Police Management

• Definition: Police Management

  Administrative activities of controlling, directing, and coordinating police personnel, resources, and activities.
• Management levels

  Various levels

  • Ex: Typically sergeants respond to more serious call and support other officers
  • In some jurisdictions sergeants are the only ones with tasers and weapons like that
• Police Management: Internal Challenges

  1. Police culture is resistant to change
  2. High cost associated with selecting & training officers
  3. Union issues (resistance to salary decreases, resistance to outsourcing jobs, etc)
  4. HR issues: Many retiring, Young officers don't see it as a career, lack of managerial training, lacking experienced officers
  5. Difficulty defining, measure & communicating value
  6. Adjusting to different models of policing
• Internal Challenges: Union issues

  Strong in policing, can be difficult:

  • If officer did something wrong/illegal, hard to take action bc protected by union --> this can be exploited
• Internal Challenges: HR Issue - Trend

  • Many older officer retiring now
  • Often those who get into policing, don't view it as a long-term career
  • So huge lack in experienced officers & lack of officers with managerial training
• Internal Challenges: Communicating value

  Difficult to define, measure the various factors of policing (proactive initiatives), so how to we communicate its value to the public, media, politicians, etc
• Internal Challenges: Traditional Policing

  Classic view in Canada

  • Para-military
  • Police act in isolation
  • Pyramid hierarchy & dehumanization
  • Police = law enforcers
  • Evaluate policing based on the absence of crime and disorder
• Internal Challenges: Community Policing

  Moved into this type of policing which has a reliance on:

  • Partnerships: working with others to perform core functions
  • Problem solving
  • Proactive tactics
• Internal Challenges: Problem-solving Policing

  
  

  Focuses on:

  • Causes of crime & identifying solutions
  • Responding to underlying circumstances that create incidents
  • Relies on expertise of line officers
• Internal Challenges: Evidence-based Policing

  • Monitor & Evaluate program outcomes
  • Analyze & Adjust strategies
  • Training
  • Innovation
  • Efficiency
  • Communication
  • Academic Partnerships
  • Reporting Failure
• Police Management: External Challenges (8)

  1. Decreasing Budgets
  2. Changing nature of Crime
  3. Tech advances
  4. Downloading of services
  5. Complex cases & legislation that need more time
  6. Increased Accountability
  7. Politics
  8. Demographics of an Area
• External Challenges - Increased Accountability

  Officers agree, it's not a bad thing.

  HOWEVER:

  • Needs to be managed
  • Limits officers in talking about what they've done
  • High level of personal accountability is required to keep people honest which is challenging bc officer might not choose to do good in fear of how the public will perceive it
• External Challenges - Tech Advances

  • Impacts the types of crimes being committed
  • Impacts the way police do things
• Examples: External Challenges - Increased Accountability

  • Social Media
  • Civilian oversight
• External Challenges - Politics

  Changing Priorities at both Municipal & Provincial Levels
• Police Management: Potential Ways Forward

  1. Eliminate certain services
  2. Charge for Services
  3. Tiered policing
  4. Find Efficiencies
  5. Exploit Tech (can allow officers to spend more time in the field)
  6. Civillian-ize certain aspects of the job
  7. Privatize certain aspects of the job
  8. Develop Partnerships (Academic Institutions, Social services, other agencies)
  9. Develop Better Communication Strategies for public & politicians
  10. Develop leadership potential ( selection, training, mentoring, incentives, etc.)
• Potential Ways Forward - Eliminating Certain Services

  Not all services are necessary ex. proactive or "soft" initiatives
• Potential Ways Forward - Tiered Policing

  Different wages for different positions may help save money or distribute money more effectively
• Potential Ways Forward - Exploit Tech

  Using tech such as AI would decrease the time needed to do things like bodycam footage editing
• Potential Ways Forward - Civilian-ize certain aspects of the job

  Ex. monitoring traffic violations
• Effective Leadership Characteristics:

  1. Ethical
  2. Ability to generate Trust
  3. Legitimacy in the Eyes of Subordinates
  4. Good Role Model
  5. Communication
  6. Competent Decision Making
  7. Thinking Ability
• Effective Leadership Characteristics - Ethical

  Has Integrity & Honesty
• Effective Leadership Characteristics - Legitimacy


  Legit in the eyes of subordinates // Respect from subordinates bc excelled & rose through the ranks of the organization
• Effective Leadership Characteristics - Competent Decision-Making

  Makes decisions that lead to achievement of goals & includes subordinates in decision making
• Effective Leadership Tasks

  1. Creating & Sharing Vision
  2. Engendering Organizational Commitment
  3. Showing Care
  4. Driving & Managing Change
  5. Problem Solving
• Effective Leadership Tasks - Creating & Shared Vision

  Creates a sense of purpose for followers
• Effective Leadership Tasks - Engendering Organizational Commitment

  • Providing support & feedback to subordinates
  • Promoting collaboration
  • Giving others a voice in decision making
• Effective Leadership Tasks - Showing Care to Subordinates

  • Provide developmental opportunities
  • Take responsibility for staff well-being
• Effective Leadership Tasks - Problem solving


  Proactive & Collaborative problem solving to address complex problems