Week 12 Flashcards
What is police management? (3)
The administrative activities of controlling, directing and coordinating police personnel, resources and activities
Police managers exist at many levels with roles and responsibilities varying by rank
Usually at the Sergeant role and above would be what we consider police management
Why is police management so important?
While it is important in any sector, it is especially important in policing because it is so challenging and the stakes are so high
What are some examples of how managing policing is a challenging environment? (3)
Difficult to assess the bottom line in policing (not about profit like in private sectors)
Hard to tell if your agency is doing well (how do you know if the bottom line has improved? There is no one clear cut way to do it)
How do you manage an agency that can’t say no? (Risk cannot be mediated by picking and choosing what calls to take; also cannot say no to useless things that drain their resources)
What is police sustainability? (4)
One of the major goals in police management
Figuring out how to deliver high quality police services at a proportionate rate in the future despite the challenges police face
Police are trying to sustain public service and quality policing for the community
There is a lot of debate on how to enhance sustainability and answers will depend on what stakeholders you ask which makes it hard for mangers to please everyone
What are the two kinds of challenges managers face with respect to sustainability?
Internal and external
What are the internal challenges police leaders face? (6) C C U HR V M
A police culture that is resistant to change (attitudes and behaviors are deeply rooted and it is hard to undo that to make them do things differently from how they’ve always been done; need to work within that culture to initiate change)
High cost associated with selecting and training officers (making changes that cost money are hard to achieve considering decreasing budgets)
Union issues (they serve individual officers, not the agency as a whole, making it hard for managers to make changes that sacrifice one for the other like salary decreases and reducing jobs)
Human Resources issues (old officers retiring, young officers not planning on staying, filling emptying managerial spots with inexperienced officers without managerial training)
Difficulty defining, measuring and communicating value to the public, politicians and media (police serve us and need to justify the funding and resources they need by showing the value of them; this is hard because the strategies people want to see (proactive) cannot be tangibly measured as the absence of something indicates value)
Adjusting to different models of policing as it changes over time to maximize efficiency
What are the 4 different models of policing discussed?
Traditional policing: paramilitary, pyramid hierarchy, law enforcers, police act on their own, test of effectiveness is a sense of crime and disorder
Community policing: rely on partnerships with others, problem-solving, proactive tactics
Problem-solving policing: focus on causes of crime and identifying solutions, respond to underlying circumstances that create incidents, relied on expertise of front line officers
Evidence-based policing: monitor and evaluate program outcomes, analyze and adjust strategies, training, innovation, efficiency, communication, academic partnerships, reporting failure
What are the external challenges police leaders face? (8) B C T DS CL A P D
Decreasing budgets
Changing nature of crime means police are not trained or equipped to handle things as they are so new (cyber crime, terrorism)
Technological advances (impacts crimes and the ways police do things as it is increasingly relying on technology, which some older officers struggle with)
Downloading of services (things that have historically not been their responsibility are now their problem, even when they are not equipped to handle them)
Court cases and legislation that increase the complexity of casework and the time that is required to fulfill responsibilities (paperwork takes up a lot of time from other more important tasks)
Increased accountability from civilians oversight and the media (not a bad thing but a challenging thing as it can be distracting and unfair)
Politics at the municipal and provincial level (changing priorities depending on the agenda of the government in power)
Demographics of an area (some areas have immigrant and POC populations that are more resistant to the police)
What are some potential ways forward for police mangers? (10) E C TP E T C P P C L
Eliminate certain services that are not part of the core functioning of police and are not getting that quantitative ROI (proactive or soft initiatives like youth programs in the community)
Charge for certain services
Tiered policing (different wages for different jobs depending on level of experience, training and skills required)
Find efficiencies that would save money in the long run (problem is that most of the budget is absorbed by strategies, which doesn’t leave much room for new tech)
Exploit technology (allowing more officers to spend time in the field rather than sitting in the office)
Civilianize certain aspects of the job that don’t require specialized knowledge/skills (can be paid less)
Privatize certain aspects of the job (security work)
Develop partnerships with academic institutions, social services and other enforcement agencies to reduce the workload
Develop better communication strategies for public and politicians (need to be better at defining, measuring and communicating value to justify budget and resources required for sustainability)
Developing leadership potential (better selection traits, training, mentoring, incentives, etc.)
What are effective leadership characteristics? ETLRCDT
Ethical (integrity and honesty)
Generate trust within the organization and between police and community
Legitimacy in the eyes of subordinates (good cop first, was one of them and was good at it)
A good role model (leading by example)
Communication (within the force to subordinates and outside)
Competence in decision making (leads to achievement of goals, including subordinates)
Thinking ability (critical, strategic and creative)
What are effective leadership tasks? (5) VCCCP
Creating and sharing vision (sense of purpose)
Engendering organizational commitment (providing support and feedback, promoting collaboration, giving others a voice)
Showing care to subordinates (opportunities, responsibility for wellbeing, recognition)
Driving and managing change
Problem solving (proactive and collaborative to address complex problems)
