NCJ Number
154142
Date Published
1995
Length
137 pages
Annotation
This analysis of the police role in the United States focuses on the limitations of the current bureaucratic approach to policing and recommends ways in which crime might be more successfully addressed in the future.
Abstract
The analysis notes the difficulties police administrators experience in trying to use the coercive powers of the government without violating the Constitution and laws the police organization is sworn to protect. In the United States, the bureaucratic model has been regarded as the most efficient and effective way to organize large numbers of people toward the completion of goals. However, critics have argued that public organizations generally lack clarity of purpose and that it would be undemocratic to seek maximum bureaucratic efficiency and goal certainty, since their very nature is to reflect diversity of opinion on how the organization should function. Lacking a clear mandate, police organizations are bound to drift. In addition, the police, the criminal justice system, elected officials, and the community have a false set of assumptions about how society can reduce crime. Furthermore, the traditional paramilitary model stifles the ordinary street police officer and produces a focus on meaningless statistics rather than actual crime reduction. Recommended reforms include establishing a two-tier system of personnel that would require 2-year technical degrees for patrol and investigations, bachelor's degrees for managers such as lieutenants and captains, and master's level professional degrees for executive positions. In addition, police officers must rest upon strong moral values, adherence to the principle of justice, and recognition that character is the most important factor in police decisionmaking. Additional recommendations, chapter reference notes, index, and 37 references