NCJ Number
108832
Journal
Canadian Police College Journal Volume: 11 Issue: 2 Dated: (1987) Pages: 71-88
Date Published
1987
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This article describes a simulation model developed for the Canadian Police College to be used to stimulate discussion about police management policies for municipal forces, particularly their cost effectiveness.
Abstract
The model depicts police managers trying to find the most effective mix of activities, given the financial, personnel, and other resource constraints on a particular force. Since senior police management is concerned with resource allocation, the most important set of decisions in the model, called allocation decisions, specifies how resources will be assigned to force units. The ways in which units will operate with the resources are then indicated. Once these decisions have been recorded in the computer, the model calculates performance effects and relates them to resource costs. The model output allows managers to compare how the results of police activities compare with the costs of achieving them in various ways. After examining relevant literature, the article discusses the ideas central to the model's design, followed by a description of the computer program used to implement them. The program's data handling routines are reviewed, as is classroom use. 3 figures, 5 tables, and 16 references.