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Chapter 2
THE ORGANIZATION AND STRUCTURE OF AMERICAN POLICING
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Chapter 2 Learning Objectives
After completing this chapter, students will know
• How law enforcement agencies were traditionally organized
• What line and staff personnel are
• What advantages and disadvantages are associated with specialization
• What the chain of command does
• What type of organization law enforcement managers should recognize
• What the emerging law enforcement organization looks like
Chapter 2 Outline
Introduction
The Traditional Law Enforcement Organization
The Formal Organization
Typical Divisions in Law Enforcement Agencies
Division of Labor: Generalists and Specialists
The Hierarchy of Authority
Chain of Command
The Informal Organization
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Post–9/11 Policing
Community Policing
Traditional and Community Policing Compared
Partnerships
A Change in Core Functions?
Problem-Solving Policing
CompStat Policing
Intelligence-Led Policing
Ethical Considerations in Intelligence-Led Policing
Chapter 2 Summary
The traditional organizational design is that of a pyramid-shaped hierarchy based on a
military model.
Field services, also called field operations, use line personnel to directly help accomplish
the goals of the department. Administrative services use staff personnel to support the
line organization.
Community policing is a philosophy that promotes “organization strategies, which
supports the systematic use of partnership and problem solving techniques to proactively
address the immediate conditions that give rise to public safety issues, such as crime,
social disorder and fear of crime.” Traditional policing is reactive, focusing on fighting
crime and measuring effectiveness by arrest rates. A tenet of traditional policing is that
crime is a police problem. In contrast, community policing is proactive, focusing on
community problems and measuring effectiveness on the absence of crime and disorder.
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Problem-solving policing requires police to group incidents as a way to identify
underlying causes of problems in the community. The four principles of CompStat
involve accurate, timely intelligence; effective tactics; rapid deployment; and relentless
follow-up. The 3-I model of intelligence-led policing consists of interpreting the criminal
Chapter 2 Key Terms
administrative services supports those performing field services; includes
recruitment and training, records and communication, planning and research and
technical services.
bifurcated society a society in which the gap between the “haves” and the “have
nots” is wide—that is, there are many poor people, many wealthy people and a
shrinking middle class.
community policing decentralized model of policing in which individual officers
exercise their own initiatives and citizens become actively involved in making their
neighborhoods safer; this proactive approach usually includes increased emphasis on
foot patrol.
CompStat policing a method of management accountability and a philosophy of
crime control.
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fusion center an entity that pools the resources and personnel of multiple agencies
into one central location to facilitate information sharing and intelligence
development regarding criminal activities.
hierarchy a group of people organized or classified by rank and authority. In law
enforcement, typically pyramid shaped with a single “authority” at the top expanding
down and out through the ranks to the broad base of “workers.”
line personnel those who actually perform most of the tasks outlined in the
work plan.
paradigm a model, theory or frame of reference.
paradigm shift a dramatic change in how some basic structure is viewed.
proactive recognizing problems and seeking the underlying cause(s) of the
problems.
span of control how many people one individual manages or supervises.
staff personnel those who support line personnel.
transactional change various features of an organization may be altered, but the
core framework is untouched; this evolutionary change intervenes in structure,
management practices and motivations
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transformational change intervenes in an organization’s mission, culture, and
leadership style.
Classroom Discussion Questions
1. Is there a difference between the terms pyramidal structure and hierarchy?
2. What is the difference between unity of command and chain of command?
3. What forces are driving change in your community?
4. What does an organizational chart indicate?
Student Activities
1. You have been picked by the police chief to develop a new community-oriented
initiative. You have been given a minimal budget for start up. How will you
determine what problem to address? Where will you get your resources?
2. Determine whether your local police agencies are adopting, or plan to adopt,
3. How would you address a gang problem in a high-crime neighborhood? What
Challenge Two
You are the new chief of the Greenfield Police Department. After 30 years of iron-fisted
control, Chief Slaughter has retired. Slaughter believed in the military model of police
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management and a traditional crime-fighting policing strategy. He was fully entrenched
in the war on crime and ran his department like an army unit. His book of rules and
regulations was a foot thick, and he demanded absolute compliance. Decisions were
As a student of police history you realize that most police departments battle complex
social problems and seldom march off to war. You know that crime rates are minimally
influenced by crime fighting and are a poor indication of policing success. You also
know that traditional organizational structures and policing strategies are slow to change
and often are out of sync with one another. Most of your questions to the captains about
department operations have generated the same response: “Because that’s the way we’ve
always done it. If it ain’t broke, why fix it?”
You decide to visit with members of the community. A homeowner tells you that Chief
Slaughter’s officers do a great job of patrolling her neighborhood, but she’s worried
It appears the Greenfield Police Department is trapped in the traditional mode of policing.
They rely on preventive patrolling and rapid response as their primary policing strategies
and seldom interact with the community. You review their mission statement and find it
emphasizes the professional model of crime fighting.
Challenge Two Questions and Suggested Answers
1. What challenges are facing you as the new chief?
Many challenges await. The largest hurdle will be to have the department understand
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2. What type of data might be collected to address the identified problems?
If the department uses CompStat, you would be able to review data to identify
3. What changes would you introduce in policing strategies?
Many police departments have replaced strict crime-fighting strategies with
4. What changes would you make in the organizational structure to enable the new
strategy?
If line officers are expected to be creative problem solvers rather than reactive
5. Identify some quality-of-life issues that are not being addressed by the crime-fighting
strategy of Chief Slaughter.
Fear of crime at the senior citizens’ residence—a deteriorating apartment complex