Comparative Organization of the Police in English- Speaking Countries (From Modern Policing, Volume 15, 1992, P 509-545, Michael Tonry, Norval Morris, eds. -- See NCJ-138798)

• NCJ Number: 138807
• Author(s): D H Bayley
• Date Published: 1992
• Length: 37 pages
• Sale Source: University of Chicago Press
• Publication Type: Issue Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

An essay organized into six sections describes the variations in police organization among countries by focusing on the English-speaking democracies of Australia, Canada, Great Britain, India, and the United States; explores theoretical propositions that explain national differences in police organization; and attempts to determine whether organization makes a difference.

Abstract

Both the number and coordination of forces varies markedly among the five English-speaking countries. Consequently, the differences in scale are so great as to call into question the wisdom of using either forces or police stations as units of managerial analysis. The scale of jurisdictions fails to affect the number of command levels within forces and suggests that the concept of centralization/decentralization needs to be grounded in considerations of scale. Differences in national structures of policing depend on political settlements achieved at the time of formation, in contrast to the smaller differences in functional organization which depend on professional outlooks shared internationally. Little is known about the difference police organization makes, but an initial effort is made to examine its significance. 18 footnotes, 4 tables, and 75 references