Police Organization and Administration

• NCJ Number: 79988
• Author(s): S S Souryal
• Date Published: 1981
• Length: 176 pages
• Sale Source: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich
• Publication Type: Overview Text
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Criminal Justice Series.

Annotation

This text examines processes and theories of organization and administration as they pertain to police agencies and focuses on such specific aspects of police administration as communication, leadership, budgeting, planning, and community relations.

Abstract

Following an examination of the nature of both bureaucracy and administration, the book discusses the elements of police organization, such as delegation of authority and unity of command. It deals with theories of administration, including Max Weber's theory of bureaucratic organization, Frederick Taylor's theory of scientific management, Elton Mayo's human relations theory, the behavioralist systems theory, and the contingency theory. One chapter considers the history and characteristics of the human relations theory as well as the present lack of a human relations approach in police administration. Another devotes attention to the role, systems, and processes of police communication and points out the barriers to effective communication. Police leadership is analyzed, including leadership and motivation, and functions, systems, and methods of effective police leadership. A chapter on police personnel management discusses the functions of police personnel units; police training, compensation, promotions, and discipline; and evaluation of personnel performance. An examination of police budgeting and fiscal management considers types of budgets and the budgeting process, irregular (nonbudgetary) police funding, responsibility for fiscal management, and cost-utility analysis in police fiscal management. Other sections cover police planning and decisionmaking and police information management, including police reporting systems, police records systems, and innovative approaches to information management. A final chapter on community relations in police administration analyzes policies for police-media relations, presents model guidelines for public information releases, and concludes with a discussion of the resolution of citizen complaints against the police. Figures and chapter bibliographies are provided.