NCJ Number
85321
Journal
Police Chief Volume: 49 Issue: 7 Dated: (July 1982) Pages: 25-39
Date Published
1982
Length
15 pages
Annotation
A series of six articles on small town and rural law enforcement discusses planning for a computer system, major differences between rural and small town police and urban police, communications flexibility, job stress, headquarters design, and a training program.
Abstract
The first article notes the importance of planning as the crucial factor in determining whether a computer system for a rural or small town department will result in more cost-effective operations, and steps in the planning process are described. The second article concludes that rural and small town police have less training, education, salary, formality, bureaucratic organization, career commitment, professionalization, and efficiency than urban officers; however, they are effective because of more personalized policing methods and their closeness to the community and public officials. An analysis of the Richfield, Minn., public safety department's communications flexibility indicates that it resides in a combination of professional dispatchers, community service officers, communications aides, and professional clerical staff. The report of a survey on job stressors for suburban police officers identifies the primary controllable stressors as the system of determining work schedules, the promotional system, salary, contact with citizens, paperwork, and the court system. Another article discusses the redesign of the Larchmont Police Department (New York) headquarters to make it more attractive, functional, easy to maintain, and relatively safe. The concluding presentation describes the development of a police training program for a four-county region in central Illinois.