NCJ Number
119200
Journal
FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin Volume: 58 Issue: 7 Dated: (July 1989) Pages: 17-21
Date Published
1989
Length
5 pages
Annotation
The trend in modern police administration is the need for policies and rules to govern every contingency and every substantial aspect of operations and management.
Abstract
The primary justification for extensive law enforcement rules, policies, and procedures is the expressed need for management direction and control. Also, the wide variety of duties that police officers perform, compiled with the wide discretion granted them, help to account for the proliferation of written directives. This tendency has been exacerbated by the requirement of administrative due process in police discipline, civil liability, and the accreditation movement. Police management tends to avoid the negative rather than achieve the positive, in part because goal attainment and service quality are so difficult to define or measure. The police administrator's challenge is to provide leadership by instilling desired values and culture within the police organization. It is suggested that unnecessary and demeaning rules be eliminated instead of continuing the current practice of promulgating rules to cover every conceivable exigency. 14 footnotes.