NCJ Number
121534
Journal
FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin Volume: 58 Issue: 9 Dated: (September 1989) Pages: 7-11
Date Published
1989
Length
5 pages
Annotation
The typical large police department of the next two decades will have a more streamlined structure than today's traditional paramilitary structure, with enlargement of the responsibilities of first-line managers and fewer levels of administration.
Abstract
This organizational flattening has already occurred in many businesses, which are more efficient than those with traditional pyramidal structures. Carrying it out in law enforcement agencies would require redistributing job tasks, work clusters, and skill-level requirements to the lower ranks. In addition, the span of control of higher managers would become a span of communications, with electronic networks making it conceivable that managers could have as many as 200 people reporting to them. Advocates of this streamlining argue that it would not only cost less and speed communications within an organization but would also increase job satisfaction and reduce burnout among lower-level personnel. Thus, streamlining is attractive to municipalities struggling to control their budgets. However, both individuals and groups are likely to resist streamlining and in some departments may prevent it. 10 reference notes.