NCJ Number
76617
Journal
Canadian Police College Journal Volume: 4 Issue: 4 Dated: (1980) Pages: 225-242
Date Published
1980
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This Canadian study sought to describe the police manager's job through the identification of functions and roles based on job analysis data and to examine the effects of force size and responsibility level on the distribution of managerial work.
Abstract
Study findings were intended to aid in the development of police college programs. Interviewers visited a modified stratified sample of 19 police forces to conduct 167 interviews and obtained 1,118 descriptions of what police managers of various ranks actually did in the performance of their jobs. The results showed that the activities of labor negotiation, board of inquiry participation, and court appearance are related to rank. The first two activities are handled by members of ranks (superintendent through deputy chief), the third, by members of junior ranks (sergeant and staff sergeant). The only activity related to force size is labor negotiation, which is common among medium-sized forces (250-500 officers). The functions of negotiating, investigating, and problem solving are also related to rank: negotiating and investigating are the responsibility of senior managers, while problem solving is in the domain of junior managers. Senior managers are more often involved in activities, such as building inspection, requiring no interaction with others than are other managers at other levels. Finally, of the three levels of authority structure -- advising subordinates, consulting subordinates, and consulting peers -- only consulting peers is rank-related and is practiced more often among senior managers. These results give clear evidence that certain actions, functions, and relationships are related to responsibility levels irrespective of force size. Therefore, college programs should address certain subject matter areas at certain stages of manager development regardless of the sizes of the forces from which students come. A glossary, data tables, a French translation and an eight-item reference list are included.