Adapting Traditional Police Organizational Structure Essay Sample

has been referred to as the least professional profession because traditional departments often prioritize defining the limits of the job over supporting freedom and innovation (Carter).

1995). Many police officers find themselves trapped in a system where they receive little support from higher-ups and for taking initiative (Trojanowicz ; A; Bucqueroux, 1990).

Organizational Theory: Community Policing
Community policing is the first major reform in policing since police departments embraced scientific management principles. The emergence of community policing presents a challenge for law enforcement because it requires a fundamental shift in the longstanding philosophy of maintenance of law and order.

The concept of community patrol theory is centered around the idea that by collaborating in innovative ways, police officers and private citizens can effectively tackle current community issues regarding crime and fear. Community policing takes a holistic approach, aiming to eliminate threats from the streets and resolve underlying problems rather than just treating the symptoms. This philosophy recognizes that achieving these goals requires police departments to establish a new partnership with vigilant individuals within the community, allowing their participation in efforts to improve overall quality of life in their neighborhoods.

Community policing, according to Houghtelling (1995), alters the emphasis of police work from handling arbitrary calls, apprehending individuals, and issuing citations to problem-solving. This approach significantly transforms the interaction between law enforcement officers and the community they serve. In community policing, citizens and police officers join forces to identify area issues and cooperatively develop feasible solutions for them (refer to W;S manual).

This collaboration between citizens and police forces aims to address community issues and meet the needs of residents, resulting in a transformation of the police officer's role as a coordinator

of municipal services and neighborhood safety. The focus is on developing cooperative strategies within the community to prevent crime and enhance the quality of the neighborhood. Instead of just reacting to incidents, there is an emphasis on proactive measures to deter criminal activity. Community policing offers a unique approach for the police to provide decentralized and personalized services, giving law-abiding citizens the chance to actively participate in the policing process.

The role of police officers in improving the quality of life in the neighborhood is leading to an evolution of police schemes. Community policing not only emphasizes community and neighborhood but also requires a change in police organization and leadership.

When a law enforcement agency adopts community policing, all department members are anticipated to be trained to offer customer service and collaborate in a community-wide endeavor to prevent crime. Community policing necessitates both a mindset change in the way that police departments perceive their mission, as well as a dedication to the organizational changes this evolution of policing requires.

The community policing doctrine involves a new organizational scheme that enables police departments to decentralize police services, with a new type of police officer as the department's direct connection to the average citizen (Trojanowicz & Bucqueroux, 1990). Problem resolution and leadership in intergovernmental cooperation are essential components of the community policing strategy. Community policing includes new strategies that require individual judgment and skills in addressing both criminal and noncriminal issues.

Community officers must be granted the responsibility and authority to address local priorities, conduct research, and develop innovative short and long-term solutions (Trojanowicz, 1996). Additionally, these officers should also have decision-making power.

The police departments take risks and therefore

make decisions with a focus on managing these risks. As they adopt the principles and goals of community policing, they will naturally have to transition from traditional organizational models to community policing models of organization. This transition can be described in terms of Kelly and Moore's four categories of organizational analysis. In traditional police organizations, command is centralized.

Within a hierarchical structure, geographic divisions and precincts are organized into large sections. Typically, control over patrol and probes is overseen by a central authority figure. This control hierarchy takes the form of a pyramid, with the highest level of authority at the top represented by the head, and the patrol force workers occupying the lowest level. This organizational type operates on principles of control integrity and division of labor. Decision-making within the organization flows from the top down, with little to no involvement in management or policy matters by patrol officers, as well as middle and lower-level directors.

The discretion of patrol officers in police functions is not emphasized or encouraged. In dealing with recurring tasks like domestic violence, juvenile gangs, drugs, or vice, it is customary to establish specialized units rather than assigning their responsibility to patrol officers. The established communication system within this traditional organizational structure involves instructions flowing from higher levels of command downwards.

In order to obtain information on activities and the impact of flux, a centralised bid and control theoretical model is typically required. This model involves a formal system of reporting and record keeping at various management levels. The community policing model, however, adopts a different strategic approach by involving the police as problem solvers. This requires greater involvement of patrol officers

and line supervisors in identifying and responding to neighborhood issues. As a result, operational decision-making authority is pushed down to lower levels within the organization. Perhaps the most noticeable organizational change in transitioning from the traditional to community policing models is the decentralization of tactical decision-making to line managers and patrol officers. Another organizational change in implementing a departmental community policing strategy is in the flow of information within the broader strategic framework.

The bid and control pyramid becomes flatter and distorted, with top management becoming more involved in planning and execution. Officers are also more likely to be involved in planning and execution. Organizational responses to specific tasks are addressed through temporary organizational units, such as task forces, rather than more permanent units like narcotics or vice divisions. The temporary task force approach follows the principle of utilizing the knowledge and experience of frontline supervisors and patrol officers.

The organization rule is similar to a project management model that focuses on achieving a specific project or goal. The organization gains flexibility in that once the goal is achieved and the project completed, the organizational entity can be dissolved as it is no longer necessary. Human Resources plays a crucial role in this transition from traditional to community policing strategic models. They must reassess the allocation of employees to meet revised goals. Tasks and assignments need to be reevaluated to determine if a sworn officer is necessary or if a civilian employee can perform the task. The department's hiring process must take into account the required skills.

The text emphasizes the need for officers to have the necessary skills and knowledge in order to make tactical decisions

and solve problems. It also highlights the importance of training officers to be responsive to the expectations of the department, as well as the needs of community members and crime victims. The training program will include specialized instruction in problem solving and community dynamics.

The essential elements of training officers for new roles in a department dedicated to community policing include cultural sensitivity and diversity inclusion. The management processes of planning, budgeting, motivation and discipline, and accounting within the organization should be assessed to ensure their suitability for the organizational shift and goals in community policing. Traditional hierarchical structures in command and control emphasize controlling workers through bureaucratic methods.

Extra beds of intermediate direction are typically needed for complex record keeping systems and coordination among specialized units and the patrol force. Performance ratings of units and individual officers are based on simple matters of numbers of apprehensions, tickets issued, and number of calls for service. The community policing strategic organization requires modifying performance ratings of virtually everyone in the department. The new performance ratings of all employees in the department should reflect how well they are demonstrating the department's community doctrine in their work. A critical issue is how performance standards and productivity measures can be structured to relate to actual job responsibilities to realistic measures of expected job performance. Culture The mythology of a department must be changed to reflect the shift of the department's strategic doctrine from just crime fighting to more complex and comprehensive goals of problem resolution and public safety. The informal ideal of the role model patrol officer must reflect the change in management doctrine from viewing officers as workers who are

expected to follow instructions and only enforce the law by making apprehensions and writing tickets.

The internal, informal perception of the theoretical model police officer within an organization dedicated to community policing strategy can be influenced by a highly visible, public dedication to the updated model of police officer as problem solver. Public assessments of the entire department's performance must align with the criteria for individual officers. Elements of Police Organization: Managing the Transition The dedication to community policing must be evident throughout the entire management process, and reevaluating some of the principles of that process is crucial to accommodate change.

Community patroling offers a scheme that sections can utilize for smooth passage in following the community patroling doctrine, by doing structural alterations. Successfully implementing a department-wide alteration to community patroling depends on strong leading from the top, which plays a critical function in demonstrating good direction to patrol directors and throughout the chain of command. It is crucial for the chief to recognize that community policing is both a doctrine and an organisational scheme. Middle management and informal leaders within an organisation also play a significant role in the strategic transition to community policing. The effective transmutation of the organisation requires a simultaneous internal and external focus.

The Change Mid-Wife is responsible for promoting and training others to present thoughts. Some progressive organizations have recognized that the knowledge about community conditions, resources, and issues that are important for new policing approaches is mainly found at the lower levels of the organization. It is the responsibility of supervisors and managers to encourage officers to turn this knowledge into ideas on how to better serve the community.

In the

process of transitioning from traditional to community-based strategies, police organizations undergo changes in various organizational elements.

Structure: In traditional police organizations, command becomes less centralized and there is increased involvement in management or policy matters by middle and line-level managers, as well as patrol officers. The control hierarchy pyramid begins to resemble a pear, with police officers being given more discretion in solving problems within their policing functions.

The alteration procedure involves acquiring direction and patrol officers more jointly involved in planning and execution of policies and processs and changing the flow of information within the section. To carry out the organizational alteration to a community scheme, the first structural alteration in a section is necessary. Wykoff and Oettmeier propose selecting a group of directors or an employee undertaking force to be responsible for planning and executing the alteration procedure. This is based on the belief that employee buy-in is crucial for the success of such organizational alteration. The history of alteration in patroling in the last 20 years is filled with examples of sections where directors outpaced their employees in terms of new ideas. Therefore, taking the time to establish a solid foundation for the alteration is important.

This involves discussing and addressing issues that need to be fixed or improved with groups of employees. It also involves providing them with reading materials and sending some key leaders to conferences or workshops, or having them visit other departments where they can learn on their own. This approach, which focuses on ensuring that employees understand and accept changes in departmental policy through discussion groups, requires the involvement of key leaders throughout the organization and empowers them to influence

the process. This level of employee engagement and commitment to change is uncommon in traditionally structured police organizations. The Human Resources department plays a critical role in ensuring that the principles of community policing are incorporated into the entire personnel management process. This entails reevaluating the selection and training procedures.

When it comes to employee allocation, public presentation reviews and job descriptions, a section's recruitment effort should consider the skills, education, and knowledge needed for officers who have more authority in tactical decision making and problem-solving tasks. This is essential for the section to effectively carry out its mission.

Training requirements should align with the expectations of patrol officers and line supervisors, who need to have increased direct contact with community residents and be more responsive to the needs of crime victims and those living in fear. Community policing emphasizes the importance of officers establishing face-to-face connections with citizens in the community. It is crucial to recruit officers who can effectively engage with different individuals even in challenging and potentially hostile situations. The organization must ensure that these officers possess the necessary communication skills to do so effectively.

Training in cultural sensitivity and diversity is essential for preparing officers for new roles in a department dedicated to community policing. It is crucial that police officers are able to connect with different groups of people in various circumstances, making cultural sensitivity even more important. The allocation of employees should be reassessed when striving to meet the revised goals of the community policing philosophy. Assigning tasks to patrol officers, such as determining how many patrol officers should respond to service calls and assigning them to permanent police beats, is an

area that needs consideration. In the core training program, officers will also receive specialized training in problem-solving and community dynamics.

Traditional constabulary need to be educated to shift their focus from reacting to calls and catching criminals to solving underlying problems. This can be done through implementing a training plan that promotes a problem-solving approach to policing, such as the Scanning Analysis Response Assessment (SARA) model. By adopting this approach, officers can change their traditional incident-driven response and instead prioritize addressing the root causes of neighborhood issues rather than individual crimes or disturbances.

Both the long-term impact of these jobs and the community dissatisfaction caused by crime are given attention. Additionally, the shift towards community policing also requires a change in how the department evaluates performance, both at the department level and for specific roles. Police departments now face the challenge of finding ways to assess quality, rather than just quantity, for police officers.

Public presentation ratings are significant tools for assessing officers and ensuring that the department and its officers comply with the law and meet the community's demands. These ratings can evaluate employees based on their innovative thinking. The expectations need to shift away from the conventional quantitative approach of crime statistics and police response times towards more unconventional subjective measures, such as decreasing fear in the neighborhood and enhancing citizens' sense of security.

In order to prevent offense and avoid causing offense, today's community patrol officers have a more demanding role. They are expected to serve as Referral Specialists, Crime-Prevention Specialists, and Community Relations Specialists. They must collaborate with both public and private agencies to provide police services with a personal touch.

The community should consider the

police as a friend who can help by establishing a familiar relationship. The commitment to community policing needs to be evident throughout the entire management process. Police leaders must fully understand the concept of community policing, both internally and externally, and they must actively demonstrate their dedication to this new ideology by setting a positive example.

It is important for police decision-makers to delegate power and control to lower-level management, police officers, and the community. Middle managers should prioritize trust as much as accountability by allowing all officers the freedom to go beyond merely responding to isolated incidents. Police officers should have the discretion to take risks and take ownership of their decisions.

Police chiefs need to embrace the inevitability of errors and the cost associated with taking innovative and creative action. They should also support and encourage their department as work schedules become more flexible, contacts with citizens become more informal, supervision becomes more collaborative, and behavior becomes less focused on following strict rules. Cultural change involves recognizing the characteristics of a particular organization's unique culture.

Spanning across various subcultures. ;