Police Management in the 1980s

From Decrementalism to Strategic Thinking

Dados Bibliográficos

ID6360718
AutoresCharles H Levine (autor correspondente)
Ano1985
Volume45
Páginas691-691
Data de publicação1985-11-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoPublic Administration Review (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0033-3352 • E-ISSN: 1540-6210
EditoraWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.2307/3135022
OpenAlexW2318305199
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas31

If the early 1980s was not an easy time for local governments, it was an especially sobering time for their police and sheriff departments. After a decade or more of unprecedented federal aid and budgetary growth, funding growth came to a halt and in many places actually declined. In the mid-1980s, the growing gap between rising demand for service and scarce resources has forced many top police managers to rethink their role and the role of their departments in local affairs. This article is intended to address many of the problems that fiscal stress has posed for police managers and their departments. It presents models for understanding the typical choices most police departments have made to cope with the resource-demand gap, that is, by decrementalism, the consequences of these choices, and what some departments are doing, and more could do, to overcome the most negative impacts. In doing so, it argues that problems stemming from fiscal stress require creative and innovative solutions and advocates a strategic management approach to organizational revitalization. Such strategic responses require: (1) a multiyear time frame, usually three to five years; (2) a significant reallocation and reconfiguration of resources; (3) substantial changes in organizational structure and work force activity; and (4) a comprehensive as opposed to an ad hoc re-examination of the organization's problems, mission, and structure. Changes of this scope suggest that strategic management involves political as well as financial and technical considerations. To partially substantiate this argument, several data sources will be used, including the results of a national mail survey to which 92 cities with populations over 50,000 responded. In addition, several of the cities were examined in greater depth through field interviews

Business · Economics · Management · Political science · Process management · Strategic planning · Strategic thinking · Marketing · Policing Practices and Perceptions