Police organization is based on strict rules and delegation of authority, a span of control, and stipulated duties. The organization is important for the police department because it allows it to delegate and separate functions and maintain strict control of overall activities. For the police department, the establishment, evaluation, and systematic review of organizational priorities become acute needs. Priorities must be considered on a range of issues, from the overall goals agency to specific programs or line items in the budget to be eliminated, cut back, or funded as originally conceived (Doerner and Dautzker 1999).
The organization’s function stipulates rank structure, personal relations, and compensation system. These can help managers, and administrators more clearly and objectively manage the complex problems which arise in an environment of uncertainty. The purpose of the organization is to ensure approaches to establishing priorities: the nominal group technique. Like other organizations, the police department operates in turbulent environments that impose numerous, rapidly changing demands and require substantial capacity. In order to manage the future direction of the organization and to establish the most effective direction for achieving organizational goals, the police department should understand the dynamics of strategy in organizations (Doerner and Dautzker 1999).
Organization by area stipulates posts and sectors, zones of control, and precincts. Thus, an organizational structure is important in achieving performance. The organization function can be described as a process perspective, focusing on systematic analysis and effective planning. It enables us to become aware of the demands of particular events and the conceptual schemes or mental models operating in specific contexts.
Organization by area accounts for the ability to reframe our experiences in different terms, so that police officers and administrators can evaluate our operative models and critique role demands. As a free reflection, Organization by area helps in developing fresh interpretations of particular scenarios and creating new perspectives. Organization by area enables us to integrate theory into the decision.
Organization by time helps the police department to maintain four tour conditions and systems. Organization by time allows police departments to anticipate untoward consequences and project new practical solutions that take into account a variety of points of view and respond to or even create demands. Finally, organization by time accounts for the possibility of interaction between similar cases, new data, and moral rules, so that police officers can rethink traditional solutions to similar problems and revise the rules that justify evaluative judgments.
The organization thus is an enabling mechanism for the ongoing process of deliberation and judgment that is not merely reactive or sentimental (Newburn, 2003). “The day tour occurs during the normal business hours in the United States. Generally, the second-highest amount of police activity occurs on this tour, and the second-largest number of police officers are on duty. time, although in some large cities a good deal of commerce and business occurs” (Dempsey and Forst 2004, p. 76).
Organization by purpose ensures line and staff relations and establishes the police department units. Organization by purpose demands that police administrators examine carefully not just the case but also perspectives and biases. One needs to develop more critically evaluative perspectives even in engineering and scientific analyses and most surely in the use of statistics. Given that all our activities are embedded in a conceptual scheme and framed by the organization, are such critically evaluative perspectives possible.
Organization by purpose ensures this process of engaging in a critical perspective. It involves asking difficult questions and attempting to place oneself in a different perspective so as to regard events from another point of view, individual, organizational, and social. “Police unions are predominantly local organizations that bargain and communicate with the local police department and the mayor’s or chief executive’s office” (Dempsey and Forst 2004, p. 71). There is no guarantee that one will always achieve a sufficient distance from a particular dilemma or derive the best decision because distancing oneself may also lead to distancing so that the moral implications of the dilemma are bracketed as well (Reiner, 2000).
In sum, the organization is a core and framework of effective performance and strict delegation of authority and functions within the department. The organization allows the police department to ensure effective management and organization of human resources. Organization function ensures division of labor, a chain of command, a span of control, a delegation of authority, unity of command, strict rules, regulations, and discipline. These situations are typical of much of the program and policy planning that takes place in government today. Unfortunately, many decisions must be made in an environment where the goals, constraints, and consequences of possible actions are not precisely known.
Reference List
- Dempsey, J. S., Forst, L.S. (2004). An Introduction to Policing. Wadsworth Publishing; 3 edition.
- Doerner, W. G., Dautzker, M. L. (1999). Contemporary Police Organization & Mgmt. Butterworth-Heinemann.
- Newburn, T. (2003). Handbook of Policing. Willan Publishing.
- Reiner, Robert. (2000). The Politics of the Police. Oxford University Press; 3Rev Ed edition.