NCJ Number
121408
Date Published
1989
Length
18 pages
Annotation
When policymakers consider policy agency consolidation that results in a reduction in the number of police agencies providing services to a given jurisdiction, they need to weigh a number of competing priorities on the basis of only scant data regarding the consequences of these alternatives.
Abstract
Consolidation occurs through mergers of entire governments, federations of two or more police departments, or contracts between jurisdictions for the provision of some or all police services. The research on consolidation is neither strong nor unequivocal, and debate continues over the most appropriate methodology. The Centre Region Council of Governments (COG) in Pennsylvania (consisting of five townships and a borough) decided in 1984 that its individual situation deserved close analysis and consideration of a wide range of options. The advisory task force of police officials, municipal managers, and representatives of the Pennsylvania State Police and Pennsylvania State University developed thirteen specific proposals for altering the arrangements for delivery of police services. Nine involved modest changes in the level of interorganizational cooperation and coordination, but four outlined major changes that rearranged who provided services to whom and on what basis. Under the existing arrangements, five full-time police departments (three municipal and one university department and a station of the State police) served the participating jurisdictions, and one of these provided service on a contract basis to two other townships. The first option was nonrenewal of the contract; the two townships considered asking the State police to provide all police services. Consolidation between two of the townships was considered; the third option was for consolidation to be expanded to include service to the two contracting townships. The final proposal suggested the merger of all three existing municipal departments into one organization to serve all five municipalities. However, the COG has implemented very little change in police delivery service despite the seemingly ideal conditions for consolidation: reputable service providers, communities with similar socioeconomic compositions, and cordial interagency relations. The concerns of decisionmakers centered around four criteria: quality of service, quantity of service, cost, and local political control. Although the consolidation options did not appear likely to alter the quality of police services, the other criteria varied greatly in preferabilities between the jurisdictions. For each given jurisdiction, no single alternative was clearly preferable across the criteria that made compromise between townships infeasible. Different alternatives, focusing on increasing cost efficiency and local control, may make consolidation possible in the future. 5 tables, 16 references.