intentional Torts
An intentional tort (civil wrong) is a willful act that culminates in an injury such
as an assault, battery, wrongful death, or false imprisonment. Intentional torts may
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also form the foundation for criminal liability. Torts are not limited to acts that
result in physical damage to someone; they also include defamation of character in
the form of libel or slander, as well as invasion of privacy.
Libel Libel includes writings, photos, or signs that an individual or organization

creates to injure the reputation of another individual or organization. In many legal
systems, such materials are libelous only if they express false statements. Examples
of libel include the following:
• A town resident seeking to support her friend’s candidacy for the school
committee publishes an opinion piece in the local newspaper falsely stating
that the candidate’s opponent embezzled funds from the town.
• A stockbroker who wants to discredit a colleague competing for the same
promotion in their company photographs the colleague holding a drink at a party.
He then circulates the photo to others in the organization and to customers, with
the caption “Would you trust your retirement account to this man?”
Police managers and officers must be familiar with libel law because people may
call the police if they feel their character has been defamed through libel. However,
police officers cannot arrest for libel because it is a civil wrong (tort), not a crime.
The injured party must hire a lawyer and file a lawsuit against the person who is
alleged to have made the libelous statement.
Slander Slander, like libel, is defamation of a person’s or organization’s character,

but it is done through the spoken word, not through the written word or graphic
images. Examples include public disclosure of an individual’s private facts, often
resulting from unauthorized intrusion into someone’s private affairs. Supervisors
and organizations may be held civilly liable for defamation if they communicate
derogatory information about a current or former employee; for example, by telling
a potential employer who calls for a reference that the former worker who is the
subject of the inquiry used drugs on the job. If the statement communicated is true,
the person or organization it described may not have a cause of action for slander.
The truth of the statement is typically a defense to a civil suit for slander. Still, the
expenses associated with litigation, even if one wins the case, can be considerable.
Public officials (including police officers and celebrities) are not typically pro-
tected from derogatory statements because of their public status. However, police
officers and managers can be held civilly liable for disclosure of private or deroga-
tory information that is not classified as public information. (Example: public infor-
mation typically includes conviction records but not arrest records.)
PRIVACY LAW
Confidential
information: Privacy law involves confidential information—anything written or spoken that is
anything written intended only for the eyes and/or ears of the receiver. Confidential implies secret,
or spoken that is intended to be heard by a select few (Merriam-Webster’s, 2006b). According to
intended only for the privacy law, confidential communication privileges exist between an attorney and
eyes and/or ears of client, between members of the clergy when speaking to individuals under their
the receiver. spiritual care, and between physicians and patients.
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Confidential communications between a husband and wife, who are legally

married, are usually private unless disclosure relies on the consent of one of the
parties. The issue of testifying against a spouse differs from state to state. If a
person who is an independent witness has information relevant to a case, that indi-
vidual may choose not to testify. However, a judge may issue a subpoena directing
a witness to testify if the information is necessary or meaningful to the case, the
testimony involves injury to the witness-spouse or one of the couple’s children by
the suspect spouse, or the respondent/defendant waives the spousal privilege. The
spousal privilege terminates upon dissolution (divorce) of the marriage because a
relationship that requires legal protection no longer exists.
What does all this mean for police officers? In some states, officers may not
be required to disclose the identity of confidential informants (CIs). However,
confidential informants may be identified and be required to testify in a court
proceeding to ensure a fair trial for the defendant. For example, if the CI is the
only eyewitness to the incident and, therefore, a material witness, the CI may be
compelled to testify.
Journalists in a few states are not compelled to provide the source of their infor-
mation and may refuse to disclose unpublished information. Finally, while some
people may choose to assist the police with an investigation, others may choose not
to give support or aid to the police if they fear that doing so would put them in dan-
ger. Such individuals generally cannot be forced to help police with an investigation
(Lawyers.com, 2010; Zalman, 2011).
Police agencies have policies or rules regarding the disclosure of information
that is considered confidential. Generally, an agency will publish a rule or regulation
stipulating that no member of the agency can discuss evidence or police informa-
tion with the media, the general public, or those who have no right to know unless
provisions for publication are permitted by established authority or mandated by
law (Rochester, New York, Police Department, 1981).
The Privacy Act of 1974

The Privacy Act of 1974 (Public Law 93-579) was created by Congress in 1974 and
became effective in 1975. According to the Freedom of Information Act/Privacy
Act Team (2010), the act guarantees American citizens and lawfully admitted immi-
grants that the following will apply to information gathered about them:
• There is no federal system of personal records whose existence is secret.
• Any personal information files held by the federal government are limited to
those that are clearly necessary.
• People have the right to see what information about them the federal
government is keeping and to challenge its accuracy.
• Personal information collected for one purpose cannot be used for another
purpose without the individual’s consent.
• If disclosures are made, a person may learn to whom the disclosures were
made, for what purpose, and on what date.
Under the privacy act and laws enacted by many states, employees also have
the right to privacy. The laws allow employees access to their personnel records
to address unfavorable information, to correct misinformation, and to learn when
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and if an employer has given information about them to others; for example, per-
sonal history details (Mathis & Jackson, 2005). Police managers, supervisors, and
employment services personnel should be aware of these rights.
The Perils of Violating Privacy

Knowledge of privacy law is vital for police administrators managing internal oper-
ations and for police officers as they interact with the public. Officers should respect
the privacy of community members they encounter during their daily business; for
instance, by avoiding situations in which intended persons may overhear conversa-
tions and by sharing information only on a legal need-to-know basis.
However, it is not uncommon for officers, both on and off duty, to openly
discuss investigations and encounters with members of the public. Many officers
openly discuss calls-for-service at coffee shops or restaurants. Domestic violence
calls, neighbors complaining about each other, drug-house locations, or nuisance
calls often become topics of conversation in the presence of curious bystanders.
Officers must remember that information travels fast in neighborhoods and com-
munities. Revealing facts and names related to particular investigations could result
in retaliation or other conflicts between neighbors. Further, disclosure could expose
the officer to civil liability.
Confidentiality with respect to investigations is paramount when it comes to
the issues of drug and violent crime investigations. Police should carefully guard
the techniques, tactics, and strategies they use to solve these complicated cases.
Otherwise, investigations may be compromised, and anyone involved—officers,
victims, suspects, witnesses—can be placed in danger. As an example, one of the
authors of this book recently overheard a police officer discuss a buy-bust (buy-
arrest) procedure regarding a drug investigation over a cell phone while boarding a
When discussing police

business, officers must
be careful that their
conversations are not
overheard by curious
bystanders.
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commercial airplane. If an accomplice of the drug suspect had overheard the same
conversation, the identity of the cell phone operator as an undercover police investi-
gator could have placed that officer in jeopardy. The investigation would have been
compromised as well.
To avoid such situations, officers should treat all police communications and
investigations as confidential—not to be discussed and analyzed in public.
LIABILITY MANAGEMENT
All police officers, especially those in management or supervisory positions, should

be knowledgeable about laws related to the topics discussed so far in this chapter—
including federal employment and unionization, as well as contracts; rules and
regulations coming from federal, state, and local levels; property; tort; and privacy.
Why? Society has grown increasingly litigious, and lawsuits are expensive. For
example, by 2005, Los Angeles paid an estimated $70 million to settle lawsuits
arising from the Rampart Division corruption scandal that severely damaged the
reputation of the LAPD in 1999 (Ross, 2006; Stohr & Collins, 2009).
Civil Lawsuits
In a civil lawsuit, a complaint is filed by a plaintiff who alleges a civil wrong com-
mitted by the respondent (defendant). The respondent answers the complainant’s
allegation. Procedurally, a civil lawsuit is similar to but does not replicate a criminal
prosecution. Restrictions against the admission of hearsay evidence, testimonial privi-
leges, the burden of proof, and the rules of evidence are more relaxed in civil proceed-
ings. Further, unlike criminal cases that require unanimous verdicts for conviction,
civil court juries can rule for or against a plaintiff through a majority and a finding of
civil liability through a prepon-
derance of the evidence (over A judge presiding in a
50 percent certainty) rather courtroom.
than the more strict degree (or
standard) proof of guilt beyond
a reasonable doubt required in
criminal prosecutions (Mann
& Roberts, 2006; Ross, 2006;
Rutledge, 2000).
In recent years, it is not
uncommon for aggrieved par-
ties to bring a civil lawsuit
against a jurisdiction, the police
agency located in that jurisdic-
tion, police management, and
individual police officers for
events such as police motor-
vehicle and high-speed pursuit
collisions or wrongful death
or injury that occurs during an
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encounter with the police. Besides naming the individual officer in the lawsuit, many
people filing lawsuits also name as many other individuals and parties as possible—
including supervisors, lieutenants, the chief, and the government entity involved.
Their strategy in naming all these defendants is to increase their chances of receiving
a larger settlement if they win the case. Such individuals subscribe to the deep pockets
theory: In an attempt to secure maximum remuneration or compensation for an
alleged wrongdoing, they target all in an attempt to secure a judgment against the
entity that is best able to pay because it has the most assets or capital. In the world of
policing, that entity is most likely the agency or jurisdiction.
To mitigate their agency’s vulnerability to such lawsuits, police personnel
should familiarize themselves with several legal concepts in addition to what has
been discussed so far in this chapter. These concepts include types of liability, negli-
gence, sexual harassment, and proximate cause. We examine each of these in more
detail next.
Types of Liability
There are several kinds of liability—direct, strict, and vicarious (indirect)—all com-
mon terms in lawsuits.
Direct liability: Direct Liability Direct liability is embodied in the person who commits the act in
liability that is question. For example, an officer who uses excessive force while arresting a suspect
embodied in the and injures the person as a result is directly liable.
person who commits
the act in question. Strict Liability Strict liability (liability without fault) makes a person responsible
for damages, injury, or loss regardless of the person’s culpability (blame or fault).
Strict liability: Strict liability is often imposed on those engaged in hazardous or inherently danger-
liability for damages, ous activities. A police officer making an arrest, for example, is engaged in an inher-
injury, or loss ently dangerous activity. The officer or agency may be held liable if injury occurs to
regardless of the the suspect after arrest and while the person is in custody. Claims that the officer
person’s culpability acted in good faith or took all reasonable precautions in conducting the arrest and
(blame or fault). putting the person in custody may not be valid defenses against a lawsuit.
Vicarious (indirect) Vicarious (Indirect) Liability Vicarious (indirect) liability refers to the legal
liability: responsibility for the actions or damages that have resulted from someone else’s
legal responsibility negligence. For instance, a police supervisor, manager, chief, or government entity
for the actions is indirectly liable if the individual or entity is held responsible for a subordinate’s
or damages that actions. (A supervisor cannot be held directly liable for a subordinate’s actions
have resulted from unless the supervisor participates in the act itself.)
someone else’s Vicarious liability is a form of strict secondary liability that arises from the
negligence. common law doctrine of respondent superior. This doctrine states that the superior
(supervisor) is responsible (liable) for actions that resulted in injury, wrongful death,
Negligence: and so forth (such as use of excessive force) that were committed by a subordinate
failure to exercise the within the scope of employment (American Heritage Dictionary—Dictionary of
degree of care that an Business Terms, 2009; Cheeseman, 2009; del Carmen, 1989; Michaels, 1999).
ordinary, reasonable,
and prudent person
would demonstrate
Negligence
under the same One of the broadest areas of liability is negligence, a subject we touched on earlier
circumstances. in this chapter. Negligence may be defined as a failure to exercise the degree of care
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that an ordinary, reasonable, and prudent person would demonstrate under the
same circumstances. As we have seen, the consequence of the negligent action or
lack of action may be unintended injury, death, or loss of property. When a person
fails to exercise proper care according to the demands of a particular situation (for
example, driving while talking on a cell phone and being inattentive to traffic), the
failure is classified as simple negligence. Gross negligence is the deliberate lack of
care for life or property (for instance, driving while intoxicated).
Courts are more interested in holding supervisors liable in cases of gross neg-
ligence rather than simple negligence (Peak et al., 2010; West’s Encyclopedia of
American Law, 2008b). The concern regarding the negligence of police managers
regarding subordinates’ actions centers on whether the managers allowed, instigat-
ed, or turned a “blind eye” to (condoned) subordinates’ conduct. Police managers
must be mindful that negligence can also occur through the performance of every-
day administrative duties, if such performance leads to injury, wrongful death, and
so forth. For example:
• Hiring: A manager hires an officer who has psychological or behavioral
problems or a background of incompetence, and those problems result in the
officers’ injuring someone else.
• Retention: An agency continues to employ an officer even after the person has
demonstrated violent tendencies, and the officer hurts someone else.
• Training: The agency fails to adequately train officers to carry out their
duties properly, and the resulting incompetence leads to injury or death of a
community member.
• Supervision: A police supervisor fails to offer guidance, training, remediation,
and evaluation in a timely manner to subordinates. Consequently, one of
the supervisor’s direct reports mishandles investigation of a crime, and an
innocent person is sent to jail.
• Assignment: A police supervisor assigns an officer known for intolerance of
diverse opinions to a diverse neighborhood. The officer engages in uncivil
conduct or uses excessive force against a minority group member.
Sexual harassment:
Sexual Harassment touching, intimidation,
lewd remarks, and
Sexual harassment constitutes another area of concern for police managers seeking
other conduct or
to mitigate their agency’s vulnerability to lawsuits. The term applies to touching,
communication of a
intimidation, lewd remarks, and other conduct or communication of a sexual nature
sexual nature that is
that is offensive to a prudent and reasonable person. It involves actions or commu-
offensive to a prudent
nications motivated by hostility toward another’s gender or a desire to control the
and reasonable person.
other person, even someone of the same gender. For example:
• A male officer resentful of a female colleague’s promotion tells obscene jokes
to her as a way to make her uncomfortable. Learn more about
sexual harassment
• A female supervisor sexually interested in a subordinate makes it clear that
policies from the U.S.
the subordinate will receive a promotion only if he sleeps with her.
Equal Employment
Laws and court decisions generally read or hold that an employer is liable for Opportunity
sexual harassment if the communication or conduct is unreasonably condoned, Commission (EEOC)
improperly investigated, or left uncorrected. To avoid sexual harassment lawsuits, at www.eeoc.gov.
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all organizations should have a clear, written antisexual harassment policy that is
communicated to all employees and enforced (Cheeseman, 2009).
Proximate (Legal) Cause

Actual cause: Actual cause includes all antecedents leading to a given result. Proximate (legal)
all antecedents leading cause is that to which liability attaches. It results from an action or inaction that
to a given result. directly leads to damage to property, or to the injury or death of another person.
Proximate cause action or inaction is foreseeable, and the damage, injury, or death
Proximate (legal) would not have occurred if the individual had not committed the action or inaction
cause: leading to the foreseeable result (West’s Encyclopedia of American Law, 2008c).
that to which liability Situations involving high-speed police-vehicle pursuits, domestic abuse, and per-
attaches; results from sons with mental illness all provide examples of situations that lay a foundation for
an action or inaction proximate cause and liability for the results of such activities (or inactivity) if injury
that directly leads to to others is foreseeable.
damage to property,
or to the injury or Actual cause → Proximate (legal) cause = Liability
death of another
High-Speed Chases Proximate cause can occur when (for example) police offi-
person.
cers engage in a high-speed vehicle pursuit of a suspect and the pursuit results in
injury to the officer, to the driver being chased, or to an innocent third party. When
this happens, the police officer who gave chase, as well as the agency employing that
officer, may be considered liable for any injuries. The issue of proximate cause may
be argued if the officer and the pursuit supervisor are not reasonably sure that the
person being chased and/or innocent bystanders are not in imminent danger due to
the police actively pursuing a vehicle. If injury is foreseeable, proximate cause exists.
High-speed pursuit is an area of considerable liability for any officer or
agency. Some suspects have filed lawsuits against an officer after having been
High-speed vehicle
pursuits can lead to
collisions that result in
injuries, deaths, and
considerable liability
for the driver-officer
and the agency.
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injured during a chase, charging that the officer was negligent in continuing the
chase. In many jurisdictions, an agency’s supervisors must monitor trends in
police-vehicle chases and approve all such chases. Supervisors may order an offi-
cer to stop a high-speed pursuit if the chase poses a danger to innocent bystand-
ers, other drivers, and any of the involved parties, including the officer and the
suspect. As a general rule, it is best to discontinue the pursuit when public safety
becomes an issue (foreseeable that person being pursued, officers, or other people
could be killed or injured) or environmental conditions (e.g., rain, ice) dictate that
the pursuit should be terminated.
Domestic Abuse Domestic abuse presents another example of proximate cause.

Suppose that an officer has responded to several calls for help from a woman
whose husband has battered her. If this same woman calls for help again, claiming
that the man is threatening her, the officer has a duty to protect her from this threat
because he knows the history of the situation. If the officer fails to act on the threat
and the woman is assaulted once again, the officer may be deemed negligent.
Mental Illness As a final example of proximate cause, consider an officer who

encounters a person with mental illness who is threatening self-harm or harm to
others. Failing to take action regarding this individual—for instance, not restraining
the person—may be considered negligence if the individual causes harm to self or
others after the officer leaves the area. A citizen could sue the officer for negligence
if the citizen successfully argues that the officer should have known (foreseen) the
risks in not controlling the person.
What Police Agencies Can Do

How can police officers and their superiors minimize (mitigate) their agency’s expo-
sure to liability lawsuits? The following practices can help:
• Employ officers with higher education. Evidence suggests that police agencies
employing officers with higher education are subjected to fewer complaints
and, by extension, have fewer lawsuits filed against them (Bohm & Haley,
2005; Goldstein, 1990).
• Demonstrate ethical leadership. For instance, lead by engaging in morally
correct behavior.
• Demonstrate effective communication skills. To illustrate, ensure that
communications are clear, concise, and understood by the receiver.
• Know the law. Gain familiarity with state and federal laws regarding the
topics examined in this chapter.
• Stick to the code. Adhere to professional codes of ethics and conduct for the
police profession. (See Chapter 1 for a detailed presentation of ethics and
conduct codes for police.)
• Conduct in-service legal training. Offer training programs that explain the law
and how it works and that give officers opportunities to role-play the correct
attitude and language to use in specific situations. For officers against whom
minor complaints have been made, use remedial training and counseling to
prevent major complaints. For officers who have been the recipients of major
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complaints, take appropriate action; for example, assign them to desk duty for
a specified period of time while providing them with remedial training and/or
counseling.
• Document behavior and measures taken. Regularly observe, evaluate,
and document officers’ performance as well as actions taken to address
problematic behavior. When an agency can prove that it has made reasonable
efforts to improve a police officer’s knowledge, skills, and abilities, it will be
less vulnerable to lawsuits (Cheeseman, 2009; Hunter & Barker, 2011; Mann
& Roberts, 2006; Ortmeier, 2009; Ross, 2006).
summary
• National Employment Laws. The U.S. government has enacted numerous laws
intended to foster fairness and safety in the workplace. All organizations are
subject to these laws, which have the common theme of protecting employees
against discrimination and other forms of harm. Affirmative action is not
a law; it is an approach that some organizations use to ensure fairness in
hiring and employment and that has stirred some controversy. Some police
agencies are striving to hire a diverse workforce to reflect the diversity in the
communities they serve.
• Unionization. Unions have developed over several centuries. Unionization of
police experienced a setback with the Boston Police Strike of 1919, which
resulted in mandates prohibiting police officers from going on strike. Police
have unions today as well as other representative organizations (such as the
Fraternal Order of Police) that lobby for their interests. There are numerous
labor laws affecting unions. Such laws stipulate matters including unfair
labor practices and management rights. While individuals gain certain
advantages by joining a union, the relationships between union leaders, union
members, and management can be complex and tense, especially during labor
negotiations. To negotiate a labor contract, unionized workers engage in
collective bargaining with managers. Grievances filed by unionized employees
must also go through a specific process.
• Contract Law. In addition to labor contracts, a police agency may forge other
types of contracts; for example, to lease or purchase a facility or equipment.
Contracts can be expressed or implied and must meet specific criteria to be
considered valid.
• Administrative Law. Administrative law is public law promulgated by
administrative agencies at the federal, state, and local levels. Police agencies
are affected by administrative law at all three levels.
• Property Law. Laws governing property (whether it is tangle or intangible,
personal or real) are relevant to police agencies not only because their
responsibilities include protecting citizens’ property but also because agencies
may own or lease property themselves.
• Tort Law. A tort is a private wrong committed against a person or a person’s
property. Torts may be unintentional or intentional (including libel and
slander). Police may be held civilly liable for unintentional torts, including
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invasion of privacy, false arrest, and use of excessive force, as well as

intentional torts in the form of libel or slander.
• Privacy Law. Privacy law involves confidential information—anything written
or spoken that is intended only for the eyes and/or ears of the receiver.
Police agencies have policies or rules regarding disclosure of information
that is considered confidential. Disclosing such information about crime
investigations is particularly egregious, as it can put individuals in danger and
compromise current and future investigations.
• Liability Management. Civil lawsuits are on the rise and are expensive.
To reduce their vulnerability to such lawsuits, police managers and
officers should familiarize themselves with all laws related to employment,
unionization, contracts, administrative rules and regulations, torts, property,
and privacy. They should also understand the differences between three
types of liability: direct, strict, and vicarious. Areas of liability of particular
importance for police agencies include negligence, sexual harassment, and
proximate cause. Police officers and their superiors can minimize their
agency’s (and their own) exposure to liability lawsuits through practices such
as employing officers with higher education, demonstrating ethical leadership
and effective communication skills, adhering to codes of ethics and conduct
established for the police profession, conducting in-service legal training, and
documenting problematic behavior and measures taken.
key terms
actual cause
administrative law
affirmative action
binding arbitration
breach of contract
collective agreement
collective bargaining
confidential information
contract
direct liability
good faith
grievance
negligence
negotiable management rights
nonnegotiable management rights
proximate (legal) cause
sexual harassment
strict liability
tort
unfair labor practices
vicarious (indirect) liability
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1. Employment law is a critical and complicated area. Three laws that have affected
police agencies significantly are the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination
Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Describe how these laws affect a police
agency and why the agency must address the implications of the laws.
2. Police agencies must constantly struggle to ensure that their workforces represent the
population of the community they serve. Describe how affirmative action or similar
approaches or policies can help or hinder an agency striving for this representation.
Can an agency build a diverse workforce without affirmative action practices or
policies? Why or why not?
3. Unionization has been and is still a controversial area for police agencies throughout
the United States. What advantages and disadvantages does unionization afford—for
employees and for management?
4. Unions and other representative organizations, along with management, must abide
by laws regarding unfair labor practices and management rights. What are the conse-
quences for a police agency of failing to address unfair labor practice?
5. Police officers may feel the need to have adequate representation when addressing
conditions of employment. What conditions might exist where a labor organization
or a police union may benefit a police officer or group of officers?
6. A police manager may be faced with a grievance brought by a line officer. What is a
grievance, and how does the grievance process work?
7. What other contracts might a police agency forge, in addition to labor contracts
negotiated through the collective bargaining process? How would you know that a
contract had been breached, and what would you do to resolve the breach?
8. What is administrative law, and how does such law affect police agencies?
9. What are two major reasons that police managers and officers should understand
property law?
10. What is a tort? For what kinds of torts might a police officer or agency be held
liable?
11. What is the most effective way in which police can avoid violating laws related to
privacy?
12. Why is it important for police agencies to be familiar with the many categories of
law presented in this chapter?
13. What are the three types of liability? Cite examples of how a police officer or agency
can be vulnerable to each type.
14. How might police officers and managers best protect themselves and their agency
from liability?
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WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

When Is an Investigator Not an Investigator?
In a midsize police agency, 33 officers brought a lawsuit against the agency.
In the lawsuit, they asserted that they should receive the investigator title and
back pay because, according to state law, a person should receive the designa-
tion after 18 months of temporary assignment to investigator duties. Many
of these officers had been performing the duties for more than 18 months;
in some cases, for years. In response to the filing of the lawsuit, the agency
demoted or “temporarily reassigned” six “genuine” investigators. The reason?
If the judge ruled in favor of the 33 officers, the agency would be overstaffed
with investigators and its budget would be severely strained.
Although the police union did not support the lawsuit, the union president
publicly chastised the police agency for promoting the six demoted investi-
gators in the first place. The union president told the press, “It’s the worst
mismanagement I have ever seen.” Throughout this time, police and union
officials tried to resolve the matter without resorting to the courts. But their
efforts failed.
The officers who sued lost, and the six demoted investigators were rein-
stated. However, the toll on morale among officers has yet to be determined.
If the officers decide to appeal the decision, the matter could prove even more
divisive for the agency.
1. In what ways might the union have helped prevent this situation from
arising in the first place?
2. In what ways could the agency’s managers have helped prevent the
lawsuit?
3. What might the 33 officers have done differently to have their concerns
met, rather than resorting to a lawsuit?
4. Did this scenario involve any unfair labor practices? Why or why not?
5. What steps would you advise this agency to take to avoid being subjected
to another similar lawsuit in the future?
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14
An entrance to a police building
should be well maintained.
Procurement and
Facilities Management
learning outcomes

• distinguish purchasing, leasing, and outsourcing as methods for
procurement of supplies, equipment, facilities, or services.
• compare the benefits and challenges or purchasing, leasing, and
outsourcing.
• explain how the competitive bidding process functions.
• compare and contrast service contracts and warranties.
• describe the steps a police agency takes to forge agreements with
outsourcing providers.
• identify the information that should be contained in an outsourcing
contract.
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chapter 14 Procurement and Facilities Management 367
• list the various duties of a facilities manager and some of the qualifications
for the job.
• describe the steps required to build or renovate a police facility.
• analyze why site surveys of police facilities are valuable, even when a new
project or renovation is not being performed.
• discuss how a site survey is conducted.
• explain the steps a police agency can take to acquire new technology and
ensure that it is installed and used correctly.
Introduction
The police would have a hard time doing their job without the equipment, tools,
supplies, services, and physical facilities that many officers take for granted—
everything from patrol cars, radios, evidence preservation kits, weapons, and
fleet-maintenance services to the squad rooms, detention cells, firing ranges, and
information technology (IT) systems so crucial to their work.
To ensure that essential equipment, supplies, services, and facilities are
available for police personnel to do their work, an agency must take a disciplined
approach to procurement (acquisition) of needed resources and services as well
as management of all facilities used by the agency. In this chapter, we take a
close look at these two crucial responsibilities. We examine several approaches
to procurement of equipment, supplies, and services—purchasing, leasing, and
outsourcing—and consider key tasks related to these procurement processes,
such as obtaining competitive bids and developing contracts. We then turn to
facilities management, with emphasis on the skills, experience, and personal attri-
butes that distinguish exceptional facilities managers; suggestions for how to plan
and execute construction or renovation of a police facility; and ideas for updating
facilities with needed law enforcement technologies.
Although procurement and facilities management may seem to take a back seat
to other more visible police functions, these two activities help lay a solid foundation
from which officers can carry out their mission and serve their community well.
PROCUREMENT
For a police agency, as with any organization, procurement is the obtaining of

needed equipment, supplies, and services. Procurement can be done through pur-
chasing, leasing, or outsourcing. Regardless of the approach used, agency leaders
must know how to select the right supplier, negotiate terms of the deal, ensure qual-
ity of the goods or services obtained, and manage the agency’s relationship with
suppliers. We explore these topics next.
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Purchasing
Purchasing: In the context of organizations, purchasing refers to the procurement of goods and
an organization’s services in the correct amounts, from the most appropriate source, for the best pos-
procurement of goods sible price. Once the good or service is purchased, the buyer owns it. Police agencies
and services in the use the purchasing process to:
correct amounts, from
• Obtain needed goods, services, and other supplies at the best price
the most appropriate
source, for the best • Obtain the materials, equipment, supplies, and facilities that are appropriate
possible price. for what the agency does
• Procure the correct quantities, and avoid underbuying or overbuying
• Arrange for necessary technical services or service agreements on purchased
equipment
• Ensure that materials purchased are delivered in a timely manner
• Avoid becoming overly dependent on too few suppliers, so goods and services
will be available at all times
• Dispose of unneeded items through trade-in, salvage, sale, or transfer to
another agency (Moak & Hillhouse, 2009)
Purchasing by a public entity, such as a police agency, differs markedly from
purchasing by a corporation because the money used comes from the public that the
agency serves, mostly in the form of tax revenues. Not surprisingly, most citizens
feel that their police agency has an obligation to maximize use of their tax dollars.
By developing specific policies and procedures for making purchases, a police
agency can help reassure community members that purchasing is being handled
ethically, correctly, and consistently—with an eye toward getting the most value in
return for tax dollars (Colorado Municipal League, 1996).
Developing a Purchasing Process Every police agency should have a manual

detailing policies and procedures governing the purchasing process. While the
thought of developing a process and writing an entire manual on this subject may
seem daunting to some, they can look to any government purchasing manual as a
model and modify the manual’s contents to suit their agency’s particular circum-
stances. Ideally, the individual who writes the agency’s purchasing manual should
be the purchasing agent, supervisor, or manager.
Most agencies have guidelines for purchasing items based on their dollar value.
Typically, these guidelines provide a range of values for the type of purchasing
request needed and the person/group who must approve the purchase. To illustrate,
for an item with a dollar value of $0 to $999, a manager or other designee may
have the authority to approve a single price and vendor quote before the agency
can buy the item. In contrast, a purchase of $50,000 or more might require formal
competitive bids from a specific number of suppliers. Moreover, the city council will
likely want to examine the bids and select what it sees as the best, most cost-effective
supplier. In some cases, only one supplier of a product or service may exist. When
this situation occurs, the provider is considered a sole source.
Organizing the Purchasing Function The purchasing responsibility in large police

agencies is usually handled in a separate department or division within the agency.
In smaller agencies or those that are downsizing, purchasing might be coordinated
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Police equestrian unit

center. Mounted police
officers are used for
crowd control and
in ceremonies, and
they can enhance
police–community
relations.
and centralized in a department that serves the purchasing needs of other local gov-
ernment agencies in addition to police, such as the fire service and environmental
services in the same jurisdiction. In very small police agencies, purchasing might be
the part-time responsibility of one administrator who has other responsibilities as
well. However purchasing is accomplished, it demands a certain expertise.
The purchasing agent need not be a police officer, although the person does
need in-depth knowledge of police equipment and supplies (including how they are
used and how much they cost). For example, the agent must be familiar with fire-
arms and other weapons, including less-than-lethal items used to subdue suspects
(such as chemical agents and police batons). In large agencies that possess a canine
or mounted equestrian unit, the purchasing agent should have at least a working
knowledge of how dogs or horses are selected, trained, purchased, housed, and
maintained for use by a police agency.
The person in charge of purchasing (variously known as the purchasing agent,
director, or manager) should have a thorough knowledge of not only equipment and
supplies but also the leading vendors of these items, as well as their pricing arrange-
ments. Vendors must typically undergo a process, including a credit check, to be
approved to supply to government agencies. Vendor representatives often meet with
purchasing individuals to establish good working relationships and add a personal
touch to the supply business.
Understanding Ethical Challenges in Purchasing There is also an ethical ele-

ment to the purchasing process. Specifically, agents who have a friendship with the
vendor of a service or product may be tempted to purchase more than their organi-
zation needs. Others have deferred some supplies for their own personal use or have
resold purchased goods for personal profit. When purchasing agents have access to
their organization’s credit cards, the temptation to steal in these ways may prove
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irresistible. Some purchasing agents have even falsified documents to hide the fact
that they made certain purchases specifically to resell the goods for personal profit.
Others have used their agency’s gasoline (fuel) credit cards to fill the tanks in their
own personal vehicles. By clearly communicating the police agency’s codes of ethics
and behavior, and promptly addressing violations of the codes, agency managers can
help discourage unethical actions related to purchasing.
Leasing
In the past, there was only one way for an agency to obtain equipment or facilities:
purchase them outright. This meant the agency needed enough cash on hand to pur-
chase the necessary items or to arrange a line of credit through a financing source
(e.g., municipal comptroller or bank) for more significant purchases, including cars
and computers. But today, government agencies have an additional option that has
long been available to citizens and businesses who wish to have expensive equip-
ment without providing cash upfront: leasing.
Lease: A lease enables an individual or organization to obtain or secure the use of
a procurement items or property in exchange for payments made at agreed-upon intervals. There
arrangement that
enables an individual
or organization to
obtain or secure Spotlight on Police Vehicles
the use of items or While police agencies make the same use of photocopiers and computers as
property in exchange do corporations, their use of police vehicles differs dramatically from that of
for payments made other types of organizations. In some agencies, unmarked police vehicles are
at agreed-upon basically the same as cars driven by ordinary citizens. However, many police
intervals. agencies use uniquely built vehicles that possess special heavy-duty suspension,
brakes, and high-performance engines. Patrol cars may be driven by numer-
ous officers, and in many cases, used 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Police
vehicles experience unpredictable types of demand, ranging from long periods
at idle to excessive speeds and sharp braking—all of which strain a vehicle’s
engine, brakes, suspension, and other systems. Many police agencies prefer
rear-wheel-drive vehicles because they tend to perform better (and longer) in
hilly or curved areas than do their front-wheel-drive counterparts. An agency
may also select white vehicles because they generally have a higher resale value
at auction after service use than other-colored vehicles.
Maintenance of an agency’s police-car fleet may be performed by two
different entities: experts within the government or police agency, or outside
providers. For instance, a large police organization may have a vehicle-
maintenance division headed by its own manager and staffed by full-time
mechanics. For any additional vehicle-related concerns that cannot be man-
aged by in-house personnel (including warranty service and collision repair),
the agency may contract with local reputable car dealers and repair special-
ists. In some jurisdictions, a police agency’s fleet is maintained entirely by an
outside provider (outsourced).
The Michigan State Police evaluated eight 2010 model year police vehicles
in six categories. The results of the agency’s evaluation can be viewed at www.
michigan.gov/msp/0,1607,7-123--16274--,00.html.
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Fleet of police
motorcycles.
are two parties involved in the lease: the lessor, who owns (and continues to own)
the items or property, and the lessee, who pays for the use of the property (Brigham
& Ehrhardt, 2005). Leased equipment is often accompanied by a better service
contract than equipment that is purchased and can usually be replaced without cost
to the lessee if the item fails to function owing to a manufacturing or other defect.
However, misuse of leased equipment by the lessee usually negates the maintenance
or replacement portion of the contract. Photocopiers and fax machines, cellular
phones, computer equipment, buildings, vehicles, facility security systems, and vir-
tually any other item can be leased.
In response to increased budgetary constraints on police agencies, many sup-
pliers of equipment used by such agencies have instituted a leasing system through
which the agency can use the equipment while paying a monthly fee. Often, the
lease payments can be credited toward the agency’s eventual ownership of the equip-
ment. This process is referred to as a lease-purchase agreement. Moreover, agencies
can upgrade to newer, more technologically advanced equipment for only a slight
increase in their monthly lease payments. Outsourcing:
a process by which
a company or
Outsourcing government entity
When it comes to police equipment, supplies, and facilities, purchasing or leasing contracts with
are common approaches to procurement. To obtain needed products or services, another company or
more and more agencies are using another approach: outsourcing. (See the box government entity
titled “Spotlight on Police Vehicles.”) But what is outsourcing, exactly? And why to provide products
has it become increasingly popular? In simplest terms, outsourcing is a process or services that were
by which a company or government entity contracts with another company or formerly provided
government entity to provide products or services that were formerly provided or or performed by the
performed by the original entity. original entity.
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Advantages and Disadvantages of Outsourcing The most obvious force driving

outsourcing is that it can save money for a police agency, if the vendor can provide
equivalent service and is located in a place where general labor costs are low. Besides
saving money, outsourcing enables leaders and managers to focus on the real work
of the agency—including formulating strategies for better service and increasing
public safety in the community. A disadvantage of outsourcing is that, because
employees of an outside organization are carrying out some of the police agency’s
business processes, the agency has less direct communication with and control over
the employees performing the services. This can lead to service quality concerns
and discontent between the agency and the service provider. Further, the contract
service industry is often extremely competitive, leading to a depression in wage rates
paid and high attrition (turnover that can reach 300 percent per year) of employees
(Ortmeier, 1999; Thompson, 2010).
Moreover, in recent years, the term outsourcing has taken on negative con-
notations for many workers. Numerous American corporations, in an effort to cut
manufacturing and other costs, have outsourced manufacturing processes, customer
call centers, and other business activities and processes to providers based in foreign
countries, where labor and other costs are often less than those in the United States.
In doing so, these companies have reduced the number of jobs available for U.S.
workers on American soil. Outsourcing has thus become a sensitive and in some
respects a highly politicized subject. A police agency that decides to use outsourc-
ing may face rumblings of protest from its own workforce (especially unionized
workers) as well as from members of the community it serves. Further, it may not
be legally possible to outsource all police functions to a private company because
policing is a public function of government. As part of establishing an outsourcing
arrangement, an agency would do well to anticipate such reactions and develop
strategies for managing them.
Only time will reveal whether outsourcing is a temporary or permanent phe-
nomenon, but budgetary constraints will continue to force businesses and public
agencies alike to trim funding wherever they can. Eliminating or supplanting whole
functions by outsourcing presents a viable means of reducing costs.
Selecting Processes and Activities to Outsource Outsourcing has become

more common not only in big corporations but also for cities and towns. For
example, rather than maintain a janitorial staff, some companies are hiring janito-
rial service providers for facility upkeep and maintenance. Many businesses that
had their own fleet of delivery trucks now hire trucking companies to make their
deliveries. Many private organizations are also contracting with security companies
to provide security officers, investigative services, first response to crisis situations,
and data protection.
What processes and activities do police agencies typically decide to outsource?
Many agencies are outsourcing some of their ancillary or supplementary func-
tions. For instance, they may outsource police-vehicle maintenance or information
technology services (such as computer maintenance) to a service provider that
performs such work for the entire city, county, or state where the police agency is
based. Agencies may also outsource blood, drug, and weapon analysis; emergency
communication (9-1-1 phone service); or training academy services to a central-
ized regional or statewide academy that presents training for numerous agencies.
Finally, an agency may outsource services that are too costly for it (or a government
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A 9-1-1 emergency
communications
center.
outsourcing provider) to support financially. Such services might include informa-

tion system technology maintenance and upgrade; environmental system review;
and upgrading of existing, renovated, or new facilities.
Obviously, the main duties of police—such as patrol, investigation, arrest, gath-
ering and maintenance of evidence, and testifying in court—cannot be outsourced
from the sworn body of the agency’s police officers. However, many agencies have
elected to outsource such needs as building and fleet maintenance, and correctional
facility staffing, food, and health services. As demonstrated with the advent of 9-1-1
emergency communication services, agencies that once managed emergency phone
and dispatching services internally now have them routed through a 9-1-1 com-
munications center managed by a county, state, or other government entity. This
can save police agencies significant money. Agencies can use the savings to invest in
other critical resources and activities, such as the hiring of additional sworn officers,
purchasing of updated equipment, or crime prevention initiatives.
When an Entire Police Department Is Outsourced Unfortunately, while many

individual police duties cannot be outsourced, there is a growing trend toward
outsourcing entire police departments. Many municipal mayors, town boards, and
city council members have placed their budgets under a microscope and identified
the police department as the costliest item in the budget. Their solution? Outsource
policing services to the county sheriff’s department or another regional or state
police agency responsible for countywide public safety.
The movement away from village and town police departments has caused
significant strife for many citizens in areas considering this change. To outsource a
local police department, town or village leaders must dismantle their police agency,
sell off its equipment and other appurtenances, and lay off or place its sworn officers
with the sheriff’s department or other agency. The sheriff or regional agency must
also change patrol routes to encompass the community that is giving up its depart-
ment. Usually, the town or village and the county will share the cost of policing over
a specified period of time, often saving the jurisdictions as much as thousands to
millions of dollars annually (Bair, 2008; Rogers, 2009).
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County Sheriff’s
departments often
outsource their services
to municipalities.
Advocates of this change believe that a sheriff’s department can be just as effec-
tive at protecting life and property as the local police agency. Taxes will stabilize,
they maintain, as the government entity (for instance, the municipality) saves money
by dispensing with a separate police department. Opponents argue that the sheriff’s
department, even with the infusion of town or village police officers into its ranks,
cannot possibly cover the jurisdiction and the county as effectively or be as sensitive
and responsive to local needs as a local police department can.
Reactions to Local Police Department Outsourcing Jurisdictions have reacted

differently to the notion of outsourcing local police departments. For example:
• In Pewaukee, Wisconsin, a county judge refused to block police outsourcing
(Behm, 2009).
• In Lakeland, Florida, residents voted to retain their local police force rather
than outsource the function to the county sheriff’s office (Bair, 2008).
• Since 1998, the Mackinac Center for Public Policy in Michigan has advocated
privatizing public safety services for citizens and their property, by outsourcing
non-law enforcement services (such as parking regulation, communications,
and animal control) to private corporations (Privatizing the Long Arm of the
Law, 1998).
• In 2006, the citizens of Walbridge, Ohio, voted to keep their police department
rather than outsource police functions to Lake Township (Rogers, 2009).
In Los Angeles County in California, two towns experienced outsourcing in
entirely different ways. Westlake Village used the LA County Sheriff’s Department
for police services for a savings of $2,082,435 for the years 2009 to 2010. Sierra
Madre, whose residents wanted to outsource police services but whose police force
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was skeptical about the benefits of this initiative, expected to spend $3.4 million
for police services over the years 2009 to 2010. The citizens involved were sharply
divided as to whether the police are paid too little or too much (Sierra Madre
Divided over Possible Police Outsourcing, 2009).
Possibly the only form of outsourcing acceptable to most police officers is the
use of volunteers or reserve police officers or deputies. Still, police unions are often
reluctant to approve the use of volunteers or reserve police officers or deputies. A
very clear distinction must be made between strictly police duties and those that
can be performed by volunteers, and volunteer programs have been working well in
many jurisdictions. Volunteers and their uses are covered extensively in Chapter 6.
Obtaining Competitive Bids

Whether a police agency is purchasing, leasing, or outsourcing goods or services,
items or services above a certain dollar value often must be obtained through a com-
petitive bidding system. Before requesting competitive bids from potential vendors,
an agency establishes criteria that it will use to judge all vendor-submitted bids. It
then uses these criteria to select the supplier that offers the best price and quality
for the goods or services the agency needs. Agencies use competitive bidding for
both the purchase and leasing of expensive property or services (Ortmeier & Meese,
2010; Overton & Bockelman, 1993), as well as the outsourcing of specific processes
or activities to a third party. The competitive-bid process is especially effective for
construction or renovation projects that require a significant outlay of public funds.
Through a competitive bid, qualified vendors submit their best estimate of what a Competitive bid:
specific item, service, or combination of both will cost an agency. The lowest bidder a vendor’s best
generally wins the contract, unless it can be shown that a higher bid better meets the estimate of what a
bid specifications (deliverables) established by the agency’s request for bids. specific item, service,
Before seeking competitive bids, however, an agency must define an appropriate or combination of
range of bidding amounts. That is, managers need to review the potential costs of the both will cost an
items required in light of the quantity of items needed, quality, longevity, anticipated organization seeking
discounts based on quantity purchased, service-related issues, and the possibility that to purchase, lease,
personnel will need training to use the items once they are procured. After considering or outsource the
these matters, the agency determines the bid ranges by analyzing the cost of one item item, service, or
either as a single unit (for example, one police vehicle) or a bulk quantity (10 vehicles). combination of both.
The bid range is set based on the total costs of an item, the quantity of items needed,
inflation costs, and the timing of the procurement (yearly, quarterly, or monthly).
For instance, police vehicles are usually replaced every three years or when a
vehicle reaches 80,000 to 100,000 miles. Based on the number of vehicles an agency
deploys, the agency anticipates the number of items (police vehicles) it will need to
purchase and establishes a bidding range after researching current police vehicle
costs. Ideally, one of the agency’s budget analysts or a comparable government
employee takes responsibility for this task. The budget analyst usually has access to
current government contracts that can be used to compare costs for similar equip-
ment and services. As a rule, the agency does not reveal its preliminary bidding
ranges to the vendors who will be submitting bids.
The agency puts out a request for bids by advertising for proposals (bids) based
on materiel or services specifications, and by giving vendors a deadline by which
to respond. Once the agency has received all bids, the procurement officer or team
reviews them with an eye toward the apparent quality of services or equipment
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being offered, the terms of service or purchase, and the proposed costs. The person
or team in charge of hiring the vendor reviews all bids, may phone the vendors to
clear up any questions, and makes a final determination. In some cases, depending
on the dollar amount involved, a supervisor, the mayor, or the city council may give
final approval to the selected bid.
Like all government contracts, those signed with a police agency can be lucra-
tive. Vendors and suppliers often hope to work for other government entities once
they have established a relationship with a police jurisdiction. Therefore, agency
leaders must exercise caution to ensure that the bids submitted by vendors are
realistic and that the performance goals (deliverables) are not inflated. Budget, pur-
chasing, and agency personnel must verify that inferior products, materials, and/or
workers are not used on a job to cut a vendor’s expenses.
Understanding Service Contracts and Warranties

When you buy a car or a major appliance such as a washing machine or refrigera-
tor, you may elect to purchase a service contract along with the product. When a
police agency is leasing or purchasing big-ticket items like a fleet of police cars or a
new, agency-wide computer system, it will also likely be offered a service contract
as part of the purchase.
Service contract: A service contract is similar to the warranty you may have on your car: Through
an agreement by the contract, the seller agrees to provide repair or maintenance services for the speci-
which a seller agrees fied equipment for a certain time period. Unlike a warranty, the fee for a service
to provide repair or contract is not included in the purchase price of the equipment; the buyer purchases
maintenance services it separately. Police agency administrators should closely examine the terms of every
for the specified service contact to determine what it covers—and what it does not cover. Repair or
purchased equipment routine maintenance of an item not specified in the service contract will need to be
for a certain time performed by another party.
period. Most service contracts specify that the contract does not cover repairs resulting
from the police agency’s failure to maintain the product properly or the agency per-
sonnel’s misuse of the product. Contracts may also include a clause that renders the
agreement void if the agency does not contact the service contract company when a
problem arises with the equipment in question.
Service contracts also have some similarities to insurance policies. Many
come with a deductible, or an initial amount that the agency must pay before the
contract provider will cover
Service contracts may
repairs. A contract may speci-
be established with
outside vendors to fy where repairs can be made;
repair vital equipment for example, at a designat-
such as computers. ed local service center. If an
agency takes the equipment to
another source for repair, the
contract will not cover the cost
of repair.
A major drawback to a ser-
vice contract is that it is often
issued through a service com-
pany that may not be affiliated
with the manufacturer of the
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item being covered. Should the service company go out of business, a police agency
will have little recourse in activating the service contract. Therefore, before entering
into a service contract, agency managers should ensure that the service company is
reputable and financially solvent. They can do so by contacting the local or state
Better Business Bureau or a consumer protection office. They can also speak with
several of the company’s customers to gauge the firm’s service quality and reliability
before making a commitment.
Warranties can exist alongside service contracts. A warranty on a product is Warranty:
basically an insurance policy that comes with the product. It implies a promise by a promise by the
the manufacturer that it will repair any defects or replace the product if a major manufacturer that
malfunction occurs. Like service contracts, warranties exclude certain things, such it will repair any
as repairs needed as a result of misuse or abuse. In some cases, certain parts of defects or replace the
equipment may be excluded from the warranty. Thus agency personnel should product if a major
know what those exclusions are before purchasing the item. Usually, organizations malfunction occurs.
purchase service contracts immediately before the warranty on a piece of equipment
is about to expire.
To summarize these important concepts, a service contract is similar to a war-
ranty in that it provides for specified services. A warranty is usually included in the
price of the product whereas a service contract costs extra. A warranty is a promise
that the product will perform as specified if the buyer uses the product or service
according to specific terms and conditions of operation (Ellis-Christensen, 2003;
Facts for Consumers: Service Contracts, 2009).
Forging Agreements with Outsourcing Providers

Contracts with outsourcing service providers can be more complex than agreements
made with organizations from which a police agency is purchasing or leasing equip-
ment or other goods. If a police agency is considering using outsourcing to manage
needed services, it should follow a comprehensive process to set up and manage
the deal.
Setting the Stage The following steps can help an agency establish an effective
agreement with a services provider:
1. Plan strategically for outsourcing functions and services. For example, if an
agency is considering outsourcing its canine (K9) service, managers should
assess the costs of the current service as to officer wages and benefits, dog
purchase and care, equipment needs, training, and calls for K9 service. They
should also conduct research to determine whether there is an existing K9
service to which the agency may have access (for instance, at a sheriff’s or
state police agency).
2. Determine which providers can best manage the outsourced services and what
specific tasks they must perform.
3. Identify the services to be outsourced—including physical location where the
work will be performed, times it will be performed, anticipated performance
on each task, and cost of the service.
4. Decide what roles the agency and the outsourcing company will fulfill.
5. Anticipate and mitigate any workforce morale problems that may arise
from the decision to outsource a particular process or activity. For instance,
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Almost anything
can be outsourced,
including K9 services.
discuss with agency management and personnel why outsourcing is being

considered. Brainstorm possible negative effects of the outsourcing with
respect to service delivery, personnel, or agency image, then seek consensus
on solutions for mitigating those effects. By including agency personnel in
these discussions and problem-solving sessions, you stand a better chance of
winning their buy-in for the outsourcing decision, even if some individuals
do not agree with the decision. If one or more people actively resist the
outsourcing decision, the supervisor, manager, or facilitator may need
to speak privately with them to alleviate their concerns; for example, by
assuring them they will not lose their jobs and that their contributions are
still valued (Outsourcing—What Is Outsourcing?, 2003).
Covering All the Bases An outsourcing contract is best developed with the
assistance of legal counsel. The police agency’s counsel will draft the contract and
recommend approval of the contract to the respective governing body (such as the
mayor, city manager, city council, or county supervisors). The outsourcing contract
should include the following information:
• Work to be completed: The contract spells out the amount and quality of the
work to be completed, including training and performance standards. It may
include a clause stipulating that if the agency wants the outsourcing provider
to take on additional work not currently defined in the contract, both parties
must agree on the new work (which is usually indicated in an addendum to
the original contract).
• Fees to be charged: The contract defines the wage rates for contractor
employees, contingency fees (such as wage adjustments based on labor-
market fluctuations and inflation reviews), costs of any required materials,
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and any additional expenses the police agency must bear. It may also include
a payment schedule (including the payment periods, invoicing schedule, and
when the first payment is due) and a notice of the contractee’s (agency’s) right
to have an independent party audit the contractor’s operations and records.
• Wage rates: If a premium wage rate (a rate above the prevailing wage) is
specified, the agency should audit the contractor to ensure that the premium
rate is paid.
• Adjustment to compensation clause: The agency (client) is allowed to reduce
fees charged (compensation) if the contractor fails to meet obligations
expressed in the contract.
• Liability of parties: The contract lays out the limits of liability for the
outsourcing provider and the agency regarding provider negligence, gross
misconduct, or intentional damage to the agency’s property or to its image
within the community. An indemnity (hold-harmless) clause should be
included, holding the agency harmless for any wrongful act of a contractor’s
employees.
• Screening of provider employees: Owing to the sensitive nature of police
agency information, processes, and the ability to access secure areas, the
contract should specify that the agency has a right to perform thorough
background checks on the outsourcing provider’s personnel and to reject
personnel whose background checks unearth information of concern to the
agency.
• Provider insurance coverage: The contract stipulates that the provider agrees
to secure and produce proof of adequate insurance coverage for its employees
and the work to be completed. Some contractors are underinsured and/or
underfinanced, and they may not have the necessary financial resources to
withstand a lawsuit.
• Proprietary or confidential information: Both parties agree that all
information gathered regarding each other’s business actions or task
completion shall remain confidential unless both parties agree otherwise.
• Information and significant work output: The contract describes the
significant work products and information the outsourcing provider will
produce and when it will be produced (for example, monthly, quarterly, or
yearly). It delineates the final work product (deliverables) desired and specifies
who will own any materials generated over the course of the contract after the
relationship is terminated.
• Letter(s) of authorization: Since an outside contractor is authorized to act
on behalf of the client (agency), letters of authorization should express the
contractor’s limits of authority.
• Audit rights: The agency should reserve the right to audit the contractor’s
operations to prevent unscrupulous activities and ensure adherence to
performance standards.
• Length of contract: The contract specifies the duration of the outsourcing
arrangement, including start-up and ending dates, termination, and defaulting
rights for each party (Ortmeier, 1999; Ortmeier & Meese, 2010; Sample
Business Contracts, Outsourcing Service Agreement, 2010).
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FACILITIES MANAGEMENT
Facilities constitute a major category of assets a police agency needs to function.

Thus, facilities merit a focused examination in this chapter. Police facilities generally
include the following:
• Precinct (substation, district) buildings that provide office space and lockers
for police officers, interview and interrogation rooms, temporary secure
detention areas, administrative office space, meeting and conference rooms,
and volunteer accommodations
• Private office areas for specialized activities such as training; professional
responsibility/standards (internal affairs) investigations; and special crime
units, including gang intelligence and drug enforcement
• Properties or buildings where marked and unmarked cars are kept
• A county or city facility where pretrial and adjudicated persons are
accommodated (in large cities, the county or city jail may be under the
direction of the jurisdiction’s or state’s department of corrections)
Understanding the Facilities Manager Role

In most police jurisdictions, the acquisition, management, and upkeep of police
facilities is the responsibility of one or more persons dedicated exclusively to this
work. These persons may work in a separate unit or department of the police
agency. Alternatively, they may report to and take some direction from a facilities
A county or city
jail typically houses
pretrial detainees
and those serving
short-term sentences of
less than one year.
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Police office areas

should be clean, neat,
and well equipped.
management division that is part of the broader government entity overseeing the
agency. Small agencies may delegate responsibility for facilities to one person who is
employed by the agency while using service providers to carry out actual work such
as cleaning or repair of buildings used by the agency.
Monitoring the Condition of Agency Sites A basic role of a facilities manager is Facilities manager:
to ensure that all police property is maintained according to state and city building an individual
codes and safety standards, including those put forth by the Occupational Safety whose basic role
and Health Administration (OSHA). To fulfill this role, the manager must con- is to ensure that
stantly monitor the condition of all police property. Often, workers at each location all police property
will report ongoing conditions or problems with the facility, such as nonfunctioning is maintained
drains or toilets, broken locks on detention cells, or water leaks. according to state
While such reports are helpful, the facilities manager should still regularly visit and city building
the agency’s properties to review their condition. In some agencies, the manager or codes and safety
a staff member will then prepare a report describing the condition of each property, standards, including
including overall site condition, a detailed assessment of the building’s condition, those put forth by
estimated costs for repair or maintenance of a property, available upgrades for the Occupational
equipment such as computers or office furniture, an inventory of all current equip- Safety and Health
ment housed at the site, and photographs of the site’s exterior and interior (City of Administration
Tacoma, 2009). (OSHA).
Maintaining Agency Sites Reviewing and documenting site conditions is just

one aspect of a police facilities manager’s role. The manager must also ensure that
all police properties are carefully maintained so they can be used around the clock.
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Reorganization of a Police Agency
To enhance police–community relations and promote crime coordination, investigation assignments, and
community policing and problem-solving concepts and performance reviews of all investigators assigned
practices, a police agency decentralized its facilities— to the section. The accountability for field investiga-
setting up seven community-based offices across tions became the responsibility of 1 police captain
the jurisdiction served. But as the agency’s facilities- rather than 7. The new FIS proved a valuable model of
related costs rose, managers decided to consolidate investigative responsibility, accountability, and crime
the offices into two large district offices. The agency information analysis and dissemination throughout
relocated its four west-side district locations to a single the agency.
leased office building that also housed private corpo- Still, reactions to the reorganization were mixed.
rations. It moved its three east-side district offices to Community members expressed a feeling of being dis-
a government-owned location that needed renovation connected from their police agency after the change,
to accommodate the police personnel who came with perhaps because there were far fewer police offices
the move. Adequate private and police-vehicle park- than before, and the two new offices were located
ing, administrative office space, locker rooms, and farther away from their neighborhoods. However, the
communication enhancements were provided for each agency’s managers found that the change led to an
of the two new locations. The command personnel at improvement in response time to calls-for-service,
each centralized new location made arrangements for owing to better coordination of on-duty officers, and
telephone services, computer setup and appropriate that the centralization of police facilities saved the
linkages, and customer service areas within the facility. community money.
After completing consolidation into the two new
1. What steps should an agency take to prepare its
sites, the agency made numerous personnel changes
workers and citizens/customers for a major reor-
within the management ranks and investigative duties
ganization of agency services so the needs of the
to establish a greater sense of leadership account-
agency and the community are reasonably met?
ability and responsibility. For example, before the reor-
ganization, the investigators had been responsible to 2. If you were a police facilities manager, how would
the precinct captain, with police sergeants and lieu- you prepare for leasing a facility to accommodate
tenants acting as liaisons or facilitators of investiga- additional personnel and equipment from adjoin-
tors or investigative actions. Accountability for police ing police facilities? How would you prepare to
investigator performance was not consistent among renovate an existing facility to accommodate
the seven police captains. After the reorganization, a additional police personnel and equipment from
Field Investigations Section (FIS) was established and adjoining facilities?
commanded by a police captain. The new FIS com- 3. What advantages and disadvantages of the reor-
mand structure included 2 investigative lieutenants, ganization of police facilities were cited in the
6 investigative sergeants, 35 investigators, 6 field story? What (if any) additional advantages and
crime coordinators, and a centralized crime coordina- disadvantages can you think of that might come
tion unit. The FIS became responsible for the investi- with such a reorganization?
gation of most of the agency’s major investigations,
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After all, a police agency operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Something as
seemingly minor as a flooded restroom or a broken lock on a firing-range door can
spawn extreme inconvenience (at best) or put officers’ safety at risk (at worst).
If a particular maintenance or repair project is beyond the expertise of the facili-
ties management team, the supervisor may decide to outsource the project, includ-
ing requesting bids from service providers or using previously approved providers.
Obviously, there is no need to ask for bids to repair one broken lock or leaky faucet.
However, the facilities manager should take responsibility for interacting with and
overseeing the work of any project that is outsourced, including communicating
with the site supervisor to monitor progress and address any problems that arise.
Excelling at Facilities Management To be a facilities manager with a police

agency, one does not need to become a sworn police officer, although an officer with
appropriate experience may be assigned to this position. More important, the indi-
vidual who assumes these responsibilities must be familiar with building safety, con-
struction, and the maintenance of police facilities. A facilities manager should possess
supervisory and management competencies including the skills and abilities necessary
to schedule maintenance, understand outside contractor agreements, read blueprints,
and be knowledgeable about the working systems that make up a public facility. Last,
the facilities manager must be capable of supervising, evaluating, and training employ-
ees who will perform maintenance tasks, repairs, and other such work.
Some agencies may require their facilities managers to possess specific academic
credentials. These may include a bachelor’s degree in public administration or a
related academic field, along with applicable experience, or an associate degree in
business administration with experience in building maintenance and construction.
Many agencies prefer applicants with experience in the construction and building
trades, especially as a construction supervisor or with crew experience (City of
Scottsdale, 2007; City of West Palm Beach, 2001).
Effective facilities managers also need strong interpersonal skills, as they contin-
ually interact with a wide array of individuals—including administrative personnel,
police officers, police supervisors, outside contractors, employees, and other agency
staff members. A savvy facilities manager will be aware of the political dynamics
behind proposals and projects and, without pandering to those who have a pet proj-
ect under way, ensure that the project is completed properly and in a timely fashion.
Building or Renovating a Police Facility

Sometimes a police agency must design and construct a new facility or renovate an
existing one. When this situation arises, following a disciplined process and con-
ducting a site survey can help agency leaders end up with a facility that meets all
constituents’ needs.
Planning a New or Renovated Facility An agency may decide to construct a new

facility or renovate an existing one when the need arises and financial resources per-
mit. To ensure that the resulting structure suits the agency’s needs, managers should
apply the following process:
1. Conduct a site survey (discussed in more detail later in this chapter).
The survey includes interviewing agency personnel, building experts, and
appropriate community members for input concerning the facility. For
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example, obtain interviewees’ thoughts about how the facility would fulfill
a clearly identifiable need. (Is an existing facility dysfunctional, or do long-
term maintenance or repair costs for the facility far exceed the cost of new
construction?) Simultaneously, conduct a space needs analysis and determine
what facility options are available, including renovation of an existing facility
or the building of a new one.
2. If the agency is building a new facility, contract for the services of an architect
or other building professional to create blueprints to specifications. If the
agency is renovating an existing facility, document all problems with the current
facility, drawing on feedback from agency personnel and building experts.
3. Assemble a team comprising police personnel and construction professionals to
prepare preliminary plans and to estimate costs. Contact appropriate individuals
in the government and the jurisdiction, and ask for their input, to begin winning
political support and, ultimately, financial support for the project.
4. Obtain the funding for the new or renovation project and identify a site for
construction (if a new facility).
5. Working with the professionals hired to complete the project, construct or
renovate the facility. As the work progresses, envision where occasional and
full-time occupants will reside. For an existing facility that is being renovated,
determine where people will work (an alternative site) while their usual area
is being renovated. For a new facility, the occupancy will probably be planned
in stages for patrol officers, secretarial and administrative staff, and volunteers
(International Association of Chiefs of Police, 2008).
Gaining the Proper Approvals When an agency wants to make a major change to
its facilities, the change must generally meet the approval of police administrators,
town or government administrators, and the city or town council or other governing
body/person of the jurisdiction. Agency managers should strive to arrange funding
for the project during the planning stage. If and when they solicit bids from local
contractors, they should emphasize strict adherence to the approved facility plans
and budget. Proposed plans must be submitted and approved with agreed-upon
necessary changes or modifications documented. Once the plans and the contractor
A police building
under construction in
Fairfax, Virginia.
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have been approved by all responsible parties, work may begin. After renovation or
construction begins, modifications to plans can be very costly.
Conducting Site Surveys

A site survey is another key element of facilities maintenance. Through site surveys, Site survey:
personnel assess existing facilities to determine whether they need any equipment or assessment of existing
materials upgrades, such as improved computer systems or a new roof or exterior facilities to determine
siding. A site survey can also shed light on whether the facility meets building code whether they need
requirements. An agency may also use site surveys to review progress on facilities any equipment or
construction or renovation projects. materials upgrades,
To be useful, any site survey must begin with clearly stated goals (for example, such as improved
“We want a centrally located police building that will serve as precinct housing for computer systems or
50 police officers, open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week”). Agency personnel must a new roof or siding.
gather data (such as the number of lockers needed for male and female officers,
meeting room space, and so forth), through site inspection and interviews with
appropriate personnel. They must then assess the data collected (for instance, “Will
the new building provide easy access and accommodation for police officers and
community residents?”). Finally, they must prepare a final inclusive report com-
pleted with any recommended actions, and deliver the report to the chief of police
or delegated representative of the government entity (Survey Design, 2009). The site
survey should also include graphic illustrations of the facility in question.
The facilities manager must conduct a walk-through assessment of the site and
determine who will be affected by the proposed project and how the new upgrades,
renovation, or construction will affect agency personnel’s workflow. The manager
documents all findings for inspection, review, possible alteration, and finalization
and delivers the findings report to the project coordinator and the person respon-
sible for constructing or upgrading the facility (Geier, 2002). Generally, the facilities
Police officers should

be provided with
a personal space
for storage of gear,
personal clothing, and
uniforms.
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manager is responsible for overseeing progress on building construction, renova-

tion, or minor upgrades. The mayor, town supervisor, or city council members may
also want to evaluate the site periodically.
The facilities manager should also take responsibility for interacting with build-
ing inspectors, guiding them on tours of facility construction and renovation, and
responding to inspectors’ questions and concerns. The manager may be required to
verbally report to a superior with the building inspector’s findings and document
the findings with a determination of how to address any issues or inadequacies
identified. Both the facilities manager’s superior and the building inspector must
be satisfied that the project is progressing in a timely fashion and will adhere to all
applicable laws and codes. The city or town council may also want periodic updates
on any renovations or new construction for which they voted and set aside funds.
While renovation, construction, or upgrading is under way, the facilities man-
ager should survey the site regularly to ensure that the effort is progressing satisfac-
torily and that the workers and crew leaders know that their efforts and activities
are being monitored. When performing such surveys, the manager must be knowl-
edgeable about the work that is being performed and know whether the work is
progressing according to approved plans and processes. As just one example, the
manager should know that drywall board in a new building cannot be installed
until the building inspector has approved electrical wiring and other utility structure
installations.
Likewise, the facilities manager should have a thorough knowledge of materials
and labor costs in the building industry, to ensure that the jurisdiction is not being
overcharged or billed for add-on adjustments for these items. A working knowledge
paired with practical expertise gained through some form of construction experi-
ence is an invaluable asset to the supervisor when conducting site reviews and inter-
acting with construction personnel.
Regular inspections
of buildings should
take place.
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Updating Technology in a Police Facility

Most managers today understand that their organization’s facilities must have up-
to-date, reliable technology to serve their customers and achieve their mission. In
a perfect world, organizations buy and install new technology as soon as this need
is identified, and promptly train employees to use the new systems. However, in a
ETHICS IN ACTION
Lead Poisoning versus Firearms Training
he department of health for a county conducted an audit of a police
T agency’s indoor firing range facility and discovered that the level of
lead particulate at the range exceeded maximum standards. Medical
tests for the range’s instructors revealed that lead levels in their blood were
above acceptable limits. However, under pressure to certify and recertify
recruit and in-service police officers, the range continued to operate with
the same instructors.
The department of health also tested the range’s air quality, and the
results strongly suggested that the facility’s ventilation system needed
repair. Still, training continued at the range, in part because the agency
lacked an alternative training site and funding to build another indoor range
or to make the needed heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC)
upgrades.
The officer responsible for the required police training and mainte-
nance of the range asked the department of health to conduct another,
more detailed inspection to assess air quality. The indoor range failed the
test, indicating that the level of lead particulate in the air being breathed by
affected personnel exceeded safety standards for trainers on the range as
well as police officer trainees. The officer then tried to persuade managers
at the police agency and the building/engineering department of the gov-
ernment entity to shut down the range and to authorize the needed repairs
for the existing range or build a new range that met the required air quality
safety standards. When his requests fell on deaf ears, the officer asked the
department of health to shut down the range and issue appropriate health
violation summons. The officer received a summons from the department
of health citing the code violations, the range was formally closed and
locked down, and firearms’ training was suspended.
Eventually, a new indoor range was constructed, and the old range was
closed and dismantled. Officers and trainers were no longer exposed to
lead poisoning and poor air quality.
1. What other courses of action could the facilities manager in this story
have taken to foster remediation of the range facility’s problems?
2. Was it ethical for the manager to involve the department of health as
a way to stimulate a renovation of the range facility? Why or why not?
3. Does the happy ending in this story justify the means the manager used
to produce that end, given the apparent inaction of the government
entity toward the range employees’ health? Explain your reasoning.
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police agency struggling with rising labor costs and budgetary constraints, finding
ways to make technological upgrades or replacements may require some creative
thinking.
Police administrators might cite needed funds for technology in a proposed
budget, but those funds may not win approval by decision makers for the final bud-
get. Depending on the challenges facing the agency, funds earmarked for technology
updates may be diverted to another need that the agency’s constituents deem more
urgent. The hoped-for funding could be eliminated altogether to accommodate bud-
get constraints or political agendas. To achieve their technology goals, agencies may
need to seek other sources of funding. Grants can sometimes provide a solution to
this challenge. (See the box “Acquiring New Technology: A Three-Phase Process.”)
Acquiring New Technology: A Three-Phase Process

A police agency does not need to embark on a lengthy process when acquir-
ing new software that will be installed on just a few computers. However, it
should use a disciplined process to acquire any technology that will call for
extensive training and that will be used by a large number of people across the
entire agency. This process comprises three phases:
Phase 1: Lay a Solid Foundation
• Assemble a team to lead the effort, conduct or review the needs analy-
sis, and develop a budget for the project.
• Develop a strategic plan indicating the project goals and objectives, a
mission statement, and a project timeline with significant objectives
highlighted. Analyze the viability of the technology being considered,
with an eye toward costs, usability, and compatibility with the agen-
cy’s current technology and that of partner agencies.
• Choose an articulate project leader to spearhead the effort. Inform staff
as to the nature of the project. Continually solicit stakeholder support.
Phase 2: Select a Vendor
• Identify standards for the technology the agency is interested in, and
define installation and service needs, on-site assistance, and staff
training required.
• List potential vendors and the metrics on which vendors’ quality and
performance will be evaluated. Develop a Request for Proposal (RFP)
to be published or sent to the listed vendors. When all proposals are
received, review them and choose an acceptable vendor. If an accept-
able vendor is not found, revisit the vendor list and project criteria,
and readvertise the RFP.
• With the selected vendor, prepare a contract including project goals,
objectives and tasks, project timetable, liability clauses, antici-
pated project contingencies, enhancements and unanticipated costs,
anticipated vendor staff dedicated to the project, and audit rights.
Clearly describe agency staff members’ and vendor representatives’
responsibilities (as discussed earlier in this chapter).
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• Develop a process for acquiring hardware, software, and related

equipment. Inform the vendor as to government payment processes,
necessary documentation, and timelines.
Phase 3: Prepare for Installation and Training
• Design and implement an evaluation protocol for installed technol-
ogy. Devise a timetable for training employees who will be using the
new technology.
• Consider phasing in the technology so operations can proceed nor-
mally while segments of personnel receive training.
• Prepare the warranty and maintenance agreement with agency-
government entity legal counsel and the vendor. Arrange for accep-
tance and installation of equipment. Once installation is confirmed,
initiate staff training.
Sources: Bryson & Alston, 2005; Kotter, 1996; Stolting, Barrett, & Kurz, 2008.
Identifying Potential Grant Providers Grants can constitute alternative sources To learn more
of funding for technology upgrades that are necessary but that cannot be included about which grant
in an ever-shrinking budget that depends heavily on tax revenues. (See Chapter 5 for providers fund which
more detailed information on grants.) Agency managers should familiarize them- types of needs,
selves with how different grant providers operate and in what types of resources visit the website
they specialize. For instance, new body armor for officers might be funded by a for the Bureau of
different grant provider than computers in patrol cars and software for tracking Justice Assistance
drug investigations. Private foundations and corporations may constitute additional (www.ojp.usdoj.gov/
sources of funding for needed technology (Labbe, 2008). bja; www.usdoj.gov)
or www.grants.gov.
Writing Grant Applications A police agency’s facilities manager may not be
required to write the actual grant application; in many agencies, people in the bud-
get division perform this specialized task. Alternatively, an agency may contract a
freelance grant writer for the project. However, the agency or contracted grant writ-
ers may not have time to research grants specific to facilities’ technology needs. In
such cases, the facilities manager should provide the grant writer with all pertinent
information concerning the grant. If grant writers are not available to write a spe-
cific application, managers may consider asking volunteers experienced in attaining
grants to handle the writing.
Sharing Grant Money Agencies seeking grant money for technology upgrades
may also partner with community and other affected groups to share funding.
Grant funding entities typically encourage and look favorably upon such partner-
ships. Consider a community group dedicated to controlling or eradicating gang
activity in its neighborhood. This group might be willing to partner with the local
police department to obtain a grant for the purchase of hardware and software that
monitor gang activity. The acquisition may generate valuable information such as
profiles of major players and the locations of their operations, and investigations
may lead to arrests and successful prosecutions. The police department and com-
munity group can work together to use the insights gained from the technology to
develop effective solutions to gang problems plaguing the neighborhood.
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Demonstrating Community Involvement A police agency may provide a more

compelling argument for the grantor to approve funding if the application demon-
strates community involvement on the part of the agency. For example, in the grant
application, agency managers could point out that the computer equipment and
software that they wish to acquire will help the agency collaborate with citizens to
identify and solve problems plaguing the community. This approach has another
benefit as well: the accurate public perception that police personnel are genuinely
interested in solving problems in the community the agency serves.
Emphasizing Dedication to Homeland Security Currently, U.S. government

grants are rich sources of funding for technology especially, because many members
of Congress are acutely aware of the lack of current technology in their constituent
jurisdictions. If a police agency can show that a technological improvement will
help it better carry out its homeland security duties, it may stand a better chance of
winning the grant.
summary
• Procurement. Procurement is the obtaining of equipment, supplies, and

services needed by a police agency. Procurement can be done through three
means: purchasing, leasing, or outsourcing.
• Purchasing. Purchasing is the procurement of goods or services from a supplier.
The police agency that makes the purchase owns the good or service once the
purchase is complete. Police agencies need a disciplined process for making
purchases and a purchasing agent, director, or manager to coordinate the
process. Purchasing presents some ethical challenges for agents tempted to steal.
• Leasing. Leasing is the procurement of equipment or property in exchange for
payments made at agreed-upon intervals. The police agency does not own the
items, though it may have the option to eventually purchase and thus own the
items through lease-purchase agreement.
• Outsourcing. Outsourcing is a process by which a police agency contracts
with another organization to provide products or services formerly provided
by the agency’s employees. Outsourcing can help an agency save money, but
it also is a politically sensitive decision. Many agencies outsource ancillary
or supplementary functions, such as police-vehicle maintenance. In some
jurisdictions, entire police departments have been outsourced, a development
that has stirred controversy.
• Obtaining Competitive Bids. Whether purchasing, leasing, or outsourcing,
a police agency must obtain competitive bids from suppliers of the items or
services it wants to procure, including deciding on bidding ranges.
• Understanding Service Contracts and Warranties. Equipment procured by a
police agency often comes with a service contract, an agreement by which the
seller provides repair or maintenance services for the equipment for a certain
time period. A warranty—a promise by the manufacturer to repair any defects
or replace the product if a major malfunction occurs—may exist alongside a
service contract for equipment.
• Forging Agreements with Outsourcing Providers. To forge an agreement with
an outsourcing provider, a police agency must set the stage (for example, by
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planning strategically for outsourcing, identifying providers who could best

manage the outsourced services, identifying specific services to be outsourced,
deciding what roles the agency and provider will fulfill, and anticipating and
mitigating workforce morale problems that may arise with outsourcing). The
agency must also ensure that the outsourcing contract contains all relevant
information, including work to be completed, fees to be charged, wage rates,
adjustments to compensation, liability of parties, and so forth.
• Facilities Management. A police agency’s facilities may consist of precinct
(substation, district) buildings, private office areas, properties or buildings
housing vehicles, and a county or city facility where pretrial and adjudicated
persons are accommodated.
• Understanding the Facilities Manager Role. A police agency’s facilities
manager ensures that all police property is maintained according to state
and city building codes and safety standards. This manager monitors the
condition of agency sites and takes responsibility for maintenance of the sites.
The manager should possess specific knowledge and skills, such as familiarity
with building safety and construction; the ability to supervise, evaluate, and
train employees who perform repairs, construction, and other such work; and
strong interpersonal skills.
• Building or Renovating a Police Facility. Whether constructing or renovating a
police facility, an agency must use a disciplined planning process that includes
conducting site surveys, estimating costs, obtaining funding, and gaining the
proper approvals.
• Conducting Site Surveys. Through site surveys, a police agency assesses its
existing facilities to determine whether they need upgrading. To conduct
an effective site survey, agency personnel must clearly state the goals of the
facility in question, gather and assess data on the facility, and prepare a report
containing recommendations.
• Updating Technology in a Police Facility. To procure technology that will
require extensive training and that will be used by many people across an
agency, managers must use a three-phase process that includes conducting or
reviewing a needs analysis and clarifying the project’s goals, selecting a vendor,
and preparing for installation and training. Police agencies often face difficulty
obtaining funds for technology upgrades. They can sometimes obtain funding
through grant providers.
key terms
competitive bid
facilities manager
lease
outsourcing
purchasing
service contract
site survey
warranty
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1. A police agency must purchase numerous pieces of equipment and technology on a
constant basis. Describe the purchasing process and how it applies to a government
entity.
2. The leasing of equipment or facilities has become a popular trend owing to budget
constraints. Describe the leasing process and assess when a police agency should use
leasing as opposed to purchasing to procure equipment, services, and facilities.
3. When might a police agency decide to outsource a process or function? What are the
benefits of outsourcing? What challenges does it present?
4. Owing to financial constraints in the public sector, many cities and towns are out-
sourcing their entire policing function to other agencies or private companies. What
are the positive and negative aspects of outsourcing a police agency? Can all public
policing activities be outsourced to private companies? Explain.
5. Most government agencies must use a competitive bidding process to procure equip-
ment, facilities, supplies, or services. What does this process accomplish?
6. Compare and contrast warranties and service contracts. Can they exist together?
7. Must a facilities manager be a sworn police officer? Why or why not? What are the
duties and responsibilities of a facilities manager?
8. Site surveys are important for renovation and construction of current or new build-
ings. Why are site surveys necessary, and how are they conducted?
9. In what respects might a police agency have difficulty obtaining the funding needed
for technology upgrades? Where might the agency obtain funding if expected bud-
geted funds are no longer available?
10. What steps should a police agency take to procure, install, and use new technology?
WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

The Best Laid Plans . . .
The difficulty that faces police agency managers who wish to upgrade or
improve their computer capabilities is probably best illustrated by the failure
of the Supervision Management and Recidivist Tracking (SMART) system in
Seattle over the six years from its inception to its demise.
SMART had its origins in a collaboration between Redmond, Washington,
police and local corrections officers, who together created a paper-based sys-
tem to better track ex-convicts. Prison officials notified the Redmond police
when a convict was being released, and the police visited these convicts to let
them know they were being watched. If the police suspected a parole viola-
tion, the officer prepared a note card with information about the encounter
and sent it to the individual’s parole officer. The program was soon replicated
in other local jurisdictions.
In 1995, this paper-based program attracted the attention of supervisors
of the Homicide Investigation Tracking System (HITS). The HITS program
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was designed by a former detective who investigated several serial murder

cases in Washington State. The system—which uses databases and investiga-
tive personnel to analyze crime data and patterns—was designed to track
information about murders, rapes, and other major crimes. HITS program
managers presented the idea of combining the Redmond and HITS programs
to representatives of the Washington State Legislature to secure state funding
to computerize the Redmond and HITS programs to create SMART.
The state legislature budgeted $850,000 to start the program and sub-
sequently another $869,000 to maintain it, directing the funds through the
state’s attorney general’s office. Over the six years from approval of fund-
ing to abandonment of the project, the position of project director changed
several times due to retirement, resignations, and loss of software designers
to corporations that offered higher salaries. Members of the SMART project
have maintained that members of the attorney general’s office associated with
the project were removed from the project through elimination of their jobs
or requests for them to resign. The removals were stimulated by their inquir-
ing about the funding and suggesting that the funds were spent in other areas
of government. Advocates of the program who are disheartened by these
developments allege mishandling of funds by the attorney general’s office and
demand an accounting. The attorney general’s office expressed concern that
developers had difficulties with the complexities of the SMART project and
that there was a general ambivalence and lack of cooperation within a broad
spectrum of law enforcement.
According to the attorney general’s office, the funding shortfall that ham-
pered SMART’s development stemmed from salary and rent increases and the
loss of general fund financing. At the same time, spokespersons for the office
claimed that it would not be possible to track where all of the SMART funding
dollars went. The attorney general’s office has claimed that SMART is ready
to go into operation, and that it would be running if the state had not suffered
a budgetary shortfall in the previous year.
Even if SMART is ready to go, it cannot do so until funding is restored. In
the meantime, Washington police are developing a similar program with the State
Corrections Department. Yet as some sources stated, it will never be as effective as
SMART would have been (Kamb & Galloway, 2004; Morgan, 2002).
1. Do you believe that the HITS and SMART programs (or either program
on its own) are worthy of funding? Explain your reasoning.
2. Drawing on what you have learned about police agencies and politics,
and about the difficulties police agencies face in upgrading technology,
describe what you would have recommended regarding the appropriation
and management of the SMART program funding. In your view, could any
of the funding concerns have been prevented? If so, which ones? How?
3. Budget shortfalls and rechanneling of funding for current and proposed
projects are realities of government. How would you attempt to regain or
secure new funding for SMART? What leadership strategies would you
recommend?
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15
A comparison microscope in
use in Santa Ana, California.
The microscope is being used
to compare ballistic evidence.
The Future of Police

Administration
learning outcomes

• explain why ethical leadership and professionalism in policing will
become more crucial than ever in the future.
• analyze how counterterrorism and homeland security efforts are evolving
and how police can support these efforts in the coming years.
• appraise the budgeting challenges police agencies may expect to
encounter and evaluate strategies for surmounting those challenges.
• discuss emerging trends in how police agencies are assessing and
evaluating their own performance as well as that of individual officers.
• evaluate the strategies that police agencies will need to adopt to build
an effective workforce and to develop employees’ knowledge, skills, and
abilities.
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• explain how constructive engagement and constructive confrontation will
enable police to communicate effectively with a broad range of constituents.
• describe three ways in which police leaders can broaden their thinking and
practice to surmount the new challenges facing their organizations.
• discuss how police leaders can better drive needed change in their
organizations.
• compare three change-leadership models.
• construct an argument for how police unions can best combat negative
public perceptions and become more effective in the future.
• illustrate new ways in which police jurisdictions are managing their facilities
to reduce costs and improve customer service, and compare the advantages
and disadvantages of each approach.
• discuss the benefits and challenges of new technologies developed to fight
street crime, identify important forms of cybercrime, and examine the trade-
offs between protection and privacy presented by cybercrime.
Introduction
No one can predict what the future will hold for individuals, organizations, nation-
states, or the world. Why then do we insist on trying? Every day, we strive to make
predictions about the weather, the stock market, the economy, the outcome of
sporting events—the list goes on.
Many predictions do not come to pass, but some do. One of the most notable
accurate futurists was the French apothecary Nostradamus (1503–1566), who
made a series of predictions that, his supporters claim, foretold the reigns of
Napoleon and Hitler, and even the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Another
futurist, the French philosopher, mathematician, and political scientist Marquis
de Condorcet (1743–1794), foretold that in the New World there would someday
be social insurance and equality between men and women. British scholar and
clergyman Thomas Malthus (1766–1834) predicted (seemingly accurately) that
the global population would increase to the point where the food supply would
fail. And the Russian-American sociologist Pitirim Sorokin (1889-1968) insisted
that the world would grow more secular and immoral in its orientation (California
Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, 1976).
These seers all foretold large-scale, sweeping developments in human history.
But what about the future of police administration? To be sure, police administra-
tion is a much more sharply focused subject than, say, global population changes
or the reigns of dictators. Nevertheless, we believe that it merits a little fortune-
telling; that is, some thought and discussion about what police administration may
look like in the future. The shapes that police administration take in the coming
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years, decades, and even centuries will play a pivotal role in how police interact
with the communities they serve and how police perform their jobs. And these
things, in turn, can powerfully mold entire societies.
For that reason, we devote this chapter to speculation about the future of
police administration. Of course, we will not be gazing into a crystal ball to “see”
this future. Rather, we will rely on a legitimate area of study that uses past and
present performance, expert opinion, and statistics to describe changes that may
occur in the near future and those that are harder to describe, many years ahead.
Futuristics: This study is called futures research, or futuristics.
an area of study that In seeking to envision the future of police administration, we focus our efforts
uses past and present on several key themes we have traced throughout this book. This chapter thus
performance, expert
serves as both a review of the book’s chapters as well as a bridge between what
opinion, and statistics
to describe changes you learned in those chapters and how you might use that knowledge to build a
that may occur in successful and safe career in policing. With these goals in mind, we first examine
the near and distant emerging developments in the areas of police ethics, leadership, professionalism,
future. and principles of policing—overarching themes that inform every chapter in this
book. In particular, we look at how public trust in police is at risk and how police
must respond.
We then shine a spotlight on two of the challenges you read about in
Chapter 3: counterterrorism and homeland security. We delve into how terrorists
become radicalized and organize themselves, and how new developments in these
areas are redefining the role of police and presenting fresh challenges.
Next we examine the question of how tomorrow’s police administrators will man-
age the budgeting process (covered in Chapter 5) to fulfill the mandate to do even
more—with even less. We look at trends in outsourcing, consider their implications
for police, and explore strategies for creatively addressing budgeting constraints.
The chapter then turns to emerging developments in organizational and indi-
vidual performance assessment and evaluation (discussed in chapters 7 and 12).
In particular, we reinforce the notion that police managers must help every officer,
regardless of rank, become an ethical leader, and we offer additional recommenda-
tions for doing so.
Tomorrow’s police administrator will not be able to foster stellar performance
at the organizational and individual level without the right hiring and training prac-
tices (examined in Chapters 8 and 10). Accordingly, these form the focus of the
next section in the chapter.
Further tracking the sequence of themes covered in this book, we then
address the question of how police in the coming years can master techniques
known as constructive engagement and constructive confrontation to communi-
cate effectively with a widening array of constituents. (You read about communica-
tion in Chapter 9.)
The chapter next moves to the subject of police leadership, which was covered
extensively in Chapter 11. We propose several ways in which police leaders of the
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chapter 15 The Future of Police Administration 397
future will need to expand their boundaries in terms of how they work and how
they think. And because driving needed change is a vital aspect of leadership, we
devote a section to this subject as well. We wish to reinforce the need for all police
officers to be self-contained leadership agents. Further, true leadership does not
exist without courageous ethical behavior to accompany it.
The final three sections of the chapter focus on what police agencies in
the future might expect to encounter in the areas of unionization (discussed in
Chapter 13), facilities management (covered in Chapter 14), and technology and
crime fighting (also introduced in Chapter 14).
ETHICS AND PROFESSIONALISM:

WILL POLICE BE TRUSTED?
We have treated ethics and professionalism as major themes throughout this book
for good reason: One glance at today’s news headlines, and it seems that unethical
behavior is on the rise in every aspect of our lives—business, education, politics,
even religion. One cannot scan a newspaper, listen to the radio, or view television
without being exposed to yet another scandal or fresh example of malfeasance by
people who should know better. Experts attribute the increase in unethical behav-
ior to everything from human beings’ genetic wiring to misguided parenting to a
lack of spiritual anchoring. Ethical failures such as greed, intolerance of diversity,
and inappropriate use of authority or personal power are continually highlighted
by the media, who appear to delight in exposing scandals “for the greater good”
(Ritchie, 2007).
Unethical behavior on the part of police, along with lurid headlines about police
misconduct in the press, has already eroded trust in the police. To prevent further
erosion, police executives must send a crystal-clear message about the importance
of adhering to ethical standards, as well as take action against unethical behavior
promptly.
The Question of Trust

Unethical behavior erodes our trust in the major institutions that define our lives
and breeds cynicism and bitterness within us. When it comes to policing, this vicious
cycle can have uniquely destructive consequences. Think about it: If citizens believe
that even one police officer in their jurisdiction lacks integrity, they may come to
distrust the entire agency. At best, they will become less willing to support police
services with their tax dollars; at worst, mistrust of police can spawn civil unrest
and even vigilantism.
And yet, some police agencies are considering taking steps that risk giving the
impression of moral bankruptcy. For instance, to cast its recruitment net wider, an
agency might relax its hiring standards—accepting job applications from individuals
who were previously rejected because of a history of questionable behaviors. (Note,
however, that some agencies may accept applicants with previous drug use, if the
use was minor and if it happened when the candidate was a juvenile.) To secure
enough candidates, agencies should not discount an applicant’s history but instead
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should view it through a lens that considers the totality of the circumstances. Can
the applicant be trusted or will the candidate dishonor the office?
Can people who break the law or who have engaged in questionable behavior
become effective, ethical police officers? Can ethical behavior and leadership skills
be learned? These questions have stirred intense debate. As police agencies gain
experience in hiring such individuals, only time will reveal how questionable pre-
service behavior affects a police officer’s performance on the job. Until then, we
cannot know whether such behavior indicates an orientation to unethical practices
while the person is working as a police officer (Schafer, 2007b; Shusta et al., 2011).
Captured on Video
With increased video recording of incidents involving police officers, ethical and
unethical behavior on the part of police has moved to the forefront of citizens’
minds. And most people today possess cell phones with video-recording capabil-
ity. Ethics training for recruits must include some reference to this phenomenon.
However, misconduct prevention and prompt disciplinary action after an unethical
incident will go much further toward restoring the public’s trust in police officers.
Remember: Each time a police officer performs an unethical act and people
learn about it, the public’s trust in the police diminishes. Unfortunately, one unethi-
cal act can lead citizens to believe that all officers behave in the same way, thus
tarnishing the reputations of blameless officers in the agency. Moreover, it is very
difficult to rebuild trust once you have done something to violate it. Even if you
offer a series of behaviors or statements to communicate your honest desire to
With today’s
technology, police
misconduct can easily
be captured on video.
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“make things right,” the individuals whose trust you violated may never be able to
trust you again.
To avoid this scenario, police agencies must ascribe to and publish codes of eth-
ics and conduct for all employees. Besides formal ethics training during the recruit
stage and regular refresher sessions thereafter, agencies should begin using roll-call
sessions, case studies, and ethical-behavior modeling to reinforce the message about
what behavior is acceptable and what is not. Officers must also start demanding
ethical behavior from one another and addressing questionable behavior swiftly.
Line officers are in the perfect position to detect the possibility of unethical behavior
and to step in before it occurs. If every officer expresses the intent to hold other
officers accountable for their actions, while also modeling the correct behaviors,
police agencies will stand a good chance of restoring trust among the public. This is
part of being a courageous self-contained ethical leadership agent—one who earns
the respect of others and can respect oneself.
THE CHALLENGES OF COUNTERTERRORISM AND

HOMELAND SECURITY: WHAT ROLE WILL POLICE PLAY?
In Chapter 3, you read about a range of challenges facing police agencies today.
Counterterrorism and homeland security represent particularly daunting challenges
that will force police agencies to adapt in the future and to clarify their role. For this
reason, we closely examine these themes in the pages that follow.
Counterterrorism Counterterrorism:
procedures adopted
Historically, many people believed that terrorists were more interested in capturing
by the military,
media and other attention rather than in killing large numbers of people. Now we
police, and
know better. And we have learned that small groups who are motivated by politi-
governments to
cal, ideological, or religious zeal and who can blend in with the general population
assist in preventing,
wreak the most havoc.
reacting to, and
The question of what shape terrorism will take in the future has generated
investigating acts
intense debate. Some experts suggest that the greatest threat of terrorism will come
or suspected acts
from a reconstituted al-Qaeda sheltered in places like Pakistan. Others contend
of terrorism.
that the worst threat will emanate from radicalized individuals who form terrorist
(NSW, 2007)
groups in the United States or Europe. In the coming years, police agencies will need
to focus their resources on both sources of terrorism: radicalization within a com-
munity and radicalization directed from foreign countries. With the former, police
must invest in intelligence gathering and sharing through community outreach and
interagency communication. With terrorism directed from abroad, intelligence
sharing becomes even more critical. Regardless of the source, police will need to Radicalization:
understand how terrorists are radicalized and how they organize themselves. the process by which
individuals align
The Radicalization Process Radicalization occurs when individuals (recruits) their ideology with
align their ideology with that of a group and commit themselves to achieving the that of a group and
group’s goals through violence. If radicals are recruited, organized, and trained in commit themselves
centralized clandestine facilities, police agencies might best track foreign-born or to achieving the
domestic radicals through intelligence fusion centers or similar interagency task group’s goals through
forces. Alternatively, if terror groups organize within local communities, the police violence.
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should focus on sources of radicalization within these communities. Such sources

may range from correctional facilities and social, political, or religious radical
websites to conferences attended by political or religious radicals (Martin, 2008;
Picarelli, 2009; Shane & Mekhennet, 2010).
A 2007 National Institute of Justice study revealed that radicalization of correc-
tional clients is occurring in prisons mostly through personal relationships among
inmates. The radicalization process for inmates begins with a political or religious
conversion through extremist teachings, ultimately leading some inmates to commit
violent acts once they have been released from prison (Hamm, 2007).
Outreach programs, such as those developed through community policing,
help police build links to community members who can identify radicals within the
community. Citizens tend to respond more favorably to outreach efforts of state,
county, and local police agencies rather than those at the federal level, affirming the
critical role of local police in combating terrorism. Counterradicalization strategies
designed to prevent radicalization in the first place are as important—perhaps even
more so—than strategies aimed at reacting once a terrorist act has occurred.
A particularly disturbing development in the rise of terrorism against Americans
is the radicalization of U.S. citizens who go on to commit terrorist acts within this
country. These include Timothy McVeigh, a U.S. Army veteran who detonated a
bomb that destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah building in Oklahoma City in 1995.
McVeigh sympathized with the militia movement and wanted to inspire a revolt
against what he saw as a tyrannical federal government. A more recent example is
the November 5, 2009, Fort Hood shooting allegedly committed by Nidal Malik
Hasan, a U.S. Army major serving as a psychiatrist. An American-born Muslim of
Palestinian descent, Hasan had shown tendencies toward radical Islam since 2005.
Even more recently, Faisal Shazad, a Pakistan-born naturalized U.S. citizen, reput-
edly made a failed attempt to detonate a car bomb in New York City’s Times Square
Times Square is
seen blocked off as
NYPD bomb squad
units respond to a
suspicious package
on May 7, 2010. The
attempted bombing
was attributed to
Faisal Shazad.
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Fighters participate
in military training in
this undated still frame
from a recruitment
video for Osama bin
Laden’s extremist
al-Qaeda network.
in May 2010. As difficult as it is for anyone to accept that U.S. citizens would wish
to inflict terror or harm on fellow Americans, police will need to face this harsh fact
to contribute to the fight against terror.
Organization of Terrorist Groups Research also indicates that terrorist groups

may organize in different ways. In some cases, leadership and training terrorist cells
remain in safe-haven (host) countries, drawing information and assistance from sup-
port cells in target countries. Attack cells enter and exit the target country quickly, with
the assistance of the already embedded support cell. Other terrorist organizations are
small groups that provide their own support and training without leaving the country.
Clearly, terrorism is an increasingly complex, ever-changing phenomenon. To
combat it, police agencies must adopt flexible strategies and tactics in the future as
sources of terrorism shift and as terrorists’ own strategies and tactics change shape
(Oliver, 2007; Picarelli, 2009).
Homeland Security The U.S. government has launched numerous initiatives

intended to enhance homeland defense, including the Civilian Biodefense Research
Programs (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) and the National
Biological Warfare Defense Analysis Center (U.S. Department of Defense). Other
programs and entities, such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA),
a small division of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), focus less on
specific terrorist activities and more on emergency management in a broad sense.
To be most effective, such efforts will need to adopt an all-hazards approach
rather than focusing only on counterterrorism or only on emergency management.
In addition, anyone managing a homeland security program would do well to lever-
age support and contributions from police organizations at all levels—national,
state, and municipal.
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The Need for an All-Hazards Approach DHS should be more than a counterter-
rorism agency as it moves into the future. The department must take an all-hazards
approach—defining its mission as addressing any situation (such as the radicaliza-
tion of recruits or an immediate threat) that endangers U.S. citizens. The depart-
ment must develop mitigation and recovery programs for natural and technological
disasters as well as terrorist incidents. It must also train and leverage local, non-
governmental organizations, businesses, and volunteers in emergency management.
State and local response to threats must be honed, and first responders—police,
firefighters, emergency medical technicians—must receive training in handling disas-
ters (Waugh, 2005).
The Role of Local Police in Homeland Security The toughest challenge in

using local police to support homeland security efforts is coordinating the 17,000
to 20,000 police agencies that exist across the United States. The local police, not
federal authorities, are the first responders to an emergency. As local police are used
in the counterterrorism effort, many proponents of this strategy suggest that police
become more vigilant in their communities, are trained in counterterrorism tactics,
learn how to investigate more effectively, and share information and insights with
the military (Maguire & King, 2004).
On the surface this idea has merit, but it fails to take into account how
local governments operate and how diverse they are. The primary mission of the
police—to protect and serve—will not change. Therefore, local police agencies
probably will never function in the same manner as federal investigative agencies
like the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) (Thacher, 2005). After all, FBI per-
sonnel are not police officers. Thus some federal-level agencies may resist drawing
on local resources. However, local police bring unique strengths to the counterter-
rorism table. These include deep presence in the communities they serve, the ability
to respond swiftly to crises, and access to information that could prove vital for
identifying and stopping terrorists. Indeed, local police count among the nation’s
first lines of defense against terrorism. They are well-positioned to notice suspi-
cious persons, suspicious activities, and actions that contradict community norms.
In addition, private security services—the largest protective resource in the United
States—now outnumber the police three to one. Therefore, the eyes and ears of
private security personnel should be tapped as well. But to take advantage of these
strengths, police agency administrators must assume leadership roles and establish
and nurture lines of communication between and among local, county, state, and
federal agencies, as well as private businesses.
Trade-Offs in Police Priorities As police have come under increasing pressure

to contribute to counterterrorism efforts, their budgets have continued to shrink.
Police are thus being asked to take on more responsibilities without receiving more
resources. When this happens in any organization, people in the organization—as
well as those it serves—must make trade-offs in what services the organization will
provide. In the case of policing, U.S. citizens will have to decide which responsibili-
ties they want their local police to focus on. Would citizens rather see most of their
tax dollars go toward ordinary quality-of-life issues such as enforcing building codes
and reducing trespassing, or would they rather that police focus on protecting the
community against terrorist attacks? Police cannot do everything, and the citizens
who fund police activities through taxes must decide what the trade-offs will be.
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Line Officers Can Make a Difference
Two days before Christmas one year, a police officer in and he intended to sell them to gang members and
a southern U.S. city responded to a tip about a pos- other criminals.
sible bomb in a crowded mall. Although bomb threat The training that the officer received was geared
tips were fairly common in that city and almost always to making front-line police the predominant gatherers
proved a misunderstanding or empty threat, the officer of important intelligence. Developers of such training
reported it to a commanding officer, following a rule assume that officers are the best suited to recognize
the officer learned in a recent training exercise to treat unusual situations on their beats that could represent
every threat as real. In this case, the officer’s com- terrorist activity or a new criminal threat.
mitment to following this rule paid big dividends: The
1. This responding officer made several critical
Special Investigative Division located and arrested a
decisions regarding the investigation of the bomb
young man who was preparing to enter a restaurant
threat. What were those decisions, and how did
and detonate a bomb.
they lead to the averting of a tragic situation?
The perpetrator was not a foreign national or a
member of any extremist group, but an Army infantry 2. What lessons might other local police agencies
tank specialist recently returned from Iraq. Police and the communities they serve draw from this
found he was making improvised explosive devices event in their efforts to prevent terrorist acts?
(IEDs) similar to those he had encountered in Iraq,
Indeed, many resources devoted to community policing and problem solving were
diverted to counterterrorism after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
Of course, gauging the likelihood of a terrorist attack can help community
members clarify their local police force’s priorities. Major ports of entry like New
York City and San Francisco will always be viewed as vulnerable, whereas it is dif-
ficult for most of us to imagine terrorists targeting places that offer few advantages
to terrorists, like Butte, Montana, or Circleville, Ohio.
Decisions about how to deploy local police for antiterrorist activities will
likely depend on the level of threat facing the jurisdiction. While DHS officials
have pledged to cover the additional costs associated with such deployment, there
is always the possibility that such assistance will fall through or that the govern-
ment will issue additional mandates without commensurate financial support (the
unfunded mandate). If this should happen, some police jurisdictions will have to
decide what portion of their resources will go to “conventional” crime control and
what portion will be spent on homeland security (Mastrofski, 2006).
Terrorism as a Global Threat Terrorism will continue to present a threat not just
to the United States but to the rest of the world as well. Evidence suggests that jus-
tice systems around the world are changing to address this reality, and are drawing
inspiration from one another. For instance, a court management system developed
in Europe has attracted interest in South Africa. And it is widely suspected that
American television programming that portrays trials by jury helped to introduce
this innovation in Russia (Ritter, 2006). Across the globe, national leaders are
debating how to incarcerate and adjudicate those suspected of terrorist activities.
ort80008_ch15_394-432.indd 403 30/11/10 3:26 PM

In this atmosphere of globalization, free and democratic societies everywhere

will need to collaborate more than ever to fight terrorism. If they can manage this
feat, all criminals, including terrorists, may find themselves with nowhere in the
world to hide.
BUDGETING: CAN POLICE DO

EVEN MORE—WITH EVEN LESS?
In Chapter 5 of this book, you learned about budgeting in a police agency. All signs
point to the strong possibility that budgeting will become increasingly difficult
for police organizations. Ordinary citizens may be unaware of the cost-reduction
efforts being made at their local police agencies, but police officers are fully aware.
Speculation and rumors of hiring and salary freezes as well as administrative layoffs
are running rampant among police forces everywhere. Even worse, some agencies
face dismantling, with only a portion of laid-off officers being offered employment
by the consolidating, contracted, or adjacent agency. Budget constraints appear to
affect everyone.
What does this mean for the years ahead? For the immediate future, most police
agencies will have to do the same job of providing public safety with severely limited
resources. It is not unreasonable to assume that this trend will continue for some
time. Therefore, police agencies may face some difficult decisions each year budgets
are constrained.
Outsourcing of Police Services

In recent years, outsourcing of some police services has emerged as citizens balk at
rising taxes. Some city police agencies are being dissolved in favor of agreements
with county and state police agencies to take over the policing of municipalities. In
some communities, such outsourcing can generate savings that run into the millions
of dollars. But what will those millions really cost in terms of citizen safety and the
personal nature of police–community relations?
Critics of police outsourcing argue that consolidating local police services with
a larger police entity will compromise citizens’ safety. They fear that police will be
unable to respond quickly to calls for service, will not know who community mem-
bers are, and will be less sensitive to the people they serve, thus providing criminals
with more and better opportunities to victimize citizens. This may lead citizens and
business owners to hire private security firms to make up for the loss of police pres-
ence. People may also move to gated communities where residents pay for private
security to keep out unauthorized persons. Thus, the wealthy may be afforded bet-
ter protection than the poor. An interesting question remains: Can the government
relegate public safety to a private firm?
The Question of Police Purpose

Although many people argue that services like policing, emergency medical assis-
tance, and firefighting cannot easily be replaced, in some areas of the country, such
replacement is happening anyway. This trend is forcing endangered agencies to
prove their worth to taxpayers tired of funding costly government services.
ort80008_ch15_394-432.indd 404 30/11/10 3:26 PM

A private security
officer checks cars
entering a gated
community in Palm
Desert, California.
Meanwhile, all government agencies—including police departments—are facing

competition not only from other government entities but also from private industry.
In some jurisdictions, functions such as parking enforcement, security, and even
crime investigation are being performed by outside service providers instead of the
local police department. In the future, people may increasingly depend on private
organizations for such services, primarily because of constrained public police
resources. That raises some provocative questions: What do the police actually do?
What should they do? What is their mission? Their business?
Pros and Cons of Citizen Involvement

On a positive note, public budget constraints may lead citizens to take more respon-
sibility for their own safety by installing house and auto alarms, and by staying alert
to crime and disorder in their communities. Neighborhood Watch programs may
flourish and function appropriately, and every law-abiding citizen will serve as the
eyes and ears of the police.
Yet, the absence of a visible police presence may result in more citizens arming
themselves. Neighborhood Watch groups may become more aggressive, challenging
strangers and brandishing weapons to scare them away. Moreover, the presence of
private security and gated communities may widen the gap between people who can
afford to pay for such amenities and those who must rely on the public police for
their safety. This is a recipe for unrest similar to what happened in the 1960s, when
riots revealed a widening gap between the rich and the poor.
The Need for Creative Budget Strategies

Large cities like New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Chicago will probably
not dissolve or replace their police agencies. But they will need to change the way
ort80008_ch15_394-432.indd 405 30/11/10 3:26 PM

they approach budgeting. Police leaders must recognize that economic downturns
and citizen resistance to paying higher taxes will continue to present tough chal-
lenges for government and police administrators everywhere. Balancing a police
budget during lean economic times demands more than just tactics such as hiring
freezes, delays in procuring needed equipment, and postponement of capital invest-
ments. The police administrator of the future must demonstrate leadership skills
and develop a comprehensive budget strategy that includes immediate measures for
reducing spending as well as proposals for expanding funding opportunities. If you
find yourself in this difficult position, the following guidelines can help:
• Commit to operating responsibly and frugally as a police agency during lean
and flush times.
• Expect the unexpected and craft contingency plans for unforeseen problems.
• Do not rest after solving a budget problem. Monitor your budgeting process,
and incorporate lessons learned from each budgeting cycle into the next cycle
(Rabin et al., 1996; Robbins & Judge, 2008).
Can Police Think Like Business Leaders?

The police administrator of the future must think like a businessperson to apply
business principles to planning, budgeting, and other administrative activities.
Therefore, those who aspire to managerial positions within a police agency should
prepare themselves for this demanding task. In particular, there is a strong trend
toward applying ethical leadership and economic and fiscal management principles
to police administration. This trend will continue, thanks to a growing emphasis on
relationship building and fiscal management. Deployment of human and material
resources must be efficient and effective. To strike this balance, more police agencies
will be looking for employees with strong business and financial management skills
(Allen & Sawhney, 2010; Schulte, 1996).
And just as corporations provide shareholders with an annual report that
explains how the business used its financial resources and what outcomes it
achieved, police agencies will need to provide citizens with an annual master plan
and budget report conveying similar information. Citizens are demanding more
police transparency and accountability. An understandable report outlining the
police agency’s vision, mission, goals, and objectives—and explaining where dollars
are spent, and why—can go a long way toward saving local police agencies from
downsizing or extinction. Private businesses and units within public and private
companies must constantly justify their spending; public entities such as police agen-
cies will be held to the same standards.
ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION: WILL POLICE

GRADE THEMSELVES ON THE RIGHT CURVE?
To excel in the coming years, police agencies will also need to take new approaches
to organizational and individual performance assessment and evaluation (discussed
in Chapters 7 and 12, respectively). Next, we explore such approaches in the con-
text of the future.
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Measuring Performance at the Organizational Level

When police agencies assess and evaluate their own organizational performance, too
often the effort becomes an exercise in celebrating positive results while minimiz-
ing any troubling news. This approach does not support continuous improvement
in any organization. Even more disturbing, some police agencies do not bother to
assess any aspect of their operations unless someone with political importance out-
side the agency—a city council member, county supervisor, the mayor—requests it.
As time passes, these approaches will no longer be tenable. Citizens are increas-
ingly insisting on more police accountability. To demonstrate that accountability,
police agencies must take a disciplined approach to assessing and evaluating their
own performance. They will have to show through their assessments and evalua-
tions that they are making efficient and effective use of their resources, and that they
deserve to exist and receive taxpayer dollars.
Agency personnel must also view community members as partners—inviting
them to offer suggestions for improvement, and being willing to implement the best
and most appropriate of citizens’ ideas. Once again, the police could take a page
from the book of business. How do corporations elicit and use customer complaints
and ideas? At the very least, they acknowledge them. And they try implementing
suggestions for improvement that seem most feasible and valuable. Police agencies
must pay more than lip service to what citizens want and need.
As you read in Chapter 7, police agencies should consider the accreditation
process as a useful guide to organizational assessment and evaluation—and thus
continual improvement. Accreditation, be it at the state or national level or through
an independent organization, helps a police agency ensure that it is meeting appro-
priate and acceptable organizational and personnel standards, and that can earn an
agency an A+ in citizens’ eyes.
Representatives of an
accrediting body will
visit a police agency
for evaluation and
assessment.
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Measuring Performance at the Individual Level

Police agencies must also take a more rigorous approach toward performance
assessment and evaluation at the individual level. When deciding whether to pro-
mote an officer, managers and supervisors would do well to take feedback from
coworkers and community members into account. For example, if feedback shows
that a particular officer is especially customer focused, this should count among the
criteria for promotion, just as courage in the line of duty counts. Further, individuals
seeking promotion should be required to assess themselves, identifying their own
strengths and weaknesses.
In making promotion decisions, managers and supervisors should also consider
how well their subordinates demonstrate the ethical leadership skills we have discussed
throughout this book—including Level 5 leadership (Collins, 2001) and servant lead-
ership (Greenleaf, 1991). As we have written, it is important that all police officers—
no matter what their rank—become self-contained ethical leadership agents. Managers
and supervisors can ask themselves how well the officers reporting to them leave their
ego behind and proceed with confidence and courage to do the right thing at the right
time for the community, the agency, and their colleagues (Tichy & Bennis, 2007).
HIRING AND TRAINING: HOW WILL POLICE

BUILD AN EFFECTIVE WORKFORCE?
Hiring and training (examined in Chapters 8 and 10, respectively) will almost cer-
tainly continue to pose challenges for police agencies in the future. To surmount
those challenges, police administrators must develop fresh strategies to attract talent
and offer creative solutions to any characteristics of policing that discourage people
from entering the profession.
Hiring
Many police agencies experience difficulty recruiting new officers. At first glance,
the problem appears to stem from the widespread perception that policing is not
a “real” profession. This belief was aided by the notoriously low wages paid for
police work and the lack of applicants with diverse background or college educa-
tions. Over the years, the pay has improved considerably. However, at the same
time, police work has acquired a reputation for being a thankless job characterized
by impossible levels of stress and danger. Thus, people with a college education may
find other occupations more attractive and challenging.
To draw qualified and desirable candidates, police agency recruiters have begun
resorting to incentives like signing bonuses and advertising campaigns similar to the
U.S. Army’s “Be all that you can be.” They may need to step up such efforts in the
future to overcome recruitment challenges.
Numerous police agencies currently offer their own extensive, job-specific train-
ing to recruits. Therefore, in recruiting applicants with college educations, agencies
may choose to select college graduates with degrees in subjects other than criminal
justice, such as liberal arts and science. Candidates who are bilingual, trilingual, or
willing to master several languages in addition to their first language will prove even
more attractive in the future as American society continues to grow more diverse.
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Police agencies use job

fairs to recruit police
officer candidates.
Training
In addition to adopting new hiring strategies, police agencies must develop fresh
approaches to training. Besides providing standard training for new recruits, which
includes weapons proficiency, knowledge of the law, and physical fitness, future
training must accomplish the following:
• Address societal and cultural changes. For example, younger generations have
been raised with technology, multitasking, and extensive external stimuli.
They thus learn differently than older generations.
• Focus on the actual types of problem-based situations officers encounter most
on the job.
• Offer classes in change management, customer relations, ethics, leadership,
and intensive cultural orientation.
• Discuss the use of new policing technologies and devices that may play
a crucial role in the future (such as DNA-sample collection tools and
nonconfrontational, less-than-lethal weaponry), as well as proficiency with the
Internet as a superior investigative tool.
Cross-training and virtual academies offer additional—and less expensive—
avenues for building recruits’ skills.
Cross-Training With police agencies under close scrutiny for financial account-
ability, cross-training—training in different types of tasks and job specifications—
will probably become the norm rather than the exception in the years ahead.
Administrators are finding it expedient to use personnel in creative ways to get
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the job done, without having to employ additional people. Cross-training exposes
employees to knowledge about the workings of the agency and such specialized
tasks as investigations, and it positions the agency to deploy individuals where they
are needed most.
The ability to shift personnel seamlessly between and among job tasks not
Knowledge only saves money, but it also promotes knowledge management in a learning
management: organization—that is, the retention of knowledge most important to the police
the retention of agency. The premise is that if only a few individuals possess specific knowledge of a
knowledge most process or task (such as how to store crime scene evidence or how to extract a report
important to an from the agency’s IT system), that knowledge could be lost if those individuals
organization. leave the agency. Theoretically, cross-training ensures that expertise and knowledge
remain in-house. Moreover, if a person who possesses knowledge of an important
process is unavailable, another individual can temporarily step in and perform the
tasks proficiently.
How might cross-training work in a police agency? An apt example is the
assignment of any investigator to a number of diverse cases that normally would
have been handled by a specialized investigator, such as controlled substances, sex
crimes, arson, burglary, or homicide. A side benefit of this development could be
increased cooperation and collaboration among previously specialized personnel,
and closure of cases in a more timely manner as more people have access to and
information about the investigative process (Bandics, 1997; Haberfeld, 2002). The
synergistic effect of people working together often helps a police agency develop
more powerful solutions to problems.
Virtual Academies Another interesting training development is the advent of

virtual academy classes, whereby recruits and senior officers take courses online.
This approach allows flexibility for learners, who can take a course any time rather
than having to attend classes in person during prescribed hours. No live instructor
Virtual academy class,

“FBI—Operation
Knockout: LA Gang
Investigation, May 21,
2009”. Training
and information
presentation through
the use of the
Internet emphasizing
interagency
cooperation among
federal, state and local
police agencies.
http://www.fbi.gov/
news/videos/
operation-knockout/?
searchterm=None
ort80008_ch15_394-432.indd 410 13/12/10 12:46 PM

is necessary, and officers in locations remote from the normal training site are no
longer required to travel long distances to receive the training. Some classes that
have been taught in this manner include hazardous materials handling, weapons of
mass destruction, and incident command (Boninfante, 2004). We expect the use of
virtual academies to increase in the future, especially as virtual reality and simula-
tors become more sophisticated.
COMMUNICATION: WILL A WIDER ARRAY OF

CONSTITUENTS REQUIRE BROADER SKILLS?
Administrators as well as line officers in police agencies will continue to face the
question of how best to communicate with an ever-widening array of increasingly
demanding constituents. (Communication is discussed in detail in Chapter 9.) Some
of these constituents, such as the general public and members of communities served
by police, have begun calling for more transparency and communication from the
police. They want clear, understandable information about what the police are
doing, not police jargon or law enforcement directives.
But communicating with the public in a nonenforcement manner is a challenge
for many police personnel. Police officers of all ranks, as visible leaders in the com-
munities they serve, will need to master the art of using plain language when con-
versing with the public. Moreover, they must always perform their duties in a civil
manner and demonstrate positive interaction through their verbal and nonverbal
behaviors; for instance, by acting as human beings rather than robocops.
Within a police agency, effective communication is just as crucial. Managers
and officers must know how to interact constructively not only in one-on-one
exchanges but also in small groups, before angry crowds or citizens at a community
gathering, and in meetings with colleagues and superiors. Effective communication
hinges on the application of useful practices, which you learned about in Chapter 9.
Constructive Engagement
In addition to the practices presented in Chapter 9, police personnel can use con- Constructive
structive engagement—a coaching and mentoring rapport that encourages a genu- engagement:
inely warm relationship between individuals—to strengthen their communication a coaching and
with others. How do you know when someone is practicing constructive engage- mentoring rapport
ment? The person may compliment others and show a genuine interest in them; that encourages a
demonstrate attentive, noncritical listening; share thoughts and ideas; and gather genuinely warm
informally with people other than their peers, staff, or police officers. Merely by relationship between
saying hello and making eye contact with another person can help anyone engage individuals.
constructively and forge strong working relationships and trust with others (Davis
& Wildman, 2009). We are not suggesting that police officers become full-time
counselors or social workers (although they function as both), but that officers act
as human beings.
Constructive Confrontation
Effective communication also includes practicing constructive confrontation—
challenging one another’s ideas in a nonthreatening manner and supporting the
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final outcome even if you do not agree with it. Constructive confrontation encour-
ages openness and discourages personal attacks, emotional outbursts, and bullying.
Learning how and when to disagree productively can help all members of a police
agency uncover fresh perspectives on problems and generate fruitful ideas for solv-
ing them. By actively participating in constructive confrontation, people commit to
implementing the solutions they have generated together (Sutton, 2007).
ETHICS IN ACTION
The Challenge of Prioritization
n elderly woman is arrested for neglecting her yard. (An overgrown
A yard lowers property values in the neighborhood, making it harder for

homeowners to sell their homes.)
Parents are ticketed and fined because their children are riding their
bicycles without helmets or knee and elbow pads. (Children have suffered
serious head and limb injuries when unprotected.)
Boisterous new high school graduates are arrested for disturbing the
peace during a graduation party. (Noise ordinances protect the serenity of
suburban neighborhoods.)
Every law that is passed is designed to correct undesirable behavior,
with penalties ranging from fines to jail time. However, with so many new
laws on the books at the federal, state, and municipal level, police offi-
cers may have difficulty prioritizing enforcement of the laws in the future.
Should officers stop helmetless bicyclists to write citations for that illegal
activity, or let the riders go so they can write more speeding tickets, since
speeding is arguably more dangerous? The sad reality is that officers can
be in only one place at a time. They have to ignore some minor violations
of the law so they can address more serious offenses. Some municipalities
recognize this and have hired people specifically to write tickets for parking
meter violations, so police can focus on other tasks that require more of
their specialized skills.
But the ethics of policing call for officers to uphold all laws, whether
they seem frivolous or not. And citizens expect officers to uphold the law
without favoritism and the justice system to punish violators, most often
in an effort to correct behavior. Yet some government policies encourage
police to enforce laws according to their spirit rather than according to
their letter. In other words, most people do want all the laws enforced all
the time.
1. Police officers come under pressure from political leaders and citi-
zens to make trade-offs in the laws they enforce. If you came under
such pressure as a police officer, how would you resolve this ethical
dilemma?
2. What ethical standards should a police officer use to determine which
statutes to enforce at any given time? In answering this question, con-
sider the issues of criticality and timeliness of response.
3. Should all laws be enforced all of the time? Why or why not?
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POLICE LEADERSHIP: CAN BOUNDARIES EXPAND?

Excellence in ethical police leadership—discussed in Chapter 11—will become
increasingly important in the future, as police agencies grapple with ever more
daunting challenges. For example, many agencies are having more and more diffi-
culty attracting qualified job candidates, as interest in policing as a career dwindles
along with budgets. Meanwhile, criminals are proving frustratingly innovative in
their schemes (especially in cybercrime), sometimes leaving police struggling to
catch up. These and other challenges will likely only intensify in the future.
To tackle their toughest difficulties, police must expand their boundaries in terms
of how they work and how they think. Specifically, the police must embrace the vir-
tual world, broaden their notions of management, and challenge the status quo.
Embracing the Virtual World

The Internet is here to stay, and like most technologies, it is a double-edged sword.
On the one hand, it promises to enable police to do their jobs more effectively and
efficiently. On the other hand, it also opened up a whole new category of crime. To
seize the advantages offered by the Internet as well as grapple with the problems,
police agency administrators must become more net-centric, or Internet savvy. The
Internet offers not just information about current criminals and their activities but
a gateway to data, and possibly even evidence, about future criminals.
For instance, there have already been numerous examples of one person selling
an old computer to another, and the new owner finds pictures of nude images of
Virtual reality allows

exploration of many
areas such as computer
crime and employment
opportunities.
ort80008_ch15_394-432.indd 413 30/11/10 3:26 PM

children left on the computer’s hard drive. By understanding how evidence of crimes
including child pornography can come in seemingly innocuous objects like comput-
ers, police will stand a much better chance of staying one step ahead of criminals.
To become net-centric, police executives must embrace the virtual world in
addition to the physical world. By doing so, they can become nimble enough
to anticipate and vanquish problems that arise in the dynamic environment of
cyberspace, in addition to those arising in the physical environment (Lewin, 2010;
Schafer, 2007a). For instance, the police must know how to process virtual as well
as physical crime scenes.
The virtual world can also help police master the art of toleration. Indeed, inter-
Virtual reality: esting developments are taking place with the use of virtual reality, a computer sim-
a computer ulation of a real or imaginary system that enables a user to perform operations on
simulation of a real the simulated system and illustrates the effects in real time. Police recruits will soon
or imaginary system be able to use virtual reality to experience life as a person of a different age, race,
that enables a user to gender, or cultural orientation. The program relies on a social psychology premise
perform operations that negative stereotyping decreases when an individual gains intensive experience
on the simulated as a member of a different group. In testing of such simulation, participants showed
system and shows the a significant reduction in elder stereotyping when they were placed in the avatars
effects in real time. (virtual persons) of elderly people (Yee & Bailenson, 2006).
Broadening Notions of Management

To effect real and lasting change, police executives must surrender the previously
predominant idea of management as a rigid and tall hierarchical structure for
one that is more flat, fluid, and learn to cooperate with many levels of the com-
mand structure and workforce. For instance, instead of issuing directives, they
can encourage the personnel who are closest to particular problems to develop
solutions to those problems. Because many police agencies have committed to aug-
menting traditional policing with some form of the community policing strategy,
executives will also need to view the horizon that lies beyond their agency. That is,
when they make decisions, they would do well to take into account the potential
impact on the community the agency serves. To illustrate, a decision to close parks
early to reduce vandalism might force young people to play in the streets instead
of in safer areas.
Continuing resource constraints have further changed traditional ideas about
police management. In particular, officers in the future will receive fewer direct
orders and less direct supervision than ever before, because resources are shrink-
ing and officers are being held more responsible and accountable. They will have
to be allowed to use their discretionary power to make choices and take action in
the course of their ordinary workday. For police administrators, this means releas-
ing control and trusting subordinates to make the correct decisions. However, an
agency’s chief executive will still be ultimately accountable for what officers do;
thus, ultimate responsibility rests with the agency’s chief executive.
Policing strategies (as you recall from Chapter 2) have continued to evolve—
and will keep doing so. For example, most citizens have become accustomed to
working more closely with their local police agency to share information and solve
problems. This trend will likely persist. Citizens in jurisdictions where the police
agency does not reach out to the community or acknowledge citizen feedback
will probably protest this isolation. But just as police have learned to partner with
citizens and outside organizations to effect change, they must also learn to view
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their subordinates and others in the organization as full partners. This requires a
shift in mindset: Managers and supervisors must come to appreciate subordinates
as inherently valuable individuals who can offer insight, wisdom, and fresh perspec-
tives. To build such partnerships and extract value from them, police administrators
must get to know their subordinates as individuals, each with their own interests,
skills, and ability to contribute (International Association of Chiefs of Police, 1999;
Schulte, 1996; Stevens, 2011; Stohr & Collins, 2009).
Challenging the Status Quo

As another way to expand boundaries, police managers must reach beyond the
assumption that the status quo is the ideal state. Thankfully, today’s line-level police
officers and managers are more willing to examine prevailing practices’ strengths
and weaknesses. For example, unplanned random patrol may catch would-be crimi-
nal offenders off guard because of its unpredictability, but this approach does not
help police target potentially high-crime areas.
Yet, it can still be difficult for police to accept that tried-and-true ways of doing
things may no longer be the best ways. By asking tough questions, trying new
practices, and challenging ingrained ideas, police managers and officers can begin
reshaping the policing profession in constructive ways (Schafer, 2007a).
Embracing the virtual world, broadening ideas about management, and chal-
lenging the status quo—none of this is easy. In the box titled “Recommendations
for Current and Future Police Executives,” the International Association of Chiefs
of Police (IACP) offers additional guidance, drawn from a conference on leadership
held in 1999 in which police executives were counseled and encouraged to develop
and improve their leadership team, their organization, and the community their
agency served. The recommendations are reinforced through the IACP’s Leadership
in Police Organizations (LPO) program (Rosser, 2010).
Recommendations for Current and Future Police

Executives
1. Be enthusiastic and positive about the job, and commit yourself to the
leadership position that you occupy.
2. Embrace and comprehend your agency’s vision for yourself, your
agency, and the community you serve, and clearly and passionately
communicate the agency’s goals and objectives to inspire all involved
parties to accomplish them.
3. Seek out individuals, organizations, and associations to establish
community partnerships, and develop those relationships so you
achieve goals and have reliable support in times of crisis.
4. Maintain two priorities simultaneously: crime control/victim services
and customer satisfaction. While customer satisfaction should never
overshadow the crime control/victim services mission, understand
that the two reinforce one another; they are not alternative strategies.
(continued)
ort80008_ch15_394-432.indd 415 30/11/10 3:26 PM

5. Make succession planning at all leadership levels a goal. Career devel-

opment, knowledge of strategic leadership practices, and mentoring
for new and current leaders should be an agency’s personnel develop-
ment model.
6. Reward and promote superior day-to-day performance at all levels of
your organization. Encourage innovation and “thinking outside the
box” in addressing current and future policing strategies. Promote
and reward creative discussion and experimentation for groups
(formal and informal) and individuals within your agency.
7. Enlist others’ help when you encounter challenges, including consul-
tants, other government and community resources, and gifted and
capable individuals within your agency. Making decisions unilaterally
will only alienate subordinates and peers, whereas work teams will
foster collaboration.
8. Encourage agency members to personally embrace their own inno-
vative ideas and achievements. Always acknowledge such contribu-
tions when speaking with others. Praising agency team members will
empower your colleagues and subordinates, leading to better morale
and more acceptance of new ideas and change.
9. Aggressively seek out and hire qualified people from diverse back-
grounds. A diverse applicant pool may bring in adequate numbers of
qualified individuals from underrepresented populations. Proactive
and continuous recruitment efforts are necessary to achieve an appro-
priately diverse workforce. Value diversity as a more complete way to
understand and address agency problems. Seek to improve diversity
(in race, religion, gender, age, and lifestyle) in your entire agency and
its subsections.
10. Be aware that forces of change are at work continuously. Stay abreast
of internal trends (such as in your agency’s workforce). Cross-train
employees and regularly deploy them to tasks where they are most
needed. You will help address employee concerns before they can
become overblown. Also be aware of external shifts (for example
in politics and the community), so you can proactively shape their
impact on your agency.
Source: International Association of Chiefs of Police, 1999.
CHANGE LEADERSHIP: WHAT

MODEL SHOULD POLICE USE?
Driving needed change in a police agency is a vital aspect of leadership. It will
become more crucial than ever in the future because we live in a world of accelerat-
ing change. For this reason, we devote the following pages to a discussion of how
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police may master the art of change leadership in the coming years. Technological
advances, shifts in social mores, increased globalization—these and other changes
seem to be unfolding at an ever-faster pace. To surmount the problems and seize
the opportunities that such shifts will bring in the future, police agencies themselves
will have to change.
But altering how work is done in a police agency is difficult (just as it is in any
organization), and those seeking to effect change can expect to meet with resistance.
Most people in an organization would rather defend current ways of doing things
(the status quo) than open themselves to exploring other ways of operating—
whether the proposed change is a simple modification to a business process or a
large-scale transformation of a unit or division.
To lead change effectively, police administrators must craft and communicate a
compelling vision of the benefits that a proposed change can bring. They must also
take a disciplined approach to executing the change—by selecting and applying a
change-leadership model.
Crafting and Communicating a Compelling Vision

To combat resistance to change, police leaders must develop a meaningful vision of
a better future available to the agency if people can bring themselves to make needed
changes. Leaders should then communicate the vision in clear and compelling terms,
so all employees and other stakeholders yearn to become part of the change effort.
To develop a vision, leaders must diagnose the problem or opportunity that the pro-
posed change is intended to address. Problems and opportunities can be technical,
political, and/or cultural.
For example, officers at a police agency may determine that advances in com-
puter technology present both a problem (criminals have easier access to victims’
personal information) and an opportunity (police have readier access to information
about cybercrime patterns). To address this problem and opportunity, the officers
craft a compelling vision in which the agency has adopted the new technology and
all employees have mastered using it. In this vision, thanks to widespread mastery
of the technology, the agency has succeeded in reducing crime.
Administrators at another police agency may decide to focus on risk manage-
ment and liability mitigation as an opportunity that requires change. The vision they
present to agency personnel centers on leveraging new technologies. For example,
managers propose adopting patrol-car dashboard cameras that document officers’
interactions with drivers who are pulled over, street cameras that record drivers
running traffic lights or gang members possessing and brandishing guns, and video
records that capture every detail of an interrogation. This use of technology, the
leaders explain, can help protect officers and the agency from unwarranted lawsuits
(Ortmeier & Meese, 2010; Tichy, 1977).
Selecting a Change-Leadership Model

Even with a clear and compelling vision, many people find change difficult—whether
it takes the form of new reward systems, job designs, or teamwork protocols. All
changes require people to demonstrate new behaviors, attitudes, and practices on
the job (Gee, 2005). Moreover, there will always be tension between changing some
ways of operating in an organization while maintaining other approaches. For
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example, the challenges of dwindling budgets, increasing homeland security require-

ments, community involvement, and crime suppression all demand that police take
new approaches to their work while also maintaining the traditional calls-for-service
model of customer service. This tension between having to change some things
while keeping other things the same makes leading change even more difficult. Only
a true leader can manage it (Kotter, 1996).
Because of this conflict between change and continuity, police managers can
expect at least some resistance to proposed new ways of doing things even when
employees have embraced the vision and understand the need for change. Selecting
and implementing a disciplined change-leadership model can help administra-
tors guide agency employees through this conflict. Effective leaders have several
change-leadership models to choose from. In the pages that follow, we examine
three such models—the Lewin basic change model, the Weisbord six-box model,
and the Kotter strategic change model—each developed by a highly regarded
expert.
The Lewin Basic Change Model The Lewin basic change model proposes three
stages of change:
1. Unfreeze. Change leaders break down old habits in an attempt to create a
sense of urgency, modify cultural norms, and develop a vision of the better
future that change could bring. Leaders assess the problem or opportunity
that requires change and prescribe a change strategy.
2. Change. Leaders persuade people to begin using the proposed new processes
and provide any needed training. Role models, mentors, and benchmarking
help facilitate the change process. Some observers describe this phase as an
intervention, which requires intensive collaboration and cooperation among
all players in the organization.
3. Refreeze. Leaders help employees integrate the new behaviors and attitudes
into their everyday work lives, evaluate the effectiveness of the change
process, and drive further change if needed to improve the organization’s
performance (Lewin, 1951).
The Weisbord Six-Box Model The Weisbord six-box model starts with diagno-
sis of a problem or opportunity facing the organization. Based on the diagnosis, a
change leader or group decides what formal changes need to be made (for example,
in the organization’s policies and procedures) and what informal changes are
required (that is, how people carry out their work). To effect formal and informal
changes, change leaders must balance six interrelated “boxes”:
• Purpose: goal clarity and goal achievement
• Structure: elements of organizational architecture including role definition,
physical layout of offices, and reporting relationships
• Relationships: cooperation and conflict management
• Rewards: incentives to reinforce growth, responsibility, and achievement
• Leadership: efforts to keep the six boxes in balance
• Helpful mechanisms: coordinating technologies such as policies, procedures,
budgeting processes, and measurement protocols (Weisbord, 1978).
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The Kotter Strategic Change Model The Kotter strategic change model rests
on the premise that successful transformations are very difficult, and that managers
and employees alike can be easily sidetracked away from the effort. Kotter (1996)
advocates an eight-step model of change leadership:
1. Establish a sense of urgency.
2. Create a guiding coalition to lead change.
3. Develop a vision and a change strategy.
4. Communicate the change vision.
5. Empower employees for broad-based action.
6. Generate short-term wins.
7. Consolidate change and produce more change.
8. Anchor new approaches in the organization’s culture.
Complementary Models The three models of change leadership discussed can

be seen as complementary. When used together, they can help police administrators
navigate the rough terrain of change in their agency. The Lewin model explains the
process in simple, understandable language and procedure. The Weisbord model
assists with the diagnosis of the problem or future challenges in a clear and reason-
able manner. The Kotter model suggests a comprehensive, sequential approach to
defining the problem and bringing the needed change to fruition.
POLICE UNIONS: WILL THEY SURVIVE?
In Chapter 13, you read about a variety of legal issues important to police work—
including employment law and the role of unions. In policing and other profes-
sions, unions are encountering serious difficulties, so we take the following pages to
explore the potential implications for police.
Unions under Fire

Some experts contend that labor unions have served their purpose and are no longer
useful in today’s world. Others assert that unions must be preserved because they might
be among the only entities left that protect ordinary workers’ rights. It is no secret that
labor unions as a group are under fire. The automobile industry, the steel industry, and
other widely unionized sectors have experienced massive layoffs. As jobs disappear and
formerly strong corporations close their doors, there appears to be no more room for
workers to negotiate with management. The outlook for many government and other
public-employee unions, including police unions, is no less grim. Yet, budget constraints
affect every segment of policing, from administrative workers to sworn officers, and the
unions seem powerless to effect change in any meaningful way when budgets tighten.
Potential New Paths for Unions

Some observers believe that police unions can survive if they adapt to the chang-
ing circumstances that surround employment in this country. They should continue
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Police unions can

encourage continuous
professional education
and training of police
officers.
to serve as strong advocates and negotiators for workers, striving to ensure that
employees receive adequate wages and benefits in return for their skills, time, and
commitment. But unions must also transform themselves from demanding, unsat-
isfied ideologues to open, attentive, problem-oriented, responsive, and flexible
partners with management and the community at large. Unions can no longer be
the insular organizations of the past; instead, they should become connecting and
collaborative associations of the future. Union leaders must acknowledge the cur-
rently negative perceptions of labor organizations harbored by many members of
the public and reengineer their image and brand.
Unions must also recognize that continuing education and new learning are the
keys to jobs of the future, and all union members must have the opportunity for
education appropriate to those jobs. During contract negotiations, union leaders
and members can express their willingness to advance their own training, education,
and professionalism by paying (in full or in part) for college tuition or course fees.
Unions can also provide educational opportunities for their members in the form of
workshops, training exercises, and various other continuing-education mechanisms
(Dator, 1999; Hunter & Barker, 2011).
FACILITIES MANAGEMENT: WHAT

WILL IT LOOK LIKE IN THE FUTURE?
In Chapter 14, you learned about procurement and facilities management in police
organizations. Many people rarely think about the facilities where they work—at
least until something changes or malfunctions. Consider the panic you experience
when the pipes burst in your home or the roof starts leaking—then magnify that
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sensation to reflect the distress experienced at the organizational level in a police

agency when such failures occur.
To ensure the seamless operation of a police agency, someone—an individual
or a team—must take responsibility for facilities management. The police leader of
the future must know how to plan for and manage this important organizational
concern, rather than merely panicking when a crisis occurs.
Consolidation of Police Facilities

Many jurisdictions have begun restructuring their police facilities in a variety of
ways to meet the conflicting needs of saving money and better serving the commu-
nity. For instance, some jurisdictions are consolidating their police facilities to cut
expenses. Instead of having several neighborhood precincts, divisions, districts, or
substations, police agencies may concentrate these structures in one or two sections
covering geographic areas such as the west precinct and east precinct, or the north
division and south division.
While this scheme may yield cost savings, it also has a major drawback:
It leaves some neighborhoods with no local police station in their immediate
community—which can be disconcerting to citizens and alienate the police from
the public. Established police substations have become the hub of some neighbor-
hoods, particularly in densely populated parts of a city, where people view the
police facility as a haven amid a dangerous area. Citizens are more willing to
take problems to local police officers as opposed to making a trip to a centralized
location where they may not know any of the officers. In managing their facili-
ties, police agencies must make painful trade-offs between citizens’ safety and cost
reductions.
Subdivision of Police Facilities

Whereas some jurisdictions are consolidating organizational structures, other large
jurisdictions are being subdivided for the purpose of improving service to the com-
munity. The resulting smaller divisions are operating as mini-police departments,
each of which takes care of local concerns. Some police agencies have even begun
using mobile facilities such as trailers to locate resources where they are most
needed and to ensure that police personnel have ready access to specific locations
within the community the agency serves.
Use of Donated Space

Another trend regarding facilities is an increase in police use of donated space in
storefronts in downtown office locations, suburban shopping malls, and major
food stores. This approach lowers costs, but police may unrealistically assume
they are increasing their visibility in the community and providing access to local
neighborhood citizens. But nothing works better than outreach that engages people
where they work and live. Therefore, the police should not simply sit in a store-
front office and wait for people to come to them. Additionally, most of these small
adjunct locations do not have the support of computer technology, administrative
personnel, or access to incident reports that citizens generally expect from the
police.
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Mobile police
communications units,
community policing
offices, and command
posts are used in many
jurisdictions.
TECHNOLOGY AND CRIME FIGHTING:

WHERE ARE WE HEADED?
Like facilities management, technology upgrading and maintenance are essential func-
tions in any police agency. To fight crime, police need access to the best technology—
whether it is a new surveillance device or high-speed Internet access and, hopefully,
a computer for every desk. For this reason, we devote the following pages to a close
examination of technological advances, including how police may use them to fight
street crime and how new technologies are reshaping the face of crime.
Technology and Street Crime

Advances in technologies designed to combat street crime have stirred enthusiasm
and interest within the policing profession and promise to give police important
advantages in the future. Notable examples include surveillance kites, gunshot
detection sensors, and the use of virtual reality in police lineups. While these and
other technologies hold much promise, they also raise provocative questions about
the role of police and the protection of citizens’ privacy.
Surveillance Kites In California, a new high-tech kite may soon take the place
of police helicopters. The SkySeer is only three feet long and, when not in use, col-
lapses into a small bag. Any officer may possess and deploy the kite within minutes.
The camera in the SkySeer sends images to the officer’s laptop computer. The kite
flies at a speed of up to 30 miles an hour, and officers can track its position using a
Global Positioning System (GPS).
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A SkySeer unmanned
aerial vehicle (kite)
is demonstrated by
members of the Los
Angeles Sheriff’s
Department.
One of the biggest advantages of the SkySeer is that it can go where helicopters
cannot, such as near trees, utility lines, and buildings. Moreover, it is silent and prac-
tically invisible. One police manager envisions using the device to find missing chil-
dren or lost hikers, to track fleeing criminals or suspects, or to provide visual details
of a fire zone. Touted as the wave of the future in law enforcement surveillance, the
device costs about $30,000, considerably less than the $3 to $5 million that police
agencies pay for helicopters (Staff, New Scientist Tech, 2006). Technology adapted
from military-type drones may also be used to replace some civilian police aircraft.
Gunshot Detection Sensors Another crime fighting device that is quickly com-
ing into its own is the gunshot detection sensor. Generally, within one second after
a firearm is discharged, microphones in the sensor detect the event, a camera zooms
in on the location, and authorities can view the situation on a computer screen
and deploy officers as needed. These sensors have been used to detect gunfire from
homicide suspects almost instantly (Lisaius, 2009).
Virtual Reality Virtual reality will be used someday to conduct police lineups. In
a computer simulation, police can reconstruct the conditions under which a witness
saw a suspect, including time of day or night, the scene, and other details that might
aid in eyewitness accuracy. Testing has demonstrated that accuracy improves when
the virtual scene containing the suspect replicates the actual conditions during the
incident (Bailenson, Davies, Blascovich, Beall, McCall, & Guadagno, 2008).
The Age of the “Robocop”? Although technological devices are excellent tools,
the police officer will never be replaced. Whatever else policing might be, it is an
intensely people-oriented profession that thrives on the human, personal approach.
Technology proponents might fully expect a robot police officer to make its debut
in the future, as in the 1987 film Robocop, where an injured police officer is fit-
ted with robotics that turn him into a crime fighting machine. However, such a
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Robocop (1987). device-creature cannot replace

the eyes, ears, cognitive, com-
munication, emotional, and
human relations qualities and
skills of a proficient human
line officer who is function-
ing as a self-contained ethical
leadership agent.
The Question of Privacy

Advances in street-crime tech-
nology are forcing cities to
strike a balance between pub-
lic safety and citizen privacy, as
surveillance cameras become
more common and audio sen-
sors pinpoint the exact loca-
tion of sounds like gunshots.
Jay Stanley of the American
Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
maintains that technology use
by police is “trashing” the
“reasonable expectation of pri-
vacy” guaranteed by the Fourth
Amendment of the Constitu-
tion. For example, just how
much privacy do citizens have
if their activities are being
recorded by police cameras situated on telephone poles and other structures located
in public places (Stanley, 2010)?
However, police officers who have experience using such technologies might
disagree with this assessment. Cities including Newark, New Jersey, and Baltimore,
Maryland, have invested significant time and money in state-of-the-art surveillance
technology to make their downtown areas safer so they might attract more tourists
and businesses. In Newark, a balance between the individual right to privacy and
police use of cameras as an investigative tool has been addressed. Police cameras
are not allowed to peer into private homes, and all video files are destroyed after
30 days (Ante, 2008).
The Rise of Cybercrime

No one can predict the exact types and levels of crime that will prevail in the
future, but experts suggest that many future crimes will center on computers and
digital communications technology. Although street crime will never completely
Cybercrime: disappear, computers enable cybercrime—criminal misconduct perpetrated through
criminal misconduct information technology. Cybercrime takes many different forms and provides a vir-
perpetrated through tual venue for conventional crimes such as the exploitation of children, fraud, and
information attacks on home computers (Schafer, 2007a). In addition, it is crossing state and
technology. national borders, and will do so even more in the coming years. All these trends will
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force citizens to make trade-offs between protection from cybercrime—and protec-

tion of their privacy.
Exploitation of Children The sophistication of virtual reality raises another

question: Are thoughts or behavior that would be criminal in the real world because
for concern when they occur in the virtual world (Schafer, 2007a)? The answer is
yes if online fantasies lead people to harm living, breathing human beings. And
the spillover from virtual-world fantasies to real-world crime has already begun.
Some pedophiles, for example, trawl the Internet for victims. They pose as harm-
less young people, befriending children through social networking sites and other
virtual channels. Once they have gained a youngster’s trust, some pedophiles have
proposed face-to-face meetings where they have abducted, raped, and even killed
their victims.
Bud Levin, professor of psychology and administration of justice at Blue Ridge
Community College, theorizes that any law enforcement officer can go online
at any time and, within a few minutes, open a new felony case involving child
exploitation. In 2003, the number of children under age 9 in the United States
was about 38 million. Levin estimates that by 2030, there will be about 46 million
children who are under the age of 9, meaning about a 21 percent increase in avail-
able victims for online pedophiles if those children use the Internet. Internet crime
committed against children may manifest itself as postings of unsolicited sexual
content and various types of online annoying and intimidating behavior. Although
the tracking of online incidents against youth is in its infancy, many experts
believe that online incidents against youth are rarely reported to police (Cyber
Crime Statistics, 2010; U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Prevention, 2009).
Women and girls

display posters and tee
shirts with information
about a missing friend
at a rally against crime
in Austin, Texas.
ort80008_ch15_394-432.indd 425 30/11/10 3:26 PM

Fraud Most experts believe that online fraud—especially against seniors—will

become a major category of cybercrime in the future. For example, cybercriminals
known as phishers use spam, malicious websites, e-mail messages, and instant mes-
sages to trick unsuspecting individuals into divulging sensitive information, such as
their bank and credit card account numbers. According to the FBI, seniors are par-
ticularly susceptible to fraud for several reasons. For one thing, many elderly people
have saved up a “nest egg”—a retirement account, a valuable piece of property—
which makes a tempting target for cybercriminals. In addition, seniors tend to be
trusting, and they are less likely to report a fraud than younger people are because
they do not know how the reporting process works (Dickson, 2008).
In the year 2000, there were 35 million people in the United States who were
65 or older. As the baby boom generation ages, this segment of the population
will grow more rapidly than any other. Approximately 7,000 boomers retire each
day. By 2030, this group will number about 70 million, presenting fresh victims
for cybercriminals specializing in fraud (Levin, 2003). Fraud against the elderly
through the Internet may include fraudulent bank notices, enhanced telemarketing
with follow-up Internet dialogue for investments, vacations, charities, and get-rich
schemes (Montaldo, 2010). Gathering valid statistical data regarding the number
of Internet crimes committed against elderly individuals is difficult because some
victims are reluctant to report that they have been subjected to these types of scams.
However, with respect to online fraud, the Internet Crime Complaint Center (2010)
reported that the number of complaints has exploded from approximately 17,000
in the year 2000, to approximately 340,000 in 2009. Annual dollar loss grew from
approximately $18 million in 2001 to about $.5 billion in 2009 (Cyber Crime
Statistics, 2010).
Attacks on Home Computers Cybercriminals are multiplying rapidly, and evi-

dence suggests that attacks on home computers will increase in the coming years.
The net-centric home today contains many vulnerable devices, such as home
A phishing e-mail
attempting to
trick unsuspecting
individuals into
divulging personal my predicament !!!
Kate dfdf Y @gmail.com Tue, Aug 10, 2010 at 7:59 AM
information. Reply-To: dfdf [email protected]
Hello,
I’am sorry for this odd request and I’am writing this with tears on my eyes due to the situation of things right now, I’am stuck in
London United Kingdom with my family, we came down here for vacation and we got Mugged at gunpoint worse of it was that
cash cell phone and credit cards were stolen, it’s such a crazy and terrifying experience for us, we need help sort out our hotel bill
and flying back home, the authorities are not being 100% helping, but the good thing is that we still have our passports, Our return
flight leave today, But we still have problem in sorting out the hotel bills. Please help.
Now I’m freaked out.
Kate dfdf Y
ort80008_ch15_394-432.indd 426 30/11/10 3:26 PM

security systems, IP phones, and the storage of financial forms such as those gener-
ated by personal-income-tax software programs. This represents a rich environment
for cybercriminals to target and exploit.
Online threats to vulnerable consumers take many forms, including e-mail cons
(phishing); viruses, worms, and other infections; spyware; and botnets. All of these
are unlawful invasions, and they affect numerous home and business computers.
Criminals use the large number of computers to send huge volumes of messages
to overwhelm and cripple the targeted computers. In a home user study conducted
by the National Cyber Security Alliance, Symantec, & Zogby International (2009),
about one-quarter of the respondents felt that their home computer systems were
secure from Internet infections. However, between 30 and 40 percent of respondents
stated they store bank and tax information on their computers, with over 50 percent
indicating that they have never learned how to secure their home computer systems.
Although consumers appear to have a peripheral awareness of computer security
threats, computer attacks from perpetrators occur over 70 percent of the time
through e-mail intrusions and approximately 35 percent via websites (Cyber Crime
Statistics, 2010).
Cross-Border Cybercrime Today’s criminals are more mobile than ever, and,
with the right technology, they can invade someone else’s private life without doing
so physically. This means that many crimes, including identity theft, are now affect-
ing people beyond the jurisdiction where the criminal is located. A person living in
one state can steal from others residing in another state or country thousands of
miles away.
This situation will make law enforcement cooperation across jurisdictional lines
crucial in the future. Those in policing must learn to set aside old prejudices against
working with other law enforcement entities. If police refuse to cooperate locally,
regionally, nationally, and globally, criminals will operate without much fear of
apprehension and punishment. However, if agencies at all levels of law enforcement
and in all locations collaborate more effectively today, they will open the door to
law enforcement cooperation on an international scale (International Association of
Chiefs of Police, 1999).
Levin highlights several specific areas of concern when it comes to cross-border
cybercrime. Many U.S. software developers are increasingly outsourcing develop-
ment of their products to other nations. This will create vulnerabilities for U.S.
computer users because of the difficulty of prosecuting someone who is located in
another country but commits a crime against a U.S. citizen. Investigators must pos-
sess and demonstrate different knowledge and skills to combat this kind of crime—
including broad-based knowledge of other nations and their cultures, as well as the
ability to communicate easily with people in other countries. Effective communica-
tion is a skill learned and practiced by the self-contained ethical leadership agent.
Trade-Offs between Protection and Privacy No matter how tech-savvy police

and justice systems become, cybercriminals are not all that different from conven-
tional criminals. Police will not be able to crush cybercrime any more than they have
been able to crush gang-related crimes and, unfortunately, the more cybercriminals
police prosecute, the more clogged the justice system will become. The wheels of
justice will turn even more slowly as prosecutors, defense attorneys, and judges
struggle to increase their knowledge of this kind of crime.
ort80008_ch15_394-432.indd 427 30/11/10 3:26 PM

One of the biggest obstacles to fighting cybercrime will be the average person’s
resistance to investigative practices. Just as the use of surveillance technologies
has raised questions about citizens’ privacy, the notion that police should combat
cybercrime through access to people’s computers has many citizens asking where
the line between protection and privacy should go. The ongoing conflict between
security and U.S. citizens’ right to privacy will not be an easy one to resolve. And
unfortunately, it enables cybercriminals to flourish. It fragments the fight against
cybercriminals because citizens are not yet ready to give up some privacy in return
for some protection. Just as some people have objected to the idea that police cam-
eras may be watching them as they go about their daily routines, they will likely also
resist having officers gain ready access to their computers.
However, all is not lost. If experts are correct in their forecasts, cybercrime
units will play a critical role in tomorrow’s police agency. Why? Cybercrimes cross
all department divisions: sex crimes, fraud, identity theft, stalking, and intellectual
property crime, to name just a few. Divisional lines must blur if a police agency
hopes to tackle cybercrime with any effectiveness. Cybercrimes also cross jurisdic-
tional lines, further complicating the challenge. But while cybercriminals will even-
tually become no more remarkable than pickpockets as police gain proficiency in
prosecuting them, they will continue to hone their sophistication—and police will
need to keep pace (Levin, 2003).
summary
• Ethics and Professionalism: Will Police Be Trusted? Unethical behavior on the

part of police has eroded the public’s trust. To prevent further erosion in the
future and to rebuild trust, police executives must ensure that all personnel
understand and adhere to ethical standards. A lowering of hiring standards
may make it more challenging to retain or restore the public’s trust. The
increased ease with which police misconduct can be captured on video by
citizens has made the issue of ethics and professionalism more urgent than
ever. As reinforced throughout this book, true leadership does not exist
without courageous ethical behavior to accompany it.
• The Challenges of Counterterrorism and Homeland Security: What Role Will
Police Play? Police will need to help combat terrorism regardless of its source
(foreign or domestic). Understanding how individuals become radicalized and
how terrorist groups organize themselves will help, as will leveraging police
officers’ connections with and deep knowledge of local communities. To adopt
an all-hazards approach, those leading homeland security efforts will face a
challenge in coordinating local police agencies across the nation. Meanwhile,
fulfilling mandates to contribute to homeland security efforts will force
citizens and police to make trade-offs in police services.
• Budgeting: Can Police Do Even More—with Even Less? As outsourcing of
police services increases, the public may begin asking what the purpose of
police should be. Ever-tighter budget constraints may prompt police to involve
citizens more in ensuring their own safety—a trend that presents benefits and
costs. To combat budget constraints, police will need to formulate creative
strategies and think like businesspeople.
ort80008_ch15_394-432.indd 428 30/11/10 3:26 PM

• Assessment and Evaluation: Will Police Grade Themselves on the Right

Curve? To excel in the coming years, police must adopt new approaches to
organizational and individual performance assessment and evaluation. These
include demonstrating greater accountability to citizens, drawing on the
public’s suggestions for performance improvement, and demanding ethical
leadership skills from every officer, regardless of rank.
• Hiring and Training: How Will Police Build an Effective Workforce? Police
must work harder to recruit a diverse and well-educated workforce, as well
as taking advantage of promising new approaches to training, such as cross-
training and virtual academies.
• Communication: Will a Wider Array of Constituents Require Broader Skills?
To communicate effectively with an ever-expanding range of constituents,
police will need to strengthen their communication skills, including mastering
the art of constructive engagement and constructive confrontation.
• Police Leadership: Can Boundaries Expand? Police leaders of the future must
expand their boundaries in terms of how they think and work—including
embracing the virtual world, broadening their notions of how management
should operate, and challenging current practices within their agency. Every
officer and civilian employee of an agency should function as a courageous
self-contained ethical leadership agent.
• Change Leadership: What Model Should Police Use? Driving needed change
is a vital aspect of leadership in a police agency and will become more critical
in the future as the pace of change accelerates. Police administrators can lead
change effectively by crafting and communicating a compelling vision of how
a proposed change will benefit the agency and community, and by blending
complementary change-leadership models, including the Lewin basic change
model, the Weisbord six-box model, and the Kotter strategic change model.
• Police Unions: Will They Survive? The question of whether labor unions
have served their purpose has stirred debate. Meanwhile, unions as a group
have come under fire, as heavily unionized industries experience massive
layoffs. Police unions can survive if they adapt to the changing circumstances
surrounding employment in the United States. In particular, they must partner
more constructively with management and the community at large, as well as
support educational opportunities for members.
• Facilities Management: What Will It Look Like in the Future? Trends in
police facilities management—including consolidation of facilities, subdivision
of facilities, and use of donated space—will present both advantages and
disadvantages for police and the communities they serve in the future. To meet
the conflicting needs of reducing expenses and improving community service,
police administrators will need to understand the pros and cons of these
trends and make intelligent trade-offs.
• Technology and Crime Fighting: Where Are We Headed? Technological
advances such as surveillance kites, gunshot detection sensors, and virtual
reality promise to strengthen police officers’ ability to fight street crime.
However, some of these technologies have raised questions about whether
citizens’ privacy is being put at risk. Meanwhile, advances in information
technology have spawned the rise of cybercrime, which can take many forms
ort80008_ch15_394-432.indd 429 30/11/10 3:26 PM

including exploitation of children, fraud (especially against elderly citizens),

and attacks on home computers. As cybercrime begins crossing more and
more state, regional, and national borders, police will need to collaborate
with law enforcement organizations across jurisdictions and geographical
boundaries to combat this form of crime. Moreover, efforts to fight
cybercrime through information technology will force citizens to decide where
the line between cyberprotection and cyberprivacy should be located.
key terms
constructive engagement
counterterrorism
cybercrime
futuristics
knowledge management
radicalization
virtual reality
1. Are ethical standards for police officers changing? If so, how? How might future
standards jeopardize police agencies’ efforts to hire ethical police officers? What is
the link between ethics and leadership?
2. What unique strengths do local police possess that enable them to play a valuable
role in counterterrorism and homeland security efforts? In what respects might local
police combat radicalization of terrorists in their area? If police are channeling more
resources into counterterrorism and homeland security, what might this mean for
other services they provide their local communities?
3. What are the advantages and disadvantages presented by outsourcing of police
services? If you were responsible for preparing this year’s budget for a police agency,
how would you deal with the challenge of providing better services with fewer
resources?
4. What innovative approaches might a police agency use to assess and evaluate its own
overall performance as an organization? If you were a police supervisor deciding
whether to promote an officer who is under your command, what criteria would you
consider in making your decision?
5. What strategies do you think would best enable a police agency to hire a diverse
workforce and bring more officers onboard who have a higher level of education?
What innovative training approaches would you suggest to help a police agency
reduce costs and provide better community service?
6. In what respects have you demonstrated constructive engagement and constructive
confrontation with others? How might you strengthen these communication skills?
ort80008_ch15_394-432.indd 430 30/11/10 3:26 PM

7. What is a courageous self-contained ethical leadership agent? In your view, which

of the Recommendations for Current and Future Police Executives provided by the
International Association of Chiefs of Police will be most relevant for tomorrow’s
police administrator? Explain the rationale behind your choices.
8. Identify a change (for example, shifting demographics, technological advances, trends
in crime) that you believe will have especially important ramifications for policing
in the future. What opportunities does the change objective present to the agency
and the community? What challenges does it present? Assuming you are the agency
manager, describe the change initiative you are proposing, the anticipated opportuni-
ties you are attempting to seize, and the threats or challenges you are attempting to
mitigate. What actions would you take to ensure that the change initiative you have
proposed is successfully executed in your agency?
9. In your view, do police labor unions still have a valuable role to play? Why or why not?
10. Of the trends in police facilities management discussed in this chapter, which strike
you as most promising? Most troubling? Why?
11. Where do you stand on the question of whether new technologies for fighting street
crime violate citizens’ privacy? Where do you stand on the question of whether
such technologies will someday make police officers obsolete? Explain the reasoning
behind your responses to both of these questions.
12. Imagine that you have just been promoted to head the cybercrime division in a police
agency. What forms of cybercrime do you think would be most important to com-
bat? Why? What strategies and tactics would you suggest for fighting these forms of
cybercrime?
WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

“It’s for Your Own Good”: The Proliferation of Safety Laws
For some time now, federal, state, and municipal legislatures have proposed
and passed laws making certain actions illegal because they harm the public
good. For instance, every state now requires people to wear safety belts while
driving or riding in an automobile and to position infant and children’s car
seats in a specific configuration to ensure safety. Thanks to the rising number
of accidents in which people have been talking on a cell phone or texting on
a handheld device while driving, lawmakers in many states have also made
these behaviors illegal.
Those who write and pass the laws would no doubt defend these laws as
necessary for citizens’ health and well-being. Detractors argue that such laws
are bringing us closer to a police state. Citizens over age 50 might well point
out that they survived childhood without ever wearing a bicycle helmet, knee
pads, or elbow pads.
(continued)
ort80008_ch15_394-432.indd 431 13/12/10 12:46 PM

Consider the trends in passage of federal, state, and municipal laws

designed to safeguard various aspects of the public good:
2007
• California: Lawmakers ban sales of carbonated soft drinks on school
campuses during school hours and put new limits on the sugar and fat
content in school lunches.
• South Dakota: Legislature requires repeat drunk drivers to check in at
jails twice daily for blood-alcohol testing.
• Georgia and Mississippi: Hospitals and clinics serving women who seek
to abort their fetuses must show women an ultrasound of the fetus and
force the women to listen to the heartbeat of the fetus before proceeding
with the abortion.
2008
• Canton, Ohio: Residents who neglect their lawns, allowing high grass
and weeds to grow unabated, face a fine of up to $250 and up to 30 days
in jail. This law was later amended to include the removal of dead trees
and the pruning of branches that might prove hazardous to people on
sidewalks and streets.
2009
• Illinois: First-time Driving Under the Influence (DUI) offenders must
install an ignition interlock device in their cars. If they want to drive
the car, they must exhale into the device so their blood-alcohol content
(BAC) can be tested. If the device detects alcohol in the person’s breath,
the vehicle cannot be started.
2010
• Texas: Teenagers who use a tanning salon must be accompanied by an
adult.
• Ohio: Anyone driving a vehicle without headlights illuminated during a
snowfall may be fined as much as $150.
• California: Media members may incur civil penalties up to $50,000 if
they buy or sell unlawfully obtained photos and/or videos.
1. What are the benefits of the so-called public-good laws at the federal,
state, and municipal levels?
2. In your view, what disadvantages do public-good laws pose for police?
For citizens?
3. If you were a police chief with concerns about a proliferation of public-
good legislation, how would you communicate your concerns to lawmak-
ers and citizens? How would you develop a case for limiting or expanding
such laws?
ort80008_ch15_394-432.indd 432 30/11/10 3:26 PM

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glossary
A Barriers to effective communication mind-sets
Activity-based budget a budget that defines and or cultural orientations that stand between a
analyzes all the activities consuming an organization’s communication receiver and giver, preventing one from
financial resources. (118) understanding the other. (215)
Actual cause all antecedents leading to a given Basic preservice training academy-based training that
result. (360) introduces recruits to police work, provides an overview
Administrative law public law promulgated by of the justice system, and includes classes on specific
administrative agencies at the federal, state, and local skills and knowledge areas related to police work. (245)
levels. (350) Behavior theory theory that identifies the behaviors
Affirmative action the means by which employers ensure distinguishing leaders who achieve desired results. (266)
that applicants and persons seeking advancement in their Behavioral standards (standards of conduct) standards
respective agencies or companies are not discriminated of conduct as defined by the police agency. The
against or denied employment or promotion based on standards are particularly valuable and advantageous
race, creed, color, or national origin. (332) to the agency’s culture and structure. (145)
Agency politics political machinations, ambitions, and Bias-based policing intentional or nonintentional
personal agendas that shape interpersonal dynamics practices that incorporate prejudicial judgments based
within a police agency. (319) on gender, race, ethnicity, and other differences that are
Alternative courses of action possible action plans inappropriately applied. (65)
for meeting identified needs or mitigating identified Binding arbitration a negotiation process through which
risks. (101) the involved parties agree to adhere to an arbitrator’s
Assessment the completion of an appraisal with respect decision and award. (345)
to an object or an activity. (163) Block grant general-purpose award designed to help meet
Assessment center process a series of activities unfunded services or objectives. Not as expenditure
designed to measure an applicant’s or officer’s restrictive as closed-end or categorical grants. (124)
knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) as well as Brand image an instinctive response from individuals
personal attributes and behavioral characteristics toward an agency or a service. (193)
related to work-specific scenarios. (200) Breach of contract failure of any party to a contract to
Audit an evaluation of a process, system, or project. (129) comply with the terms and conditions spelled out in
August Vollmer chief of police in Berkeley, California, the contract. (350)
from 1902 to 1932; considered a founder of modern Budget categories categories in a budget representing
policing. (10) types of expenses. (121)
Authority a legitimate right bestowed by an organization Budget a plan expressed in financial terms. (110)
on an individual to direct activities or persons. (277)
C
B Capital budget a budget that shows projects and expenses
Background investigation (BI) a step in the pre- designed to yield benefits well into the future. (119)
employment screening process in which a police agency Career plan a document describing a police officer’s
verifies a candidate’s qualifications including criminal personal career vision; a timetable for action; and
and credit histories, educational and employment detailed descriptions of any training, education, and
histories, and claims about matters such as moral career steps necessary to complete the plan. (252)
character, work habits, and stress tolerance. (198) Categorical grant spending is not as restrictive as for
Balanced scorecard a performance-management closed-end grant. Expenditures are allowed within a
framework based on the assumption that to improve category of programs or services. (124)
performance, organizations must execute the strategy Chain of command the notion that authority and
they have defined for generating desired results. (169) decision making should flow down from higher to lower
Balanced-based budget a budget based on an estimate levels in a police agency. Official discussions typically
of future revenues. (118) flow up or down through the chain of command. (136)
445
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446 glossar y
Citizen review board an independent group comprising it provides (or may provide) to the organization and/or its
local citizens appointed by the mayor or other politicians constituents. (126)
that investigates complaints, decides whether a complaint Counterterrorism procedures adopted by the military, police, and
is justified based on the evidence at hand, and offers governments to assist in preventing, reacting to, and investigating
recommendations. (310) acts or suspected acts of terrorism. (NSW, 2007) (399)
Civil work environment a workplace characterized by positive Crime analysis analytical process used to define current and
interactions, optimism, and the dismissal of cynicism and predict future quality-of-life concerns, crime patterns, or
pessimistic beliefs. (205) trends. (99)
Closed-end grant limits fund expenditures to narrowly defined Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) the
products or services and typically includes highly detailed process of deciding how to construct or modify the physical
compliance requirements. (123) environment to deter or discourage criminal activity. (94)
Collective agreement a labor contract that covers two or more Cross-cultural communication a process that occurs anytime
employees who are union members. (343) a person of one culture sends a message to, or receives a
Collective bargaining a series of steps through which certified message from, a person of another culture. (227)
unions and employers arrive at collective agreements. (343) Cross-gender communication a process that occurs anytime
Communication a process involving the exchange of information a person of one gender sends a message to, or receives a
between a sender and a receiver. (211) message from, a person of another gender. (228)
Community mapping process of visually displaying specific Cybercrime criminal misconduct perpetrated through information
locations, addresses, or areas of noted concern. (99) technology. (424)
Community policing an alternative strategy to traditional
policing that emphasizes close interaction between police and
D
Deployment of human resources the process of placing the
the neighborhoods they serve. (32)
right person in the right job or on the right tasks or projects,
Competency-based compensation payment for competencies
according to a candidate’s strengths, weaknesses, knowledge,
acquired and exhibited by members of the organization. (204)
skills, and abilities (KSAs)—as well as interests. (256)
Competitive bid a vendor’s best estimate of what a specific
Direct compensation compensation that includes base pay (hourly
item, service, or combination of both will cost an organization
wages or salaried) plus overtime pay for hourly employees. (203)
seeking to purchase, lease, or outsource the item, service, or
Direct liability liability that is embodied in the person who
combination of both. (375)
commits the act in question. (358)
CompStat a policing approach involving the generation of
Directed change a carefully planned, strategic process designed
as much real-time data as possible about crimes and the
to improve every area of a police agency. (148)
frequent evaluation of the data to develop strategies to reduce
Discipline actions taken to correct problematic behavior. (313)
crime as quickly and effectively as possible. (96)
Diversity differences among people with respect to wealth,
Confidential information anything written or spoken that is
age, gender, culture, lifestyle, race, ethnicity, and sexual
intended only for the eyes and/or ears of the receiver. (354)
orientation. (193)
Constructive engagement a coaching and mentoring rapport
that encourages a genuinely warm relationship between E
individuals. (411) Early warning system a set of practices enabling a police
Contingency plan a plan activated during serious emergencies, agency to identify and address problematic behaviors before
critical events, or disasters that affect the agency and demand they can reach disastrous levels. (313)
immediate and/or prolonged response. (92) Education the learning of concepts and development of
Contingency theory theory that attempts to match leaders to problem-solving and critical thinking skills through a school,
specific types of situations. (268) college, or university experience. (243)
Continuous evaluation the process by which an organization, Effectiveness the degree to which objectives are achieved and
on an ongoing basis, measures actual performance outcomes the extent to which targeted problems are resolved. (166)
against intended outcomes to identify and close gaps. (164) Efficiency a comparison of what is actually produced or
Continuous improvement a process through which an performed with what can be achieved with the same
organization repeatedly assesses the effectiveness of the consumption of resources (money, time, and labor). Efficiency
policies and procedures it has established for achieving key is an important factor in determination of productivity. (166)
objectives. (163) Entitlement-oriented compensation automatic pay increases
Contract legally binding, voluntary promise between two or more for employees, along with increases in benefits. (203)
people. (349) ERG theory Clay Alderfer’s framework proposing that human
Cost–benefit analysis an analysis through which an organization beings need elements for physical survival, relatedness, and
compares the cost of a program or initiative to the benefit personal growth. (281)
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glossar y 447
Ethical leadership ethical behavior on display. (16) Homeland security public and private policies, procedures,
Ethics the philosophical study of conduct that adheres to tactics, strategies, equipment, facilities, and personnel
certain principles of morality. (12) designed or utilized to defend the homeland against domestic-
Evaluation an examination or deliberation to decide the quality, or foreign-initiated threats or hazards (for example, terrorism,
value, criticalness, scope, or necessity of a service or activity; natural or human-caused disasters, and pandemics). (76)
a summary of an assessment’s findings and assignment of a
value to the performance assessed. (163) I
Expectancy theory Victor Vroom’s framework holding that people Immoral political power manipulation of others for personal
will be motivated to deliver their best on the job if they believe gain. (320)
that a specific level of performance will lead to an outcome In-service continuous professional training (CPT) training
that they value highly. (282) designed to enable police practitioners to maintain and
periodically update their skills. (249)
F Incremental change a police agency’s gradual adoption of new
Facilitation a communication skill through which police ways of operating designed to improve community service over
personnel develop solutions to problems. (235) time. (148)
Facilities manager an individual whose basic role is to ensure Indirect compensation compensation that includes items such
that all police property is maintained according to state and as medical and life insurance, paid time off, pensions, flexible
city building codes and safety standards, including those put schedules, education incentives, and a take-home police
forth by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration vehicle. (203)
(OSHA). (381) Intelligence-led policing a strategy that integrates problem-
Feedback a special kind of communication through which oriented policing and zero-tolerance policing through
a sender gives specific information (a response) to a continuous analysis of information about problems and
receiver. (237) development of action plans to resolve problems. (43)
Field training officer (FTO) a knowledgeable, seasoned, and Interaction–expectation theory theory proposing that
competent officer trained in adult education and evaluation leadership is the act of initiating a structure that group
procedures, who supervises recruits’ on-the-job (field) members support. (267)
training. (248) Interagency politics political dynamics taking place in the
Field training program training that focuses on the knowledge, interactions between a police agency and other public safety
skills, and abilities (KSAs) required of a police officer on the organizations in the same jurisdiction. (59)
job. (248) Intergovernment politics political dynamics taking place in
Financial audit an examination of randomly selected accounting interactions between a police agency and other governmental
transactions in an organization with the goal of checking for agencies serving or affecting the same jurisdiction. (61)
accuracy, completeness, and timeliness. (130) Intra-agency politics political dynamics taking place within a
Fraud examination an examination of each accounting transaction police organization. (58)
in an organization in search of any discrepancy. (130)
Futuristics an area of study that uses past and present K
performance, expert opinion, and statistics to describe changes Knowledge management the retention of knowledge most
that may occur in the near and distant future. (396) important to an organization. (410)
G L
General orders a police agency’s documented policies and Law Enforcement Code of Ethics and Law Enforcement Code of
procedures. (298) Conduct codes developed by the International Association of
Goals long-range achievements desired by an organization. (91) Chiefs of Police (IACP) in its early years. (13)
Good faith bargaining behaviors required by the Employee Leader–follower exchange theory theory that examines the
Relations Act of 2000. (344) nature and quality of the relationships between leaders and
Grievance an employee claim that a policy or contract followers. (269)
provision has been misapplied, interpreted incorrectly, or Leadership the art and science of ethically using
violated, thereby causing injury, loss, or inconvenience to the communication, activities, and behaviors to influence, motivate
employee. (347) (not manipulate), or mobilize others to action. (16)
Leadership skill an ability that can be measured
H objectively. (271)
Hierarchy of needs model Abraham Maslow’s framework Learned needs theory David McClelland’s framework suggesting
proposing five needs that human beings attempt to meet in a that human beings have three key needs: affiliation,
specific sequence. (280) achievement, and power. (282)
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448 glossar y
Lease a procurement arrangement that enables an individual or Nonnegotiable management rights what the management of a
organization to obtain or secure the use of items or property in government agency may do without having to negotiate with a
exchange for payments made at agreed-upon intervals. (370) labor organization. (339)
Level 5 leadership Jim Collins’s concept proposing that leaders Nonverbal communication the use of voluntary and involuntary
channel their ambition toward building a better organization body movements and, in some cases, clothing, hairstyle,
rather than promoting themselves and their personal physical attractiveness, and speaking style, to communicate a
agendas. (289) message. (221)
Line-item budget a budget in which each item is described
and assigned a place (line), with a corresponding dollar
O
O. W. Wilson August Vollmer’s protégé; introduced a merit system
value. (116)
for promotions and other innovations influential in modern
M policing. (10)
Maintenance of effort the annual cost necessary to maintain a Objectives short-term accomplishments that lead to
police agency’s existing level of service for the fiscal operating achievement of a particular goal. (91)
year. (129) Operating budget a short-term budget that accounts
Managerial grid Robert Blake and Jane Mouton’s model for the agency’s current operating expenses as distinct
identifying five leadership styles that vary in concern for people from major financial transactions or permanent capital
and concern for productivity. (284) improvements. (119)
Meta-leadership overarching leadership framework designed to Operational plan a plan delineating functional activities and
link organizational units or organizations; attempts to transcend agency change processes. Drives an entire agency or units
usual organizational confines. (268) within an agency. (92)
Mission a short-range task or assignment an organization Organizational culture shaped by the thoughts, speech, actions,
wishes to achieve. (90) values, and beliefs held by people in the organization. (141)
Moral political power attempts to influence and motivate others Organizational learning a social process in which individuals
with an eye toward achieving organizational goals rather than interact with one another to exchange information that enables
satisfying one’s own interests. (320) them to make well-informed decisions. (151)
Morale the state of the spirits of a person or group as exhibited Organizational structure refers to the configuration of
by confidence, cheerfulness, discipline, and willingness to relationships within an organization. (136)
perform assigned tasks. (306) Outsourcing a process by which a company or government
Motivation–hygiene theory theory proposing which factors entity contracts with another company or government entity
increase satisfaction and dissatisfaction among employees in to provide products or services that were formerly provided or
an organization. (267) performed by the original entity. (371)
N P
National Incident Management System (NIMS) a nationwide Path–goal motivational leadership model R. J. House’s
program by which public safety agencies develop policies framework suggesting that followers will be motivated to give
and processes for collectively preventing and managing their best if they believe that they are capable of performing
emergencies. (77) the tasks assigned, that their efforts will produce certain
Needs assessment the process an organization uses to results, and that the rewards for completing tasks are
determine whether a need (or problem) exists that could be worthwhile. (288)
addressed by a particular course of action. (98) Path–goal theory theory suggesting that a leader’s role is to
Negligence failure to exercise the degree of care that an enhance followers’ performance by motivating them and by
ordinary, reasonable, and prudent person would demonstrate rewarding achievement of goals. (268)
under the same circumstances. (358) Performance appraisal assessment of an individual’s job
Negotiable management rights areas wherein nothing in Title 5 performance in an organization. (300)
precludes an agency or a labor organization from negotiating Performance-based budget a budget that links measurable
the numbers, types, and grades (ranks) of employees or activities to established strategic objectives. (116)
positions assigned to any organizational subdivision, work Personal–situational theory theory proposing that a mix of
project, or tour of duty; the technology, methods, and means of personal characteristics interact with specific conditions in an
performing work; or the procedures an agency uses to exercise individual’s environment to produce leadership. (267)
authority. (339) Persuasion the ability to influence outcomes, using methods
Nondirected change an informal process of altering the way other than the issuance of direct orders. (236)
tasks are accomplished, affecting only those individuals who Planning a process, formulation, or design used to achieve an
will implement the change. (149) intended result. (87)
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glossar y 449
Police administration the process, art, and science of the Q

management, supervision, and ethical leadership of a police Quality assurance ensuring that service actions comply
agency. (3) with agency directives and that they support the agency’s
Police misconduct inappropriate behaviors (often including use mission. (172)
of excessive force, theft, and other destructive behaviors) and Quality control verifying that an activity is completed correctly
conduct prohibited by a police agency. (69) (efficiently and effectively) the first time. (171)
Police–community partnerships collaborations between
officers and community citizens to address citizens’ R
concerns. (260) Radical change new ways of operation stemming from a
Policies the basic principles directing and limiting a police specific innovation that transforms the way a police agency
agency’s actions in pursuit of long-term goals. (298) delivers customer service. (147)
Policing strategy an approach to delivering police services Radicalization the process by which individuals align their
based on specific assumptions about matters such as how ideology with that of a group and commit themselves to
police and community residents should interact, what causes achieving the group’s goals through violence. (399)
crime to worsen, and how technology might be leveraged. (29) Repeat-use plan a plan that may be replicated for similar
Political correctness often used to refer to the avoidance of events or tactical situations. (92)
saying or doing something that risks offending a particular Return on investment (ROI) the benefits that result from an
individual’s or group’s sensibilities. (62) activity. (127)
Power the ability of an individual to influence others; shape an Rewards-based compensation also known as merit pay;
organization’s direction and priorities; and influence situations, compensation that enhances the earnings of top performers
affairs, and objects. (277) and places value on people rather than job categories. (203)
Pre-employment screening process a sequence of steps Risk assessment the process an organization uses to determine
designed to help a police agency compare job applicants and whether a known or foreseeable threat exists, how likely
select the most promising candidates. Elements of the process it is that the threat will materialize, and how severe the
include an employment application/questionnaire, aptitude consequences would be if it did materialize. (99)
test, physical abilities test, and other assessments. (196) Role model a person who exhibits values, attitudes, and behaviors
Principles of policing principles regarding the mission and considered desirable in a particular organization. (276)
acceptable behavior of police, attributed to Sir Robert S
Peel. (6) Self-contained ethical leadership agent an individual with the
Problem-oriented policing the tactical implementation of knowledge, skills, and abilities to motivate others to deliver
community policing. (36) their best performance and who can garner their trust, respect,
Procedures the sequence of activities or courses of action and admiration. (4)
that must be followed in a police agency to correctly perform Self-management the process of monitoring and controlling
tasks. (298) one’s emotions and remaining flexible and balanced in the
Profession an occupation or discipline that requires its face of disappointment or frustration. (105)
members to adhere to prescribed standards of behavior and Servant leadership Robert K. Greenleaf’s approach to
competence and that has characteristics including common leadership emphasizing sensitivity, awareness, and empathy
goals and principles, a common language, a system for toward followers. (289)
licensing or credentialing members, and an association that Service contract an agreement by which a seller agrees to
promotes the profession’s standards and interest. (17) provide repair or maintenance services for the specified
Program budget a budget that presents programs and services purchased equipment for a certain time period. (376)
separately in categories. (116) Sexual harassment touching, intimidation, lewd remarks, and
Project management the process of planning and guiding an other conduct or communication of a sexual nature that is
initiative from inception to completion. (129) offensive to a prudent and reasonable person. (359)
Proximate (legal) cause that to which liability attaches; results Single-use plan a plan for a one-time event or special
from an action or inaction that directly leads to damage to circumstance. (92)
property, or to the injury or death of another person. (360) Sir Robert Peel the nineteenth-century British home secretary
Psychodynamic approach an approach suggesting that leaders influential in passing the Metropolitan Police Act, which
are more effective if they have insight into the psychological established the world’s first recognizable local police
makeup of themselves and their followers. (270) department. (5)
Purchasing an organization’s procurement of goods and services Site survey assessment of existing facilities to determine
in the correct amounts, from the most appropriate source, for whether they need any equipment or materials upgrades, such
the best possible price. (368) as improved computer systems or a new roof or siding. (385)
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450 glossar y
Situational leadership model Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard’s Theory Y Douglas McGregor’s description of a motivational
model suggesting four leadership styles delegating, management style in organizations. (283)
supportive, selling, and telling. (285) Theory Z William Ouchi’s adaptation of Theory Y emphasizing a
Situational theory theory proposing that different situations leadership style that advocates trusting followers and enabling
demand different styles of leadership. (268) them to feel they are part of the organization. (284)
Span of control the idea that each manager in a police agency Tort a private wrong committed against a person or a person’s
should supervise only a reasonable number of individuals or property. (352)
units. (136) Total quality leadership the commitment and behavior needed
Special populations populations that include people with to carry out and integrate TQM practices throughout a police
hearing or visual impairments, developmental disabilities, agency. (173)
mental illnesses or substance-abuse problems, and those who Total quality management (TQM) a performance-management
present an immediate danger to themselves or others. (228) framework that can help a police agency take a disciplined
Standardized Emergency Management System (SEMS) a approach to quality control and assurance. (171)
set of guidelines that aims to ensure that state-level Toxic management a situation in which a manager exhibits
agencies’ emergency management system comply with NIMS poor judgment and negative behaviors, has no skill at building
guidelines. (79) rapport and positive relationships, and cannot cultivate an
Strategic plans long-term courses of action intended to apply to environment of mutual respect. (291)
the entire police organization. (93) Traditional budget a budget that reflects a simple percentage
Strategic policing an approach that seeks to integrate proven increase in funding over the most recent budget. (115)
private- and public-sector management techniques with public Traditional policing an authoritarian, paramilitary strategy
policing strategy. (45) developed to mitigate corruption in the police service. (29)
Stress management a blend of prevention, training, and Training knowledge and skill development and on-the-job
intervention programs that a police agency puts in place to preparation. (243)
mitigate dangerous levels of stress among officers. (315) Trait theory theory that seeks to identify the individual traits
Strict liability liability for damages, injury, or loss regardless of distinguishing leaders from followers. (266)
the person’s culpability (blame or fault). (358) Transactional theory process in which the leader and follower
Succession management preparation of individuals in a police make simple exchanges or transactions (e.g., money for work
agency who are interested in leadership for higher-level completed). (269)
management and supervisory positions as well as specialized Transformational theory theory that proposes a process through
assignments. (302) which leaders engage others and create a connection that
Succession planning activities intended to ensure that enhances motivation and morality in themselves as well as
adequate qualified personnel are available to replace those followers. (269)
who vacate positions through promotion, transfer, retirement,
termination, or agency expansion; the identification of high- U
potential employees in a police agency and the provision of Unfair labor practices actions taken by unions or employers
training, coaching, and developmental opportunities needed to that violate the U.S. National Labor Relations Act
enable them to move into influential or specialized positions. (NLRA). (337)
(256 & 302) Unity of command the concept that each individual working
in the agency should report to only one supervisor and that
T each unit or situation should be under the control of a single
Tactical plan a plan for special events, unique or extraordinary individual. (136)
circumstances, or intra-agency or interagency operational
needs. (92) V
Task force a temporary working group assembled to address Value-added contribution (VAC) additional value (beyond basic
a specific problem or manage a particular event requiring requirements) that an activity contributes to a program or
specialized expertise. (260) service. (127)
Team a group of people who receive specialized training and use Values fundamental beliefs, principles, or standards that an
that training to address a specific incident. (259) individual or members of an organization regard as desirable
Team policing and neighborhood policing examples of how or worthwhile. (89)
community policing may be implemented to address problems Variable compensation compensation that is tied to personal,
on a small scale. (39) team, or organizational performance and that may include
Theory X Douglas McGregor’s model describing command-and- bonuses and incentives for special assignments as well as shift
control management style in an organization. (283) differential. (203)
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glossar y 451
Vicarious (indirect) liability legal responsibility for the W

actions or damages that have resulted from someone else’s Warranty a promise by the manufacturer that it will repair
negligence. (358) any defects or replace the product if a major malfunction
Virtual reality a computer simulation of a real or imaginary occurs. (377)
system that enables a user to perform operations on the
simulated system and shows the effects in real time. (414) Z
Vision the image an organization or individual has in mind for a Zero-based budget a budget in which all available revenue is
desired future state. (90) allocated to expense categories. (117)
Volunteerism the process by which community members donate Zero-tolerance policing a strategy based on the assumption
their time and effort to a police agency’s operations. (138) that full enforcement of the laws will ultimately decrease crime
Vroom–Jago Time–Drive Leadership Model Victor Vroom’s and disorder. (40)
model postulating that time constraints drive a leader’s
decision-making process. (286)
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PhotoEdit; 409: © Mark Wilson/Getty Images; 420: © Ted Soqui/Corbis; 422: ©
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ort80008_cre_453-456.indd 456 07/12/10 4:22 PM
index
A Ashcroft, John, 17 Block grant, 124–125
Abington Township Police Assessment (defined), 163 defined, 124
Department, 197 Assessment center process, 200–201 Blue flu, 343
Academic curriculum, 246 defined, 200 Books (bibliography), 433–444
Accreditation, 177–179, 407 Assessment center simulations, Boston police strike (1919), 336–337
Accreditation process, 179 200–201 Brainstorming, 102
Accrediting bodies, 178 Astuteness, 57 Brand image, 192–193
ACT One, 37 Audit (defined), 129 defined, 193
Activity-based budget (defined), 118 Auditing, 129–130 Bratton, William, 46
Actual cause (defined), 360 Authority, 277–280 Bravery, 143
Actuation and implementation defined, 277 Breach of contract (defined), 350
skills, 273 Auxiliary services, 23 Bridge/go-between, 61
ADA, 331–332 Broken windows theory, 41
Adapting to change, 146–151 B Budget (defined), 110
Adaptive learning, 152 Background differences, 215–216 Budget categories (defined), 121
ADEA, 330 Background investigation (BI), 198–199 Budget cutbacks, 128
Administrative agencies, 351 defined, 198 Budget message, 120–121
Administrative law, 350–351 Balanced-based budget (defined), 118 Budget report, 406
defined, 350 Balanced scorecard, 169–171 Budgeting and fiscal management,
Administrative support, 23 defined, 169 109–133
Affiliation needs, 281 Barriers to effective communication auditing, 129–130
Affirmative action, 332–333 background differences, 215–216 budget cutbacks, 128
defined, 332 complex communication budget sections, 120–121
Age Discrimination in Employment Act channels, 217 building the budget, 120–127
(ADEA), 330 defined, 215 constraints, 112
Agency-focused citizen review denial, 217 cost-benefit analysis, 126–127
model, 312 lack of motivation, 218–219 executing the budget, 129–130
Agency politics, 319–321. See also noncredible source, 216–217 expenditure categories, 121, 122
Complex political dynamics organizational culture, 219 flexibility, 114–115
defined, 319 poor communication skills, 215 maintenance-of-effort
Agenda (meeting), 223–224 unfamiliar languages, 218 calculation, 129
Aim4Peace, 26–27 Basic preservice training, 245–248 managing projects, 129
al-Qaeda, 399, 401 defined, 245 public budgeting, 111
Alderfer’s ERG theory, 281–282 Behavior theory, 266–267 public budgeting process,
Alternative courses of action, defined, 266 113–114
101–102 Behavioral standards, 145–157 required future directions,
defined, 319 defined, 145 404–406
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Bennis, Warren, 268 resource allocation decisions,
331–332 Best practice, 168 126–127
Annual master plan, 406 BI, 198–199 ROI, 127
Apolitical philosophy, 30 Bias-based policing, 65–67 “selling” the budget, 127–128
Aptitude test, 197 defined, 65 sources of revenue, 121–125
Arbitration, 348 Bibliography, 433–444 types of budgets, 115–120
Aristotle, 12 bin Laden, Osama, 55 VAC, 127
Arrest-related deaths, 68–71 Binding arbitration (defined), 345 Bureaucracy, 135, 142
Arrest-related homicides, 68, 69 Blake, Robert, 284 Burns, James MacGregor, 269
Arrest-related suicides, 68, 69 Blanchard, Ken, 268, 285 Bush, George W., 55
457
ort80008_Ind_457-466.indd 457 12/9/10 3:49 PM

458 index
C Command-and-control model, 30. See also Compensation and benefit packages,

CALEA, 178 Traditional policing 203–204
Capital budget, 119–120 Command and management structures, 78 Competence, 143
defined, 119 Commission on Accreditation for Law Competency-based compensation
Capital budget process, 119 Enforcement Agencies (CALEA), 178 (defined), 204
Capital expenditure, 120 Communication, 209–241 Competing for resources, 75
Capital expenses, 121, 122 barriers. See Barriers to effective Competitive bid (defined), 375
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), communication Competitive bidding system, 375–376
167, 168 conflict management, 238 Complaint process, 311
Career planning, 252–254 cultural differences, 227 Complex communication channels, 217
defined, 252 defined, 211 Complex political dynamics
Categorical grant (defined), 124 distinctive process, as, 211 interagency politics, 59–61
CeaseFire, 26 facilitation, 235–236 intergovernment politics, 61–62
CEDs, 69, 71 feedback, 237–238 intra-agency politics, 58–59
Certification, 253 formal/informal channels, 213 political correctness, 62–63
Chain of command (defined), 136 future directions, 411–412 required leadership skills, 57–58
Challenging the status quo, 415 gender differences, 227–228 CompStat, 41, 44, 96–97
Change, 146–151 grapevine, 225–226 defined, 96
Change leadership, 416–419 language, 218 Computers, 73
Chapman, Wilbur, 334 leaders, and, 272–273 Conceptual course, 246
Charismatic leaders, 279 listening, 220–221 Condorcet, Marquis de, 395
Chicago Project for Violence Prevention, 26 meeting, 223–224 Conducted-energy devices (CEDs), 69, 71
Chief executive officer, 60 news media, 231–234 Confession, 18
Child exploitation, 425 newsletter, 224–225 Confidential informant (CI), 355
Christian Crusades, 55 nonverbal channels, 221–222 Confidential information, 354, 355
CI, 355 other agencies, with, 234–235 defined, 354
Citizen complaints, 311 persuasion, 236–237 Confidentiality, 15
Citizen involvement, 405 special populations, 228–229 Conflict management, 238
Citizen Oriented Police Enforcement technology, 229–230 Consideration, 349
(COPE), 139 verbal channels, 219–221 Consolidation of police facilities, 421
Citizen review board, 310–312 written channels, 222–223 Constitution of the United States, 329
defined, 310 Communication channels, 219–223 Constructive confrontation, 411–412
Citizen safety, 143 Communication directions, 212 Constructive engagement (defined), 411
City facility, 380 Communication technology, 230–231 Contingency plan (defined), 92
Civil action for deprivation of rights, 68 Communications and information Contingency theory (defined), 268
Civil lawsuits, 357–358 management component Continuous evaluation (defined), 164
Civil Rights Act of 1964, 328, 330, 333 of NIMS, 79 Continuous improvement, 163–164
Civil Service Reform Act, 330 Communications and related interpersonal defined, 163
Civil work environment, 204–206 skills, 272–274 Contraband, 126
defined, 205 Community mapping (defined), 99 Contract (defined), 349
Closed-end grant, 123–124 Community meeting, 151, 152, 177 Contract law, 349–350
defined, 123 Community–police partnerships, 102 Contractual capacity, 349
Coalition of stakeholders, 150–151 Community policing COPE, 139
Code of conduct, 13, 14–16 assessment and evaluation, 165–166 Cost–benefit analysis, 126–127
Code of ethics, 13, 14 criticism/resistance, 34–35 defined, 126
Collaborating toward the greater defined, 32 Counteroffer, 350
good, 62 defining characteristics, 32–34 Counterradicalization strategies, 400
Collaboration, 148 how to make it better, 35–36 Counterterrorism, 399–403
Collective agreement (defined), 343 Peel’s principles, 32 defined, 399
Collective bargaining, 343–345 praise for, 34 Country club management style, 284–285
defined, 343 surveys, 35 County facility, 380
College graduates, 194–195 Community relationships, 138–140 Courage, 20–21, 143
Collins, Jim, 289 Community volunteer response team CPR, 167, 168
Command-and-control culture, 141–143 (CVRT), 152 CPT, 249
ort80008_Ind_457-466.indd 458 07/12/10 4:55 PM

index 459
CPTED, 94–96 Deployment of human resources, 256–260 Employment agency, 192

Crime analysis (defined), 99 defined, 256 Employment application/questionnaire, 197
Crime fighter (police officer), 64 Destructive conflict, 238 Employment interview, 197
Crime prevention through environment Detailed schedule, 121 Empowerment, 308
design (CPTED), 94–96 Development, 251–256 Entitlement-oriented compensation
defined, 94 DHS, 76 (defined), 203
Cross-border crime, 427 Diagonal communication, 212 EPPA, 331
Cross-cultural communication (defined), Direct compensation (defined), 203 Equal Employment Opportunity
227 Direct liability (defined), 358 Commission (EEOC), 330
Cross-cultural differences. See Diversity Directed change (defined), 148 Equal Pay Act, 328
Cross-gender communication, 227–228 Discipline (defined), 313 ERG theory, 281–282
defined, 228 Discretion, 15 defined, 281
Cross-training, 409–410 District building, 380 Esserman, Dean, 32
Crusades, 55 Diversity Esteem needs, 281
Cultivating leadership abilities, 22 affirmative action, 332–333 Ethical challenges, 12–13
Cultural diversity. See Diversity background differences, 215–216 Ethical considerations
Cultural diversity training, 247–248 challenges for police, 56–57 aligning actions with words, 65
Cultural identity, 55–56 communication, 215–216, 227–228 bias-based policing, 65–67
Culture, 141–145, 219 defined, 193 code of conduct, 13, 14–16
Curriculum (police academy), 246 efforts to foster tolerance, 54–56 code of ethics, 13, 14
Customer, 155 hiring practices, 187, 193–194, definitions, 12
Customer dissatisfaction, 174–175 333–334 delivering service ethically, 175
Customer-focused citizen review racial profiling, 65 demonstrating ethical leadership,
model, 312 U.S. population, 53, 54 153–155
Customer-oriented cop, 155–157 Domestic abuse, 361 ethical challenges, 12–13
Customer satisfaction, 164 Donated space, 421 ethical leadership by example, 16–17
Customer segment, 157 Donation, 125 ethical pitfalls, 321
Customer service, 174–176 Downton, J. V., 269 misuse of force, 67–68
Customer types, 175 Driving simulator, 200 police misconduct, 68–71
CVRT, 152 purchasing, 369–370
Cybercrime, 424–428 E required future actions, 397–399
attacks on home computers, 426–427 E-newsletter, 224–225 Ethical leadership, 16, 154
cross-border crime, 427 E-zine, 224–225 defined, 16
defined, 424 Early warning system (defined), 313 Ethical pitfalls, 321
exploitation of children, 425 Education, 243, 251 Ethics (defined), 12
fraud, 426 defined, 243 Evaluation (defined), 163
trade-offs, 427–428 Educational level, 194–195 Evidence storage facility, 176
EEOC, 330 Executive officers, 60
D Effectiveness, 166–167 Expectancy theory, 282–283
Dashboard video camera, 312 defined, 166 defined, 282
Deadbolt lock, 96 Efficiency (defined), 166 Expenditure categories, 121, 122
Decentralization, 141 Electronic forms of communication, Experimentation, 152
Decision roles, 104 230, 231 Explanatory charts, 347
Deep pockets theory, 358 Electronic newsletter, 224–225 Exploitation of children, 425
Defamation, 354 Electronic Signature in Global and National Expressed contract, 349
Definitions (glossary), 445–451 Commerce Act, 349 External change, 146
Delegating style, 285 Ell, Anthony, 26 External risk, 100
Demonstrating ethical leadership, Emergency management, 77 External survey, 35
153–155 Emergency preparedness, 77 Eye contact, 222
Denial, 217 Emergency services (SWAT) team, 257
Department of Homeland Security Employee Polygraph Protection ACT F
(DHS), 76 (EPPA), 331 Facilitation, 235–236
Department of Homeland Security Employee satisfaction, 307–308 defined, 235
strategic plan, 93–94 Employee turnover, 306–309 Facilities management, 380–390
ort80008_Ind_457-466.indd 459 07/12/10 4:55 PM

460 index
facilities manager, 380–383, 385–386 change leadership, 416–419 High-speed police vehicle pursuits,
future directions, 420–421 communication, 411–412 72, 360–361
maintaining agency sites, 381–383 counterterrorism/homeland security, High-speed pursuit simulation, 201
new/renovated facilities, 383–385 399–404 Higher education, 251
site survey, 385–386 cybercrime, 424–428 Hiring practices, 74, 184–208, 408
technology, 387–390 ethics and professionalism, 397–399 assessment center process, 200–201
types of police facilities, 380 facilities management, 420–421 brand image, 192–193
Facilities manager, 380–383, 385–386 famous prognosticators, 395 civil work environment, 204–206
defined, 381 hiring, 408 compensation and benefit packages,
Fadishness, 291 leadership, 413–416 203–204
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), 338 police unions, 419–420 diversity, 187, 193–194, 332–334
False imprisonment, 352 street crime technology, 422–424 educational level, 194–195
Familiarity, 66–67 training, 409–411 human resources needs assessment,
Family and Medical Leave Act, 332 Futuristics (defined), 396 187–188
Family program, 318 job posting, 190–191
Fear-based power, 278 G minimum hiring standards, 188–189
Federal Emergency Management Agency Gated community, 405 pre-employment screening, 196–200
(FEMA), 401 Gen Y recruits, 187 recruitment, 189–195
Federal employment laws, 328–332 General equivalency diploma (GED) selecting new hires, 195–204
Federal grant, 123 programs, 26 selection mistakes, 201–202
Feedback, 237–238 General orders, 298–300 underrepresented groups, 193
defined, 237 defined, 298 Historical overview
FEMA, 401 Geographic information system (GIS) 1850–1930 (from community service
Field training officer (FTO) (defined), 248 technology, 43 to crime fighting), 8–10
Field training program (defined), 248 GIS technology, 43 1930–1980 (widening array of policing
Final decision, 345 Giuliani, Rudy, 41 strategies), 10–11
Financial audit (defined), 130 Glossary, 445–451 1980–present (flexibility and
Fines and fees, 121–123 Goals (defined), 91 transition), 11–12
Firearms range, 120 Goldstein, Herman, 36 Boston police strike (1919), 336–337
Firearms training, 244 Good faith (defined), 344 emergence of formal police
Fiscal management. See Budgeting and Good to Great and the Social Sectors organizations, 7–8
fiscal management (Collins), 289 Metropolitan Police Act, 5
FLSA, 338 Grant, 123–125, 388–390 Peel’s principles, 6
Follow-up investigation, 148 Grant application, 389 traditional policing, 30
FOP, 336 Grantor, 123 unions, 335–337
Force, 67–68, 247 Grapevine, 225–226 Wickersham Commission, 9
Forensic latent fingerprint expert, 124 Green River killer, 260, 261 Hitler, Adolf, 279
Forfeiture laws, 125 Grievance, 347–349 HITS, 392–393
Formal authority, 278 defined, 347 Home computers, 426–427
Formal communication channels, 213 Gross negligence, 359 Homeland security
Formal incentives, 203 Guild, 335 all-hazards approach, 401, 402
Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), 336 Gun buy-back program, 174 defined, 76
Fraternal organizations, 336 Gunshot detection sensor, 423 DHS, 76
Fraud, 426 local police, 402
Fraud examination (defined), 130 H NIMS, 77–79
Freud, Sigmund, 270 Hasan, Nidal Malik, 400 phases of emergency management, 77
FTO, 248 Heifetz, Ronald, 268 SEMS, 79–80
Fuel costs, 114 Henry II, 7 Homicide investigation tracking system
Fund-raising program, 125 Hersey, Paul, 268, 285 (HITS), 392–393
Funding, 61 Hersey’s situational leadership model, Hoover, Herbert, 9
Funding a zero-tolerance initiative, 133 285–286 Hoover, J. Edgar, 10
Future of police administration, 394–432 Herzberg, Frederick, 267–268 Horizontal communication, 212
assessment and evaluation, 406–408 Hierarchy of needs, 280–281 Horizontal relationships, 138
budgeting, 404–406 defined, 280 House, R. J., 288
ort80008_Ind_457-466.indd 460 07/12/10 4:55 PM

index 461
Household budget, 111 Intentional torts, 353–354 Lateral transfers, 253

Human relations challenges, 296–324 Interaction committee, 102 Law, 142
agency politics, 319–321 Interaction–expectation theory (defined), Law enforcement code of conduct,
ethical pitfalls, 321 267 13, 14–16
general orders, 298–300 Interagency politics, 59–61 Law enforcement code of ethics, 13, 14
management of police misconduct, defined, 59 Law enforcement code of ethics and law
310–314 Intergovernment politics, 61–62 enforcement code of conduct
performance appraisal, 300–302 defined, 61 (defined), 13
stress management, 314–319 Internal change, 146 Leader, 21, 22, 57, 275
succession management, 302–306 Internal customer, 156 Leader-follower exchange theory (defined),
talent retention, 306–308 Internal organizational risks, 99 269
Human resources needs assessment, Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Leader officers, 144, 145
187–188 reimbursements, 125 Leadership (defined), 16
Human rights, 55 Internal survey, 35 Leadership and supervision, 264–295
Hurricane Katrina, 78–79 Internet, 73, 413 authority/power, 277–280
Hygiene factors, 267 Internet crime. See Cybercrime barriers to effective leadership, 291
Hypocrisy, 291 Intra-agency politics, 58–59 change leadership, 416–419
defined, 58 communication, 272–274
I Intuition, 104 future directions, 413–416
IACP recommendations for police Investigative process, 108 leadership/management,
executives, 415–416 Investigator, 365 compared, 275
ICE 287(g) program, 309 IRS reimbursements, 125 leadership skills, 271–275
ICS, 78 Islamic jihad, 55 leadership styles. See Leadership styles
Ignition interlock device, 432 leadership/supervision, compared, 275
Immigration monitoring, 309 J leadership theories, 265–270
Immigration Reform and Control Act, 330 JABG, 125 motivation, 274–275
Immoral political power (defined), 320 Jargon, 218 police leader-supervisor, 276–277
Implied contract, 350 Jihad, 55 training/development, 254–255
Impoverished managerial style, 284 Job interview, 197 Leadership development program,
In-group relationships, 269 Job posting, 190–191 254–255
In-service continuous professional Job rotation, 308 Leadership in police organizations (LPO)
training (CPT) (defined), 249 Job shadowing, 305 program, 415
In-service legal training, 361 Juvenile accountability block grant Leadership skills, 271–275
In-service training, 71, 249 (JABG), 125 defined, 271
Incentive, 203 Leadership styles, 280–290
Incident, 36 ERG theory, 281–282
Incident command system (ICS), 78 K expectancy theory, 282–283
Incident management, 79 Katrina (Hurricane), 78–79 learned needs theory, 282
Incremental change (defined), 148 Kelling, George, 41 level 5 leadership, 289–290
Incremental planning, 91 Kelly, Gene, 225 managerial grid, 284–285
Indirect compensation (defined), 203 King, Rodney, 195 Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, 280–281
Indirect incentives, 203 Knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs), path-goal motivational leadership
Individual courage, 143 251–256 model, 288, 289
Individual values, 89 Knowledge management (defined), 410 servant leadership, 289
Informal communication, 213 Kotter strategic change model, 419 situational leadership model, 285–286
Informal leaders, 278 KSAs, 251–256 Theory X/Y/Z, 283–284
Information management guidelines, 79 Vroom–Jago time–drive leadership
Information technology, 73, 149 L model, 286–288
Innovative change, 104 Labor contract, 346–347 Leadership theories, 265–270
Intangible property, 351 Labor laws, 338 Learned needs theory (defined), 282
Integrity, 15 Labor Management Reporting and Learning, 151–153
Integrity test, 199 Disclosure Act, 338 Lease (defined), 370
Intelligence-led policing, 43–44 Labor negotiation, 343–347 Lease-purchase agreement, 371
defined, 43 Landrum–Griffin Act, 338 Leasing, 370–371
ort80008_Ind_457-466.indd 461 07/12/10 4:55 PM

462 index
Legal considerations, 326–365 Media conference, 232–233 National Strategy for Homeland
administrative law, 350–351 Mediation, 348 Security, 76
affirmative action, 332–333 Medical evaluation, 199 Natural access control, 95–96
civil lawsuits, 357–358 Medical examiner, 155 Natural surveillance, 95
contract law, 349–350 Meese, Edwin, III, 272 Needed change, 164
how to minimize exposure, 361–362 Meet-and-confer, 345 Needs assessment, 98–99
labor organizations. See Unionization Meeting, 223–224 defined, 98
liability management, 357–362 Meeting agenda, 223–224 Negligence, 353, 358–359, 361
national employment laws, 328–332 Mental illness, 361 defined, 358
negligence, 358–359 Mentoring, 71, 276 Negotiable management rights, 339–340
privacy law, 354–357 Merit pay, 203 defined, 339
property law, 351–352 Meta-leadership theory, 268–269 Neighborhood block party, 94
proximate cause, 360–361 defined, 268 Neighborhood Crime Watch sign, 39
sexual harassment, 359–360 Metropolitan Police Act, 5, 7 Neighborhood deterioration, 41
tort law, 352–354 Middle-of-the-road management style, 285 Neighborhood policing, 39–40
Less-than-lethal weapons, 67 Military-style police training, 206 Neighborhood risk, 100
Level 5 leadership, 289–290 Military-style stress program, 248 Neighborhood Watch, 405
defined, 289 Minimum hiring standards, 188–189 Neighborhood watch program, 39
Levin, Bud, 425, 427, 428 Minutes (meeting), 224 Nepotism, 291
Lewin basic change model, 418 Miranda warning, 18 Net-centric, 414
Liability lawsuits, 68 Miscellaneous expenses, 121, 122 Networking, 57
Liability management, 357–362 Misguided assumptions, 291 New/renovated facilities, 383–385
Libel, 354 Mission (defined), 90 New York City, 41, 42
Licensing boards, 251 Mission statement, 90 New York City Police Department
Line-item budget (defined), 116 Misuse of force, 67–68 (NYPD), 334
Line operations, 22 Mitigating emergencies, 77 Newer strategies, 11
Listening, 220–221 Mobile police communications units, 422 News media, 231–234
Local police department outsourcing, Moral political power (defined), 320 Newsgroup, 230
372–374 Morale (defined), 306 Newsletter, 224–225
Long-range acoustic device, 144 Morality, 12, 143 NIMS, 77–79
Long-term, big-picture view, 88 Motivation–hygiene theory, 267–268 NIMS ongoing management and
Loyalty, 83 defined, 267 maintenance component, 79
LPO program, 415 Motivation skills, 273, 274–275 NIMS supporting-technologies
Motivational tool, 308–309 component, 79
M Motivators, 267 9-1-1 emergency communications
Maintenance of effort (defined), 129 Motley, Joyce, 45 center, 373
Malthus, Thomas, 395 Mouton, Jane, 284 9/11 attacks, 76
Management of police misconduct, Multi-agency coordination system, 78 “No comment” statement, 233
310–314 Multitasking, 64 Noncredible source, 216–217
Management rights, 339–340 Nondirected change (defined), 149
Manager, 21, 275 N Nonmonetary compensation, 204
Managerial grid, 284–285 National Advisory Commission on Civil Nonnegotiable management rights
defined, 284 Disorders, 11 (defined), 339
Managing criminal investigations (MCI), National Advisory Commission on Criminal Nonverbal communication, 221–222
147, 148 Justice Standards and Goals, 11 defined, 221
Managing projects, 129 National Chiefs of Police Union, 8 Norris-LaGuardia Act, 338
Mapping software, 43, 99 National Commission on Law Observance North Miami Beach Citizens Patrol
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, 280–281 and Enforcement (Wickersham volunteers, 60
Matching resources, 123 Commission), 9 Nostradamus, 395
McClelland, David, 282 National employment laws, 328–332 NYPD, 334
McGregor, Douglas, 283 National Incident Management System
MCI, 147, 148 (NIMS), 77–79 O
McVeigh, Timothy, 400 defined, 77 Object-of-expenditure budget, 116
Media, 231–234 National Labor Relations Act, 338 Objectives (defined), 91
ort80008_Ind_457-466.indd 462 07/12/10 4:55 PM

index 463
Occupational arrogance, 139 Organizational structure, 136–141 CompStat, 96–97

Occupational Safety and Health Act, 330 defined, 136 CPTED, 94–96
Officer motivation, 307–308 Organizational values, 89 defined, 87
Officer performance appraisals, 300–302 Ortmeier study, 272 goals, 91
Officer unity, 143–144 Ouchi, William, 284 incremental, 91
O’Malley, Sean Patrick, 277 Out-group relationships, 269 long-term, big-picture view, 88
On-the-job training, 248–249 Outreach program, 400 mission, 90
One Team, One Mission, Securing Our Outsourcing, 371–375, 377–379, 404 objectives, 91
Homeland, 93–94 defined, 371 pitfalls, 91–92
Online fantasies, 425 Outsourcing contract, 377–379 sample planning process model, 97–98
Online fraud, 426 Outstanding performance, 167 self-management, 104–105
Online newsletter, 224–225 step 1 (assessing needs/risks), 98–101
Operating budget (defined), 119 P step 2 (alternative courses of action),
Operating expenses, 121, 122 Paramilitary culture, 291 101–102
Operational plan (defined), 92 Parking fines, 123 step 3 (selecting a course of action),
Organizational change, 146–151 Participatory management style, 134 103–104
Organizational chart, 136, 137 Path–goal motivational leadership model, types of plans, 92
Organizational culture, 141–145, 219 288, 289 values, 89–90
defined, 141 defined, 288 vision, 90
Organizational design, 134–160 Path–goal theory (defined), 268 Planning and organizing skills, 273
adapting to change, 146–151 Patrol cars, 370 Plato, 12
behavioral standards, 145–157 Peace officer standards and training Police administration (defined), 3
community relationships, 138–140 (POST) commissions, 251 Police agency accreditation, 177–179
culture, 141–145 Pedophile, 425 Police associations, 336
demonstrating ethical leadership, Peel, Robert, 5, 6, 32, 127, 149 Police briefings, 233
153–155 Peel’s principles, 6 Police chief, 60
horizontal relationships, 138 People skills, 186 Police–community partnership (defined),
leader officer vs. street officer, Performance appraisal, 300–302 260
144–145 defined, 300 Police equestrian unit center, 369
learning, 151–153 Performance assessment and evaluation. Police facilities, 380. See also Facilities
officer unity, 143–144 See Organizational performance management
putting customer first, 155–157 assessment and evaluation Police in Modern Society, The (Vollmer), 13
structure, 136–141 Performance-based budget, 116–117 Police leader-supervisor, 276–277
vertical relationships, 136–137 defined, 116 Police leadership. See Leadership and
Organizational learning, 151–153 Performance management frameworks, supervision
defined, 151 168–173 Police misconduct, 68–71, 310–314
Organizational performance assessment Performance measures, 170 defined, 69
and evaluation, 161–182 Pershing’s Crusaders, 55 Police motorcycles, 371
accreditation, 177–179 Persistent durability, 168, 169 Police Officers Research Association of
balanced scorecard, 169–171 Personal budget, 110–111 California (PORAC), 336
community police, 165–166 Personal expenses, 121, 122 Police outsourcing, 371–375,
continuous improvement/evaluation, Personal property, 351, 352 377–379, 404
163–164 Personal–situational theory (defined), 267 Police report, 213, 214
customer service, 174–176 Personality profile, 199 Police-spouse seminars, 318
definitions, 163 Persuasion, 236–237 Police union. See Unionization
effectiveness vs. efficiency, 166–168 defined, 236 Police-vehicle chases, 72, 360–361
needed change, 164 Phisher, 426 Police vehicles, 370, 371
organizational level vs. individual level, Phishing e-mail, 426 Police-volunteer substation, 177
407–408 Physical abilities test, 197 Police vs. customer expectations, 164
performance management frameworks, Physical fitness training, 245 Policies (defined), 298
168–173 Physiological needs, 280 Policing
police vs. customer expectations, 164 Pillars of success, 4 basic principles, 6
segmenting services, 175–176 PIO, 232 bias-based, 65–67
TQM, 171–173 Planning, 86–108 changing role, 63–65
ort80008_Ind_457-466.indd 463 07/12/10 4:55 PM

464 index
common activities, 22–23 Preparedness activities, 78 Purchasing agent, 369

community. See Community policing Presenting a budget, 128 Putting customer first, 155–157
diversity. See Diversity President’s Commission on Law
ethics. See Ethical considerations Enforcement and Administration Q
future directions. See Future of police of Justice, 11 Quality, 171
administration Press release, 232 Quality assurance (defined), 172
history. See Historical overview Principles of policing (defined), 6 Quality control, 171–172
intelligence-led, 43–44 Privacy Act of 1974, 355 defined, 171
neighborhood, 39–40 Privacy law, 354–357, 424 Quality-of-life problems, 63
political dynamics. See Complex Private office areas, 380
political dynamics Proactive learning, 152
problem-oriented, 36–39 Problem, 36 R
profession, as, 17–19 Problem officers, 313–314 Race and ethnicity. See Diversity
protecting and serving, 6–7 Problem-oriented policing Racial profiling, 65
solving community problems, 63–64 defined, 36 Radical change (defined), 147
strategic, 45–48 defining characteristics, 36 Radicalization, 399–401
strategy. See Policing strategy incident/problem, contrasted, 36 defined, 399
team, 39–40 SARA problem-solving model, 36–37 Rank, 278
technological advances, 72–73. Problem solving skills, 273 Real property, 351
See also Technology Procedures (defined), 298 Real Time Crime Center, 153
traditional, 29–32 Procurement, 367–379 Recruitment, 189–195
wearing many “hats,” 64–65 competitive bidding system, 375–376 References (bibliography), 433–444
zero-tolerance, 40–42 leasing, 370–371 Refreeze, 418
Policing strategy, 28–50 outsourcing, 371–375, 377–379 Rehabilitation Act, 330
community policing. See Community purchasing, 368–370 Relationship behavior, 266
policing service contracts/warranties, 376–377 Renovated facilities, 383–385
defined, 29 Produce-or-perish management style, 285 Reorganization of police agency, 382
intelligence-led policing, 43–44 Productive conflict, 238 Repeat-use plan (defined), 92
problem-oriented policing, 36–39 Profession (defined), 17 Reprimand, 313
social services, 38 Professionalism, 11, 234 Request for proposal (RFP), 388
strategic policing, 45–48 Program budget (defined), 116 Resource allocation decisions, 126–127
SWOT analysis, 47 Progressive training program, 249 Resource constraints, 74–75
team policing and neighborhood Project, 129 Respondent superior, 358
policing, 39–40 Project management (defined), 129 Return on investment (ROI) (defined), 127
traditional policing, 29–32 Promotion, 303–304, 408 Revenue sources, 121–125
zero-tolerance policing, 40–42 Promotional exam, 303–304 Rewards-based compensation (defined),
Political action committee, 338 Property law, 351–352 203
Political correctness, 62–63 Property rights, 352 Rewards-based power, 278
defined, 62 Prostitution, 45, 49–50 RFP, 388
Political dynamics. See Complex political Protecting and serving, 6–7 Ride-along programs, 318, 319
dynamics Proximate cause, 360–361 Ridgeway, Gary, 260
Political influence, 58–59 defined, 360 Risk, 99
Political power, 320 Psychodynamic approach (defined), 270 Risk assessment, 99–101
PORAC, 336 Psychological evaluation, 199, 202 defined, 99
POST commissions, 251 Psychological stress, 315 Risk assessment matrix, 100
Poster, 193 PTSD, 315 Robocop, 423, 424
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), 315 Public budgeting, 111 Rock concert, 241
Power, 277–280 Public budgeting process, 113–114 Rodney King incident, 195
defined, 277 Public good laws, 431–432 ROI, 127
Practical course, 246 Public information officer (PIO), 232 Role model (defined), 276
Pre-employment screening, 196–200 Public information system, 78
defined, 196 Public safety provider (police officer), 64 S
Precinct building, 380 Purchasing, 368–370 SAFECOM, 234
Pregnancy Discrimination Act, 330 defined, 368 Safety, competence, and morality, 143
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index 465
Safety laws, 431–432 Solvability factors, 148 SWAT team, 93, 257
SARA problem-solving model, 36–37 Sorokin, Pitirim, 395 SWOT analysis, 47
Saturation patrol tactics, 42 Sources of revenue, 121–125
Scuba team, 260 Span of control, 136–137 T
Scuttlebutt, 225 defined, 136 Tactical plan (defined), 92
Seavey, Webber, 8 Special assignments, 257 Tactical (SWAT) team, 93
Security needs, 281 Special populations, 228–229 Taft–Hartley Act, 338
Segmenting police services, 175–176 defined, 228 Taglines, 193
Selecting new hires, 195–204 Speck, Richard B., 10 Talent retention, 306–308
Selection mistakes, 201–202 Stakeholder priorities, 104 Tangible property, 351
Self-actualization needs, 281 Standardized emergency management Target, 170
Self-contained ethical leadership agent system (SEMS), 79–80 Target hardening, 96
(defined), 4 defined, 79 Taser, 67, 69, 104
Self-definition, 321 Standards of conduct, 145 Task assignment, 257
Self-directed learning, 253 Stanley, Jay, 424 Task behavior, 266
Self-management, 104–105 State-level emergency management, 79–80 Task force (defined), 260
defined, 105 Status quo, 415 Tax revenue, 121–122
Selling style, 286 Strategic initiatives, 170 Team (defined), 259
SEMS, 79–80 Strategic objective, 169 Team management style, 285
Seniority rules, 257 Strategic plan (defined), 93 Team policing and neighborhood policing,
Seniors on Patrol project, 159–160 Strategic policing, 45–48 39–40
Sense of urgency, 150 defined, 45 defined, 39
September 11 terrorist attacks, 76 Strategic project, 257 Technology, 72–73, 387–390, 422–424.
Servant as Leader, The (Greenleaf), 289 Strategy. See Policing strategy See also Cybercrime
Servant leadership (defined), 289 Strategy meeting, 134 Telling style, 286
Service contract, 376–377 Street crime technology, 422–424 Terminology (glossary), 445–451
defined, 376 Street intervention workers, 26, 27 Territorial reinforcement, 95
Service delivery location, 176 Street officer, 144–145 Terrorism, 75–76, 403–404. See also
Service delivery method, 176 Stress management, 314–319 Counterterrorism; Homeland security
Service deployment hours, 176 defined, 315 Terrorist groups, 401
Service process type, 176 Stress-related training, 248 Texas Rangers, 7–8
Sexual harassment, 359–360 Strict liability (defined), 358 Theory X (defined), 283
defined, 359 Structure, 136–141 Theory Y, 283–284
Shazad, Faisal, 400 Subdivision of police facilities, 421 defined, 283
Shift work, 258 Subject-matter certifications, 253 Theory Z (defined), 284
Sierra Madre, 374–375 Subject-matter expert (SME), 251 Title IX of 1972, Education Amendments,
Significant-other training, 318 Substance-abuse treatment, 26 330
Simple negligence, 359 Substation building, 380 Tort (defined), 352
Simulations, 200–201 Succession management, 302–306 Tort law, 352–354
Sincerity, 57–58 defined, 302 Total package decision, 345
Single-use plan (defined), 92 Succession planning (defined), 256, 302 Total quality leadership (defined), 173
Site survey, 385–386 Summary schedule, 121 Total quality management (TQM), 171–173
defined, 385 Supervision, 275. See also Leadership and defined, 171
Situational leadership model, 285–286 supervision Town meeting, 152
defined, 285 Supervision management and recidivist Toxic management (defined), 291
Situational theory (defined), 268 tracking (SMART), 392–393 TQM, 171–173
SkySeer, 422–423 Supervisor, 21 Traditional budget, 115–116
Slander, 354 Supplemental data, 121 defined, 115
SMART, 392–393 Supplies and material expenses, 121, 122 Traditional command-and-control culture,
SME, 251 Supportive style, 285 141–143
Social services approach, 38 Surveillance equipment, 95 Traditional policing
Social worker (police officer), 64 Surveillance kites, 422–423 advantages/disadvantages, 31–32
Socrates, 12 Survey, 35 defined, 29
Sole source, 368 Sutton, Randy, 321 defining characteristics, 30–31
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466 index
historical context, 30 collective bargaining, 343–345 Vollmer, August, 9, 10, 13

research studies, 32 future directions, 419–420 Volunteerism, 123, 138–140, 159–160
Training, 71, 78, 148, 243 grievance, 347–349 defined, 138
defined, 243 historical overview, 335–337 Volunteers in Police Service (VIPS), 140
Training, development, and deployment, labor contract, 346–347 Voong, Linh, 20
242–263 labor negotiation, 343–347 Vroom, Victor, 282, 287
basic preservice training, 245–248 legislation, 338 Vroom–Jago time–drive leadership model,
career planning, 252–254 management rights, 339–340 286–288
definitions, 243 merit pay, 204 defined, 286
deployment, 256–260 unfair labor practices, 337–339
future directions, 409–411 union-management relations, 341–342 W
higher education, 251 union power, 342–343 Wagner Act, 338
in-service training, 249 Unique impact, 168 WARN, 330–331
leadership development program, United States Army War College, 4 Warranty (defined), 377
254–255 Unity of command (defined), 136 Washington, George, 8
on-the-job training, 248–249 Use of force, 15 Weber, Max, 135
special assignments, 257 Use-of-force continuum, 67 Weisbord six-box model, 418
succession planning, 256 Use-of-force rules, 67 Westerfield, David, 147
workforce scheduling, 257–259 USERRA, 332 Westlake Village, 374
working groups, 259–260 Wickersham Commission, 9, 194
Trait theory (defined), 266 V Wilson, James Q., 41
Transactional theory (defined), 269 VAC, 127 Wilson, O. W, 10
Transformational leaders, 269 Valid contract, 350 Window lock, 96
Transformational theory (defined), 269 Value-added contribution (VAC) (defined), Women, in policing, 150. See also
Transitioning out of the workday, 317–319 127 Diversity
Transportation Security Administration Values, 89–90 Word of mouth, 192
(TSA) screening checkpoint, 351 defined, 89 Work-prep overtime policies, 300
Tri-level stress-prevention program, 315–316 Van Dam, Danielle, 147 Workday, 341
Trust, 397–399 Variable compensation (defined), 203 Worker Adjustment and Retraining
TSA screening checkpoint, 351 Vehicle maintenance division, 370 Notification Act (WARN), 330–331
Turnover, 306–309 Verbal channels of communication, Workforce scheduling, 257–259
287(g) program, 309 219–221 Working groups, 259–260
Vertical communication, 212 Workweek, 341
U Vertical relationships, 136–137 Writing skills, 223
U.S. Constitution, 329 Vicarious liability (defined), 358 Written channels of communication,
U.S. population, 53, 54 Video camera, 96 222–223
Underrepresented groups, 193 Villaraigosa, Antonio, 46 Wrongful death, 352
Unfair labor practices, 337–339 Violence interrupters, 26, 27 Wrongful death suits, 68
defined, 337 VIPS, 140
Unfreeze, 418 Virtual academy, 410–411
Y
Uniformed Services Employment and Virtual reality, 413, 414, 423
Yellow dog contract, 335
Reemployment Rights Act defined, 414
(USERRA), 332 Virtual world, 414
Unintentional torts, 353 Virtues, 12 Z
Union contract, 257 Vision, 90, 417 Zero-based budget, 117–118
Union-management relations, 341–342 defined, 90 defined, 117
Unionization, 335–349 Vision statement, 90 Zero-tolerance policing, 40–42
benefits of, 340–341 Visual police presence, 177 defined, 40
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Police Administration A Leadership Approach

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Police Administration A Leadership Approach

Police Administration: A Leadership Approach

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Jerry E. Rose, NorthWest Arkansas Community College

Visit our Online Learning Center website at www.mhhe.com/ortmeier1e

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

ort80008_fm_i-xxii.indd iv 12/2/10 9:40 AM

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P. J. Ortmeier holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in criminal justice as well

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Joseph J. Davis, MS, Retired Police Captain

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part I Introduction to Police Administration 1

1 Police Administration: A Perspective 2

part II Planning, Budgeting, Organization Design, and Assessment 85

4 The Nature and Practice of Planning 86

part III Human Resource Management 183

8 Hiring in the Spirit of Service 184

part IV Collateral Functions and Future Trends 325

13 Legal Aspects of Police Administration 326

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part I Introduction to Police Administration 1

1 Police Administration: A Perspective 2

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3 Challenges Facing Police Organizations 51

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part II Planning, Budgeting, Organization Design, and Assessment 85

4 The Nature and Practice of Planning 86

5 Budgeting and Fiscal Management 109

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Executing the Budget 129

6 Organizational Design 134

7 Organizational Performance Assessment and Evaluation 161

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part III Human Resource Management 183

8 Hiring in the Spirit of Service 184

9 The Power and Practice of Effective Communication 209

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A Closer Look at Meetings, Newsletters, and the Grapevine 223

10 Training, Development, and Deployment of Human Resources 242

11 Leadership and Supervision 264

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Leadership versus Supervision 275

12 Human Relations Challenges in a Police Agency 296

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Discussion Questions 323

part IV Collateral Functions and Future Trends 325

13 Legal Aspects of Police Administration 326

14 Procurement and Facilities Management 366

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Facilities Management 380

15 The Future of Police Administration 394

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WHO SHOULD READ THIS BOOK?

HOW IS THIS BOOK ORGANIZED?

The book’s 15 chapters are organized into 4 parts: