CHAPTER 4 FOUNDATIONS OF POLICE ORGANIZATION Chapter …

 

 

CHAPTER 4
FOUNDATIONS OF POLICE ORGANIZATION

Chapter Overview

Police departments are typically organized according to classical organizational
principles. Some departments have incorporated innovative or contemporary features
such as participative management or community policing into their organizational
philosophy, but most departments, especially larger ones, use classical organization to a
degree.

This chapter is devoted to the discussion of these principles in relation to policing. As
noted in Chapter 1, classical organization theory is the oldest management philosophy in
existence today and thereby provides the foundation for any study of organizations.

Due to the length of time classical organizations have existed and the depth of study to
which they have been exposed, there is a great deal more information on classical
organizations than on new organizational forms.

Classical organization theory is characterized by a highly ordered or organized structure,
and police departments generally adhere to this philosophy of order and structure.

The sections that follow outline the tenets of the classical organization theory and how
they are applied in traditional police management. Human relations and contingency
theories that came after classical theory are described in Chapter 5.

By examining the various theories, the police manager is provided with a variety of ways
to manage the police organization. It is the responsibility of the police executive to select
internally consistent structural and management philosophies that enable the department
to most effectively and efficiently serve the needs of the community.

Learning Objectives

bureaucracy.

1. Understand the roots of classical organizational theory and its relation to

2. Know how scientific management is applied to organizations today.

3. Determine how the principle of hierarchy or chain of command is used in the police

setting.

4. Understand the importance of authority in the police department.

5.

Explain how and why specialized units are created in the police organization.

62

Chapter 4: Foundations of Police Organization

63

6. Know the deficiencies or criticisms of classical organizational theory.

7. Critique the criticisms or defend classical organizational theory.

Chapter Outline/Lecture Notes

I.

Introduction

Police departments are typically organized according to classical organizational
principles.

Some departments have incorporated innovative or contemporary features such as
participative management or community policing into their organizational
philosophy, but most departments, especially larger ones, use classical organization
to a degree.

Classical organization theory is characterized by a highly ordered or organized
structure, and police departments generally adhere to this philosophy of order and
structure.

By examining the various theories, the police manager is provided with a variety of
ways to manage the police organization.

It is the responsibility of the police executive to select internally consistent
structural and management philosophies that enable the department to most
effectively and efficiently serve the needs of the community.

II. Traditional Police Organization

The traditional or classical police organization is a quasi-military model. It is
termed quasi-military because early police departments adopted structures or
organizations similar to those used in the military.

In 1829 Sir Robert Peel used the quasi-military model and established the following
principles of policing which are engrained in American policing today.

The police must be stable, efficient, and organized along military lines.

•

•

•

•

•

The police must be under government control.

The absence of crime will best prove the efficiency of police.

The distribution of crime news is essential.

The deployment of police strength both by time and area is essential.

64

Instructor’s Resource Manual

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

No quality is more indispensable to a policeman than a perfect command of
temper; a quiet, determined manner has more effect than violent action.

Good appearance commands respect.

The securing and training of proper persons is at the root of efficiency.

Public security demands that every police officer be given a number.

Police headquarters should be centrally located and easily accessible to the
people.

Policemen should be hired on a probationary basis.

Police records are necessary to the best distribution of police strength

The quasi-military model has long standing in the police community and was
advocated for by O.W. Wilson in the 1950s. This model gave way to the
professional model of police administration, which is highly structured and
emphasized control. This is the model that is in use today.

III. Classical Organizational Theory

A. Scientific Management

1.

Scientific management is the study of work and how it is performed to
increase worker productivity. This resulted in the belief that is scientific
principles were applied to work; workers would exert the least amount
of effort in accomplishing the greatest amount of work.

2.

Taylor believed work would improve if management analyzed tasks and
assumed more responsibility. These responsibilities included:

a. Develop a science for each element of a man’s work, which

replaces the old rule-of-thumb method.

b.

Scientifically select and train, teach, and develop the workman,
whereas in the past he chose his own work and trained himself as
best he could.

c. Heartily cooperate with the men so as to insure all of the work

being done is in accordance with the principles of the science that
has been developed.

Chapter 4: Foundations of Police Organization

65

d.

There is an almost equal division of the work and the responsibility
between the management and workmen.

3.

4.

Taylor also provided the concept of functional supervision, which is
practiced by supervisors who are specialized and provide supervision for
only those areas of the job in which they have expertise.

The rational man theory dictated that people work for rewards (money)
and, when properly rewarded, are productive.

5. Henri Fayol, the other principal contributor to scientific management,

concentrated on management of the organization. He developed five
principles he felt were imperative if an organization was to be
successful:

a. A program of action prepared by means of annual and 10-year

forecasts.

b. An organization chart to guarantee order and assure each man a

definite place; careful recruiting and technical, intellectual, moral,
administrative training of the personnel in all ranks in order to find
the right man for each place.

c. Observation of the necessary principles in the execution of

command (i.e., direction).

d. Meetings of the department heads of every division; conferences of
the division heads presided over by the managing director to insure
coordination.

e. Universal control, based on clear accounting data rapidly made

available.

B. Weber’s Principles of Management

Weber studied organizations and attempted to determine identify what
principles made them efficient. He believed these principles, if identified,
could be adopted by other organizations and they too would become more
efficient.

Bureaucratic management is a rational management structure to better
administer work processes. Weber was the father of “bureaucracy.”

Weber’s principles of a bureaucratic structure relating specifically to police
management are:

66

Instructor’s Resource Manual

o Well-defined hierarchy of authority

Specialization

Formalization

Impersonality of management

Personnel decisions based on merit

1. Hierarchy of Authority

o

o

o

o

The hierarchy of authority is also known as the chain of command and
entails the superior-subordinate relationship throughout the department,
wherein each individual is supervised by a superior officer.

The chain of command provides the executive a significant amount of
control over the department. Officers at each level in the chain of
command must be well informed about departmental activities and
responsibilities for the chain of command to be effective.

There is no set method for determining how many levels of hierarchy
should exist, however, as the department grows in size, more levels are
added.

A natural problem associated with hierarchy is excessive layering—
where there are too many levels of rank. This also is known as being
“top heavy.”

This hierarchy of authority also implies that officers at various levels in
the chain of command possess different skill sets.

a.

Span of Control

i.

Span of control refers to the number of officers or
subordinates that a superior supervises without regard to the
effectiveness or efficiency of that supervision.

ii. Normal span of control for a patrol sergeant is 6–10 officers.

iii. The complexity of the work assigned and the physical

working conditions can also affect span of control. Simpler
and less complex tasks require less supervision.

Chapter 4: Foundations of Police Organization

67

iv. The higher the rank of the individual in the chain of

command, the smaller the span of control. The span of
control also determines the number of levels within the chain
of command.

v.

Those critical of span of control advocate for larger span of
control (more than 6–10 subordinates).

b. Unity of Command

i.

Unity of command refers to placing one and only one
superior in command or in control of every situation and
every employee. This concept is instituted to ensure that
multiple or conflicting orders are not issued by several
superior officers to the same police officers.

ii. Unity of command also ensures that all police officers are
aware of their immediate commander’s orders and that the
immediate commander is aware of the task in which
subordinates are involved.

iii. Emergency or tactical situations may develop where a

superior may have to exert authority outside the pyramid of
authority or chain of command.

c. Delegation of Authority

i.

Delegation of authority is the assignment of tasks, duties,
and responsibilities to subordinates while at the same time
giving them the power or right to control, command, make
decisions, or otherwise act in performing the delegated
responsibilities.

ii. Delegation of authority follows the chain of command and is

a method of task assignment where specific responsibilities
are given to subordinates.

iii. Delegation of authority is accomplished by two methods:

•

Policy formulation refers to the development of
general orders, standard operating procedures, and
other written documents generated by executives within
the police department.

68

Instructor’s Resource Manual

•

Direction refers to the orders initiated by the chief, unit
commander, or supervisor to guide subordinates’
actions toward the accomplishment of some
organizational objective. Direction is also use to clarify
written directives.

o

o

Direction is frequently given at staff meetings. A
vertical staff meeting consists of bringing
together members from each level of the chain of
command within a particular operating unit and
soliciting their input for decision making.

Along with direction is accountability for
accomplishing the duties and assignments.

2.

Specialization

Police specialization refers to division of labor, or job differentiation.

When assigning tasks, care must be taken to ensure the groupings
contribute to departmental effectiveness. Generally, tasks are grouped
according to four criteria: function, geography, time, and level of
authority.

a.

Function

i. When tasks are grouped according to function, job

specialization is created. Function refers to how a particular
task is performed and the purpose of performing it.

ii.

The reason for functional specialization within a police
department is usually to relieve patrol of burdensome, time-
consuming tasks and to allow them to concentrate on
repressing crime and answering calls for service.

iii. Major areas of functional specialization are: patrol, traffic,
criminal investigation, vice, delinquency prevention,
communications, records, and staff services such as planning
and training.

b. Geography

i.

In geographical differentiation or specialization a
department uses substations or precinct stations as opposed to
having all officers work out of a central headquarters.

Chapter 4: Foundations of Police Organization

69

ii.

Some of these geographical divisions are commanded by a
captain or other high-ranking commander and to some extent
they become a police department all their own.

c.

Time

i.

Police departments are responsible for law enforcement
function 24 hours a day and they must allocate personnel in
such a manner that they can cover all shifts or watches at all
hours of the day. There are several different shift plans
depending upon the needs of the department.

ii. Administratively it is most desirable to have permanent shifts
and assignments so officers can learn their beats and be more
effective. This tends to make officers more alert and less
fatigued, more productive and less prone to accidents. Officer
morale is negatively affected after time and departments
therefore rotate shifts.

iii. Shift work can present problems with a person’s circadian
rhythm or biological clock that regulates all body functions.
When interrupted physiological stress or fatigue can result.

d.

Level of Authority

i.

Grouping tasks by level of authority directly ties
specialization with chain of command and to a degree
determines the rank structure within a given police
department.

ii. An organizational arrangement that strictly follows the level
of authority principle produces an excessive number of
ranking officers and violates the principle of span of control.

iii. Conversely, an imbalance of rank at each hierarchical level

results when a department is organized so that the fewest
possible number of officers hold rank.

e.

Functional Specialization: Pros and Cons

i.

Advocates for specialization list the following as reasons for
functional specialization: reduces the need for training;
increases job control; increases job proficiency; provides
career enrichment for some officers