This report is the evaluation of the effort by the Madison Police Department (Wisconsin) to create a new organizational design (structural and managerial) to support community-oriented and problem-oriented policing.
One-sixth of the organization, which served approximately one-sixth of the community was used as a test site or prototype for the new approach. This site, the Experimental Police District (EPD), was charged with the implementation of "Quality Policing," which encompasses community-oriented policing, problem-oriented policing, and employee-oriented management. The first objective was the implementation of three conditions that the Madison Department considered critical preconditions for improved service delivery. These were quality leadership, a healthy workplace, and physical decentralization. This evaluation assessed whether these preconditions were achieved; and if they were, whether they were related to improved perceptions of service delivery by citizens. Over 3 years, developments in the EPD were monitored. Madison police officers were surveyed before, 1 year after, and 2 years after the creation of the EPD. Attitude changes for officers working in the EPD were compared to those of officers working in the rest of the organization. A random sample of Madison residents was surveyed before and 2 years after the EPD opened. The attitude changes for residents served by the EPD were compared to those for residents in the rest of the city. After an implementation period of 2 years, the evaluation found that a new, participatory management approach was implemented in the EPD; employee attitudes toward the organization and toward their work improved; and physical decentralization was achieved. These changes were associated with a reduction in citizens' perceptions that crime was a problem in their neighborhood and an increase in the belief that police were working on problems important to people in the neighborhood. 68 references
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