NCJ Number
145925
Journal
Journal of Crime and Justice Volume: 16 Issue: 2 Dated: (1993) Pages: 109- 138
Date Published
1993
Length
30 pages
Annotation
Using the results of a limited national study of productivity enhancement efforts among medium-size municipal police departments, this paper discusses police management in a time of local government fiscal scarcity.
Abstract
The survey involved a national sample of 100 randomly selected cities with populations of 75,000 to 150,000. The survey was in two stages. The initial open-ended questionnaire asked whether the department was experiencing resource constraints related to local economic conditions and, if so, whether it had attempted to contain costs or improve productivity from 1989 through 1991. Fifty-four departments returned the preliminary questionnaire. Thirty- seven of the respondents reported they had experienced a period of "belt-tightening" and had begun some type of cost- containment or productivity emphasis in the three preceding years. A follow-up questionnaire was then mailed to each of the 37 municipal police departments. Thirty-two of the communities responded with information sufficient for analysis. Although respondents expressed concern over public service and public safety costs, there are few significant efforts to reduce or maintain police services costs while improving service levels. For the most part, the scarcity of local government resources, at least for the departments in this survey, has not forced police departments to do much more than attempt organizational cutbacks or questionable efforts to maintain existing service levels. Although many police policymakers are convinced that the community policing model is appropriate for contemporary policing, it remains to be seen whether it can improve service levels, reduce crime, generate proactive citizen-police anti-crime strategies, and improve police-community relations. The most decisive question, however, may be what it costs in relation to what it achieves. 9 notes and 51 references