Chapter 6- Police Administration Flashcards
Organizational Design
Explain the principle of hierarchy as it relates to organizational design:
each lower level of an organization must be supervised by a higher level. This authority flows downward in the organization as a formal grant of power from the chief of police to those selected in leadership positions. These different grades of authority produce the chain of command.
Describe the concept of span of management:
The Span of Management (instead of span of control) refers to the number of subordinates who can be managed efficiently by a superior. Simply, the manager having the group of subordinates who report him directly is called as the span of management.
Distinguish between vertical and horizontal differentiation:
The complexity of a police department is increased by the proliferation of levels because they can negatively affect communication up and down the chain of command.
Vertical (tall) organizational structures have many levels with narrow spans of control. Tall organizations are complex and may react slowly during crisis situations, as effective communication is hampered by the number of different levels present within the chain of command.
Flater (horizontal) structures are associations with wider spans of control that offer numerous advantages over the more traditional tall structure.
List and describe four basic types of police organizational design:
- Line structure
- Line and staff structure
- Functional structure
- Matrix structure
Line Structure- The oldest, simplest, and clearest form of organizational design. Authority flows from the top to the bottom of the organization is a clear and unbroken line, creating a set of superior-subordinate relations in a hierarchy commonly called the chain of command.
Line and Staff Structure- The structure retains basic elements from line structure but adds auxiliary and administrative support units. The addition of a staff component to the line structure offers a number of advantages because such units are helpful in the following:
1. Provides expert advice to line units in special knowledge areas as demonstrated by the opinions of legal advisors
2. Relieving line managers from performing tasks they least prefer to so or are least qualified to do, such as training and scientific analysis of physical evidence
3. Achieving department wide conformity in activities that affect the entire organization, such as disciplinary procedures
4. Reducing or eliminating special problems, such as corruption, because of the greater expertise they bring bear n the issue and the greater amount of time they have to devote to the problem.
Functional Structure- One means by which the line authority structure of an organization can be modified. Hodge and Johnson state that functional structure “is a line and staff structure that has been modified by the delegation of management authority to personnel outside their normal spans of control.”
Matrix structure- Organizational structure that assigns members of functional areas to specific projects, such as a task force.
Discuss the major crime factors that impact investigative function; list the 6 models of investigative style.
- The manner in which the crime comes to the attention of the police.
- The severity of the crime
- The historical experience in solving similar crimes
4.Legal considerations - Department policies
Style 1: Reinforcing Patrol
Style 2: Standard Reactive
Style 3: Major Cases
Style 4: Regulatory Inspections
Style 5: Passive Notation
Style 6: Discovery enforcement
Style 1: Reinforcing Patrol
-Incident driven then investigator assigned
-Cases quickly resolved and closed
Style 2: Standard Reactive
Incident and complexity driven
-May require little or a lot of follow up
-Case may or may not be solved
Style 3: Major Cases
-All incidents thoroughly investigated
-Reasonable leads may diminish over time
Style 4: Regulatory Inspections
Primarily inspection/regulatory work that uncovers the existence of a crime.
Find out via inspections
Example: Pawn shop, auto salvage
Style 5: Passive Notation
Primarily report taking/support functions
Deal with, but less pressing. Routine stolen property, bad checks
Style 6: Discovery enforcement
largely proactive investigations where covert police officers detect the occurrence of crime and identify suspects
Narcotics, terrorism, vice operations
Identify the basic causes of tension between line and staff and suggest strategies to be used as solutions:
(1) line commanders feel staff commanders are trying to assume authority over their operations; (2) line units fail to give them sound advice because staff ideas are not fully thought out or are “too academic”; (3) communication failures, such as when staff personnel do not fully explain plans which line units have to implement; (4) line commanders feel staff officers blame them for failures and take credit for successes; (5) line commanders think that staff commanders do not see the “big picture,” only their narrow interest or specialty; (6) staff contends that lie commanders do not know how to properly use staff personnel; and (7) staff commanders view line commanders as rigid and short-sighted, resistant to new ideas.
Describe the 8 characteristics of an informal organization:
Naturalness
Interactions (or group dynamics)
Empathy
Social distance
Democratic orientation
Leadership
Group pressure
Cohesiveness and unity
