NCJ Number
86759
Date Published
1981
Length
27 pages
Annotation
Issues likely to affect the future of policing in Canada are the demand for increased accountability in the public sector, the need to change organizational structures to reflect changed roles, and the countering of increased social unrest and criminal activity.
Abstract
Public resources will decline with projected economic deterioration, and this will place increased pressure on the police to engage in performance measurement and evaluation so as to become more cost-effective. Presently, an effort is underway to develop performance indicators and measurement techniques for municipal forces that will fulfill accountability requirements. A major issue will be the difficulty of structuring institutions to be capable of self-renewal and adaptation to change. Major impediments to self-renewal of the policing institution are the paramilitary structure, implementation problems, and police unions and associations. Police preparedness to counter social unrest and increasing criminality will focus upon the direct approach, which will involve crime prevention and detection measures and greater use of technological advances in resource allocation. The police should also assume more responsibility for indirect approaches to social control, which involve citizen participation in crime prevention activities and the strengthening of positive behavioral learning institutions. The future will see police forces becoming public service departments with a diversity of responsibilities encompassing social services. A decentralized structure will be appropriate for this new role. The police administrator will be the key figure in the change process. The administrator should invite resources persons with skills in management science, operations research, budgeting, and criminology to participate in the change process. Sixty-five notes are listed.