NCJ Number
127168
Journal
Police Journal Volume: 63 Issue: 4 Dated: (October-December 1990) Pages: 288-297
Date Published
1990
Length
21 pages
Annotation
Absolute privatization would make police forces more efficient at enforcing law, but it de-emphasizes or eliminates service delivery aspects.
Abstract
The police organization, and the individual who would fit into it, would characteristically be "lean and mean," and job burnout would be a much greater problem than it already is. To cope with greater job burnout, organizations would bear greater costs for illness, sick leave, and retirement. Such privatization also contradicts the current trend toward bringing police and community closer together. Some who favor privatization, though, point out that national police forces are characteristic of totalitarian dictatorships and banana republics. Another reason is the mere defense of the status quo. The question of how privatized a police force should be and which functions should be privatized must be taken case by case with each agency consulting with the proper authorities to achieve the balance necessary for each jurisdiction. Upon an objective examination of private and national police forces around the world, it is clear that virtually anything can work organizationally and administratively as long as the mechanisms put in place are workable. 2 references