Thread by @michelle_furlow

Good morning. Today at 1pm, cst, we will look at police departments as organizations.

This organizational style is not without its criticisms, one of the most significant concerns today is ...

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations #MoraineValley

Good afternoon, today we are going to introduce the police as an organization, specifically how American Law Enforcement differs from other organizations we see in society & in the government

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations #Chapter04

My friend & colleague @CGVallejo sparked an interesting discussion last February. It's such a strong discussion, I saved to share with students today ... feel free to see what some of our best have to say ...

https://twitter.com/CGVallejo/status/1359686352791568392

#CRJ201 #Policing

American law enforcement agencies are organized along quasi-military lines. Some of the similarities include:
~ Uniforms
~ Military Style Rank
~ Authoritarian Organization

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations #MoraineValley

One of the most contemporary discussions aspects of the police organization is that police officers carry weapons and have the legal authority to use deadly force, physical force, and to deprive people of their liberty through arrest.

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations #MoraineValley

This organizational style is not without its criticisms, one of the most significant concerns today is ...

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations #MoraineValley

Some of the research argues that the quasi-military style is inappropriate for the police for all of the aforementioned reasons.

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations #MoraineValley

The police-militarization debate is full of controversy, misconceptions, and challenges.

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations #MoraineValley

YOU BE THE JUDGE: Is there a problem of over-militarization of today's police departments?

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations #MoraineValley

The quasi-military aspect is only one feature of American police departments.

To understand how police departments operate and how they deliver services to the public, it is necessary to understand them as organizations

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations #MoraineValley

The typical police department is a complex bureaucracy, with a hierarchical structure and an authoritarian management style

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations #MoraineValley

Some of the defining characteristics of a bureaucracy include:

~Complex multi-level administrative hierarchy
~Departmental specialization
~Strict division of authority
~Standard set of formal rules or operating procedures

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations #MoraineValley

What is your "favorite" or maybe most frustrating example of bureaucracy in everyday life?

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations #MoraineValley

The bureaucratic form of organization exists because it is the most efficient means developed for organizing and directing many different activities in the pursuit of a common goal.

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations #MoraineValley

As these tasks relate to policing, each police department or agency is a complex organization performing many different tasks in pursuit of a common goal.

A department's mission statement highlights that common goal

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations #MoraineValley

Within in the department, different tasks are grouped into separate divisions, or “bureaus”

Pst, hence, the term bureaucracy

Does your department map out their organization on their website?

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations #MoraineValley

Responsibility for specific tasks is delegated to specific- ranking employees.

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations #MoraineValley

There is a clear chain of command, which indicates who is responsible for each task and who is responsible for supervising each employee

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations #MoraineValley

There is a clear unity of command, so that each employee answers to one and only one supervisor.

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations #MoraineValley

Written rules and regulations are designed to ensure uniformity and consistency

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations #MoraineValley

Information flows up and down through the organization according to the chain of command

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations #MoraineValley

There are clear career paths by which personnel move upward through the organization in an orderly fashion.

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations #MoraineValley

There are several major criticisms of the bureaucratic form of organization, all of which apply to police organizations.

What do you believe is the biggest criticism of bureaucracy?

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations #MoraineValley

Some of the benefits include the development of specialties, juvenile, traffic, community relations, training, and criminalistics, required the growth of complex organizations that have capacity to coordinate all of these activities.

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations #MoraineValley

The control of police discretion and the reduction of misconduct have also been achieved through bureaucratic principles.

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations #MoraineValley

Written rules on the use of deadly force or the response to domestic violence represent the technique of administrative rule-making.

The paperwork involved in this approach is characteristic of bureaucracies.

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations #MoraineValley

Every organization has important informal aspects, which are often referred to as office politics. At the same time, however, information does flow to friends in the organization, outside of the prescribed channels

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations #MoraineValley

Communication outside proscribed channels, may be known as the grapevine, or also ... office gossip.

In your humble opinion, who gossips the most?

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations #MoraineValley

John Crank argues that within almost all police departments there are “cliques,” or informal networks of officers.

These cliques, Crank explains, are formed to protect officers from “administrative bullshit.”

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations #MoraineValley

There are two types of protective cliques: vertical and horizontal.
~Vertical cliques are formed between lower and higher ranking officers.
~Horizontal cliques are formed between similarly ranked officers

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations #MoraineValley

Because of the history of the American police, police professionalism acquired a special meaning

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations #MoraineValley

The professional departments were the ones that adopted O. W. Wilson’s principles of police administration:
~specialization,
~hierarchy,
~clear lines of authority,
~written rules and policies,
~and so on

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations #MoraineValley

Why is police professionalism of special significance today?

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations #MoraineValley

If there is so much dissatisfaction with police organizations, of the current methods, which shows the most promise at moving policing forward?

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations #MoraineValley

The dominant school of thought accepts the basic principles of bureaucratic organization and seeks to apply them more effectively.

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations #MoraineValley

The other school of thought seeks to use alternative decision-making procedures that operate within the existing formal structure.

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations #MoraineValley

Community policing represents an alternative to the traditional form of police organizations

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations #MoraineValley

Specifically, it attempts to decentralize decision making both territorially and administratively

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations #MoraineValley

It also requires the police to de-formalize, eliminating many of the rules and policies that often stifle creativity and do not encourage problem solving.

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations #MoraineValley

Under community policing, organizations are also encouraged to de-specialize functions.

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations #MoraineValley

Finally, community policing attempts to de-layerize, decreasing the amount of social and administrative distance between the beat officer and the chief of police.

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations #MoraineValley

306,000 people | 428 officers | 1 struggling city

What is it like to police and be policed in one of California’s poorest cities with one of the nation’s highest crime rates?

abeautifulperspective.com/2018/09/docume…

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations #MoraineValley

Continuing the focus on policing in America, Wyatt Cenac heads to IL where the @ElginPD's Resident Officer program provides neighborhood housing for officers to build positive relationships in the community.



#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations

An alternative to changing the structure of police organizations is to develop decision-making procedures that operate within the existing formal structure

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations #MoraineValley

An inter-agency task force allows the police chief to select particular officers from different ranks, based on their talents rather than just their rank.

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations #MoraineValley

The success of inter-agency task forces has led a number of law enforcement organizations to adopt multi-agency task forces.

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations #MoraineValley

Multi-agency task forces operate as special law enforcement organizations created through formal agreements between several government agencies for the purpose of more effectively and efficiently combating specific crime problems

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations #MoraineValley

THINKING CHALLENGE: What are the major advantages of multi-agency task forces?

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations #MoraineValley

Over the past two decades, police organizations have been increasing the amount of technology they employ to more effectively and efficiently make use of their resources

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations #MoraineValley

However, it was not until 1994, when the New York City Police Department, led by Commissioner William Bratton, implemented #COMPSTAT, short for “compare stats”

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations #MoraineValley

COMPSTAT was used as an organizational tool to achieve crime control through accountability

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations #MoraineValley

This organizational model of management in New York City places the responsibility for crime control on precinct commanders

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations #MoraineValley

At weekly meetings, crime trends are examined, and precinct commanders are questioned about the strategies they have used to control crime in their precincts.

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations #MoraineValley

Since its implementation in New York City, COMPSTAT has been hailed as one of the most important organizational innovations in American policing

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations #MoraineValley

Following the implementation of #COMPSTAT, index crimes in New York City decreased by 55 percent, compared with 24 percent in other large cities.

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations #MoraineValley

An Inside Look at the System That Cut Crime in New York By 75 Percent

nbcnews.com/news/us-news/i…

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations #MoraineValley

Civil service procedures are a major feature of American police organizations

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations #MoraineValley

Civil service agencies are responsible for developing job descriptions &pay scales, developing recruitment procedures, developing and administering recruitment tests, certifying qualified applicants, developing promotional criteria, developing and administering promotional tests

Civil service agencies develop disciplinary procedures and hearing appeals of disciplinary actions.

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations #MoraineValley

A police union is an organization legally authorized to represent police officers in collective bargaining with the employer.

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations #MoraineValley

The majority of sworn US police officers are members of police unions. According to the Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics survey, officers are represented by unions in 73 percent of all municipal police

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations #MoraineValley

Police unions are fragmented among several different national federations. Today, there are three major police unions:
~Fraternal Order of Police
~International Union of Police Associations
~Teamsters Law Enforcement League

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations #MoraineValley

Do you & your fellow officers on your department belong to a Union?

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations #MoraineValley

Collective bargaining is defined as “the method of determining conditions of employment through bilateral negotiations.”

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations #MoraineValley

One of the most important conditions of work involves disciplinary procedures. Almost all police unions have formal grievance procedures designed to protect officers against unfair discipline. Grievance procedures provide due process for employees.

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations

When the union and the city or county cannot agree on a contract, an impasse exists. Police strikes are illegal in many states, and other impasse settlement procedures exist, such as mandatory mediation, fact finding, or arbitration

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations

Police unions have had a powerful impact on American policing. Most important, they have produced significant improvements in police officer salaries and benefits

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations

THINKING CHALLENGE: What are the most significant impact of police unions?

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations

The Contract: Chicago's Police Union | Fault Lines



#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations

Police Unions And The Fight To Reform Law Enforcement



#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations

Researchers have used three primary theories to understand police organizational structures and operational strategies:
~contingency theory,
~institutional theory,
~and resource dependency theory

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations

What a whirlwind of 75 minutes! What aspects of police organization are you interested in learning more about?

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations

To satisfy my curiosity, what brought you to this thread today?

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations

Always looking for feedback, how would you grade today's discussion on Police As Organizations?

#CRJ201 #PoliceOrganizations

Next Thursday we will examine what sort of police we want for society. So tell me ...

What mentality do you think is appropriate for contemporary policing?

#CRJ201 #AmericanPolicing

I look forward to it! As always, I welcome all questions, comments, concerns, feedback.

@UnrollHelper