NCJ Number
113046
Date Published
1989
Length
635 pages
Annotation
This introductory text examines police administration (PA) from traditional, systems, structural, behavioral, work process, and organizational effectiveness perspectives.
Abstract
The development and social and political contexts of PA are examined and police goals and objectives are delineated. The evolution and nature of police work are discussed, including police crime control, order maintenance, and social service roles. Police discretion also is considered. The internal (management and leadership) and external (political, labor relations, media relations, community, and interagency) roles of the police executive are described; executive styles are characterized; and executive qualifications (e.g., skills, knowledge, experience) are discussed. Police tasks are identified for the operations, administration, and auxiliary service subsystems. Aspects of group behavior and social systems are examined, and emergent system development and its consequences are delineated. Leadership in the police organization is discussed in terms of functions, sources, of influence, and leadership styles; and leadership theories are outlined. Police patrol, call-response, and investigatory strategies are considered, and operational and problem-specific (e.g., hostage negotiation, domestic violence, riot control) tactics are discussed. Also examined are organizational communication, police decisionmaking, data analysis, and police information systems. An overview of policies and procedures is provided. Individual, program, and organizational evaluation goals and methods are presented, together with descriptions of human development, structural design, and work process approaches to organizational improvements. Chapter objectives, questions, summaries, cases, references, and readings; case studies; and index.