Police Mission: Challenges and Responses

Police Mission Challenges and Responses

Dilip K. Das Arvind Verma

The Scarecrow Press, Inc. Lanham, Maryland, and Oxford 2003

SCARECROW PRESS, INC. Published in the United States of America by Scarecrow Press, Inc. A Member of the Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706 www.scarecrowpress.com

PO Box 317 Oxford OX2 9RU, UK Copyright 0 2003 by Dilip K. Das and Arvind Verma All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-PublicationData Das, Dilip K., 1941Police mission : challenges and responses I Dilip K. Das, Arvind Verma. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8108-3289-5 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Police-United States. 2. Police subculture-United States. 3. Police administration-United States. 4. Police. 5. Crime prevention-Philosophy. 6. Law enforcement-Philosophy. I. Verma, Arvind. 11. Title. HV8141 .D415 2003 363.2’09734~21 2002012350

@

T’The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences-Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSVNISO 239.48- 1992. Manufactured in the United States of America.

Contents

Preface

V

vii

Acknowledgments Police Mission, Ideals, and Values

1

Ideals of Excellent Companies versus Police Discipline

18

Occupational Culture of Police

35

53

Perspectives on Police Culture The Armed Police in the British Colonial Tradition: The Indian Perspective

128

A Diagnosis of Police Organization

145

Directions for Change: Police as a Learning Organization

190

Human Values and Police Leadership

198

Other Innovations and Experimentations

210

Web Resources

230

References

23 1

Index

249

About the Authors

25 1

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Preface

In this book we argue that police organizations have a noble mission enshrined through the American constitution and other historical landmarks. But American police like the police elsewhere in the world suffer from a negative organizational culture. We consider this to be the prime cause for the failure in implementation of the mission. We attempt an organizational diagnosis in which we present an overview of the major organizational theories to enable readers to comprehend the true characteristics of the American police organization. Finally, the book provides a practical as well as a logical answer to the police if they wish to implement their mission. We believe that the police in America can strive to achieve their noble mission following our recommendations.

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Acknowledgments

Most chapters in this book were previously published in journals. Chapter 2: “What Police Organizations Can Learn from Ideals of Excellent Companies,” Journal of Criminal Justice, 13, (4) (1984), pp. 381-86. Chapter 3: “Conflict Views on Policing: An Evaluation,” American Journal of Police, 3, (1) (1983), pp. 51-81. Chapter 3: “Police Culture: Training Perspectives,” Journal of Police Administration and Science, 12, (4) (1885), p. 412. Chapter 4: “Canadian Police Perception of Minority Problems,” Police Studies, 16, (4) (1993), pp. 138-46. Chapter 4: “ComparativePolice Studies: An Assessment,” Police Studies, 14, (1) (1991), pp. 22-35. Chapter 4: “Police and Community in America: Influences from across the Atlantic,” Police Studies, 9, (3) (1986), pp. 138-47. Chapter 4: “The Image of American Police in ComparativeLiterature,” Police Studies, 8, (2) (1985), pp. 74-83. Chapter 5: Das, Dilip K., and Arvind Verma. “The Armed Police in the British Colonial Tradition: The Indian Perspective,” Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies and Management, 21, (2) (1998), pp. 354-67. Chapter 6: “Street Cops as Problem Solvers: A Tale of Three Cities,” Police Fomm, 11, (2) (2001), pp. 8-19.

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Chapter One

Police Mission, Ideals, and Values

What are the reasons for the existence of police? What social purpose do they serve and what is it that they do that cannot be done by other social agencies? The basic question here concerns the role and function of the police in American society. In this chapter we attempt to understand this role by examining the considerable literature related to this theme. We have decided to focus on a few books that we consider important contributions to police literature. These books are a selective collection, for the idea is to present not a complete literature review but a focused presentation by choice.

POLICE MISSION Some people believe that the role of the police is to prevent crime. 0thers say maintaining order is most important, while some say action against lawbreakers is the most important task of the police. “Policing is an activity characterized by protecting individuals so as to maintain a safe and secure order in society” (Mncadi 1994, 1). During the Prohibition era, police work was seen as enforcement of morality. According to David Hansen (1973), a former police captain, keeping of the peace and protection of life and property is the police function. Vollmer (1969, 3), too, pointed out that “the police departments are also called upon to perform every conceivable kind of service,” while “some people expect the police to combat every social ill” (Delattre 1996, 23). However, the mission “To Protect and To Serve” engraved on police 1

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cars is not as simple as it appears. The “police are the vehicle by which the limits, boundaries and permissibility of social tolerance are tested” (Niederhoffer and Blumberg 1970, 12). According to Brewer et al. (1996,129) “the policeman is not a neutral arbiter backed by an impartial legal system, . . . he is an agent of a political system whose most glaring discontinuities are of an economic kind.” Furthermore, Goldstein (1977, 1) argues that “the police, by the very nature of their function, are an anomaly in a free society.” Langworthy and Travis (1994, 6) state: In many ways, the very idea of police can seem un-American. . . . On the one hand, we have a society and a system of government that value and protect individual freedom. On the other, we have police who apply their capacity to use coercive force to make people behave in certain ways. The police limit individual freedom.

This clash between the two viewpoints is central to the establishment and functions of police in American society. In order to understand the role of the police we will explore the mission of American police as based on the history, tradition, and values of America. As an American institution, what are the norms and standards that American police must exhibit? In analyzing the formative forces it is noted that the original vision of the American police was anchored in a few basic tenets of ideology. The sources of these value-shaping influences are primarily three: the Bill of Rights, the Metropolitan model of 1829, and the service tradition of Anglo-American police. Each of these historical landmarks had made its unique contribution to the philosophy, moral character, and idealistic underpinning of American police. These value-oriented dimensions can be regarded as the basic constructs of police ideals in America. It is interesting to observe that the formative influences on American police ideals are English and European in origin.

THE BILL OF RIGHTS: THE IMPACT OF THE AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT While referring to the ideals that American police can find in the Bill of Rights, it may be noted that this historical document does not even

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3

mention the word police. However, the idealistic roots are clearly visible in many references to the exacting standards of policing. From the Preamble we can construe that the police are the representatives of government that is committed to “insure domestic tranquility” for promoting “general welfare” and, more important, securing “the blessings of liberty” (Burns et al. 1998, 45). Yet, the constitution makers were equally concerned about maintaining order and protecting liberty. James Madison pointed out that “the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself’ (p. 25). For achieving such cherished goals, the Bill of Rights deals with “the conduct of the enforcement of laws by police organizations and police personnel” (Becker and Whitehouse 1979). Proper respect for the rights of citizens and the appreciation of official restraints have been emphasized through the concepts of probable cause, due process, habeas corpus, self-incrimination,excessive bail, excessive fine, cruel and unusual punishment, and other procedural guarantees. It can be said that the Bill of Rights echoes the humane ideals of Western civilization concerning the exercise of coercive authority by the state. It embodies some of the most refined ideas of Enlightenment thinkers like Montesquieu, Rousseau, Voltaire, and Beccaria. “American democratic values include liberty, equality, individualism, democracy, justice, the rule of law, and economic freedom” (Bums et al. 1998, 172). Though “enlightened ideas about human rights” provided the basis for the American revolution and found its most eloquent expression in the Declaration of Independence “the definition of liberty as freedom from government restraints” (Walker 1998, 37) was a significant feature. The U.S. Constitution was written in the belief that liberty could be best served by defining and limiting the powers of government. Walker explains: The Bill of Rights, ratified in 1791, brought the emerging ideas about limiting governmental authority to fruition. The Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Eighth Amendments included seventeen specific guarantees related to the criminal process, including protections against unreasonable searches and seizures, self-incrimination, and cruel and unusual punishment and the rights to due process and to speedy public trial. (pp. 37-38)

These “rights were embryonic by modem standards but quite advanced for the times” (Walker 1998, 38). According to Bittner

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(1973), the norms of policing outlined in the Bill of Rights symbolize long-standing desire to abolish violence and make peace as a stable and permanent condition of everyday life. These guidelines and directions based on the rational principles of Enlightenment seem to embody the belief that “the police are arguably the central public service in a modern state. They are to protect our essential freedoms, and do have a monopoly over the legitimate use of force” (Jones, Newburn, and Smith 1994, 1). The Bill of Rights imposes procedural restraints that force everyone to examine the fundamental assumptions of the system of social control. Police officers have to appreciate the spirit of legal philosophy as propounded by the founders of the American nation. They have to be fully sensitive to the notion of fairness and the concept of justice. Eldefonso and Coffey (1981) suggest that the police officer needs to look not only to the Constitution and the Bill of Rights but also to their wider interpretations to guarantee the rights of those suspected of crimes. Enshrined in the Bill of Rights is direction for the police concerning how to treat those whom they govern, as well as how to govern themselves. As the most visible form of coercive governmental authority, the police in the public mind are synonymous with government itself. Government needs legitimate power, however, government also needs to control itself. This can be achieved through the flexible and dynamic ideals set forth in this American Magna Carta. Its validity and contemporaneity for police conduct is perennial. Due process, for example, will remain an eternal yardstick for just and fair police action. Herbert Packer (1966) has suggested that the criminal justice system has an inherent conflict between the crime control and due process model. Walker (1998, 4) also argues that “the term due process is too limited because it fails to take into account the struggles for equality that form an important theme in the criminal justice history” of America. All these phrases from the language of the law may sound abstract but they have “a very real significance to the way in which police officers are allowed to enforce the law” (Lyman 1999, 186). The police have to operate within the framework of law in order to control crime. The American system lays down for the police that “it is more important to focus upon the means by which crime is controlled rather than the end result” (p. 187). These precepts of police conduct are also uniformly valid. A police

Police Mission, Ideals, and Values

5

officer, wherever he may be, should be aware that many restrictions have been placed in exercising legal powers by the states through specific provisions of the Constitution and by different court decisions (Klotter and Kanovitz 1985). Thus, transcending all constraints of time, place, and situation, the Bill of Rights has set forth before American police a clear and noble set of finer values. Jerome Hall (1982) suggests that humane values override the purely logical adjudication and the discovery of the truth. Entrusted with such noble purpose and responsibilities, the police are expected to understand and appreciate the law. It is obvious that such ideals cannot be internalized by practitioners of the craft of policing trained only in the mechanics of their trade. Implicit in those values is that police need to be able to act in accordance with the principles based on humane concerns through the appreciation of the higher value of law.

THE ENGLISH IMPACT “American policing is a product of its English heritage” (Walker 1999, 20). A significant English influence in the history of American police is Sir Robert Peel’s model of the Metropolitan Police. This historical development has its importance as a prototype of American police. While the Bill of Rights contains the Enlightenment ideology for policing to be grounded on the higher values of law, the English model across the Atlantic draws attention to the need for democratic and moral principles. These principles can be identified as the most significant factor that contributed to the humane basis of the Metropolitan model of policing. Writing in 1920, Fosdick (1969) commented that the failure of the existing police system led to the importation of the British model. According to Miller (1991), by 1830 there were increasing discussions in New York of adopting a London-model police force for the city. The successes of a full year of operation of the new London police was seen in sharp contrast to the social disorder that was beginning to threaten the American metropolis. It was, however, only after another fifteen years that Americans adopted the general structure of the London force. Walker (1999, 24) stated, “Americans borrowed most of the London

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model of modem policing: the mission of crime prevention, the strategy of visible patrol over fixed beats, and some elements of quasi-military organizational structure.” Richardson (1974, 17) describes the British impact as follows: When the elites of these communities later decided that they needed more formal police arrangements, they borrowed the concept of a salaried, bureaucratic, uniformed police from England. The early rule book of the New York Police copied heavily from that of the London Metropolitan Police, and some American departments used the same ranks and titles as English forces. More important than these trappings is the very idea of a policed society in which the community creates an agency responsible for imposing order and discipline upon deviant members.

Lane (1967) supports the contention that the Boston mayor wanted the city police to follow, as far as possible, the system of London. According to Monkkonen too, the Metropolitan Police became the model for the U.S. police system (1981). Manning (1997) also believes that the American police were established upon the principles of Robert Peel while Radelet (1973,6) points out that, within a decade after 1844, when Peel’s model was adopted in New York, “the main features of the London Metropolitan police were firmly established in this country.” Despite many differences, the police systems of England and the United States share fundamentally common features enunciated by Peel. Both forces are established on the principle that each community is responsible for maintaining its own order and that the police are accountable to the local community. As a matter of fact, it has been argued that not only American cities but the whole of Western Europe eventually moved toward this civilian police model started by Peel (Walker 1999). Nevertheless, “the London model was not simply adopted. In American cities, the model of the London Metropolitan Police was adapted to reflect particularly American values and concerns” (Langworthy and Travis 1994, 62). The English bobby belonged to a tightly disciplined body of professionals divorced from partisan politics while the American officers were under the control of city government and local politicians. “The [American] system allowed and even encouraged political patronage and reward for friends” (Peak 2000, 15). Above all, as Miller (1991,79) says:

Police Mission, Ideals, and Values

7

The London patrolman’s impersonal authority [rested] on control of discretionary power through the legal system and the directives of the judiciary and heads of the force. In contrast, the New York policeman’s personal authority rested on unregulated discretion and less concern for working within legal restraints.

In regard to the nature of English police, some argue that it was a bourgeois instrument for the protection of class interests. Summerhays (1980) suggests that the police are an extension of the power structure of the dominant classes in American society. According to Harring (1983), Marx and Friedrich Engels maintained that the police perform a critical function in the reproduction of capital through the repression and disciplining of the working class. These observations were made with reference to eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Britain. Monkkonen (1981) points out that the class nature of the police was inevitable in the very genesis of the preventive police that Peel popularized. The ruling class of England identified a dangerous lower class that was seen as being responsible for the criminal behaviors. It is, however, debatable if the new police were created only with the purpose of class control function. Nevertheless, Monkkonen has argued that the efforts to control crime did result in controlling the lower classes. According to him, the goal of class control followed as an unintended consequence of the new idea of preventing crime. Commenting on the British police, Jones, Newburn, and Smith (1994, 6) state: In the 1980s. police tactics during industrial disputes, at political demonstrations and during the course of violent street disorders in certain inner cities, have damaged this sanguine portrait [of minimum force]. Armed with new powers, possessing new equipment and co-ordinated on a national basis to combat disorder, they appear unfamiliar and discomfiting: less a part of society, more apart from it.

Nonetheless, numerous authorities reputed for scholarly judgment and insights regard the Metropolitan Police as a democratic, people oriented institution informed by liberal Western values and ethical concerns that appealed to the thinkers of the Age of Enlightenment. Right from its inception, “Peel and the Commissioners demanded impeccable behavior from constables, both on and off duty, and specifically instructed their constables to be civil and respectful to the public” (Langworthy and Travis 1994,60) in order to earn popular respect and sup-

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port. The goals of police officers were to work for approval, respect, and affection of the public. Miller (1991,75) comments that “the Commissioners inculcated loyalty and obedience, enforced by quick dismissal for infractions, expecting the men to be models of good conduct by subordinating their impulses to the requirement of discipline and the legal system they represented.” In order to win public acceptance, Peel emphasized the selection of personnel as one of the important tasks for the Joint Commissioners. Peel worked to ensure that the moral character of the police be above suspicion. According to Critchley (1967), the new force was reared as a democratic body. It sought closer relationship with the community and gave an impression of belonging to the people. It certainly attempted to draw its strength from the people. Banton (1964) has also observed that English officers were trained to regard themselves as public servants under the law without appropriating to themselves the authority to act as representatives of the law that American officers tend to do. Banton also suggests that English police officers have traditionally exhibited certain qualities such as a clearly established role, a sense of moral rectitude, invulnerability to public criticism, and so on. Gorer (1955) has gone to the extent of suggesting that the English policeman has been not only an object of respect but also a model of ideal male character. Miller (1991,75) also suggests that The Commissioners inculcated loyalty and obedience, enforced by quick dismissal for infractions, expecting the men to be models of good conduct by subordinating their impulses to the requirements of discipline and the legal system they represented.

Stead (1977) argues that Peel did not intend to create a new, more respectable watchman through the Metropolitan Police Act of 1829. He sought to link the new police with the moral strength of an age-old tradition. Rowan and Mayne, the first commissioners, stated that “the force should not only be, in fact, but be believed to be impartial in action, and should act on principle” (Parliamentary Papers 1839, 324, fn 15, p. 83). The act sought to identify the police force with the legal system, which embodied the “strength of the national sovereignty and the restraint of procedural regularity and guarantees of personal liberties” (Miller 1991,75). Thus, with vision and imagination, Peel brought to bear the impact of hallowed common-law tradition on the newly cre-

Police Mission,Ideals, and Values

9

ated force. The new personnel were ushered in as officers, with all the powers, authorities, privileges, and advantages as could be derived from the common-law traditions of the country. It was made clear that the new functionary was not to be viewed as a domestic mercenary. His was a unique status with the power to impound the liberty of any citizen, a power that was not given to anyone even in the military. Tobias (1975) also supports that the special nature of the police of Great Britain lies in the fact that it springs from common-law roots. He even says that it represents community policing and adds that British police were unlike the police in France. The English police severed any links to feudal practices and to the gendarmeries of continental despots. According to Brogden (1982,26), quoting Sir Robert Mark, the particular style of policing practiced in Britain “depends upon a real measure of public approval and consent.” He adds: For the middle-classes, the British constable epitomizes the traditional virtues, of civilization, of the thin blue line thwarting social anarchy, of social stability, and of “English” character-the triumph of reason and forbearance over the barbaric elements that continually lie in wait. To the urban elites, the police provide the symbol of legal and civic status in the allegorical war against crime. (p. 230)

Historically, the British policeman has been conceived as a citizenin-uniform, deriving his authority from traditional common law, rather than from statute, and engaging in preventive policing through an abiding involvement in the social life of the community. Moral and democratic attributes of the British police have been noted widely by American scholars. According to Jackson (1983, the peculiar relationship between the British police and the public is viewed even today by a vast majority of police leaders in the country as one of consent-not threat, and as a nonadversarial relationship with the public at large. Manning (1997) also suggests that the Metropolitan Police upon which the American police were initially designed were charged with the responsibility of preventing crime without resorting to repressive legal means. Theirs was a mandate to enable civil administration to avoid military intervention in domestic disturbances. According to Reppetto (1978), Peel’s police enjoyed a moral consensus in carrying out their role. It was a model that represented democratic policing itself with the unique advantage of close contact with the public. Allan Silver (1967)

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also maintains that the Metropolitan Police presented a moral order in daily life. They constituted a continual pervasive moral display and the extension of moral community. Rubinstein (1973) argues that Jeremy Bentham, Patrick Colquhoun, Edwin Chadwick, and Henry Fielding, the principal originators of the idea of centralized police, were of the opinion that a well-organized police force would ultimately eliminate most crime. Their success would encourage the Parliament to treat prisoners in a humane fashion and eliminate harsh punishments that were imposed for even petty crimes. It was clear to the architects of the Metropolitan Police that the new police were a civilian force and their military structure was to keep the men disciplined and under control. The military structure was the foremost model of bureaucratic organization and there was little understanding about any other that could produce similar forms of discipline, strict obedience to orders, and loyalty. Thus the principles connected with the growth and development of the English police model were inextricably mingled with the roots of American police (Rubinstein 1973). Based on the English model with its central core in democratic principles and moral authority, American police were committed to these values as a part of police philosophy. These are attributes that imply a humane nature of policing and concerns with values and principles. On the basis of the elements that give the English model its unique humane character, democratic principles and moral authority can be considered an important dimension of police ideals, values, and mission in America.

THE SERVICE TRADITION: AN ANGLO-AMERICAN HERITAGE The practice of responding to the calls for social service from the public is viewed by Shane (1980) as a unique feature of the Anglo-American police tradition. He observes that the police are an integral part of the support system in advanced societies like those in England and America. They are regarded as natural ways of human delivery systems. In Britain, the tradition of the police as a service agency can be traced to the advent of the Metropolitan model. According to Critchley (1967),

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the first two commissioners, Rowan and Mayne, were able to shape the new police into a hybrid of a force and a service that became the outstanding characteristic of the English police. In regard to development of policing as an urban service, Monkkonen (1981) observes that in the last half of the nineteenth century, American police were part of an important and dramatic change in the nature of urban life. It was a period in which American urban managers began to provide a growing range of specialized services like police, fire, health, and sewage. Earlier, these services had been provided on a contractual basis by various organizations. Closely linked with this development was the growing demand for the police to attend to an enormous range of miscellaneous responsibilities. Such a diversified role implicitly called for police to be of service to the people. According to Charles Reith (1956), the pressure for service functions was so heavy that Rowan and Mayne had to issue a warning that duties that were not conferred by law would not be undertaken. However, a variety of factors including constant availability, ability to use force, militaristic organizational response, and so on tended to place the police at the center of miscellaneous duties. Tasks the Metropolitan Police handled included, as Reith records, firefighting, maintenance and control of sanitation, issue and control of licenses of all kinds, inspection of dilapidated buildings, relief of destitution, regulation of weights and measures, collection of taxes, removal of road obstacles, and delivery of postal matters in outlying areas. They were also responsible for clearing mud from pavements, suspension of the making of slides by boys in winter and suppression of top-spinning and hoop-trundling in streets by children. The police enforced rules against the use of pavement by smokers, sandwich-board carriers, sweeps, and bakers. They also prohibited ringing of bells by muffin men. Maitland (1974) noted that the English Parliament had found the police a disciplined force that could be empowered to perform other kinds of work apart from keeping the peace. The police were expected to perform traditional functions of county government-functions that involved the mediation of local statutory bodies and administrative functions thrown directly on the police by central legislation in the 1870s. On this side of the Atlantic, the ever increasing service role of the police was also growing in dimensions. Wilson (1978) mentions that order maintenance for the watchman walking the beat included all kinds

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of jobs. The police had to remove obstructions on the streets, keep pigs from running loose to handle many situations that had nothing to do with enforcing the law. Lane (1967) makes a similar observation that Boston police attended to the care of the streets, and whatever else affected the health, security, and comfort of the city. Walker (1998) informs that New York police “supervised elections, inspected boilers, enforced health regulations, censored theatrical productions, and operated ambulances” (p. 60). In 1920, Fosdick (1969) complained that the American police were employed for all sorts of governmental purposes. The police were given all those miscellaneous duties that could not easily be accommodated elsewhere. At present, Haller (1976) observes, the police are involved in taking injured persons to the hospital, solving family disputes, recovering lost children, and innumerable other kinds of services. Goldstein (1977) in fact has advocated that the ultimate objective of all efforts to improve police is to increase their capacity to deliver high-quality services to the citizenry. Apart from the formal development of the police as an urban service agency and their responsibilities for an endless range of miscellaneous work which were entrusted to them through urban administrative arrangement, there was yet another side to the police service role. This developed as a result of consumers’ demands. “As the cities became anonymous conglomerations of masses of people, the police were responding to more and more demands for intervention in private lives” (Das 1987, 10). The constable, the patrol officer-the watchman’s descendant-became a philosopher, guide and friend (Cumming, Cumming, and Edell 1965). Various empirical studies conducted by American scholars (Cumming, Cumming, and Edell 1965; Reiss 1971; and Wilson 1978) have substantiated that citizens’ demands for service have become an undeniable element of the police role in society. In their study, Cumming, Cumming, and Edell(l965) found that about 50 percent of calls to the police related to a wide range of service requests concerning health matters, children’s problems, incapacitated persons, nuisances, disputes, violence, protection, missing persons, and youth’s behavior. Reiss (1971) observed that almost 83 percent of all calls received by the Chicago police were treated as noncriminal incidents relating to disturbances, sick and injured persons, traffic, and miscellaneous incidents. In his study of the Syracuse Police Department, Wilson (1978)

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found that nearly 38 percent of the calls to the police were servicerelated involving accidents, illnesses, animals, persons in need of assistance, drunk persons, and so on. Approximately another 30 percent of the calls asking for police help involved family troubles, assaults, fights, and troublesome neighbors. Pope (1981) states that in England, too, the service demands on the police are greater than those for law enforcement and when considering the police, one would think of them in terms of social workers. However, right from the beginning of the modem police force, the first Commissioners made it clear that it was the duty of every police officer to help members of the public. The police have been expected to look upon themselves as the servant and the guardian of the public. The Metropolitan Police emphasize that the calls for service are due to the reputation of the department and the confidence the public have in the police officers. The demands for service have apparently been present as long as there have been municipal police departments. Even Fosdick (1969), who was an extremely ardent advocate of strengthening the law enforcement role of the police, has admitted that police work cannot be isolated from other welfare agencies. He believed that since the policemen come intimately into contact with the life of the people they can be harnessed to various forms of constructive social work. Walker (1999) argues that for the police “many of the tasks are extremely vague” (p. 6 ) . They face serious problems such as family disputes, mental illness, alcoholism, and so on that occur inside private homes. Rubinstein (1973) also speaks about the people who need services from the police. He says that they are the ones with heart-wrenching tales of abusive spouses and uncontrollable children. As a matter of fact, experience tends to show that all sections of society look for service from the police. In England, Brogden (1982) recalls, the Victorian police forces bore “responsibilities such as the provision of winter relief, the pursuit of smallpox suspects, the inspection of common lodging houses and so on” (p. 206). But today the police are perceived by all social strata as the ultimate safety net. He adds: The legal relation of the police institution permits wide ranging social duties within civil society. Whenever an ill-defined emergency arises, from the

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transportation of medical supplies to initial support for a spouse bereaved in a traffic accident, the local police station is often the first to respond. (p. 208)

According to Bittner (1985), there is hardly a human predicament imaginable for which police aid has not been solicited and obtained at one time or another. He is refemng not only to the situation in America, but probably to all urban societies in the industrialized world. Indeed, for Bittner (1974) the most important task of police is service and crime. He adds that the policeman is likely to miss his true vocation if he neglects to follow the footsteps of Florence Nightingale. Interpreting the reasons for demands for service from the police that have evolved historically, Manning (1997) states that police obligations included dealing with public services of varied nature. He adds that the symbolic centrality of police action as standing for collective concern of people, one for another, cannot and should not be underestimated. The development of the modern police forces incorporated those services that people were expected to do for one another.

CONCLUSION Modem police problems may also be traced to history. Locke (1982) maintains that political interference and police corruption are inextricably connected with the origins of the police in America. According to him, many other issues including that of respect and support for police officers have been in the forefront for public debate since the mid-nineteenth century. Walker (1998) refers to various historical problems that have been pursuing American police, including corruption and brutality. According to him, “Illegal activities could survive only if protected from law enforcement, and the result was systematic corruption” (pp. 61-62). Furthermore, “Police brutality was a routine part of American policing in the nineteenth century” (p. 62). Discussing the historical roots of police behavior, Haller (1976) mentions that many negative traits such as violence, subculture, politicization, and the like seen during the present period are due to the historically entrenched police orientations. However, the historical roots have also linked American police to a few ennobling sources that provide the basis for idealistic underpin-

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nings. These are higher values of law, democratic and moral principles, and willingness and skills for service to the people. History can serve as the source of principles for development of any institution in society. In a similar manner, the Bill of Rights, which echoes some of the finest ideals that flowered during the Age of Enlightenment, can serve as the guide to American police. In numerous cases in which the U.S. Supreme Court has dwelt on the need of police appreciation of the spirit of law, it has reaffirmed the inseparable connection between law enforcement and the Bill of Rights. Over the last half century, the nation’s highest court has demonstrated through Brown vs. Mississippi, Spano vs. New York, Miranda vs. Arizona, and many other cases that the provisions in this document contain the acid test of propriety in police action. In interpreting the Bill of Rights, jurists have found many noble sentiments applicable to the police: Justice Brandeis: In a government of laws, existence of the government will be imperiled if it fails to observe the law scrupulously. Our government is the potent, the omnipresent teacher. For good or ill, it teaches the whole people by its example ( O h s t e a d v. United States). Chief Justice Warren: The methods we employ in the enforcement of our criminal law have aptly been called the measures by which the quality of our civilization may be judged (Coppedge v. US). Justice Goldberg: If law is not made more than a policeman’s nightstick, American society will be destroyed (Niederhoffer and Blumburg 1970). The historical link between the Metropolitan Police model and the police in America is unbreakable. The English model, rather than that of France or Germany, appealed to America because of the democratic principles and moral authority that are its basic attributes. In his account of the police forces in Europe, while comparing them with the police in America, Fosdick (1969) dwells on the low profile of English police. He states the extraordinary power of German police was difficult to comprehend when looked at from the point of view of English institutions and conceptions. He also notes that in France there are various obstacles to local autonomy in police matters. The principle of home rule in police matters is, to a large extent, nullified in France. The

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French police system came with Napoleon, who saw the creation of an efficient police system as indispensable to his creation of a centralized state (Roach and Thomanek 1985). Emsley (1983) suggests that the military nature of policing and policemen was discouraged in English police forces. Moreover, in continental Europe, where the legal system derived from the traditions of Roman law, the tendency was to identify police and administration as one. However, Opolot (1981) has argued that under common law in England a sharp distinction has been maintained between police and administrative functions. In the English system, a police officer has only those powers that are available to every other citizen. Unlike the police forces in the continent, Stead (1977) maintains, English police have none of the aggressive authority of the military. As Mawby (1990) notes, in the continental model of Europe “the police force was the servant of the Crown, not the people, as in the United Kingdom” (p. 25). It is, therefore, logical that America’s not professional but more democratic police forces found the English model more suitable. It had a unique image, the extraordinary characteristic of being the people’s police, and the consequent moral authority. Thus, in many respects “the English and the American systems share many similarities and in terms of legitimacy are founded on the law and on local government accountability” (Mawby 1990, 30). Furthermore, these forces were decentralized, civilian and accepted responsibility for a wide range of noncrime tasks. Their role in protecting the state from political protests, though never in doubt, never attained the priority seen in other colonial and continental systems. Mark (1977), a former police commissioner of London, suggests that the British police are answerable to the law, and act on behalf of the community. This may be the reason for their being accountable and, therefore, an acceptable police force. Terrill(l984) corroborates Mark’s observation adding that the police in England function as citizens who happen to be in uniform. Becker (1973), too, mentions that “the beat policeman (constable) performs his duties of prevention and protection in a singular fashion. The concept of big arrests seldom enters into the philosophy of the constable, either in his training or among his peer group members” (pp. 68-69). Above all, he is concerned with “the proper police image,” (p. 69) only which, he knows, can generate public respect needed for the performance of

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his duties. Thus, democratic principles and the moral authority that derives from them are an important aspect of police human mission in America. As noted elsewhere, research has shown that a patrol officer spends most of his time in service calls and service functions. It is through such involvement that the police attempt to assure the public about their safety and also enhance the quality of life of local communities. Police departments can probably regard service tasks as responsibilities that call for their “central skill” (Peters and Waterman 1982). It appears that this is the area in which they can really measure their achievement in terms of concrete results and client satisfaction. These tasks are not as elusive and uncontrollable as law enforcement. These are more in public demand than order maintenance. It is true that in spite of low achievement, law enforcement will continue to be an important concern for the police. Order maintenance will continue to be pursued vigorously. However, the highest demands being on service tasks, proper attention to them will probably enable the police to better meet the needs of the consumers. In brief, the roots of American police can be traced to a tripartite tradition. Embodied in the Bill of Rights is a message that the police must seek an appreciation of the higher values of law. The Peelian model borrowed by American police underscores the concerns for moral and democratic principles. Another trait of Anglo-American police tradition, the service role, signifies the need for helping attitudes and skills for service. It is through careful nourishment of these roots that the police in America can find their true mission.

Chapter Two

Ideals of Excellent Companies Versus Police Discipline

What are the ideals practiced by excellent American companies? Should the police in America, as an American institution, practice such ideals? Thomas J. Peters and Robert H. Waterman Jr.’s stimulating book, In Search of Excellence: kssonsfrom America’s Best-Run Companies (1982) provides an account of the ideals of American companies. This book is “devoted to excellent company research” (Peters and Waterman 1982);the authors studied forty-three “excellent” American companies, including producers of consumer goods, such as Johnson and Johnson and Proctor & Gamble; high-technology enterprises, such as IBM and Hewlett-Packard; and organizations specializing in services, namely, McDonald’s and Delta Airlines. These “companies seem to be doing what the rest are not.” They are top performers in terms of “growth,” “long-term wealth,” and “return on capital and sales” (p. 22). The authors add: The excellent companies all seem to have very powerful service themes that pervade the institutions. In fact, one of our most significant conclusions about the excellent companies is that, whether their basic business is metal bending, high technology, or hamburgers, they have all defined themselves as service businesses.

This service orientation strengthens excellent companies’ search for “quality, reliability of performance, and loyalty in their dealer relation18

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ship.” Excellent companies pay personal attention to “values.” Values imply a management philosophy that “profit is a natural by-product of doing something well, not an end in itself.”

MAIN IDEALS Peters and Waterman (1982) identify “eight attributes that emerged to characterize most nearly the distinction of the excellent, innovative companies” (p. 13). These may be described as ideals that excellent companies aim to achieve. These attributes are as follows:

1. a bias for action 2. close to the customer 3. autonomy and entrepreneurship 4. productivity through people 5 . hands-on, value-driven 6. “stick to the knitting” 7. simple form, lean staff 8. simultaneous loose-tight properties

In excellent companies, an action orientation is vividly and intensely visible through “Organizational Fluidity,” (p. 121). At United Airlines this attribute is called “visible management” (p. 290); at Hewlett-Packard, it is “ability to engender excitement” (p. 84). Excellent companies are characterized by chaotic action rather than by orderly inaction. They are willing to try things out, to experiment. Successful companies such as Chase Manhattan, Bloomingdale’s and McDonald’s seem to “value action above planning, doing above thinking, the concrete above the abstract” (p. 149). Further, such companies really are close to their customers. For example, “IBM backs its close-to-the-customersbeliefs with intensive training” (p. 161). They pay attention to customers; so much so that its salesmen act as if “they were on the customer’s payroll” (p. 161). Peters and Waterman (1982) observe that encouragement of the entrepreneurial spirit among their people is an important mark of excellent companies. They note radical decentralization and autonomy in companies such as Dana, Texas Instruments, and Johnson & Johnson.

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Regarding the fourth attribute, “productivity through people,” the authors are very eloquent. They state: There is hardly a more pervasive theme in the excellent companies than respect for the individual. That basic belief and assumption were omnipresent. . . . These companies give people control over their destinies; they make meaning for people. . . . We are talking about tough-minded respect for the individual and the willingness to train him, to set reasonable and clear expectations for him, and to grant him practical autonomy to step out and contribute directly to his job. (pp. 238-39)

Peters and Waterman (1982) point out that the fifth attribute of the value systems of excellent companies aims at creating exciting environments for people down the line. They suggest that excellent companies are marked by the personality of a leader who lays down a set of values. The authors mention that value-shaping leaders like Watson at IBM, Kroc at McDonald’s, and Strauss at Levi Strauss generated “excitement and enthusiasm for tens or hundreds of thousands of people” (p. 287). These leaders made themselves effective not through “personal magnetism” (p. 288) alone; they instilled values through deeds, persistence, extensive travels, long hours, and scores of daily events. In explaining the attribute, Peters and Waterman maintain that excellent organizations seem to acquire businesses they know how to run, because they never leave their base. They experiment with new products but if it results in a failure, they terminate the experiment quickly. Excellent companies are also noted for simple form and lean staff. This attribute helps them to remain flexible and to respond effectively to fast-changing conditions in the business environment. According to the authors, the structure of the 1980s will respond to the three prime needs revealed here: a need for efficiency around the basics; a need for regular innovation; and a need to avoid calcification by ensuing at least modest responsiveness to major threats. The final attribute of excellent companies is “simultaneous loose-tight properties” (p. 15), which is in essence the coexistence of firm central direction and maximum individual autonomy. Although these companies are rigidly controlled, their workers are allowed autonomy, entrepreneurship, and innovation. Peters and Waterman (1982) argue that the eight basics of management excellence work because they have a sound theoretical basis. Excellent companies are founded on a model that does not denigrate the

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importance of values. Such companies create a broad, uplifting, shared culture, a coherent framework; thus they inspire extraordinary contributions from very large numbers of people. Ordinarily, management practice does not take into consideration that man is quite strikingly irrational, that human beings have a very high sense of ego, and that they need to have both autonomy and guidance. But the excellent companies take these foibles and limitations into account. They have a special insight into the management of individuals. In summarizing the eight basics of management, the reader of In Search of Excellence can broadly conclude that excellent companies are action oriented. They are also people oriented organizations, close to their own workers as well as to their customers. They are imbued with values and ideals that are at the same time rooted in pragmatism. Compared with these management principles, what professional and moral values, ideals, and objectives do police managers stress among their employees? Not surprisingly, the working culture and value system in police departments are entirely different.

INDIVIDUAL OFFICERS’ QUALITIES The value most stressed in the police departments is discipline. The police administrators both in the United States and around the world seem to admire discipline in their officers. Discipline is stressed from the time of recruit training. Chief Matt Rodriguez, Superintendent of Police in Chicago, (mentioned that he viewed police training as a process of conversion to the culture of police discipline (Rodriguez 1988). A former chief of police, Mayer A. De Roy of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, preferred his recruits to be trained in the State Police Academy because the emphasis on discipline was more pronounced than in the Municipal Training Academy (1991). Talking to police leaders in the world like Dr. Gunther Boegl, the police president of Vienna (1993), Director Daniel Bellet of the Police Study and Training Center of the Police Nationale in France (1992), and Dr. Kare Hanz Gemmer, the police president of Frankfurt (1986), one gets the unambiguous impression that they place a great deal of importance on discipline. Police chiefs in India, too, look for an immaculate sense of discipline in their personnel (Das 1984).

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Should discipline of police officers be preceded by another quality, namely, discerning judgment informed by moral sensitivity? This is the question that we will explore through the four books discussed in this chapter. These books deal with diverse police activities and experiences in America, England, Australia, and France. Included are America’s local police as well as state and federal forces. There are brief references to the London Metropolitan Police and England’s local forces and also Australia’s state-based police system, albeit, briefly. There is an account of the behavior of the Police Nationale and the militarily supervised Gendarmerie Nationale of France. The police covered in the books come from different continents with different histories, cultures, and politics. The samples of the police covered by the books under review represent a fairly large slice of policing; all of them, however, portray affluent, industrial, multicultural, and democratic societies. With this limitation, we will attempt a few generalizations on the predominant theme underlying the books included in this review: Is unflinching obedience preferable to wise, discerning judgment on the part of the police? Principally, we intend to discuss whether police organizations should stress discretion, judgment and moral sensitivity in their members more than obedience and discipline. The four books reviewed here seem to suggest that discipline and obedience without moral sensitivity can be dangerous. It is indicated that police organizational culture tends to favor discipline over discerning judgment, and obedience over questioning on the part of the police rank and file. With strict adherence to the values of loyalty, discipline, and obedience, the police tend to carry out even questionable orders without question. Such police behavior results in grave miscarriages of justice. The first book we wish to review is Stephan’s Broken Sword: Policing France During the German Occupation (Stephan 1992). It is an account of French police degradation and dishonor brought about by the victory of bureaucratic discipline over conscientious police judgment during the German occupation. We propose to utilize the main strains of the discussion to pursue the chosen theme as it evolves through two other books, The Enemy Without: Policing and Class Consciousness in the Miners’ Strike (Green 1990) and Gringo Justice (Mirande 1987). Beyond 911: A New Era for Policing (Sparrow, Moore, and Kennedy 1990) is discussed last because it shows a way out of the

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police organizational dilemma-obedience versus judgmentdiscussed in this review.

DISCIPLINE VERSUS DISCERNING JUDGMENT In his book, Stephan (1992) examines the issues of police loyalties in a nation under the occupation of a foreign power: the behavior of French police during the German occupation of their country. He presents some reasons for immoral acts on the part of the members of the French Police Nationale, and the French Gendarmerie Nationale who collaborated with the puppet Vichy government set up by the German authorities during the occupation years (1940-44). Further, Stephan points out that collaboration with the occupying German authorities was not a dishonorable behavior confined to only some members of the law enforcement establishment in France. It happened in other countries of the German-occupied Europe. “The local police collaboration with German political and occupational police took place in every Germanoccupied country” (p. 90). Stephan suggests that such behavior in France or anywhere else arises because the police are taught to develop obedience to law as a great virtue in itself. The author says that the French Police Nationale and the Gendarmerie Nationale were not professionally accustomed to resort to disobedience, insubordination, or revolt even against the illegitimate government during the foreign occupation of their country. According to Stephan, there were several other reasons for this behavior on the part of the French police. They had never worked with an illegitimate government and the puppet government set up by the German authorities presented them with an unprecedented situation. Traditionally the police in France have been organized within a militaristic and hierarchical structure and as such the members of the French law enforcement bodies were accustomed to serve their governments without question. In fact, The dilemma presented by [these] circumstances is an ancient one. The essence of problems of obedience during the war was rooted in the fact that police officers often came to view themselves as instruments for carrying out the orders of the Vichy government: they ceased to view themselves as responsible for their own actions. Once this point was accepted by the officers

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it became possible for them to carry out the orders of their superiors. (pp. 89-90)

Discipline and obedience were drilled into them in such a way that it had become their second nature. In accordance with orders from their superiors, some police personnel of France collaborated with the German forces in waging a highly effective and ruthless total war on the Resistance. They failed to recognize that the Resistance symbolized heroic efforts of the French people directed toward ousting the enemy from their country. Some units of the police did join with the French people’s resistance against the Germans but neither the Police Nationale nor the Gendarmerie Nationale as an organization engaged themselves as part of the resistance to German occupation. More than the personnel at the lower level, it was “the active collaboration between high-level French police officials and the occupying forces” (p. 92) that helped in implementing the measures designed to transform French police into an efficient tool of repression. In the process of compliance with the orders received from their superiors, the police in France essentially became the agents of the German police. They carried out infamous raids against Jews, which they said they hated but had no choice. The Vichy government ordered that the French intelligence service-the Service des Renseignements Genereux-maintain files on French citizens in accordance with the orders of the hated German Gestapo. Stephan cites other instances of ignominious collaboration of a proud and traditional police organization with an illegitimate order. The author of the Broken Sword concludes that a pathological sense of discipline made the police of France incapable of resisting immoral commands from the illegitimate Vichy government. Obedience devoid of judgment was the reason for cruel and immoral police actions against the Jews, and other elements of the French population who resisted the occupation. In The Enemy Without, Penny Green examines a similar question: Why did the English police behave as obedient servants of conservative Prime Minister Thatcher’s government during the miners’ strike in 1984-85? English culture and history are different from those of France. The English police boast of their unique principle of policing by consent, local accountability, ministerial image, individual responsibility, and other hallowed and democratic precepts. Why were they no better than the police in France in resisting politically motivated orders?

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One can find an answer in Green’s book, which describes an English experience similar to what happened in France. She explains in great detail how the police took repressive and severe measures to break the 1984-85 miners’ strike in England. She records numerous complaints of the striking miners against the conservative political establishment that they accused of highhanded policing, repressive social control of a strike, and setting in motion an immoral process of political criminalization of the strikers. The underlying message in this situation, too, is that the locally accountable police of England abandoned discerning judgment like their centrally controlled counterparts, the Police Nationale and the Gendarmerie Nationale across the channel. They preferred, as the French police did during the German occupation, to obey orders of their superiors in a spirit of unquestioning discipline. According to Green, police action was in obedience to politically motivated orders. Their action was somewhat like the flashing but unwise discipline dramatized in popular English poet Tennyson’s “Charge of the Light Brigade” (Ricks 1972). Tennyson describes how a group of crack English soldiers, in blind compliance with the indiscreet orders of their commander, sacrificed their lives waging war against an enemy that was overwhelmingly superior to them in strength. The soldiers celebrated in the poem were fighting an external enemy, the police engaged in miners’ strike were pitted against “the enemy within.” Prime Minister Thatcher called upon the nation to regard the striking miners as the domestic enemy. According to her, they were no less dangerous than the external enemy the country faced in Falklands. She left no doubt in anybody’s mind that the police mandate was to stop the disturbances created by the striking miners. Green implies that, because of the strong political overtone of the prime minister’s message, the miners’ strike was sought to be crushed by an unprecedented deployment of the “well organized, militarized and centralized” (p. 6) police strategy. Green says that in England the capital has always dominated the working class. This is the lesson of history that can be derived from the major English riots: the Featherstone Riots of 1893; the Llanelli Riots in 1911; and the General Strike of 1926. In 1984-85 the police, however, exhibited hitherto unseen powers of coercion. A number of developments contributed to this situation. Prime Minister Thatcher had centralized government power. During her period the police force was reinforced and partially militarized as her government wanted to get

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them committed to an aggressive policy of law and order. There was an advent toward the “strong state” marked by a “progression from a police force based on local organization and control, to a more centralized national force, characterized by high technology and militarization” (pp. 6-7). The threat of strikers’ actions at Nottinghamshire prompted Home Secretary Leon Brittan to authorize “the mobilization of an emergency force of over 3,000 officers from eighteen different forces” to provide aid to local forces (p. 39). At the thirteenth floor of the New Scotland Yard in London the police set up the National Reporting Center, which was directed by the president of the Association of Chief Police Officers in England. All this was in accordance with the governmental orders. Provocation was apparent in “both the style of the force and that of individual police officers” (p. 54) engaged in the miners’ strike. According to a striker, “a police officer started kicking my feet and told me to get an inch back into the car park” (p. 54). There was also a complaint by strikers that the police would swear at “you on the picket lines, waiting for you to swear back, and as soon as you swear back you get it . . . you are arrested” (p. 54). There were complaints of “fabricated criminal charges,” manipulation of criminal laws, “trumped up” charges, “abuse of police powers,” “infringed liberties,” “restriction of lawful behavior,” “general harassment,” and harsh “treatment during and after arrests” (pp. 56-60). Green seems to suggest that the police indulging in this undesirable behavior in obedient response to the orders of their superiors were unaware of the moral insensitivity of their actions. A number of factors contributed to the miners’ sense of disillusionment and dismay, namely, the massive show of force by the police; extensive use of dogs, horses, police roadblocks around pit villages; severe bail conditions; combined efforts of the media and the government to isolate the “the enemy within”; and the detention of the onethird of those arrested without charge or acquittal during the period of the strike. Strikers became acutely aware that the repressive policing they were subjected to was politically motivated (p. 66). The striking community felt that the motivation behind the police role was “retribution and sheer bloody-mindedness” (p. 67). The police were perceived as the vanguard of the combined state attack against the working class. The striking miners arrested by the police, “numbering 11,312 by

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March 1985” (p. 63) experienced policing that many likened to Northern Ireland, Poland, or Latin America (p. 52). The ugly spectacle of police adherence to political dictates, police obedience toward upholding a political mandate, deplored by Stephan and Green in their books about England and France, reappears in Mirande’s Gringo Justice (1987). Indeed his is not a book on policing per se. It does, however, lament the plight of Chicanos as “victims of police abuse and injustice.” Mirande uses the term Chicano to designate “a person of Mexican descent living in the United States on a relatively permanent basis, regardless of citizenship or place of birth.” According to him, “like nigger in all-black in-group settings, Chicano may express closeness and group solidarity.” He mentions that the “evolution of the Bandido image” owes much to the portrayal of these people by the police as “violent and criminally prone.” Referring to what he regards as police repression of the Chicanos, Mirande prompts the reader to ask whether American police are merely carrying out the orders of a political herarchy in a spirit of obedience devoid of moral sensitivity. He also makes the reader wonder whether the police, too, are victims of Anglo prejudice against the Chicanos. He suggests that police action against these people smacks of politicization as well as prejudice. Although the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo officially ended the war between Mexico and the United States, Mirande argues that “it also marked the beginning of hostilities between Anglo-Americans and Chicanos, displaced Mexicans who now found themselves within the territorial boundaries of the United States.” He adds that the police, military and border patrol were used to “maintain them in a subordinate position.” They acquired the “Bandido image” as the Chicanos “responded to injustices and to lawlessness on the part of the dominant society.” They were “labeled deviant and criminal,” while the Anglo settlers were often regarded as heroes when they “exceeded the parameters of the law” in dealing with the Chicanos. The latter “gained control of the economy, the political order, and the legal and judicial system.” They had power over the police, the courts, the media and other agencies that “shaped public images of criminality.” The Chicanos view the Texas Rangers, “10s rinches,” as “the epitome of police abuse and brutality.” The Rangers are “a fairly accurate barometer of Anglo prejudice and hostility toward the Mexican”; they are part of the Anglo community. Mirande describes them as a “unique

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police agency” combining “the elements of vigilantism with those of legally sanctioned state or governmental violence.” He adds that the border patrol was “the national-r more accurately, internationalequivalent of the Texas Rangers.” They were the “la Migra,” a symbol, like the Rangers, of “American domination and exploitation.” The Chicanos have been experiencing maltreatment not just from these two police agencies but from law enforcement in general. Mirande recounts that “blacks and Hispanics are more likely to be victims of police shootings.” Other complaints of the Chicanos included “unequal treatment of juveniles,” “inequalities in treatment of traffic violations,” “excessive arrests for investigation,” “stop and frisk practices,” “inadequate police protection” and, last but not least, “lack of courtesy and respect.” In Beyond 911, the authors totally discard the military model of policing as an anomaly. This model erected on the foundation of discipline propagated by the classical school of management thinkers has not proved suitable for police work. They find that no worthwhile benefit has been achieved by police adherence to so-called discipline and obedience although these were the important elements of the reform model variety of police professionalism. They argue that “tight control, with unambiguous rules backed up by fearsome disciplinary systems,” (p. 5 5 ) is the cause of negative police organizational culture. Ironically, insistence on discipline devoid of judgment, a characteristic of a centralized, paramilitary style, has created important liabilities for the police. What is important for the police in a democracy is that they must cultivate fairness and thoughtfulness. Their effectiveness “includes the arrangements police organizations employ to make themselves open and accountable to the public they serve” (p. 149). This new philosophy of management with emphasis on visibility, openness, and accountability, has helped a number of police departments do something constructive “about the plight of the cities” (p. 5). It has enabled the police to combat “disorder and neglect,” “aggressive, drunken panhandlers,” “threatening youths,” “walls sullied by gang graffiti” (p. 5 ) and other problems with the public as partners. This attitude had made the police hopeful that they can effectively and democratically fight crime, battle fear, and engage themselves in enhancing the quality of urban life. In their arguments Stephan, Green, and Mirande seem to deplore the

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lack of the qualities recognized as admirable in the new breed of the police leaders and followers celebrated in Beyond 911. In this last book under review the authors refer to a different set of values; this is the set that has helped policing achieve meaningful partnership with the public in some cities of America, England, and Australia. These are the values which have the potential to transform the police culture. However, “to make partnerships work, departments must be far more open, flexible, and responsive than they are accustomed to being” (p. 173). The achievement recounted in Beyond 911 is due to the qualities other than discipline and obedience. In Newport News, problem-solving policing is successful because the chief of police is a thoughtful, soft-spoken person who has used the power of his thought in the transformation of policing. He gave “officers some time to think about things, look to root causes, act against problems rather than just incidents, and [thus proved that] police can fight crime” (p. 20, authors’ italics). One can see the triumph of new ideas in “the promise of a policing fired by new values, new openness, new partnerships, and new creativity is also enormous, as the residents of Link Valley, New Briarfield, and more and more places like them can attest” (p. 230). In Baltimore County, Chief of Police Neil Behan, who worked for these new and creative solutions, was “professorial and introspective” (p. 67). In Philadelphia, chief of police Kevin Tucker made his department “a cooperative and conscientious partner in municipal life” by an unswerving “commitment” for a “new partnership between the community and the police” based on “accountability, decentralization, and improved management” (pp. 77-82). In Houston, former Chief Lee P. Brown, was able to weave “democratic values and creativity into the daily workings and management of the department.” He succeeded in “establishing the idea that just and proper conduct is always and under all circumstances expected of Houston officers” (pp. 90-94). In Australia, Sydney’s Commissioner of Police John Avery has “set himself an ambitious program . . . for the service of the people and communities of New South Wales.” His is an imposing presence and “there is something of the scholar in his background and outlook.” He has written “a first-rate book on policing.” The commissioner of London Metropolitan Police, Sir Kenneth Newman’s neighborhood policing is “one of contemporary policing’s boldest experiments.” Sir Kenneth is “small and scholarly . . . a bold thinker and strategist” (pp. 72-77).

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The authors of Beyond 911 are constantly referring to new value systems emerging from the trends set by the thinking and dynamic police leadership in America, Australia, and England.

CONCLUSION The police emerging directly from the books of Stephan, Green, Mirande and, indirectly from the book of Sparrow, Moore, and Kennedy can perhaps be summarily described as victims of a traditional managerial style. Organizations with such a style do not respect individuals; they are not important. Employees implement rules and perform tasks that are given to them. It is interesting to recall that the authors of Beyond 911 mention that, after his appointment as the chief of Houston police, Brown thought his job was to “change the Houston department’s style; how it thought, how it worked, what it believed, what it valued” (p. 92). In traditional police organizations self-examination, quiet introspection and critical analysis are a luxury. In such an organizational culture, a lack of thinking is pervasive throughout the organization; it is not the characteristic of those at the bottom of the organizational hierarchy only. Houston police in their pre-Brown “style” were no different and the new chief had to challenge them to question themselves regarding what they stood for. All the authors, particularly Stephan, Green, and Mirande, articulate that traditional, militaristic police culture also makes the police vulnerable to political exploitation. In the context of these books, political policing is to be understood as police compliance with political mandate instead of practicing wise judgment. In the process of controlling the miners’ strike, the police, as indicated by Green, were carrying out the orders of the political hierarchy represented by Margaret Thatcher. The Vichy government, as the reader can see in Stephan’s book, manipulated police discipline for their political survival and agenda. In Gringo Justice, the police appear to be harassing the Chicano people in obedience to the mandate of the Anglo-American majority. They all seem to have justified their dancing to the political tune as compliance with the prized values of police discipline, obedience, and loyalty. All the books under review, with the exception of Beyond 911, are

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replete with instances that obedience to political mandate generates police militancy and partisan attitude. This is deplorable. As seen in England, France, and America, obedient support to a political order erodes respect for the law on the part of the policed. Police legitimacy becomes questionable. “The police were perceived by three-quarters of the striking community as the spearhead of the government’s campaign to defeat the strike” (Green 1990, 79). Police action made the striking miners feel as though the laws were not fair and just. “For most of those on strike, and for their immediate families, the police became objects of bitterness and hatred-a sharp contrast to previously held attitudes” (Green 1990,46). All the authors of the books reviewed in this essay will perhaps agree with the sentiment expressed by Mirande: Police agencies are created to enforce the law, maintain order, and protect the citizenry from unlawful elements in society. Unfortunately, many . . . have a perception of the police not as a symbol of law and justice, but rather lawlessness, injustice and abuse.

Those who suffered because of the abusive activities of the collaborationists among the French police during the German occupation did not feel that the police protected them. Green’s striking miners vainly but vehemently complained against repressive police behavior. Mirande’s Chicanos lost respect for the law because of injustice displayed by the police in their attitude toward them. In the accounts of these authors the reader can visualize how political policing weakens the legal basis of law enforcement. One can also appreciate how the police can justifiably operate in deference to a political mandate if they are only required to adhere to the traditional credo of discipline and obedience. An extremely important question is thrown at us by the books under review: Who can be expected to put an end to the exploitation of the police for illegal, immoral, and politically partisan objectives? Can this be achieved by the police rank and file through noncooperation with the evil of political exploitation? In order to get rid of the evil of imperialism, Gandhi’s directive to the people of India was to totally boycott the British colonial administration. This was the famous Noncooperation Movement which ultimately proved successful in ending the two hundred years of colonial subjugation of India. Noncooperation was an

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innovative moral struggle of an exploited nation against a repressive imperial power. We are not aware that a police organization was ever reformed through the refusal of the rank and file to carry out illegal orders of their superiors. Noncooperation may not provide a permanent remedy in this situation. What is needed is a comprehensive reform of the police organization based on new organizational values like wise discretion and moral judgment instead of militaristic obedience and discipline. Who will bring this reform about? Police reforms have been the work of bold political thinking, social awareness, and thoughtful police leadership. American policing owes its progress to determined thinking provided by political leaders like President Johnson, whose President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice (1967a) went a long way in changing its face. In this country, social awareness supporting police reform has been provided, among others, by the institutions of higher education where dedicated scholars are engaged in research for improved policing. Reform-oriented police leaders like Vollmer, Wilson, Parker, and those mentioned in Beyond 9 Z Z have provided the impetus for innovation and change. Sparrow, Moore, and Kennedy have demonstrated that organizational culture of the police can be transformed by police leaders working together with community, other government agencies, and political leadership. In England, too, the story of police reform has been historically intertwined with innovative thinking on the part of political leaders like Sir Robert Peel, social concerns for the better quality of life articulated by thinkers like Fielding, and bold police leadership exemplified by such stalwarts as Rowan and Mayne, the first commissioners of the Metropolitan police. A new breed of police leaders, innovative political initiatives, and social awareness have been responsible for police reform in Australia as seen from the work of Sparrow, Moore, and Kennedy. After the liberation of France, approximately five thousand members of the Police Nationale were dismissed for their immoral cooperation with the occupation authorities. The Gendarmerie Nationale were purged by the postwar leadership for the same reason. But something more important than the exemplary punishment of the members of the police also took place to restore public confidence in the police. The new national leader, General De Gaulle, lent his stature built on

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33

“intense patriotism and ambition for France” (p. 94) to help the Police Nationale and the Gendarmerie Nationale regain the trust, pride, and respect of the French people. Mirande regrets that such bold and wise leadership has not intervened to rescue the Chicano people from unwarranted police maltreatment. Despite many atrocities they have committed against the Chicanos, the Texas Rangers have been “romanticized and idealized.” He regrets the lack of political wisdom, social awareness, and police leadership. The books under review indicate that the police rank-and-file members, too, have an important role to play in upholding organizational commitment to values. During the German occupation numerous members of the Gendarmerie Nationale and the Police Nationale at the lower level helped the French people continue their trust of the police by acts of moral courage and sacrifice. In the rural areas the gendarmes remained close to the local population and did not enforce unpopular ordinances. The majority of police officers refused to execute Vichy’s orders or executed them badly, slowly, or in other ways calculated to help the Resistance. It was common, for example, for police officers to fail to find members of the Resistance, or to arrive too late at their homes to arrest them because a telephone call, often made from an anonymous member of the police, had alerted them to the raid. (p. 8)

Paris police officers also joined the underground Resistance networks, and their contribution was invaluable. Their perfect knowledge of the city and an affinity for the populace contributed to their “fighting role” that was responsible for “unifying the whole population of Paris behind the newly established provisional government of De Gaulle” (p. 60). In Beyond 91 1 the innovative police chiefs of Houston, Philadelphia, Sydney, and London recognized that to bring about change in organizational culture, the involvement of all parts of their departments was most essential. It was imperative also to achieve active participation of governments and neighborhoods. In order to bring about a healthy and meaningful change, it was necessary to develop a style of policing that could benefit from the contributions of police, community, and other concerned agencies. In the final analysis, policing like all other social

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enterprises is a joint venture between the various parties involved. Its success lies in team work. The need, then, is not so much for strict discipline and obedience, but for moral sensitivity and discerningjudgment that will be more conducive to constructive partnership and cooperation among the police, community, relevant government agencies, and political hierarchy.

Chapter Three

Occupational Culture of Police

Experiences of policing as an occupation deeply influence police officers. This occupational culture of the police consists of many undesirable and negative consequences of policing. From the perspective of occupational sociology, Westley (1970) suggested that a distinct subculture exists among the police officers that stresses secrecy and violence. Skolnick (1994) described a “working personality” of police officers shaped by danger and authority inherent in police role. He also suggested the conflict between the norms of police work and the rule of law. The pressure to achieve results leads officers to bend rules, act illegally, or extract confessions through coercion. Niederhoffer ( 1967) argued that police officers are cynical about their work and that it breeds authoritarian tendencies. Clearly, an examination of the occupational culture of police officers is important because it affects their functions and hinders becoming people-oriented. Is police subculture in conflict with the best American culture? It is a crucial question. Negative consequences of policing as an occupation have received generous attention. Violence, coercion, prejudice, unscrupulousness, alienation, corruption, cynicism, and so on are considered inevitable for police officers (Bordua 1967; Skolnick 1994; Wilson 1978; Bittner 1985). The Report of the President’s Commission (1967b) is replete with references to police shortcomings and misconduct. Further, the other commission reports that followed it are no different in this regard. In spite of tremendous strides that the police have made in education, training, and technology, they continue to be criticized for misconduct and deviant practices. These peculiar trends seem to be pursuing the 35

36

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police as witnessed in Rodney King and other recent cases of brutality and corruption in Los Angeles and New York. Thibault, Lawrence, and McBride (1985) mention that there are social groups among police officers. The typical social groups that are found in police departments and that influence internal policies are informal groups of officers’ wives; fraternal orders composed of officers; officers who play golf, racquetball, or cards together as well as ethnic and extended kinship groups. In this connection one has to bear in mind the concept of police subculture (Thibault, Lawrence, and McBride 1985). The term culture has been used to describe shared typifications (Martin 1992); common-sense knowledge (Geert 1973); figurative action (Shearing and Ericson 1991) and humanistic coefficient (Znaniecki 1936). According to an old definition (Taylor 1871), culture is that complex whole that includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of a society. According to Crank (1998, 14-16), police culture has three connotations: a confluence of themes, a carrier of institutionalized values and the way police express their emotions. Subculture, as explained by Arnold (1970), is a subdivision of a national culture that forms a functioning unity having an integrated impact on the participating individual. Some such norms among the police are the role of secrecy, police unity and loyalty, the perception of danger, and suspicion (Thibault, Lawrence, and McBride 1985). The police may believe that they are the thin blue line between chaos and order. A vocational culture (Arnold 1970) implies a group of specialists recognized by society, as well as by themselves, who possess an identifiable complex of common culture, values, communication devices (argot or other symbols), technique and other behavior patterns. For instance, people often talk of those who have a “tin” where tin means the police badge. “Rabbi” in the New York Police Department means a highly placed senior officer. “Rabbi” may be known as “Hook” or “Horse” or so on in other departments. Stone and Deluca (1985) mention that in the name of discipline and efficiency, reform-minded police leaders were in favor of breaking up informal groups among patrol officers, precinct captains, and ward bosses as that had given rise to corruption in a big way. Such group affiliation was also producing inefficiency and incompetence in the police departments. They add that as part of the campaign for profes-

Occupational Culture of Police

37

sionalism there was an effort to convince police officers that their work was socially significant. However, this effort to boost the morale was intended mainly to reinforce the need for tight discipline and strict integrity, not to give the individual officer a greater sense of personal satisfaction.

CRIMINOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE: CONFLICT VIEWS ON POLICING The leading conflict theorists have offered some interesting and challenging views on the culture of policing. These views, chiefly emanating from the writings of Chambliss and Seidman (1982), Quinney (1974, 1980), and Turk (1969) portray the police as an instrument in the hands of the society’s powerful for the maintenance of their hold over the weak and the powerless. Although not considered a conflict theorist, Platt’s views (1971, 1978) will also be taken into account here because he shares with all these theorists a Marxist perspective in regard to policing. The principal propositions revolve around the central concern and perception of the police as an institutionalized means of political dominance. These can be evaluated through a number of studies. These include some respectable, scholarly works which can be broadly described as mature products of descriptive research on the nature of American policing. Some works used in this evaluation are based on sustained historical research. Empirical studies can also be cited in the evaluation of the conflict propositions on policing. Another dimension of this evaluation is provided by expert opinions. These refer to the views of those who can claim a unique insight into certain types of police behavior. It should, however, be borne in mind that conflict views on policing are highly controversial. In spite of the fact that a greater number of the economically disadvantaged and uneducated people are objects of police action, the complaint of minorities is the lack of police service. According to Radelet (1973,262), “it is commonly assumed that brutality is the principal complaint of minorities against the police.” He says that they are embittered because of the unsatisfactory service from the police. He adds:

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The chief grievance is inadequate police protection and services in inner-city neighborhoods. It is regarded by minorities as the worst form of racial discrimination. (p. 262)

It is most interesting to note that Quinney, the chief protagonist of the conflict views, has changed his perspective. This will be discussed in this essay. But it is to be noted here that the change in Quinney’s views can be cited by many as an evidence of the untenability of the conflict perspective. Nevertheless, a good amount of classic works in American policing offers interesting evidence in support of the theoretical perspective under review. This lends a thematic unity to the general contention that the police are a coercive bureaucracy designed to wield power and authority. A study from this perspective is necessary simply because it offers a radical view of the police culture. There are forceful arguments appropriate for police leaders and their political mentors to ponder in the analysis of conflict theorists on the culture of the police. Their views are thought-provoking,chastising and, also, probably humbling. Goldstein (1979) has advocated that police leaders must also be “thinkers.” A thinking leadership can be expected to encourage searching analysis of police subculture.

Basic Propositions Chambliss and Seidman (1982) advocate that laws and legal practices in the capitalist society are reflections of its power struggles. They argue that the legal order in fact constitutes a self-serving system to maintain power and privilege. They suggest that the conflict view is realistic because the legal order embodies not the rule of law, but the rule of class struggle. In this respect, Marxism opposes most other schools and perceives societies everywhere to be in struggle and conflict. Most other schools and writers assume a consensus about the common consciousness, the legal culture, custom, and so forth. They assert that this view is wrong and that Marx is right. They further argue that the discretion that is a unique privilege for the police and other functionaries of the law is exercised in favor of privileged sections of the society. The police understand that the rich and the powerful possess the capacity for giving rewards. The edifice of law enforcement bureaucracy therefore, rests upon the following axioms:

Occupational Culture of Police

0

39

Law enforcement agencies are bureaucracies created to exercise state power, if necessary, through coercion and violence. Such agencies habitually resort to political manipulation and gamesmanship for financial support. As a result, they have to act as rulers’, and not peoples’ police. In view of the blatantly selfish instinct to survive, and powerful political pressure, police bureaucracies find themselves engaged in processing those without anchorage of power. In the industrial society lower socioeconomic classes are the most powerless.

As a conflict theorist, Quinney (1974) seems to be much more direct and incisive in his description of the police as the hirelings of the upperclass. He admits, however, that Marx had little to say about criminal law and crime control. Quinney advocates a contemporary Marxist perspective for understanding the true nature of the capitalist legal order. To him, law enforcement, as practiced by capitalist society through its own police, is basically a means of class exploitation. He argues that criminal law is used by the state and the ruling class to secure the survival of the capitalist system. Furthermore, as capitalist society is threatened by its own contradictions, criminal law is increasingly used to maintain domestic order. The underclass, the class that remains oppressed under the dominant economic class, continues to be the object of crime control as long as capitalism exists. Quinney’s points of view of the nature of law enforcement can be briefly stated as follows: 0

0

0

The contradictions of advance capitalism, which thrives in America, require that the state must employ all means necessary, including a violent, coercive legal system, to ensure suppression of the subordinate classes. The police in the capitalist society are the bastion of that coercive system. Institutions and agencies responsible for crime control in a capitalist society represent ruling class interests which seek to establish and maintain an inviolable domestic order. Members of lower socioeconomic groups must remain subjugated in the interest of the capitalism to thrive. Hence, the former are naturally the targets of all law enforcement activities.

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Years later, in the updated edition of his Class, State and Crime, Quinney (1980) maintains the same position. He says the police, the courts, and the penal agencies, the entire criminal justice system, expand to cope with the problem of surplus population. However, Quinney (1980) later seems to have modified his well-known stand as a conflict theorist. In another analysis (Beirne and Quinney 1982), Quinney argues that Marxism and Conflict Theory are united by the very logic of their premises. Both retain a reductionist notion of the state that does not conform to the empirical evidence. Dominant classes are unable to manipulate state apparatus at will and despite political opposition. The conflict criminologists of course do not provide any empirical evidence of their own to answer which criminal justice agency has exclusively represented class interests. Do legislative and judicial institutions have no degree of autonomy, no internal histories? Are all laws, and activities of the personnel within legal system always to be explained by the convenient interests of dominant classes? Interestingly, Quinney appears to have gone full circle and has sought the solution for societal transformation in Eastern philosophies of Buddhism and Hinduism: Suffering is the condition of our existence. Human existence is characterized by suffering; crime is suffering; and the sources of suffering are within each one of us. If the social and global sufferings are to be ended, we must deal with the suffering of personal existence. What is involved, finally, is no less than the transformation of our human being. Political and economic solutions without this transformation inevitably fail. (1991, 4)

It is true that the stand as represented by the statement above seems indeed contrary to the conflict perspective. Nevertheless, Quinney’s views as a major protagonist of Conflict Theory only will be considered here. In the latest publication referred to above, he (Beirne and Quinney 1982) does not deny that conflict perspective incorporated what passes for Marxist analysis of law. He also advocates the contributions of Chambliss, Seidman, and Turk, including his works as an influential perspective of the conflict studies. Tbrk (1969) describes criminality as an ascribed status applied to certain individuals because of what they are rather than what they do. The criminal records in archives of law enforcement agencies, for example, cannot tell us anything worthwhile regarding causes of criminality.

Occupational Culture of Police

41

They can certainly throw a lot of light on how the power to ascribe criminality is the ability of some people to announce and enforce legal norms. He almost echoes the thoughts of Chambliss and Seidman on criminal law in saying that it is an instrument of exploitation. Turk (1969) argues that for most offense categories the rates are relatively high for lower status, minority group, young, male, transient, urban populations. The common attribute of all these categories, except that of males, appears to be their vulnerability when confronted by the authorities. Their attributes, such as lower status and minority group membership, continue to be useful indicators of relative powerlessness in virtually all political communities. Legal agents, including the police, are responsible for interpreting and enforcing norms and such agents use legal, extra-legal and illegal criteria in determining guilt and punishment. In Turk’s assessment, operational realities of law enforcement are governed by these factors: 0

0

A distinguishing feature of the police in a pluralist, capitalist society is coercive persuasion, blended with subtle ability to transform power into authority. Apprehension about using military is the real cause for the use of police to suppress certain classes. Policing in democratic as well as totalitarian societies is the same since police officers are hired servants of the dominant classes in any class-based society. They are entrusted with the responsibility of upholding the class interest of the latter. It is the relative powerlessness of a clan that makes them targets of law enforcement. Hence, nonwhites and other powerless groups in America find it much more difficult than the dominant groups to resist enforcement.

Platt is not as such considered as a conflict theorist in any standard criminological text. Nevertheless, his views can be usefully considered with those of Quinney, Turk, and Chambliss and Seidman as he, too, is a fellow traveler. Platt (1978) maintains that the victims of street crime are overwhelmingly poor people. He asserts that the police should be understood as an instrument of domestic coercion analogous to the role of the military in international relations. He also suggests that the modem police in the United States have always been an instrument of repressive policies. His view of the class bias of the police is forcefully

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put forward in The Politics of Riot Commissions (1971). In this work Platt explains that police perception and assessment of protesters are based on the riffraff theory that began in the seventeenth century. In those days it was fashionable to label participants in popular discontent as a mob or rabble. Protesters were perceived as the hoodlums, undesirable elements bent upon inciting people, creating mischief, and disturbing public tranquillity. Platt observes that popular demonstrations are thus viewed by the police to be maliciously engineered by antisocial and antiestablishment sections of the society. Such people are labeled as enemies of the status quo. Platt advocates that police generally publicize the fact that normal, ordinary law-abiding persons do not instigate riots. Instead, these are typically instigated by a demagogue or professional agitator, or by impulsive and uninhibited individuals who are the first in the mob to resort to violence.

Summary of the Conflict Points of View on Policing The central focus of the leading conflict theorists is that the police constitute a legitimized, state-mandated, bureaucratic means of coercion. To them it is a travesty of history to describe the police as guardians of law and order engaged in the task of protecting the peace, life, and property of the members of the community against those intent on creating chaos and disorder. Rather, the police are the shield and armor of the dominant classes and the privileged groups who use them for the advancement of their capitalistic exploits. In the inevitable dynamics of the class struggles that supposedly characterize an advance capitalist society, the norm enforcers are the police. They must process the underclasses to ensure stability and favorable conditions for the rich and the powerful to maintain their dominant status. The following propositions broadly summarize the conflict views on law enforcement: 0

0 0

Police are a bureaucracy that operates through coercion and violence. They represent the interests of the ruling class. The victims of law enforcement are of the lower socioeconomic classes.

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43

EVALUATION OF THE MARXIST PERSPECTIVE It is proposed to evaluate the above-mentioned Marxist propositions through a review of the observations of some respected scholars on policing, a few empirical and participant-observation studies, and experts’ evidence based upon their unique perception of police behavior. Included in the evaluation are some works of James Q. Wilson, Egon Bittner, Jerome H. Skolnick, Peter K. Manning, Herman Goldstein, Abraham Blumberg, and Arthur Neiderhoffer. Some of their works cited in connection with the evaluation are mature products of prolonged, perceptive observation and excellent descriptive research. In Varieties of Police Behavior, Wilson (1978) used real cities to illustrate alternative police styles. He explains that in that exploratory study, much of what is said is asserted, illustrated, or suggested, but not proved. Nevertheless, he believes that he has given what appears to him a true account. In Justice Without Trial, Skolnick (1994) believes that his book is a sociological study through the use of a variety of observational techniques. He asserts that he is as impartial and objective as possible in analyzing the structure and dynamics of police behavior. Skolnick, however, admits that this work may not be construed as being value-free in its findings. In Police Work (1997), Manning uses a variety of experience with police officers that forms his primary data. He also uses extensive file clippings of police-related news stories and a wide assortment of material on the police. In this latter category are included television drama, movies, magazine articles, scholarly publications, fiction, autobiographies, and histories of the police in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe. Bittner’s book The Functions ofthe Police in Modem Society (1973), is another scholarly work. It is an analysis of the cultural and historical factors that influence police functions. Bittner also takes into account popular concepts of police work of his time such as Challenge of Crime in a Free Society (President’s Commission, 1967a) and The Ambivalent Force: Perspectives on the Police (Neiderhoffer and Blumberg 1970) that examines the uncertainties and ambivalences of the police role in society using variegated approaches.

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We will also consider the opinions of James Baldwin, Thurgood Marshall, and Lee F? Brown to evaluate police behavior toward African Americans. All of them arz experts in this area. James Baldwin is a famous African American litterateur and Thurgood Marshall is the first African American in the country to be elevated to the rank of justice in the Supreme Court in America. Brown, the first African American police chief of Houston, Texas, has written extensively on minoritypolice relations. They can be expected to have singular perception of the issues involved in African Americans’ relationship with the police.

Proposition One

Police Bureaucracy as an Instrument of Coercion James Q. Wilson (1978) has consistently advocated that the police must adopt policies that can effectively reduce crime and ensure public security. In view of his rather conservative stand on policing, he is most unlikely to join forces with the conflict theorists in dramatizing the coercive aspect of policing. But even Wilson observes, in Varieties of Police Behavior, that coercion is an unmistakable trait in police behavior. He argues that to handle his beat and the situations and disputes that develop on it, the patrolman asserts his authority. This authority means the right of the patrolman to ask questions, get information, and have his orders obeyed. Wilson reports that the patrolman observed for this study almost always acted, and said later that they acted, in such a way as to show immediately who was boss. Egon Bittner (1973) considers police as an institution with the monopoly to employ non-negotiably coercive force. Bittner maintains that it is not that police officers are entitled to use force because they must deal with dangerous criminals. Instead, the duty of handling criminals devolves on them because they have the authority to use force as needed to bring about desired objectives. Skolnick (1994) discovered in England that the famous Metropolitan Police, historically reputed for their democratic values, also administered justice without trial, adopting dubious methods of coercion. He remarks that the hallowed myth of English officers never using violence, perjury, framing of suspects, let alone participating in crimes,

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45

has been shattered. He suggests that this legend has been foolishly propagated on account of national vanity that led many to suppose that English police were far nicer than any others. Manning (1977) explains how Anglo-American policing developed the tradition of coercion in the form of violence, arrest, or other restraints. He maintains that law was not the original basis of the traditional mandate given to the police. Historically, the police were conceived as an instrument embodying the state’s capacity to maintain order and deter crime by visible presence. In Police Work, Manning (1997) traces the bureaucratic roots of the Anglo-American police. He clearly implies that the law enforcement bureaucracy is almost obscurantist in its outlook because of its history and tradition. He finds that policing is shrouded in tradition, and is in fact a very traditional occupation, essentially unchanged in form since the early nineteenth century. The police aspire to stand apart and maintain their own protective mandate and myth. Goldstein (1979) also suggests that improving service delivery functions of police has been largely considered synonymous with streamlining the organization, upgrading personnel, modernizing equipment, and establishing more businesslike operational procedures. But he implies that these are mere mechanical measures. They were vainly idealized by police departments and were simply bureaucratic maneuvers to maintain the power of the organization. The increase in the demands made on the police from the late 1960s led to several national assessments of the state of policing. Many recommendations were made for introducing greater concern for the human factors in policing, but the vast majority of recommendations that emerged from the reassessments demonstrated a continuing belief that the way to improve the police was to improve the organization. Bureaucratic survival seems to be an abiding concern with police. It is interesting to note that many stalwarts in the field of police research-Wilson, Bittner, Skolnick, Manning, Goldstein, and othersseem to be confirming the conflict perception of police as a coercive bureaucracy. Neiderhoffer and Blumberg ( 1970) express similar views on the coercive role of the bureaucratic police. According to them, police act as a controlling radar to keep a society within structural confines.

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Proposition Two

The Police in Capitalist Society Represent Class Interest The evaluation of the class-conscious subculture of the police in capitalist society, as upheld by conflict theorists, can be interestingly attempted through the works in the area of police handling of civil protests. Urban disorders and demonstrations are viewed by some as the outbursts of the weak against the powerful. In their book, Ghetto Revolts, which they describe as a work of descriptive analysis, Feagin and Hahn (1973) conceive of ghetto riots as politically meaningful acts in a struggle between power-holding groups and powerless blacks. This is the perspective of Ralph W. Conant in his book, The Prospectsfor Revolution (1970). His is a work of social psychiatry with the analysis of contemporary social conflict and violence in the United States. On the labor movement, he says that the labor riots in the United States were protests generated by a social movement. The rioting was the weapon of last resort available to the workers. In their work, Poor People’s Movements, Piven and Cloward (1977) advocate the view that protest movements constitute defiance by the lower class. Many sensitive observers maintain that the protesting crowds are not to be feared as dangerous classes. On the review of empirical results from several studies, Allen (1970) refutes the riffraff theory, which holds that the riots are caused by irresponsible deviants, the emotionally disturbed, or criminals. A survey (Katzenbach 1980) conducted after the Miami riots of 1980 revealed that, out of approximately 1,OOO people arrested mainly for looting and other felonies, the vast majority were working people without arrest records. Typically, a rioter was about twenty-eight years old, single, and male. He was working in a blue-collar job with an annual income of less than $10,000. The “riffraff” concept regarding the protesters, as it is implied from the discussion above, is upheld by the socially powerful. They seem to have a vested interest in the status quo. Uglow (1988) also suggests that “for the tidy housekeepers of the police, crowds are [always] disorderly. They disrupt the routine flow of people and vehicles” (p. 84). From the account given earlier, it appears that the police view of the protesters is characterized by the identity of interests between the class-oriented vested interests and those of the police.

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Conflict theorists’ views on police politicization do not differ from Skolnick’s analysis. In Politics of Protest, Skolnick (1969) says that the police view protests as illegitimate misbehavior, rather than as dissent against policies and practices that might be wrong. The police are generally hostile to protesting behavior, and the control of such action becomes their principal goal. Such an attitude leads to more rather than less violence; and a cycle of greater and greater hostility continues. Skolnick (1969) further argues that police identification with the conservative and class biased “riffraff” theory in regard to protesters was born out of the campus riots of the 1960s. He says that then FBI Chief, 3. Edgar Hoover, attributed the unique Berkeley revolts as the work of communists. Skolnick expresses dismay that the police could interpret in such simplistic terms the upheaval at one of the most prestigious universities in the world. His views are shared by The President’s Commission on Campus Unrest. The Commission (1970) refers admiringly to the beautiful spirit of idealism demonstrated by the youthful protesters. The Fact-Finding Commission (1968) came to the conclusion that the violent student protesters in the Columbia University were the best informed, most intelligent, and the most idealistic this country has ever known. Such statements by respectable sources seem to be refuting the police assessment that these riots were masterminded by subversive elements. Skolnick (1969) regrets the militancy and politicization of the police. He seems to be confirming the conflict perspective that the police act as the agents of the dominative political interests in their handling of some operations. He says that such trends demonstrate complete negation of impartial and democratic law enforcement. He suggests that these developments threaten the principle of impartial law enforcement.

Proposition Three

Lower Socioeconomic Classes as Recipients of Law Enforcement Sanctions In an empirical study, Piliavin and Briar (1964) observed that police officers can choose from as many as five alternatives in handling delinquent behavior. The choices, however, are not dependent on legal

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assessment. Based on subjective decisions made on stereotyped evaluation, a police officer normally adopts one of the many discretionary options from simple release to severe actions including arrest and confinement in a juvenile facility. Race, group affiliation, and class characteristics of the offenders are the important factors that influence police action. The authors suggest that their observations underscore the fact that the official delinquent, as distinguished from the juvenile who simply commits a delinquent act, is the product of a social judgment, in this case a judgment made by the police. Another study found that the patrol officers’ severe treatment toward those coming from lower-class milieu, are largely influenced by departmental norms. Lundman (1979) reports that for 15 months a participant-as-observer study of police-citizen encounters relating to traffic offenses was undertaken to determine whether officers’ discretion is a product of organizational practice. It was found that individual officers resist acting in accordance with conventional standards when they are not under pressure. In the first half of the month the officers take it easy regarding meeting the monthly quota of traffic citations. During that period prevalent departmental norms like taking more punitive action against minority citizens and indiscriminate treatment of the underprivileged classes do not influence traffic citations. But, during the latter half of the month, when the officers work under pressure to complete their quota, the norms described here show up unmistakably in unfair treatment of traffic violators belonging to marked classes. While discussing the proposition that lower socioeconomic classes are the targets of law enforcement, one cannot in the American context, avoid the issue of police treatment of African Americans. The national arrest statistics, as presented in table 3.1 (Flanagen, van Alstyne, and Gottfredson 1982), seem to be telling a story that African Americans who are economically powerless, and therefore, also politically powerless, are disproportionately vulnerable to police action. It is to be understood that the reference to African American criminality in this context is not to raise racial issues, but to examine the conflict point of view regarding the relationship between police action and powerlessness. African Americans seem to be most vulnerable to law enforcement strategy because of their peculiar social status. This point is made by many prominent African Americans in the national life. Brown and Gary (1976) states that it must not be forgotten that

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crime itself is not racially motivated. Rather the high incidence of crime in the black community must be viewed in context of the relative deprivation of blacks in America. The deprivation is related to race. Baldwin (1961), finds police officers representing white justice as symbols of oppression to the residents in Harlem. African Americans continue to live in the poor, decrepit, oppressive ghettos because white people probably think they are not good enough to live anywhere else. This writer claims that the patrol officers walking on the streets of ghettos represent the force of the white world. He argues that the real intentions are to keep African Americans corralled up in their place. The badge, the gun in the holster, and the swinging club suggest what will happen should they rebel against their situation. His research tells a vivid tale of police oppression on Harlem citizens: from the circumspect church member to the most shiftless adolescent, there hardly lives an African American soul in America’s ghettos who has not experienced police incompetence, injustice, or brutality. He draws attention to the fact that the patrol officer is an object of accumulating contempt and hatred, not as an individual white man, but as a representative of a community that does not grant that African Americans want to be treated like men. Table 3.1 Arrests for Crimes, by Offense Charged and by Race, United States, 1997 Percent Offense Charged Murder Forcible rape Robbery Aggravated assault Burglary Larceny-theft Motor vehicle theft Arson Violent crimes Property crime

Total

White

42.8 56.1 39.8 59.6 67.9 64.8 56.6 74.1 54.6 64.7 66.9%

Black

54.9 41.6 58.2 38.1 29.8 32.2 40.2 24.0 43.2 32.4 30.7%

Native American

0.8 1.l 0.5

1.o 1.1 1.3 1.2

1.o

0.9 1.2 1.3%

Asian

1.5 1.2 1.5 1.3 1.3 1.8 2.0 1.0 1.3 1.7 1.2%

* Percents may not add to 100 because of rounding. Source: Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics 7 997. Bureau of Justice Statistics, US. Department of Justice. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1998, 338.

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Thurgood Marshall (1976) mentions that the police were blatantly unfair to African Americans during the Detroit riot of 1943. Their unequal hand was much in evidence. The police used persuasion against white rioters, but African Americans received the ultimate force; night sticks, revolvers, riot guns, and so on. The utterances of the African American celebrities in this connection, no doubt, imply racial prejudice. But one unmistakable conclusion is the economic and political powerlessness of African Americans. As a class they are at the bottom of the social ladder, and hence, seem to be convenient objects of police offensives. The studies discussed here, arrest statistics in the country as a whole, and the observations of many prominent members of the country’s most powerless minority lend credence to the conflict proposition that police are apt to process the economically disadvantaged. Such people are socially powerless and, naturally, therefore, without any political leverage.

CONCLUSION Conflict theorists have described the police in terms that do not sound familiar. It is not commonly found in literature that the police are a coercive bureaucracy, that they represent dominant class interests, and that, the economically underprivileged and politically powerless groups are mostly the targets of police sanctions. It is somewhat surprising, however, that no Herculean efforts in hunting obscure sources, pouring over minute footnotes and subtle capability of reading between the lines are required in substantiating the conflict contentions about the culture of policing. Some of the leading police researchers-Wilson, Skolnick, Manning, Bittner, Goldstein, Neiderhoffer, and Blumberg-throw considerable light on conflict views on the police. Conflict theorists’ portrayal of the police as a coercive, partisan bureaucracy with dubious political alignment can be, by and large, substantiated through the sources mentioned in this chapter. Police use of deadly force against minorities, especially blacks, has been an example of police partisanship. Blumberg (1981) suggests that a disproportionate numberalmost 80 percent-of people killed by police are minority citizens. Williams and Murphy (1990) argue that police-as part of America’s

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criminal justice system that supported slavery, segregation, and discrimination for many decades4ontinue to view minorities as secondclass citizens. Chevigny (1995) argues that “war on crime” police actions reinforce the efforts to “keep minorities in districts where they live” (p. 40). Crank (1998) argues that police efforts to maintain control over minority neighborhoods really “means the preservation of property values in white neighborhoods, the financial well being of rental/ lease brokers, and a clear example of the economic basis of racist containment” (p. 214). The Rodney King beating by Los Angeles police officers in 1991, the brutalization of Abner Louima in 1997 and the killing of Diallo by New York police officers in 1999 are disturbing examples of continuing police behavior against minority communities who are poor and without political power. It is expected that the nation’s police chiefs, particularly those serving in major urban departments, may find food for thought and reflection in conflict analysis of police behavior. It is true that the coercive nature of the police cannot be changed overnight. The blue uniforms will continue to symbolize authority, power, and the consequent feelings of coercion. It can be recalled that about a couple of decades ago Chief Justice Warren almost revolutionized the traditional concept of the due process. But even he made full concession to the realities of police work. It is said that Warren’s approval of police right to stop and frisk was an endorsement of the fact that law enforcement must be coercive. Reiner (1992) in the context of Scarman report argues that: Policing is too complex a job to be viewed in terms of a simplisticdichotomy between hard and soft. The ideal of policing by consent cannot mean complete acquiescence.Policing is about the way in which conflicts which potentially involve the use of force are to be handled. The paradox is that while the ultimate police resource is the legitimate use of force, policing is more successful the less it has to be resorted to. But minimal force does not mean no force. How far force is necessary is only partly a function of police skill in defusing potentially violent [dangerous] confrontations. (pp. 256-57)

Graham (1970) explains that Warren permitted police to search persons on suspicion, without the probable cause specified in the Fourth Amendment, on grounds that it seems necessary to discover weapons and protect the police. Warren’s recognition of the reality of police work should continue to underscore the need of wise compromise in the sphere of law enforcement.

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The conflict theorists might induce in police leaders and supervisors, as well as the rank and file, genuine humility and honest scruples about the nature of policing. There is no doubt that the police in America have come a long way from the days of third-degree methods and the roughand-ready techniques of the past. Standards of education and training have changed beyond recognition. Criminal justice education is within the reach of almost every patrol officer in the country. In all states police recruits have to go through state-mandated basic training programs to be eligible for certification. However, today, the police use of deadly force and some other practices continue to generate disturbing thoughts and bitter disillusionments. It appears as though police leaders and also those who are responsible for policing the streets have yet to give more careful attention to moral concerns. This is not to deny that police have to use deadly force and indulge in coercion. But the situation that emerges from the statements quoted earlier also implies an attitude of indifference to human values. Such omissions, police policy makers must realize, are likely to be misinterpreted. To many Marxist scholars, these are indications of a sinister conspiracy. It may be beneficial for the police to bear in mind that they appear to be more sinned against sinning. Conflict views should help them understand that they are capable of generating a great deal of antipathy and negative reaction. The police need to be sensitive to the fact that constant use of power and authority can produce an atrophy of human sensibilities. Power can throttle finer sentiments. Conflict views, at times couched in unpalatable terminology, can probably serve as a shock treatment. Such a treatment may be needed to forestall police attitude of smugness and complacency to their inevitably coercive and highly problematic task in a complex society.

Chapter Four

Perspectives on Police Culture

In the previous chapter, we discussed American police culture from the criminological perspective. In this chapter, we further explore the police from a variety of perspectives. The section titled Autobiographical Perspective presents American police culture and that of the British police. The Multicultural Perspective section is also a mixed bag. In the Organizational Perspective, the element of militarism in American police is compared with that of many other agencies around the world. In A View from the Street, we discuss the culture of a few city police agencies in the United States. It is important to include this segment because American police are basically city police. The final section, an Analytical Perspective presents an analytical perspective on American police culture through a review of literature comparing the culture of this country’s police with that of others in the world. True, the analysis here is not strictly confined to police culture in a specific sense. It covers all aspects of the police: functions, leadership, public relations, recruitment, training, and the like, which are in the final analysis the contributing factors to police culture.

AUTOBIOGRAPHICALPERSPECTIVE That police officers almost unconsciously become victims of negative subcultures can be seen in two autobiographical accounts discussed in this section. These books are McNee’s Law (1983) by David McNee, ex-commissioner of the Metropolitan police, London, and The Police 53

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Mystique (1990) by Anthony Bouza, ex-police chief of Minneapolis, Minnesota.

McNee’s Law McNee’s book is an autobiographical description of a retired Commissioner of London’s Metropolitan Police. McNee introduces his book as an account of his years as commissioner of the Metropolitan Police consisting of 40,000 personnel, including staff, special constables, and police cadets. It is by no means a study of police deviance; it is an authentic account of an important police official’s career experiences. However, views, reflections, and comments shed light on police acts and strategies that look deviant. McNee’s book provides a unique opportunity for the reader to peep at the world of policing, where deviance tends to breed without conscious efforts. It is a commentary on police culture. McNee started his career as a constable in the industrial city of Glasgow. In the process of socialization he learned that to be found off one’s beat was almost a capital offense. On nightly rounds officers were expected to discover house break-ins. Notwithstanding the severity of such official postures, the officers learned to keep out of trouble with the sergeant. They would somehow find out and report break-ins already committed rather than to concentrate on preventing them. According to McNee, constables needed wide discretion in the enforcement of the laws relating to gaming and vice, which were popular with the working class. Officers in plain clothes exchanged pleasantries with prostitutes in their favorite haunts, often to be rewarded by useful criminal information. He adds that a good detective has to be something of a nosey Parker, naturally inquisitive, and without inhibitions about poking his or her nose into things. Appointed in 1977 as the twentieth commissioner of Metropolitan Police, McNee says he found a disconcerted and unsettled force. There were allegations of police corruption, involvement in drug trafficking, and lack of public confidence. Police morale was generally low, as demands on the police had grown markedly heavier while pay and conditions of employment had worsened. More reflections on the toll of policing can be seen in his account of the major events of his five year tenure as commissioner.

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In narrating the disastrous riots during this period, McNee discusses one precipitating cause resulting from the death of a demonstrator. It seemed to have been caused by a police personal radio which led to unprecedented violence. But McNee asks the public to share the blame. He reasons that when community relations break down, the fault, as in a broken marriage, rarely lies with one party only. He acknowledges that police officers make mistakes and do things that contribute to the disturbed state of affairs. But he believes that the fault is not theirs alone. For him an important lesson of the Brixton riots was that the British police could not operate in the traditional manner and needed to be provided with special equipment to deal with riots. However, he does acknowledge the unprofessional and undisciplined way in which raids were carried out by his police force. McNee says that although the arrest figures of the Metropolitan Police make it appear as if the force discriminated against the black population, there was no getting away from the fact that black youngsters were involved in street crimes. For effective handling of violence and crime, he argues that police officers need to be armed too. He also advocates special provisions for informers and suggests that crime control demands clear police powers. He maintains that there is need for clearly defined, readily understandable police powers that equip officers to do the job that society expects of them. More than ever, the protection of the public from the criminal requires a system of justice as effective in securing the conviction of the guilty as it is in securing the acquittal of the innocent. McNee also suggests that if such powers are not granted, officers will use methods bordering on trickery or stealth in their investigations. He argues that the police cannot be effective without the powers and facilities necessary to do their job in the public interest. In regard to search and obtaining evidence, he recommends the following police powers: Power for police to stop, search, and detain persons and their vehicles in a public place for articles which may cause injury to the person or damage to property. Power for police to seize property found in a public place and believed to be of evidential value. Power for police to search a member of the public and his or her possessions in a public place where, by reason of such person’s

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presence at a particular location, an officer believes that such search might assist in the prevention of a serious crime dangerous to the public. Power for police to set up road blocks in certain circumstances. Power for police to apply for a warrant to search for evidence of an offense. Power for police to apply for an order under the Bankers’ Book Evidence Act, 1879 at any stage in their investigation and that such an order should relate to all records held by a bank and, further, that the definition of “bank” should be widened. The clarification and widening of the power of search on arrest. The clarification of the use of necessary force when a power of search exists. Power for police to apply to a judge of the High Court for a fingerprinting order for persons or category of persons in a particular area. Power for police to obtain names and addresses of witnesses. That the powers and principles which a member of a police force possesses by virtue of Section 19(I) of the Police Act of 1964 shall extend to any place or area outside England and Wales over which any court in England or Wales has or is deemed to have jurisdiction. He is in favor of stem punishments. When capital punishment was in force, McNee muses, he rarely encountered cases of armed crime. He also comments that police corruption cannot be wholly eradicated because it is embedded in the greed and selfishness of human nature. He does not consider it fair that the public wish to see standards maintained by police officers that they as private citizens do not maintain. He also urges that for professional handling, investigations of police corruption should be left in the hands of the police alone. He laments that undeserved criticisms and complaints are unavoidable facts of life for police officers.

The Police Mystique Anthony Bouza’s book is an autobiographical perspective on policing. A retired chief of police in Minneapolis and former commander of

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police in the Bronx, he sets himself the task of explaining the appalling complex reality of the police world. He considers the police to be the thin blue line of society’s first defense and claims that there is a mystery and mystical power of police. His book is an attempt to unfold this secretiveness to provide the readers with an inside view of the American police. As Norval Morris’s foreword promises, Bouza’s insider’s look at police work is a blend of an anecdotal autobiography, as well as a spirited analysis of major crime and crime problems. Notwithstanding these claims, the reader is likely to wonder whether the author achieves his purpose of promoting a deeper understanding of the issues dominating police discussions. Bouza recounts extensively his somewhat liberal views on crime, recidivism, the plight of minorities, and so on. These views are so widely held, however, that they cannot seriously be considered to be within the realm of information that only an insider could provide. Bouza informs that police departments continue to remain racist and sexist institutions. He advocates strongly that to police a society of diverse cultures and races, the police need to be understanding and sensitive to cultural variation. Bouza also makes pointed comments about the racial insensitivity of police chiefs. He narrates an incident from Los Angeles, where the police were forced to abandon choke holds, not because they were ineffective but largely because of a “stupid” remark made by the chief following the death of a black man who had been subdued with the grip. The chief apparently stated that blacks’ circulatory systems might differ from those of “normal people.” Naturally, the resulting clamor was so intense that an aggressive agency, and an aggressive chief, had to abandon the practice. Bouza warns that death row cannot be made, or kept, only for black people. He is emphatic that racism is America’s great, guilty crime secret. He suggests that most police officers, reacting on the basis of expectations, suspect that blacks are more likely to be wrong than whites. Bouza is also emphatic that racism is making street crimes uniquely the domain of the poor. He adds that the underclass dominates the hidden thoughts of the police chiefs. They are apprehensive of the prospects of riots or escalating waves of violence coming from low socioeconomic groups many of which are made up of African Americans. Nevertheless, in Bouza’s view, police action will help prevent further deterioration of this society.

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MULTICULTURAL PERSPECTIVE “Racism is a phenomenon grounded in local police culture” (Crank 1998,207). Police officers learn racist values through cultural transmission (Kappeler, Sluder, and Alpert 1994) and develop ways of dealing with individuals based on their cultural, racial, or even economic status. Research studies in the United States have provided clear evidence of prejudicial attitudes and the use of racial slurs by police officers (Skolnick 1994). The Christopher Commission (1991) examined widespread problems of minority group harassment by officers of the Los Angeles police department. “Police are often accused of forming stereotypical opinions about the criminality of ethnic groups” (Chan 1997,20). Considering that police work is guided by an officer’s perception of what is an illegal activity, who is a suspicious or dangerous person, such stereotyping of people is likely to lead to harassment and targeting of minorities. Furthermore, a police department in which officers have racial prejudices is unlikely to win the confidence and trust of the community. Jefferson and Walker (1993) suggest that young African Americans in inner cities are more critical and hostile toward police than other groups. The fact that crime figures show an overrepresentation of minorities is also suggestive of this discrimination. There is also considerable evidence to suggest that there is more use of deadly force against the minority African American population than against the majority white people in the United States (Blumberg 1981). There is some suggestion that at the policy level, resource allocation decisions “may determine that more officers than normal are directed at the policing of some areas with a high concentration of certain minority groups” (Chan 1997, 22). Thus, even legitimate functions of the police department may end up discriminating among the people and cause concern. We examine some of these perspectives here.

Police Deviance in Canada Brodeur’s “Legitimizing Police Deviance” in Shearing’s Organizational Police Deviance (1981) consists of essays intended to contribute to understanding deviant police activities in pursuit of legitimate operational goals. It has been a major focus that has attempted to examine these and related issues from a wider perspective. In their essay, “The

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Police Discretion to Detain,” John Hagan and C. Peter Morden (1981) argue that police failure to endorse release on bail stems from considerations such as a suspect’s attitude toward the police, employment status, and predictions about post-release behavior. These considerations have more serious consequences for poor and disadvantaged suspects. Nevertheless, the legal and institutional settings in which police officers work generate a culture of insensitivity to the plight of the unfortunate. In “Deviance and Conformity in the Production of Order,” Shearing (1981) points out that police organizations learn to manipulate appearances through tenuous resolution of conflicts between rank and file and the brass. On the street, patrol officers forget their academy training and, through a process of socialization, acquire skills to cope with reallife problems. In their battle of survival they derive sustenance from the police subculture, which provides them with rule of thumb guidance and direction. They also learn that those who remain hypocritical in their official responsibilities derive better career prospects. Police commanders pay only lip service to ideals of legal standards, public service, and so on. They legitimize dubious police work through tacit support of those officers who can manage their work without causing any problems for the organization and public outcry. Hypocrisy becomes a technique of police work. In his essay titled “Some Structural Aspects of Police Deviance in Relations with Minority Groups,” John Lee (1981) argues that policing breeds a peculiar organizational culture. It drives home early to recruits that dealing harshly with beleaguered minorities such as African Americans, Indians, gays, lesbians, and others gains them support of the public. These groups are viewed as police property, and this ownership attitude is seen in police use of such epithets as “nigger,” “faggot,” “punk,” and so on. He suggests that higher rates of minority arrests are due to abuse of police discretion. He also points out the organization norms that tend to generate conflict between the police and minority groups. Indeed, as unionism, professionalism, and technology have expanded, police isolation from the weaker sections of the community has intensified. Ericson’s (1981) essay, “Rules for Police Deviance,” is an exposition of the view that the police use rules as weapons of social conflict and justifications for action. The officers circumvent many apparent procedural impediments to achieve their purpose. In the process, laws

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are manipulated to obtain information, force is used to secure plea bargains, and trickery and deceit are practiced in searches, restraint, or confessions. In their dealings with subordinates, police administrators, too, are prone to take advantage of rules for the sake of keeping a good image of their organization. All these deviant practices mainly result from the mandate given to the police that is impossible to meet with the existing mechanisms of legal use of force. Many controversial practices like electronic surveillance, intercepting mail, and accessing confidential medical and tax records have been the techniques of political policing even in democratic societies. In more totalitarian regimes the political police are guilty of gross violations of habeas corpus and other basic procedural rules. On the grounds of national security, prevention of subversion and protection of public interests, they can employ questionable practices since political and military considerations generally override any legal or ethical ones. Jean-Pal Brodeur (198 1) notes in his essay, “Legitimizing Police Deviance,” that the law provides legitimacy to deviant police behavior. Police officers rarely face trials for abuse of power, and charges of illegality seldom end in convictions. Thus, external control over police illegality is not very effective. Further, voluntary compliance with legal standards is difficult to obtain. Concepts like mens rea, intent, motive, and the like tend to defy pragmatic comprehension and application of the rules of law. Above all, ambiguities in the law favor those who have the power to take advantage of them-and the police certainly enjoy such powers. Criminal law, therefore, becomes an instrument of legitimization at the hands of the police. In the last essay, “The Role of Police Boards and Commissions as Institutions of Municipal Police Governance,” Stenning (198 1) observes that who should control the police is a provocative and controversial issue. Since basic police functions involve judicial or quasijudicial considerations, police boards consisting of judicial representatives are sometimes considered ideal for controlling them. Police professionalism and accountability to law are also upheld as effective means of police control. Another opinion is that municipal policing is essentially a municipal service and, hence, the police should be subjected to local municipal control only. It is further argued that partisan politics are a fundamental condition of our current democratic political system and, hence, it is merely a pious wish to think that the police can be totally

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insulated from politics. Stenning maintains that in the final analysis, the justification for police boards as instruments of control will have to be based on truly informedjudgments, which are not yet known in Canada.

Racial Attitudes of American Police In Problem-Oriented Policing Goldstein (1990) mentions that relations between police and minority communities have always been stressful. He adds that centralized control and standardized procedures popularized by the classical administrativemodel undervalue the importance of knowledge about the specific community being policed. In moving toward problem-oriented policing, the police have been helped by the lesson that what they did after the racial disturbances of the 1960s to win the cooperation of minority communities was often limited to getting a few people to appreciate the police. This approach, he says, was incredibly naive and led to the realization that what the police can do in dealing with crime, public order, and fear is heavily dependent on the kind of partnership they develop with the community. In Power and Restraint, Cohen and kldberg (1991) are concerned with the moral dimension of police work. They note that police officers in America display hesitancy in facing racial attitudes squarely. They may not be firm against racial slurs hurled at African Americans and other minorities because such remarks may be constitutionally protected as freedom of speech. An officer may also not like to be blamed by the opposite party in a dispute for lecturing on minority rights. The authors also point out that an officer may avoid addressing a complainant or victim’s racist comments directly for the fear of risking unpleasant consequences.

Police Prejudice Toward Minorities in England In three books from England, The Strong A n n of the Law (Waddington 1991), On the Mersey Beat (Brogden 1991), and Chief Constables (Reiner 1991), there is an account of police intolerance of minorities. Each of the authors under review has made several thoughtful and perceptive observations on police-minority relations. Waddington and Reiner have referred profusely to the Scarman Report on the 1981 race riots in urban England to support their arguments that distrust between

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the police and racial minorities has made law and order a highly volatile and intensely critical issue in contemporary Britain. According to Reiner, chief constables subscribe to a form of “Scarmanism” consisting of community oriented approaches and sensible exercise of police discretion. In view of the problems of poverty, racism, and ethnic diversity in urban areas of the country, Reiner avers, some chief constables are convinced that the police role should include concerns for the wider social aspects of crime. The police are not just as specialists in the detection and prevention of crime and the control of disorder. Waddington agrees with Scarman’s views that the 1981 Brixton riots were a spontaneous, explosion of antagonism against the police, who were perceived by the majority of black community to be both racist and oppressive. He also refers to Scarman’s view that the inner-city riots were also motivated by genuine grievances. Deprivation, discrimination, and police harassment were major complaints of the people. He notes that comparisons are often drawn between the British and American experience of handling such riots. There are similarities between the Scarman inquiry and its American predecessor, the Kerner Commission (Kerner 1968). But Reiner reiterates that some chief constables are racially prejudiced. Brogden also says that racial prejudice of the English police is traditional. According to a black Liverpudlian of the period, some members of the Liverpool Police have become so prejudiced against colored men that their behavior toward them had become nothing less than hooliganism.

Police-Minority Relations in Australia We also consider a recent perspective from Australia provided in Changing Police Culture by Janet Chan (1997). Australia is a multicultural society like the United States and there are “more than 100 ethnic groups, speaking eighty immigrant languages and 150 Aboriginal languages’’ (p. 15). The relationship between the police and minority population is one of conflict and mutual suspicion. “Minorities complain of racist stereotyping, unfair targeting and at times harassment and violent treatment by police officers” (p. 2). Minorities are afraid of the police and do not trust the organization. Many do not report crime or fail to cooperate in police investigations due to this antipathy. However, unlike the United States and Britain, where riots have taken place due to racial

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tensions, “police racism in Australia has largely remained simmering in the background of public consciousness” (p. 2). Scholars have reported that “relations between the Aborigines and police have been a problem for at least twenty years” (Cunneen 1990). A documentary, Cop It Sweet, depicts New South Wales police officers as “racist, sexist, ignorant, insensitive and hypocritical” (p. 3). Furthermore, The role of the police in enforcing the Aborigines Protection Act 1909 . . . turned police into a state agency responsible for issuing rations, removing “neglected” children from parents, and controlling people’s movements on Aboriginal reserves. . . . The Act remained in force until 1969 and brought about “widespread fear and dislike of the police amongst Aborigines, even years later.” (p. 26)

The Nationalist Inquiry into Racist Violence has also reported the use of “intrusive and intimidatory” practices by the police such as conducting searches without warrants (Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission 1991, 82-83). The inquiry also found disturbing evidence of police subculture of violence especially against Aborigine women and girls like custodial rape, sexist and racist abuse, and threats. Aborigine juveniles were also victims of police violence and were found to be assaulted on the street, during arrest, and at police stations. Significantly, the inquiry found “similar allegations of police misconduct such as beatings in custody, property searches without warrants, harassment and abuse” (Chan 1997,25) of people from other minority groups. The problem of police racism is dependent on how the nature and function of the police are perceived. Police activities such as stops, searches, and arrests involve considerable discretion that may be influenced by stereotypes of what constitutes normality or suspiciousness. There is also solidarity among officers, who tend to cover for each other and fail to report deviant behavior of their colleagues. Furthermore, police work is generally reactive, and many officers target minority youths simply because they appear to cause more problems. Another viewpoint is that the common perception of what is “crime” is largely focused on property theft and physical assaults that may involve the poor and minorities more than the well-established, majority community members. The “powerlessness” of the minorities and the “inade-

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quate system of accountability” are other factors responsible for police bias in Australia (Chan 1997, 29).

Conclusion This section discusses the widespread and dangerous consequences of policing a multicultural society. The ill treatment of minorities is not a simple problem because it is related to the police culture. It is also “embedded in the historical and political positions of minorities in society” (Chan 1997, 223). One approach to police reform is suggested through the professional model. This emphasizes specialized knowledge, training, accountability, and impartial action on the part of the police officers. However, the professional model has not succeeded in the United States and has remained an abstract idea about what is a “good police practice” (Bittner 1973, 50). It is now being suggested that in a department where problem solving and innovative measures are rewarded while mistakes are tolerated permits officers to learn and improve their performance. Such a working environment calls for an organizational cultural change, especially at the management level. Chan (1997, 235) has argued for “better training, more thorough knowledge of the communities being policed, and increased contact with the communities in non-stressful situations.” We will discuss later the emerging models of community policing and problem-oriented policing that seek to adopt some of these suggestions. It suffices to state here that in a multicultural society like the United States it is important to understand the police culture before it can be changed. This is the theme of the next section.

ORGANIZATIONAL PERSPECTIVE Despite their diversity, police forces all over the world share one characteristic-the military structure. Although they may operate in a democratic, post-colonial, or totalitarian system, there is no police force that is not based on the military model. In many ways the resemblance to military links is obvious-the dress, rank designations, and command structure all emulate those used in the Army. The authoritarian style of

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functioning, carrying firearms, and having the right to use force also suggest close parallelism. True, within the model there are a great deal of variations. There are police forces that are known as the army. The most prominent police force in Italy, for example, is the Carabinieri-DeZ a m dei Curabinieri-the Armed Force of the Carabinieri. In India there is a tradition of armed police that are paramilitary organizations. Yet, some police forces have attempted to distinguish themselves from the military even after retaining some similar characteristics. In England for instance, Stead (1977,79) argues that “military though the organizational model was, the Act of 1829 contained a provision that would always distinguish the policeman from the soldier.” In this essay we will consider the organizational structure of police forces in Mexico, Italy, England, Thailand, and Japan. This account is based on observations of these forces at close quarters, discussions on various issues with many police officials, and readings of numerous official documents supplied by these departments. Among the many aspects of these forces, the focus of attention in this section is the varying degrees of their military characteristics. There are variations in the degree of militarization and various reasons for the same. At the most basic level the military model is to be understood as the extent of police identification with the military, and police training to act like soldiers. Taking identification with the military and the prominent features of basic training as the indicators of a military model, it is hoped to bring into focus the obvious variations in military orientations of a few police forces in the world. Additionally, we will also examine the police forces of Israel and South Africa to understand how particular social and historical circumstances shape police organizations. But first let us study the American police system and examine its links to the military.

American Police: A Military Model of Choice About 150 years ago-even after the Metropolitan Police model was entrenched in this country-military accouterments did not appeal to the police in America. The uniform, which can be regarded as a basic symbol of the military, was vehemently resisted by American law enforcement officials and for a long time the police did not wear a distinctive dress uniform. According to Miller (1991, 76), “New Yorkers

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rejected many important features of the London police as too authoritarian for democratic America.” Fosdick (1969) notes that patrol officers denounced uniforms as being un-American, undemocratic, smacking of militarism, and even as King’s attire, a badge of degradation and slavery, and imitation of royalty. Monkkonen (1981) observes that initial public apprehensions against the police in various cities including New York, Philadelphia, Boston, and Chicago, often focused on their uniforms. Richardson (1974) comments that the resistance to uniform had to be overcome gradually; New York introduced it in 1853, Philadelphia in 1860, and Chicago in 1861. However, the militarization of American police is a product of a variety of reasons. The attempts at professionalization led to militarization, which originated as a reform strategy (Walker, 1999). In 1880s, Walker says, the physical appearance of the men and the obvious lack of discipline were two concerns of the police authorities. Vigorous militarization through greater emphasis on uniforms, drill, and so on, was considered an answer to the problems of appearance and lack of discipline. Walker also suggests that the military administrative model along with “the military ethos of police departments, parades, close-order drill, and military style commendations” (1999, 29) were a means toward effective supervision and control of the force. In 1921, a police superintendent of Philadelphia injected a strong dose of militarism to enforce discipline in the police force. In 1923 Philadelphia appointed General Butler of the U.S. Marine Corps as police chief to rid the department of corruption. The military model for American police has been advocated for many other reasons too. As a member of the Board of Police Commissioners in New York, Theodore Roosevelt supported this model because he thought the police would imitate the virtues of the soldier such as energy, daring, power of obedience, and physical prowess. The military model was also attractive to the advocates of strong-arm police strategy. The reformers of the professional era also felt that the military analogy would imply that the police should be free of political interference like the armed forces of the country. It also meant virtually unfettered powers of the police chief over the operational aspects of the department in the same manner as the freedom enjoyed by army commanders over strategic matters. The early police reformers were enthusiastic about the military analogy also because it provided for a model for policing that

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was centrally directed and controlled. It may be pointed out that even today, American police retain several units that bear close resemblance to the military structures. The development of the SWAT teams is a good example of this analogy. To deal with dangerous hostage situations or with heavily armed offenders it was considered necessary to have a separate unit specially trained for these roles. The U.S. Marshal Service is another unit that has closely adopted the military model. It serves as the “enforcement arm of the U.S. Attorney General’s office” and is also involved in “court security, witness protection programs, prisoner transportation and assess seizure programs” (Lyman 1999, 123). The unit also has a Special Operations Group to intervene in mob control situations. U.S. Marshal personnel receive rigorous thirteen-week training that comprises physical fitness, instruction in the use of firearms, and self defense. Since the time of Peel’s Metropolitan Police, most police forces have been structured along military lines. Enumerating the reasons for the adoption of the military model, Auten (1970) believes tradition was the most important. Managers and supervisors in police organizations are products of the paramilitary system. Indeed, in the beginning most of the officers were drawn from the army. The strict discipline enforced in the military may have been a prominent reason for the police managers to adopt the structure. The fact that until then Army had been the major mechanism to assert the authority of the state may also have been a factor in modeling the police on familiar lines. Even today, the military model, especially Army training remains attractive to most police managers. In recruit schools, trainees are constantly goaded to conform to military discipline so that they can survive in the rigid and conservative environment of police departments. Generally, police administrators tend to subscribe to the view that by military attitude and orientation, the police can discharge their functions properly. Bittner (1973) points out that the police have adopted the military model because both these institutions are based on power. He suggests that the police appreciate the training in military organizations where the insistence on rules and regulations and on unquestioning obedience to superiors keep the personnel in constant fear of violating the rules and paying the consequences. Bittner argues that this must also account for military mannerisms in police culture and methods. Moreover, police administrators found in the military models means of eliminating

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various kinds of corruption. Although he is critical, Bittner acknowledges that there was some justification for the militarization of the police. There were many reasons for the military model adopted by Peel. Considering that the first “Peelers” were recruited from those “who had not the rank, habits or station of gentlemen” (Uglow 1988, 24) it was perhaps felt that only a military discipline would ensure that constables actually walked the beats and carried out their orders. Moreover, there seemed to have been an additional need for coercion as the London streets of that period were dark and dangerous and posed danger to the patrolmen. According to Goldstein (1977), the police have to face extraordinary events such as civil disorders or other large-scale emergencies that require authoritarian management and, hence, a military approach. On the basis of the account given here, the important reasons for the military model of policing in America can be stated as follows:

1. The military model was regarded as a means of professionalization. 2. It highlighted the potential of coercive police power. 3. The military analogy was to invest police work with a sense of urgency and emergency. 4. It facilitated the initiation of police recruits to military discipline to help them survive in the tough world of policing. 5. The military model had been the tradition since Peel’s Metropolitan Police. 6. It was considered pragmatic because many emergencies like large-scale civil disorders necessitated militaristic methods of operations on the part of the police. Thus the military model for American police was a deliberate and conscious effort to respond to certain problems. With this brief background, the extent to which the foreign police forces under review are militarized, and why it is so, will be examined.

Pure Militaristic Models: Italy and Thailand Among the countries under review, two-Italy and Thailand-have the strongest military orientations in their police. In Italy there are various

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classes of the police-municipal, state, and treasury police. But the most prestigious and extensive branch of the police is the Carabinieri. Established in 1814 to serve a dual purpose-the defense of the country as a military force, and also a police force with special duties and prerogatives-it consists of three divisions, thirteen brigades, thirty legions, 100 groups, 500 companies, and 5,640 stations. Its strength is 100,000 personnel spread over the length and breadth of Italy. Compared with the Carabinieri, the state police (80,000), municipal police (30,000),and the treasury police with lesser numerical strength, are small forces. As the most celebrated military force, the Carabinieri won many decorations in numerous wars including both world wars. As stated in The Carabinieri, their military duties are extensive: (a) warfare operations and mobilization, (b) military police, and (c) escorts of honor. Cramer (1964) writes that the Carabinieri were formed as a military bureaucracy with the specific duties of keeping order and maintaining public security. According to Ingleton (1979), the Carabinieri were designed as a military corps. However, apart from their responsibility for the defense of the state at the time of war, they were also given the task of ensuring the public and private security and the maintenance of law and order. The Carabinieri have an education branch that handles education and training of force personnel. Basically militaristic in nature, the training curriculum varies for different levels of functionaries. Officers, noncommissioned officers, and soldiers (Carabinieris) receive separate training. Carabinieri officers enter the School for Officers in Rome after a two-year course at the Military Academy of Modena. They are trained in Rome for another two years, after which they join active duty as lieutenants in permanent service. The noncommissioned officers are trained for two years in a separate school with full emphasis on military discipline and conduct. There are three phases of training for Carabinieris-namely, soldier phase, police phase, and the phase of specialization. In the first phase the trainees are given five weeks of physical training including marching, military drills, study of army structure, and so on. The second phase consists of twenty weeks of training regarding duties and responsibilities of security agents, investigation, use of weapons, language (English), driving, and typing. The final part of training is devoted to specialization in areas like dog handling, marksmanship, Alpine trekking, and so on.

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The military orientation of Italian police seems to be due to the political realities of the country. Since the late 1790s, beginning with Napoleon Bonaparte’s military conquest until 1814, most of Italy was under French domination. From 1815, when the French hegemony ended, to 1848, Italy was marked by disunity and fragmentation. It was in 1861 that the unification of Italy was completed. Tannenbaum and Noether (1974) suggest that Italy adopted the French system of centralized administration to cope with social unrest and political instability. They also refer to social antagonism that resulted from the lack of cohesiveness in spite of political unification. Although, crime was common during the early period, the national government feared various types of revolutionaries the most. In the 1860s and even later on, the police combated a series of real, threatened, and sometimes imaginary insurrections, planned or executed by “disgruntled Garibaldians and Mazzinians, Bakuninist, anarcho-socialists, a few early Marxists, and a variety of others not susceptible to precise political identification” (Collins 1985, 188). These factors necessitated that the Italian police continue to function in the military style. In this highly divisive atmosphere there arose the need for a strong, centralized, and professional government. Thus the historical situation in Italy called for a centralized and strong police force. The creation of the Carabinieri in 1814 both as a military and as a police force, was a response to Italy’s unique reality. The force had to act as a cohesive instrument of the political power to hold the country together. According to Collins (1985) this trend could be seen in the growth of the Carabinieri. “The commanding General of the Carabinieri is always a three star general on temporary assignment from the regular army, an appointment which is frequently given to top officers who are headed for further promotion within the Ministry of Defense.” Furthermore, “Carabinieri officers and enlisted men are recruited after service with the regular army” (p. 186). The military model of policing in Italy is a product of its unique history and tradition.

Thailand The Thai police are rigidly organized along the hierarchy of authority and unity of command principles of Taylor, Weber, and Fayol. According to Piumsombun (1982), the Thai police force is quasimilitary in

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character and based on a centralized system. Recruited in senior ranks, officers are trained at the Police Cadet Academy, which was established in 1901 during the reign of King Rama V to prepare eligible men to be commissioned officers. Among the branches in the academy, there is one known as the Military and Physical Department. High school graduates who have successfully completed the one-year course at the Royal Thai Armed Forces Academy are only eligible to enter the Police Academy. Upon graduation, which takes three years, each cadet is granted a bachelor’s degree in public administration and commissioned as a sublieutenant. Out of the total of 3,568 hours of institutional training, 921 hours (25 percent) are spent on physical and military training, which is an indication of the military orientation of the Thai police. However, these hours exclude one year entirely devoted to military training at the Armed Forces Academy. According to Pongchareon, in the academy there is strict military discipline. Piumsombun mentions that the origins of this police force can be traced to the fifteenth century when the then king introduced a police force to protect his family and his throne. In 1861 the king appointed an Englishman to reorganize the police. He started the Patrol Department in 1877 and the Provincial Police Department in 1897. This force also served as a military unit during wartime. In 1915 the police units were merged into a single organization called the Gendarmerie and Patrol Department. Currently, the police in Thailand, organized as the Thai National Police Department, is primarily a political security force. Many high ranking military officers have assumed the position of chief of this department and the police share their responsibilities with the -YThe Thai police force preserves the public peace and acts as a military unit in wartime. According to Captain Pit Nadhapit (1983, the need for the military model for the Thai police was obvious, as they were to guard the borders where no army could be posted under an international agreement. The border police were like the army and since any police officer could be transferred to that unit, it was necessary that everyone get full military training. He explained that it was because of the border duty that the Thai police possessed tanks, fighter aircrafts, warships, and other heavy defense equipments. The handling of these armaments called for precise grounding in military knowledge.

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Among the number of factors responsible for the centralized, military model of policing in Thailand, Pongchareon (1981) emphasizes the following: 1. Thailand witnessed absolute rule by king until 1932, when constitutional monarchy was ushered in. However, in spite of elections, it has been found that only a small percentage of the people voted and popular participation in the governance of the country was far from the reality 2. The police force in Thailand was originally created for the purpose of protecting the king 3. The police force is trained like the army for the purpose of patrolling the country’s international borders against infiltrators Taking advantage of the country’s political instability and the lack of consciousness among the common people, bureaucrats including the police historically have been trying to build their power bases. This phenomenon, Elliott (1981) explains, has led to the emergence of bureaucratic officials as an integral component within the power block and an accumulation of power within the lower strata of the ruling class. Although Thailand was never colonized by Western powers, Girling (198 1) notes that foreign experts were employed at the highest levels of the administration for two or more decades beginning in the 1890s. The practice of giving power to the people never got a start in Thailand and the bureaucratic machinery, which included the police, has never let a chance slip by for consolidating its power. Elliott observes that power and prestige in Thailand have, for more than fifty years, been located in the bureaucratic polity of the armed forces, police, and civil administration. According to Girling (1981), the police in Thailand cause military jealousy because of the power they have and the connections they can draw on. The king has given long-standing patronage to the border patrol police. He adds that the police are pressured by higher ups, especially in the military to protect clients who have acted illegally. However, the police personnel are also the oppressors, extorting protection money and harassing suspects. Policing in its pure military model seems to have found a congenial cultural and political climate in Thailand.

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Comparison of Thai and Italian Police The Thai police are nationally organized into one department consisting of about 132,000 personnel with approximately 30 percent as commissioned officers in various ranks from sublieutenant to general. Although the commissioned officers are trained with other armed forces for one year in Thai Defense Academy, the police are a separate bureaucracy and, as a matter of fact, there seems to be some rivalry between the army and the police. Many police officers who discuss police-army relations, mention that they did not welcome the military coups that gave the army power over the police. Police officers also said in private conversations that military officers were somewhat jealous of police because of their legal powers. The situation in Italy is somewhat different. In that country, the Carabinieri, which is the most traditional and powerful police force, is also a part of Italy’s armed forces. Both the Thai police and the Carabinieri lay great emphasis on training, which is primarily militaristic in orientation. In Thailand, the police have a training branch at the national level known as the Police Educational Bureau. There exists elaborate training arrangements for the Carabinieri personnel at various levels and the bulk of the new Carabineiri officers are “for the first time being trained through the university level” (Collins 1985, 206).

Mexico: The Military Filling the Vacuum in the Police In Mexico, the police organization in each state, as well as at the level of the federal government, is divided into two parts: judicial and preventive police. Investigations, collection of evidence, prosecutions, and so on are handled by judicial police. The branch known as preventive police is responsible for all other police work, including patrolling and maintaining order. This chapter is based on the observations made by one of the authors of the federal police, the police in the State of Queretaro, and the Mexico City Police. At the federal level, the head of the police is a ministerio de gobemacion, or ministry of government. Needler (1982) states that the ministerio de gobernacion has functions corresponding to those of the interior in Western Europe (in Britain, the Home Office). This depart-

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ment also includes most of the functions of the U.S. Department of Justice, including supervision of police and law enforcement. At the time of writing the president of the country had started a National Public Security Commission headed by an attorney. According to this official, the French police model had been found more suitable for Mexico in that both countries shared the need for a strong federal government. Hence, the country had started an exchange program with French police and a great deal of work had already been done toward introducing certain French police practices in Mexico. In the states, the procurador general de justicia or the minister of justice, who is appointed by the governor, heads the entire justice system, which includes the police. The judicial police function like detectives without uniforms or other military symbols. In the state of Queretaro there are 1,530 personnel belonging to the preventive police whose function is mainly patrolling. Most of them are stationed in the capital city with about 400 personnel stationed in outlying administrative divisions known as municipios. The preventive police personnel are divided into three sections: motorcycle, automobile, and foot patrols. There is also a women’s patrol. While women’s patrol and foot patrol personnel are not armed, the others carry revolvers on duty. Unlike the judicial police, who do not wear uniforms, the preventive police look very militaristic. They receive only 106 hours of training basically devoted to military drills and a few other areas like ballistics, firefighting, and discipline. Both the director general of preventive police and his deputy are army officers appointed to the positions by the governor. The Mexico City police force, too, was headed by an army general, and senior officers were from the military. However, the current policy has been to expose the police to more civilian contacts. With that objective, the police were working in collaboration with scholars and academicians for improving police training. Nevertheless, the military orientation of the city police force was unmistakable. As a matter of fact, the SWAT team of the city police, which was an impressive product of military training, was normally shown to all visitors to the police department as a spectacular exhibit.

Factors Favoring Military Influence Mexican police seem to be based entirely on expediency and ad hoc arrangements. Civilian servants, including all police officers above the

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rank of the lowest functionaries, the agents, are casual, ad hoc appointments by national and state politicians who come to power through elections. Public service tradition, continuity, and commitment are almost nonexistent. As police morale, discipline, and training standards are very low, the top commanders are hired temporarily from the army, creating more impediments in the way of professional growth and development of police leadership. Needler (1982) mentions that Mexican police are the product of a peculiar system based on political considerations. Unlike Thailand and Italy, where the military model has thrived because of the police, in Mexico, military officers are brought in to lead the police forces from time to time as the police have no leadership at all. Police training is almost nonexistent. There hardly exist any civil service rules, regulations, or standards. In this situation the politicians who come to power use temporary leaders borrowed from the army to keep things moving. However, like Italy and Thailand, Mexico, too, has felt historically the need for a strong federal government. According to Benson (1972), federalism was adopted in Mexico to unite a country threatened by disunity and divisiveness among the provinces. Nevertheless, what strikes a visitor is the presence of a large number of military officers working for the police. As mentioned above, these officers are temporarily inducted to fill up the vacuum that exists in the police hierarchy.

The Nonmilitaristic Models: England and Japan The more striking feature of the English police is its acclaimed civilian and democratic nature. Among the forty-three police forces in England, the Metropolitan Police is nearest to the historical roots of English policing. We will examine the characteristics of this force to reflect on the extent of the military model in the police in England. Historically, British authorities have described the Metropolitan Police as a low profile, people oriented institution. Langworthy and Travis (1994) suggest that “Peel and the commissioners demanded impeccable behavior from constables, both on and off duty, and specially instructed their constables to be civil and respectful to the public” (P. 60).

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Charles Reith (1956) has noted that the members of the metropolitan force were asked to cultivate a friendly disposition and show respect and civility to the citizens to earn approval, respect, and affection of the public. According to Lyman (1999), London’s first police commissioners, colonel Charles Rowan and attorney Richard Mayne “believed that the police and the citizenry must have mutual respect in order for the new police system to be effective” (p. 69). The British emphasis appears to have always been on public acceptance of the police. Critchley (1967) mentions that the new force was reared as a democratic body. It was close to the people, understood them, and drew its strength from the citizens. Banton (1964) observes that English officers were trained to regard themselves as subordinate to the law. Miller (1991) suggests that “the combination of strength and restraint became the foundation of the London Bobby’s public image” (p. 75). Additionally, the men were expected to be “models of good conduct by subordinating their impulses to the requirements of discipline and the legal system they represented” (p. 75). Commenting on the deeply moral image of English police, Gorer (1955) also says that the English police officer represented a model of ideal male character. Stead (1977) argues that Peel sought to avoid any resemblance of the Metropolitan Police to the French Gendarmerie, and made it clear that the new functionary was not to be viewed as a domestic mercenary. His was to be a unique status with the “power to encroach upon the liberty of the subject” which was by no means compatible with “the status of the military rank, even the highest” (p. 79). Tobias (1972) comments that the uniqueness of policing in Great Britain rests in its common-law origins. Stead (1977) also adds, “The oath of office taken in various forms of words by constables over the century makes it clear that the constable is an officer of the Crown, performing his duties according to law” (p. 80). According to Brogden (1982), the British police officer was conceived as a citizen-in-uniform symbolizing an ideology of organic relationship between the police and the public. The people-oriented, civilian, and unobtrusive nature of the British police has been noted widely by American scholars too. Jackson (1985) points out that the relationship between the police and the public in Britain is viewed even today by a vast majority of police leaders in that country as one of con-

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sent. Manning (1997) comments that the Metropolitan Police had a mandate to enable civilian administration to handle internal disturbances without military involvement. Rubinstein (1973) argues that it was clear to the architects of the Metropolitan Police that the New Police were a civilian force and their military structure was a source of inspiration to the men. The Metropolitan Police have a nonadversarial relationship with the public at large. Unlike in Mexico, where there is hardly any police training, and in Italy and Thailand, where the police are given a military orientation in training, the nonmilitary character of the police is clearly emphasized in police training in Britain. The training priority in the Metropolitan Police is extremely high and the emphasis is on imparting interpersonal skills, encouraging management training, and teaching the new provision of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act. During initial recruit training, which lasts twenty weeks, trainees are taught to distinguish speech patterns to enable them to understand all kinds of people, including those who do not speak English well and people with speech impairments. They are also taught how to use discretion. According to another such report (The Metropolitan Police 1985), a constable learns the law and the theory of where and when not to apply the law. He is encouraged to observe how a seasoned officer practices discretion in real-life situations. In other words, the recruit is exhorted not to act blindly as a mechanical enforcer of the law, but to develop an appreciation of the humane problems of policing. For the next eighteen months, onduty training, a probationer primarily learns, among other things, how to walk the beat (twelve weeks), and to establish good relations with local people through community involvement, including handling witnesses and victims in a sympathetic manner.

Factors Favoring Civilian Nature of Police in England As mentioned above, there has traditionally been an emphasis on the civilian nature of British police. However, some disturbing incidents in 1980s have tarnished the unarmed image of the friendly bobby to an extent. Among the causes, the riots of the last few years are cited frequently. Early in October 1985, for example, there were violent demonstrations in Brixton, a London district with a sizable Black population

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of West Indian descent. A week later, more aggressive and violent protests erupted in another London neighborhood, Tottenham, where rioters hacked a policeman to death and fired shotguns and pistols at the police. Following these incidents, the Metropolitan Police have decided to use more powerful weapons in handling protesting crowds. According to a report in The London Times (1985), the Metropolitan Police would be permitted to disperse crowds by firing plastic bullets and using tear gas. Although these weapons have been used in Ireland, they have never been employed elsewhere in Britain. Uglow (1988) reports that a Metropolitan squad was set up in 1965 to be a mobile support unit that could be quickly moved to the scene of any disturbance. By 1986 there were six units with 280 officers, all specially trained and equipped with weaponry and not control equipment available in unmarked transit vans. They are held on permanent standby, unlike the ordinary support units which, although trained in not-control techniques, are normally engaged in routine divisional duties. (P. 46)

With such a militaristic, armed strategy, British police are getting involved in violent tactics in response to the so-called violent environment. This seems to pose a threat to the continuation of the traditional civilian model of British policing. However, it was the riots and ugly disorders in Brixton in 1981 that revealed how the hard policing shows little local knowledge and sensitivity to multiracial issues. Lord Scarman’s report (1982) suggested that the consent of the community was essential for the British model of policing to survive. This sentiment is widely shared by many others in England. On the basis of interviews in Britain conducted between August and December 1981, Jackson (1985) comments that there is a threat to unarmed policing by consent in Britain and one of the primary reasons for this state of affairs is violent public disorder. But he, too, found that Britain’s chief constables mostly were not in favor of the transformation to meet the new threats in the environment. They believed that the friendly, unarmed image of the cop on the beat could still be retained. This is what a senior British officer wrote immediately after the announcement of the new policy by Sir Kenneth Newman, the Metropolitan Police commissioner:

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The use of lethal weapons to control riots can just lead to a community backlash. But, if faced with a crowd of thousands, or even hundreds, throwing petrol bombs and also occasionally using firearms, the police have a difficult task in not resorting to lethal weapons to control or disperse such a crowd. For myself, I think that the use of the plastic bullet is not yet necessary, but that much can be done with existing tactics; the weakness is in Police Command-most police managers just do not either understand or have sufficient training and experience to control a large formation of police officers in a violent situation. The weakness is Management. (Bond 1986)

Rowe, a recently retired chief constable from Britain has also stated (Rowe 1986), that he and many others like him were opposed to the militarization of the police for strengthening their not-fighting powers. Uglow (1988) cautions that the dominant image of the “unarmed friendly constable,” “the determined but scrupulous pursuer of the offender,” has gone into reverse (p. 12). “There has been a substantial increase in weapon-training, in the issue of fire-arms, and in the acceptance of these methods by the officers” (p. 12). Furthermore, “although the government and senior officers continue to use the language of integration and cooperation, . . . the police have drastically developed their capacity to operate as a ‘third force,’ trained, armed and easily deployed to confront strikes, protests and demonstrations” (p. 11). A respected commentator Reiner (1992) has also observed, “as crime and disorder have grown, so the police have moved up the scale of coerciveness in their strategy” (p. 268). Nevertheless, the English police still remain largely nonmilitaristic in its orientation. In recent past, Sir Kenneth Newman (1985) has emphasized the relationship between the police and the public as a kind of notional or unspoken contract He has welcomed the introduction of consultative committees and formation of Neighborhood Watch programs with a stress on professionalism “to form the basis of a new contract between police and public and thereby restore the principle of policing by consent” (Brewer et al. 1996, 40). Thus, British Police seem to be at least oriented to a nonmilitary model.

Japan The police in Japan are organized into forty-seven prefectures. At the head of each prefectural force is a public safety commission made up

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of three to five members of the public. They are appointed by the governor of the prefecture for a period of three years with the approval of the prefectural assembly. All members must be residents of the prefecture and must not have been connected with public service concerning police or prosecution five years before appointment. In addition, the majority of the members cannot be from the same political party. Overseeing the prefectural police is the National Police Agency, a staff organization with supervisory officers, which is directly under the control of the National Public Safety Commission. The members of the commission are appointed by the prime minister with the approval of the House of Representatives and the House of Councillors for a period of five years. They must not have been connected with public service related to the police or prosecution five years preceding the appointment. It is forbidden to appoint more than two members belonging to the same party. There is, therefore, a broad-based public participation in policing at all levels. This participation is sought to be made nonpolitical and nonpartisan. In Japan, there is a great deal of emphasis on education and training of police officers as public servants. There are three kinds of educational facilities for police officers: seventy-four prefectural police schools, nine regional police schools, and the National Police Academy. Recruit training and education are provided by prefectural police schools where the emphasis is not on military orientation. At the National Police Agency during the first year of training, patrol officers learn jurisprudence, professional police skills, physical exercises, and use of weapons and also take courses on general education. After a year in the police school, the trainees work in the field initially for another six months. During this period they are further trained in jurisprudence, professional skills, physical training, and general education (National Police Agency 1985a). In the White Paper (National Police Agency 1985b) it is emphasized that the objectives of training and education for police officers are to ensure the right execution of their duties, to lay emphasis on vocational moral education, and to develop the police officers’ physical strength and fitness. According to Ueno (1979), the objectives of education and training for Japanese police are the following:

1. obtaining enthusiastic support of the people for the principle of personal liberty and democracy

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2. developing a moral orientation as a police officer 3. learning virtues like “loyalty, magnanimity, determination, alertness, intelligence, unselfishness, and honesty” 4. meeting the demands of true professionalism 5 . developing mental and physical well-being Ames (1979) describes the special, moral, and humane nature of Japanese police training, stating that it teaches an abiding commitment to the profession, a form of socialization into the police way of life, and the ethical principles of the samurai. There exists in Japan a police institution that is unique for its nonmilitary character, street humanity, and people flavor. This is the institution known as the police box, b b a n or hushtsusho, housed in busy urban areas. In the rural areas these police boxes are called residential police boxes, or chuzaisho. Several foot patrol officers are on duty around the clock in a koban. They remain in close contact with the people, and visitors constantly drop by for all kinds of business. They ask for locations of stores, houses, restrooms, and various other kinds of assistance. One of the authors observed two young men entering a koban and asking the officer on duty for a pair of scissors and glue to fix a photograph on an identity card. He also noticed a harassed mother with two young children asking a koban officer for directions to the nearest restroom which one of her children wanted badly to use. In a purely nonmilitary fashion, the officers attached to the kobans move on foot or bicycles performing numerous frontline police functions including patrol, traffic control, crime prevention, handling complaints and reports, and detection and apprehension of criminals. A koban officer periodically makes the round of homes, stores, and offices in the area of his own responsibility. During these visits, he gives advice to the people on such matters as crime prevention and traffic safety. He also makes note of people’s suggestions and requests to the police. Residential police boxes are located in sparsely populated outskirts of cities like Tokyo and in rural areas. One police officer with his family is stationed there and performs the same kind of duties.

Factors Favoring Civilian Nature of Policing in Japan All American observers of Japanese police have dwelt on their humility, moral strength, and nonaggressive qualities. Bayley (1991) mentions

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that, compared with an American police officer, a Japanese officer is more like a postman with a daily round of low-key activities. Officers in uniform carry revolvers, but these weapons are hardly ever used. Nonmilitary nature is exhibited more clearly in crowd-control situations. Bayley says that in handling riots and demonstrations the police leave their pistols in police stations. Nevertheless, Japanese police are tough, strong, and masculine. Moreover, as Ames (1979) suggests, the image of the police is not only strongly masculine but has overtones of elitism, too. This is consistent with their unique position in feudal Japanese society. Ames observed that the Japanese police present a strong sense of decorum and dignity. Civilian participation in police work is so overwhelming that Japanese officers behave more as partners in policing with their fellow citizens. Ames (1981) explains that average Japanese consider themselves to be primarily responsible for social control. He adds that citizen involvement is not any form of vigilantism but widespread community participation in police-support activities. Japan has an extensive network for crime prevention. In that country there is a National Association for Crime Prevention with headquarters in Tokyo and branches in all prefectures amounting to 1,250 district associations, 8,000 community-level units, and 680,000 branch level cells also known as crimeprevention contact posts. Parker (1984) refers to the fact that Japanese police have a long history as helpful mediators in disputes. It is not difficult to observe that people orientation is the hallmark of the police in Japan and that in such an environment the military model would seem incongruous.

Comparison of English and Japanese Models with Those in Mexico, Italy, and Thailand In England and Japan, the emphasis is on the people’s policing, policing by consent, persuasion, and cooperation. In Italy, deep divisive tendencies in the society have generated the need for powerful police presence. Community participation in police work is not popular. In Thailand the people are not motivated by any desire for involvement in the affairs of the government. The police, the strong arm of the government, do not expect public participation and involvement in their task. However, in

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both Japan and England, the police can count on popular support. It seems to be even more pronounced in Japan. Policing in these countries has benefited from police partnership with the community and it has transcended the constraints of a military model. While in Italy and Thailand, the police officer symbolically represents the armed might of the states, both in England as well as in Japan he seems more to enjoy traditional respect and prestige. In Japan he is linked with the noble Samurai tradition, which is associated with elitism, honor, and prestige. According to Banton (1964), in British society the police seem to be one of the main institutions like the monarchy and the church. Ueno (1979) expresses the same sentiments about Japanese police, saying they enjoy similar respect as community leaders, educators, arbitrators, or consultants. In Mexico, one does not come across any of the features observed in the countries under review. In that country the military officers are used to temporarily alleviate the problems caused by the lack of police leadership. In this section, an attempt has been made to describe the variation in universal military models of policing. It appears that Italy and Thailand have pure military models of policing. In England and Japan the police are the least military in orientation. Mexico presents a peculiar situation in the sense that the police in that country are an impoverished bureaucracy. The lack of police leadership is addressed by borrowing officers from the army. Both English and Japanese police are regarded as excellent forces in the world. Their reputation is certainly not because of their military models of policing. It is well-known that these police forces have built their reputation by their unique history of working as a people’s police. They do not seem to behave as military agents but as community police functionaries with the citizens as active partners. Their public postures and training conform with that image. It has been seen that the military model of policing is largely dependent on a country’s historical and political realities. Police experience in Italy and Thailand is a testimony to the reality of this observation. The English and Japanese examples demonstrate that deliberate and sustained efforts in projecting a civilian model of policing can bear fruit. It is interesting that America, too, opted for the military model deliberately to eliminate politicization and corruptive influences. Modi-

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fications toward a lesser military model can possibly be achieved in a similar manner.

Police Organizations in Israel and South Africa We will briefly examine these two police departments with a view to compare two more police forces in democratic countries. In both nations there are extraordinary historical and social conditions that have affected their police forces. Whereas, in Israel the overwhelming concern for national security has subordinated the role of the police to that of the military, in South Africa the transition from a deliberate policy of apartheid to one of equal rights has implied a transformation of the police from a repressive force to one of social control in a broader sense. These two considerations are important factors in the militarization of the two forces.

Israel Ever since its independence, the state of Israel has faced extraordinary threat to its existence. This has subordinated the internal strife between its Arab and Jewish citizens and in fact it has been “seen as a byproduct (if not function) of the larger inter-state conflict” (Brewer et al. 1996. 130). Accordingly, it is not surprising that Israeli police occupy a subordinate position to the Israeli army. Furthermore, the Israeli police were also the successor to the Palestine police system that operated under the British mandate from 1922 to 1948. The special circumstances that followed the birth of the nation and war for its independence also made the new force follow a military-like model. The role of the police remained for almost half of the nation’s history limited to combating crime, handling traffic duties, and dealing with demonstrations. It was only in 1974 that the police were formally given some responsibility in the field of internal security. The Israeli police force is a highly centralized group commanded by an inspector general. The country is divided into four districts and fifteen subdistricts that also cover the occupied territories. There is a separate organization of border police that polices the borders, airports, and harbors and provides riot control. It has a paramilitary structure and a reputation for tough handling of demonstrations. Another body, called

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the civil guards, is a volunteer force that is responsible for patrolling and guarding public buildings. Israel does not possess a written constitution or a Bill of Rights like the United States. The Parliament, called the Knesset, is the supreme law-making body. There are also two systems of courts: the religious court has jurisdiction over family and marriage matters while the other type deals with civil and criminal cases. Israel also has special courts, like the military court established as part of Defense Emergency Regulations of 1945. Israeli government also asserts the power to close any area for security reasons, impose military rule, proclaim curfews, censor publications, and to incarcerate someone without trial. Since defense considerations predominate, the police continue to play a minor and subsidiary role. In fact, “Israel Police has been described as the step-brother of the Israel Defense Forces” (Brewer et al. 1996, 141). To attain the stature and admiration given to the military, the police have attempted to follow their footsteps and even establish a relationship with the community like that between the defense forces and the Israeli society. These considerations and the recruitment of Arabs in Israel police have frequently led to misuse of force when dealing with Arab citizens and those living in occupied territories of the West bank. A Karp commission of inquiry was fiercely critical of the police, alleging incompetence in their handling of investigations and indifference toward settler crimes against Arabs (Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories 2002). This report also suggested that police subordination to the military was a major reason for omission and biased actions.

South Africa After practicing apartheid as a deliberate state policy and living in isolation for a long time, the new South African state under Nelson Mandela has renounced its past and adopted a multiracial mode of society in all its forms. Nevertheless, some scholars have argued that “while things are changing, they also remain very much the same” (Adam and Giliomee 1979). Although the new state is “encouraging deracialization in the economy and social life, it is resistant to full and genuine political deracialization” (Brewer et al. 1996, 157). Thus, the South

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African Police (SAP)still has considerable discretion in policing black townships especially when protests threaten white hegemony. The SAP is truly a national force under a centralized command structure. Although there are some other local police organizations, the SAP dominates. A separate military police force known as the SA Mounted Riflemen was absorbed into the S A P in 1926 and a large organization called the SA Railways and Harbor Police, totaling 7,231 officers was also inducted into the SAP in 1984. Furthermore, the “autonomous” regions of South Africa, like Transkei, Kwa Zulu, Ciskei, and others send their officers to the SAP for training. Many municipal forces have been permitted under the political changes incorporated in 1984, but their role is limited to auxiliary services only. These forces provide security to municipal councilors and municipal installations and property while the SAP provides common policing to these townships. The SAP follows the usual bureaucratic structure. There are nineteen divisions in the country each headed by a divisional commissioner. Each division is subdivided into police districts under the charge of a commandant and each district has a number of police station areas under a station commander. The head of the SAP is a commissioner who exercises control of the force and its supervision and operations. The Police Act of 1958 defines the police role to be maintenance of law and order, and prevention of crime. However, to control the black population, the police exercised a variety of functions like prosecution and inspection of health, vehicles, licenses, postal and even mortuary services. All this reflects the “state’s reliance on the police in areas which usually lie outside normal police work” (Brewer et al. 1996, 163). South Africa also has many powerful laws that control disclosure of police misconduct. There is a provision to prevent publication of “untrue material” and the onus is on the publisher. Similarly, there are regulations preventing publications of photographs or sketches of people in police custody. An Indemnity Act of 1977 gives protection to police officers with respect to any action dealing with “internal unrest.” Brewer (1986) reports that between 1976 to 1984 altogether 1,792 people were killed and 4,765 were injured during course of the SAP’S duties. “The human stories behind these statistics reveal homfic torture, brutality and inhumanity on the part of the SAP, something for which it has become rightly famous” (Brewer et al. 1996, 171). The

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Internal Security Act of 1982 added more powers to the SAP. They were empowered to detain a person indefinitely until the person satisfactorily replied to all the questions and provided the information the police believe he is holding. Above all, the SAP has clearly functioned for a long period of time in a political manner and the practice and abolition of state policy of apartheid made policing a political issue of great importance. This has affected the command structure that is hierarchical and dominated by whites. It was only in 1984 that black constables were allowed to wear the same uniform as whites. The SAP has a strong paramilitary character and long association with South Africa’s defense forces. The need to control different threats to the state practicing apartheid enhanced its militaristic moorings. Basic police training involves self-defense, handto-hand combat, weapons knowledge in use of “mortars, machine guns, automatic weapons, grenades; aspects of anti-vehicle and anti-personnel mine warfare, booby trapping, bush survival, tracking and ambushing” (Morris 1974, 289). Furthermore, after 1985, riot control skills were made part of basic training, too. Close cooperation between the military and the SAP has always been the norm. The two have strong organizational links. National service can be taken in the SAP and the officer corps of the two undergo joint staff courses. The army also acknowledges that formal duty includes assisting the SAP in preserving internal order and, in fact, the army has been used as a subsidiary of the police in urban areas. These associations have influenced the management of the police that have attempted to model themselves very closely to the military.

Conclusion The policy of the state and its perception of threats to its very existence have been important factors in shaping the police organizations of the two countries. In Israel, the role of the police is seen as the second line of defense of the nation behind the army. The source of threat is perceived to be not only external but coming from the Arab citizens of the state, too. The objective of policing is maintenance of order within the state rather than prevention of crime, although this is still proclaimed in the Police Acts. Since the state lives under constant threat, the police are organized to provide the strong arm of the law at a short notice.

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This necessitates the creation of a police force that will deal with crime and maintain order but will also be prepared to support as an army. Accordingly, it follows a militarized policing structure as described. The case of South Africa is also similar but for different reasons. The policy of apartheid was followed as a state policy for a long time. To maintain the rule of white minority over an overwhelming black majority, the police were not only given extraordinary powers but almost a free hand to keep down any threats to white hegemony. Again, the attempts to enforce a rule of a small minority over a vast majority required a police force that exercised strong enforcement of the laws and a centralized command structure to carry out the orders without question. The fact that the police were also racially hierarchal and blacks were not given positions of authority over the white population ensured that the organization adopted a militarized stance. Close links with the army and the need to keep the police as a subsidiary to the army further created a militarized form of policing.

STREET COPS: A VIEW FROM THE STREETS In this segment we present some aspects of police organizational culture as viewed by officers on the street. We will discuss how these officers view the organizational structure, leadership and supervision, community relations, and training in three municipal police forcesChicago, San Francisco, and Pittsburgh. We present the following issues here:

1. What are the police problems in the cities as viewed by the street police officers? 2. How are the police organized to tackle them? (organizational structure) 3. What qualities do their leaders and supervisors demonstrate? Are these qualities conducive to problem-solving? (leadership and supervision) 4. What kinds of support the police have from their communities as observed in police-citizen encounters? (police community relations)

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5. Are the police trained to solve the problems they confront on the street? (police training)

Research Methodology We have followed a research design that incorporates policing information which can be said to be known publicly. Our methodology seeks to understand how police organizations respond to commonly known problems. By asking the patrol officers directly we have attempted to understand the policing concerns that lie in the public domain. Since the officers had no hesitation in describing them even to a stranger, we believe these problems are serious and will be known to the citizens too. For this reason we also think that the police organizational responses to these problems should be common knowledge. Accordingly, to understand the organizational responses, we have again attempted to obtain relevant information that is freely available from public documents. We have not attempted to formulate and test any hypotheses. Nevertheless, we believe this research design helps us understand how police organizations respond to public domain problems. The police problems presented here are as viewed by patrol officers and detectives who were accompanied by one of the authors during their routine patrol of the cities. The problems narrated by the officers were based on their experiences. They told about their fears, perceptions, and experiences to the author who accompanied them. The initial data were gathered in 1988 by one of the authors. The officers examined during the course of study formed a convenient sample but they were not unrepresentative of their departments. Since a number of such study tours were conducted at different time periods, the sampled officers could be considered to be randomly selected. This procedure was uniformly followed in all the three cities. The accompanying author was able to cover selected parts of the city through participation in some police patrols. However, in all the cities some of the worst parts were included during patrols. According to the officers the problems were common to the so-called bad parts of their jurisdictions. The statistics used in this account have been updated to incorporate the 1999 situation of these cities. Although the cities discussed in this essay have been mentioned by name, the patrol officers and others whose opinions and views are included in it have not been identified for the sake of privacy.

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Some Facts About the Cities Chicago has a population of more than 3 million people living in an area of roughly 234 square miles. About 1 million are African American. The city has a mayor and a council of fifty aldermen. Close to 38 percent of the corporate budget goes to the police. The Chicago Police Department has approximately 13,500 sworn and 2,000 civilian persons excluding about 1,000 crossing guards who work part-time, five days a week and four hours a day (Chicago Police, 1999a). In Chicago, 25 percent of the police officers are African American, which is representative of the population. The percentage of Hispanics in the Chicago population is 19.6 percent, but the police force has only 10 percent Hispanics (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1997). San Francisco has a population of more than 789,600 people living in an area of roughly 46.1 square miles. The population includes an estimated 9 percent African Americans, 3 1 percent Asian-Pacific Islanders and 14 percent Latino-Hispanics. The city has a consolidated government for the city and the county. Legislative powers are vested in a board of supervisors. The elected officers include the mayor, district attorney, sheriff, public defender, and the judges of the superior and municipal courts. The police department has 2,000 sworn and civilian personnel (San Francisco Police 1999a). The percentage of Hispanics is 14, African Americans 10 and Asian-Pacific Islanders 14, while women police officers constitute 15 percent of the force (Bureau of Justice Statistics 1997). Pittsburgh has a population of more than 360,000 and its area is fiftyfive square miles. Twenty-five percent of its population is African American. This city has a tradition of labor union activities because of the coal mining industry. The police department has more than 1,140 sworn officers with 26 percent African-American and 29 percent female officers (Bureau of Justice Statistics 1997). The City Council is the legislative branch of government. It carries out duties in accordance with the Home Rule Charter and the laws of the state, and is primarily responsible for making laws for the city of Pittsburgh. This body also approves appointments as provided by the charter, regulates revenues and expenditures, incurs debt, and approves the final operating and capital budgets for the city. Thus, it is able to indirectly exert considerable

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control over the functioning and policies of the police department. The mayor is the chief executive and administrative official in whom the law-enforcement powers are also vested. As chief executive officer, the mayor prepares the annual operating budget and makes key appointments including that of the chief of police. The mayor also directs all long- and short-range planning for the city of Pittsburgh and thus wields considerable power in administering the police department.

Police Problems The problems that follow were noted as one of the authors accompanied police officers on their patrols in the cities discussed earlier. No other research has been done to verify and substantiate the officers’ remarks except some statistics gathered from official sources regarding crimes.

Chicago According to the patrol officers accompanying one of the researchers, the 2nd and the 11th districts were most challenging for the police. There is the Robert Taylor Home, a public housing complex, that patrol officers pointed to as the source of many problems for the police. Other contributing factors, the patrol officers added, were unemployment, narcotics, single-parent families, school dropouts, juvenile pregnancies, and welfare cases. Significantly,according to Walker (1999), the indicators of problems for a police department are:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Nature and number of calls for service The appearance of the neighborhood Cases of use of force by the police Assaults on officers Officer’s opinions

Clearly, officers’ perceptions are different from what the scholars suggest and perhaps reflective of the situation they face in specific localities. During the course of interacting with the officers in patrol cars in the 1lth District, it was learned that Latino gangs and other ethnic groups create most of the problems. Daytime burglaries are ram-

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pant. In the 10th District, particularly in the east part of the district, there is a higher demand for police service from the mixed areas consisting of African Americans, whites, Asians and Middle-Eastern residents. On the other hand, in the same district on Sheridan Avenue, beautiful fifty-story luxury apartment buildings and owner-occupied houses with security arrangements, provided a contrast. This contrast, the proximity between affluence and the lack of it, appears to produce tension among the officers. In Kenmore area, it was learned from the patrol officers, there are gang and drug problems. Most calls are from Winthrop and Thorndale. On Lincoln Avenue there are cheap motels that prostitutes used to frequent. The 14th District, an area of nine square miles, is home to Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, and whites. Most calls in that area were about assaults, battery, and reckless driving. In the 1lth District the majority of the population was African American. During the first nine months of 1999 there were 499 homicides, 1,675 sexual assaults, and 14,947 robberies throughout the city. There was a substantial reduction in the number of burglaries ( - 17.5), thefts ( - 7.4) and vehicle thefts ( - 6.2). Despite their high numbers, robberies also have declined by almost 14.5 percent from the previous year and overall the crime rate is down by 10 percent (Chicago Police 1999b). The 911 calls in Chicago mostly relate to thefts. However, because of work load and other considerations not all calls are answered. Rodriguez (1988) mentioned that Chicago police responded to 65 percent of the calls, compared with about 45 percent in Los Angeles and 50 percent in New York. It was added that these rates of response are justified by the role police are required to play. According to Section 10 of the Rules and Regulations, the goals of the Chicago Police Department are: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Protection of life, limb, and property Prevention of crime Preservation of the public place Enforcement of all laws and ordinances Arrest of law violators and collection of competent evidence Promotion of respect and cooperation of all citizens for the law and for those sworn to enforce it.

These are, however, tasks, not problems.

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Sun Francisco On patrol, one of the authors was able to learn about the Central District’s problems from the officers he accompanied and he was told that these are somewhat representative of San Francisco as a whole. In the Tenderloin section of the district there are drug and alcohol problems. The low-income housing blocks are exposed to gangs. This area has neighborhoods of immigrants, African Americans, and Southeast Asians. In the Mission district the police officers viewed the activities of gay and lesbian groups as capable of creating problems. Such activities are also seen in the Castron and the Polk Street areas. Another source of problems to the police was the large housing complex in Precita Park which is inhabited by a mixed population of whites, Latinos and African Americans. The complex houses teenagers, mostly African American. Among them are school dropouts involved in drug trafficking. Portero, with a lot of public housing projects, generates problems of crime and disorder for the police. This area is inhabited by a large number of African Americans in its eight housing projects. This area is known as the drug capital of San Francisco. According to the police, school dropouts, third-generation welfare recipients, and a mixture of ethnic groups make this area especially problematic. In the Southern district of San Francisco, the majority of the residents (50 percent African American, 30 percent Filipino, and 20 percent white as estimated by the officers) are welfare recipients. There are public shelters for drug and alcohol addicts. In the Ingleside police station area, there is a mixed population of Mexicans and Asians. It includes the St. Francis Wood area, which contains a housing complex for low-income people. The area also has a large juvenile population. In the Ocean View section, sales of drugs is common. One unique problem of the police in San Francisco is that there are people who sleep in cars. Some police officers also viewed a few organizational responsibilities of the police as somewhat distracting. The Police Commission was responsible for licensing work: issuing licenses for vehicles, entertainment, cabs, limousines, sightseeing buses, and rickshaws. Altogether eighty-six kinds of pennits were dealt with by this department. Officers issuing these permits were sworn personnel, although it was mostly an administrative desk job. Currently, a Taxi

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Commission has been established that controls the taxicabs and other motor vehicles for hire and their operations (San Francisco Police, 1999b). This has reduced the administrative workload on the officers.

Pittsburgh In Pittsburgh’s downtown district, at the Liberty Avenue and the Seventh Street area, police officers pointed out cases of male and female prostitution. Another prostitution area pointed out by the police was Bentley Drive. A residential area, this neighborhood should not have prostitution in the traditional way. But the pattern of prostitution in Pittsburgh, the patrol officers maintained, has changed because of the availability of drugs, making Bentley Drive and similar areas vulnerable. One of the author’s patrol companions mentioned drug activities and drive-by shootings in Zone 5 , which is predominately white with some racially mixed pockets. In the Homewood area where African Americans outnumber other groups, patrol officers pointed out 13- to 14-year-old prostitutes. In the primarily white Lawrenceville, patrol officers reported drug activities. In the Larmar Avenue in the Zone 5, there are drug and prostitution activities that are not hard to observe from the patrol cars. Patrol officers complained that prosecuting prostitutes for solicitation was a hassle and almost worthless. It was difficult to prove it. So the police in Pittsburgh generally prosecuted them on the charges of obstructing traffic. It was a convenient method of controlling street prostitution. In the Hill district in Zone 2, the police pointed out areas with problems of drugs, drive-by shootings, and young people loitering in large groups on street corners. In this area the subsidized housing complex managed by the Pittsburgh Housing Authority, with its fourth generation of unemployed tenants on welfare, presents these problems in more intense forms. On patrol, the police pointed out that the measure of the seriousness of a problem is the creation of a task force. In the 1960s the department created a task force for controlling demonstrations. This Pittsburgh Police Task Force now conducts regular drug raids here. Among other areas mentioned as important from the drug angle was the Squirrel Hill in the Zone 6. But, unlike the Hill district, the drug problem here was not on the street but inside homes. Drug and prostitution are associated with several other areas. In Zone 1, in the housing

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area complex in particular, drug activities and drug-related shootings cause concerns for patrol officers. Perry-Villa and the North Charles Street also have drug-related activities. Federal Street comes to police attention in regard to drugs. Patrol officers took the accompanying authors to see drug activities in Manchester area also where a considerable section of the population is African American. True, some parts of it are racially and economically mixed. Generally, disorderly acts and drug-related offenses are also police problems in the Lincoln and Lemington areas where the population of African Americans is high. In the Liberty Park Apartments, a subsidized housing complex, the police have to deal with domestic disturbances connected with the problems of drug and alcohol. Northview Heights has problems of drugs, fights, stabbings, graffiti, and so on, particularly in the housing project area. Liquor business in Pittsburgh is state controlled. In the city there are pubs in residential areas like Lawrenceville and, according to the patrol officers, the bars encourage drug traffic. In the Beltzhoover area there are troublesome bars; loiterers with kids among them are found hanging around outside. The city has a regulation that ill reputed bars may lose their licenses on police reports (the police keep a strict eye on them for disturbances).

Conclusion This section has described problems of drug, gangs, prostitution, and disorder in three cities. Mostly, minority areas, localities with mixed neighborhoods, and areas around bars were “hotspots” (Sherman, Gartin, and Buerger 1989). Public housing projects were especially vulnerable to disorder, a finding shared by many scholars (Dunworth and Saiger 1994; Rohe and Burby 1988;Webster and Connors 1992; Greene 2000; Walsh and Vito 2000). The police who were describing the problems felt disillusioned and somewhat frustrated at not being able to do much about these challenges. They feel helpless because they understand that these are socioeconomic problems of the people residing in these buildings. They realize that such conditions are the roots from which the criminal activities spring in these areas. Officers also conveyed the impression that they have neither the professional preparation nor do they work in an organizational environment that permits innovations.

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Organizational Structure In this account of the organizational structure of the police departments in Chicago, San Francisco, and Pittsburgh an attempt has been made to examine the degree of centralization, militarism, and lack of flexibility to assess their organizational capacity for empowering officers on the street to solve problems. Commonly the police organization has been seen as a centralized bureaucracy (Cordner 1978; Kuykendall and Roberg 1982; Moore and Stephens 1991). However, Langworthy and Travis (1994) argue that “the nature of the job of policing, including both its ends and means used to reach them, determines the appropriateness of the organizational form” (p. 178). Langworthy (1992) has further suggested that mechanistic organizations are more suited toward administering the law while organic structure is suited to the organization where personnel tend to use their judgment more often. Wallace, Roberson, and Steckler (1995) have stressed the need for organizational flexibility for initiatives on the part of lower-ranking personnel, suggesting that involving the field officers in setting their own goals “tends to motivate them” (p. 51). The City of Chicago has a police board consisting of nine members who promulgate rules and regulations for the department. The Chief of Police has been authorized to plan, organize, staff, direct and control the personnel and resources of the department to attain the goals and implement regulations set forth herein. The city is divided into five bureaus, each of which is commanded by a deputy superintendent. These are:

1. Operational Services that includes the patrol division, special functions such as airport law enforcement, public housing, public transportation, traffic, and the marine and mounted units. Most uniformed and plainclothes police officers work in this bureau 2. Investigative Services, which investigates crimes and is responsible for the apprehension of offenders. The detective department, organized crime unit and youth divisions are part of this bureau 3. Technical Services, which maintains buildings, vehicles, and electronic equipment. It also provides some crime laboratory functions, serves as auto impound, and is responsible for the detention and transportation of arrested

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4. Staff Services, which manages research-and-development func-

tions and training, and also supports centralized crime-prevention roles. Professional counseling, management, and labor affairs are also handled by this bureau 5. Bureau of Administrative Services, which manages the key administrativefunctions of the department, including finance, personnel, data systems, and records. (Chicago Police, 1999c)

Directly under the superintendent are the Office of Legal Affairs, Director of News Affairs, Internal Affairs, and Office of Professional standards. District commanders have a slight discretion in the allocation of resources. About 8,000 officers are in particular beats because of their preferences. At the earlier period of research, officers were routed from one shift to another every twenty-eight days; however, it is now discontinued. Ten officers used to be on foot patrol in the business centers in each district. Now, with community policing, this feature has changed too. The San Francisco police department is divided into four bureaus: the Administration Bureau, the Investigation Bureau, the Technical Services Bureau, the Field Operations Bureau, and the Airport Bureau. The department has nine districts. There are three kobans: one in Chinatown, one in Japantown and the third one in Holiday Plaza. In the tactical division there are the Mounted Police and the Honda Unit. According to Section 3.529 of the San Francisco Charter, the police department shall consist of a police commission, a chief of police, a police force, and an office of citizen complaints. It specifies the following responsibilities of the Police Commission: 1. They shall have the power and duty to organize, reorganize and manage the police department. 2. The police commission may in their discretion designate the rank or ranks from which appointments to exempt ranks shall be made. 3. In the management of the police department, the commission shall maintain and operate district police stations. 4. The police commission shall have the power and duty to appoint a director of the office of citizen complaints. 5. The police commission shall appoint a chief of police who shall hold office at its pleasure.

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In Pittsburgh, the Bureau of Police is one of the four bureaus in the Department of Public Safety. The three other bureaus are: the Bureau of Administrative and Support Services, the Bureau of Building Inspection, the Bureau of Fire, and the Bureau of Emergency Medical Service. Headed by the chief of police, the Bureau of Police has three branches: the Operations Branch; the Investigation Branch; and the Organized Crime, Narcotics, and Intelligence Branch. The units of Support Services are directly under the Public Safety Administration. They are Identification, Cellblocks, Warranty Office, Property Supplies, and the Quartermaster’s Unit. The drug task force is a large unit with a strength of about a hundred personnel. They are mostly from the detective bureau. Pittsburgh also has a Port Authority Police force, and, inside the city, the Allegheny County Police work in the Mount Olive Borough. The state police also work in the city of Pittsburgh.

Observation on Organizational Structure The brief account of the organizational structure presents the top-heavy character of the police organizations in the cities under review. In all the cities there are centrally located bureaus for directing and controlling principal activities like patrols, investigation, management of personnel, and so on. The chiefs of police are directly supervised by the Police Board (Chicago), the Police Commission (San Francisco) and the Department of Public Safety (Pittsburgh). These are indicators of the centralized nature of the organizations.

Leadership and Supervision In the following account of the leadership and supervisory style of the police departments in Chicago, San Francisco, and Pittsburgh the focus is on an analysis of the factors that encourage innovative, nonbureaucratic, and imaginative leaders and supervisors who are in a position to empower the rank-and-file, which the militaristic model inhibits and the organic model encourages (Bums and Stalker 1964). In most well-run American companies, effort is made to encourage and support employees (Das 1985b). In the police, the problem is that organizational goals are “normative and reflect idealist views” that are “quite irrelevant to

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what actually happens within the department” (Wallace, Roberson, and Steckler 1995, 51). Accordingly, the efforts to change the traditional ways of administration and enable supervisors to bring about change are difficult (Greiner 1967; Guyot 1979; Kaufman 1971; Swanson, Territo, and Taylor 1993). In Chicago, the Police District civil service supervisory ranks are sergeant, lieutenant, and captain. These ranks are obtained through promotion examinations. The exempt ranks are commanders, deputy chiefs, chiefs, assistant deputy superintendents, deputy superintendents, and superintendents. According to Superintendent Rodriguez ( 1988), 0. W. Wilson’s militaristic style would not work today. He added that Wilson’s contribution was “exempt ranks,” which was very helpful. Bouza (1990), too, says exempt ranks is a very innovative idea in a police department. Commanders are allowed to pick out their own personnel. Various commanders maintain a file of people who want to join their particular unit. At the time of the field research, some officers had sued the San Francisco Police Department, alleging that the promotion system was unfair. It did not allow minorities to receive promotion, the lawsuit said. Further, the complaint was that ineligible personnel were receiving promotions. Apart from the civil service ranks, the city has the exempt ranks of deputy chief, commander and chief. While the Police Commission theoretically appoints the chief, it is the mayor who makes the decision in this regard. The chief of police in consultation with the Police Commission fills other exempt positions. In Pittsburgh, any police officer who successfully completes the state-mandated certified training can become the police chief. But in reality it does not happen this way. There are instances of patrol officers becoming commanders. But the chief or the assistant chief‘s positions have never ever been offered to anyone who has not come up through the ranks. Currently, all high-ranking officers in the department, including the chief, the assistant chiefs, and the commanders, have come up through a slow process: sergeant, lieutenant, and so on. There are nineteen exempt ranks in the Pittsburgh police department. The assistant chiefs are selected by the chief and the paramedics chief. Patrol officers can take promotional examinations for the sergeants’ and lieutenants’ positions after four years of experience.

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Observation on Leadership and Supervision None of the departments mentioned any instance of leadership innovation except exempt ranks. While such a system facilitates teamwork and a harmonious working relationship of the chiefs with their important associates, it does not guarantee innovative, imaginative, and bold leadership which is called for to empower officers on the beat to solve the problems they confront day after day.

Community Relations For coproduction of safety, effective partnership between the police and the public is essential. This relation of mutual trust and respect between the police and the public is necessary for the police to achieve to work with people. Das (1998) writes: It is logical to argue that a decentralized police organization led by thinking, innovative managers, committed only to law enforcement, order maintenance, and service tasks, involved in joint projects and programs with the community, and trained in the attitude and skills of accepting the public as partners in the co-production of safety can work effectively with people. (p. 1)

Further, “Instead of rigidly ensuring that rules are followed strictly, [such] supervisors encourage flexibility, new approaches, and innovative strategies on the part of subordinates to solve problems” (p. 2). The following description is provided to explore the quality of partnership between the police and the public in the cities under review. At the time of various stages of field research the Chicago Police Department had a Bureau of Community Services. In the Public and Internal Information Division there were three sections. One section assists surviving families of police personnel. A list of retired police officers was kept. Arrangements for guided tours of the Chicago police headquarters and guest speakers were made here. This division also published and distributed twenty crime prevention brochures. The Preventive Program Division, again, consisted of three sections that worked on various crime prevention tasks. The General Crime Section worked for both the North side and the South side of Chicago crime prevention projects. The Business and Residential Section arranged lectures and talks.

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In each one of the twenty-five police districts of Chicago there were two human-relations patrol officers and one sergeant. These officers took care of problems arising in community relations, and the Human Relations Unit handled all racial problems. The Senior Citizens Division worked exclusively for elderly people and handled matters concerning 600,000 elderly people and 30,000 people with disabilities. Anybody older than fifty-five is considered a senior citizen. This department estimates that 106,000 of them are below the poverty level, which is an income of $6,000 annually. The Senior Citizens Division officers are in plainclothes. In San Francisco, the Community Services Division is directly under the chief of police, and handles crime prevention, drug education, the Wilderness Youth Program and the Senior Escort Service. The Wilderness Youth Program raises money from private sources to help children with disabilities, and organizes entertainment such as picnics. It takes young people on weeklong or day trips to various Bay Area locations, and also arranges ski outings and rafting adventures. Further, the Fishing Program arranges fishing for kids every summer, and about 500 children are involved in this activity. The Community Relations section also undertakes easing of interethnic rivalries, similar to what the Chicago Human Relations Unit does. It intervenes in fights between the Latino and the Polynesian gangs. The Police Activities League works for providing year-round sports and recreational programs to 4,000 San Franciscans. Besides, there is a cooperative effort between citizens and the police department, namely SAFE (Safety Awareness for Everyone). The SAFE has more than a dozen employees paid by the city and they are not civil servants. It has been in existence since 1977. It is administered by a board of directors consisting of business people from the community, the chief of police, and the captain of community services. The police provide the accommodations. Its goals are formation of Neighborhood Watch Groups and residential security. One of the authors attended a crime prevention meeting in the Tenderloin area. It was convened by the Tenderloin Crime Abatement Committee, consisting of business people, local residents, park and recreation employees, clergy, members of the medical profession, people working for the Senior Escort Program and the representatives of the law enforcement from the Central Police District. People expressed concerns about empty beer bottles littering the streets. The committee

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members wanted such litter to be removed by store owners. The police officers commented that it was not the responsibility of the owners of liquor stores to remove the bottles from the areas around their stores. One lady in the audience suggested that the owner of the liquor store might be requested to remove empty bottles. She said that there used to be a lot of chicken bones around the Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant in this area. But upon requests to the management those bones were regularly removed. A group of Cambodians in the meeting promised to help in eradicating drug abuse. In Pittsburgh there is a Crime Prevention Representative in each police station who establishes contacts with church, community, business, Rotary, and hospital groups. He also looks into public complaints in regard to lack of street lighting, hazards on roads, and the need for road repairs. According to Pittsburgh’s police, the department had, at the time of initial field research, a simple form of community policing; the patrol officers are encouraged to “park, walk, and talk” whenever they get a chance.

Observation on Community Relations This description of the state of affairs regarding police public relations did not indeed show an attempt to build solid partnership but an attempt at improving relations with the members of the public. Comparatively speaking, San Francisco’s SAFE seems to be effective in opening an avenue of working with people for the police.

Training In studying the nature of training in the police academies in Chicago, San Francisco, and Pittsburgh it has been kept in mind that the academies must prepare the police officers to look upon the members of the public as partners and consider themselves problem solvers. Goldstein ( 1990) has argued that the problem-solving approach acknowledges that certain crimes are caused by problems within the community and the police must address these to better serve the community. Toch and Douglas’s study (1991) also suggests that police must emphasize problem solving as their core function. Generally, in academies “most of the continuing education completed by officers had little to do with

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developing skills associated with community-orientedpolicing” (Breci 1997). It has also been suggested that academy lacks in the ability to transmit proper attitudes to new police officers (Marion 1998). Hooke (1996) points to the need for ethics training to help police attain the status of professionals. Das (1998) argues that working with the people demands police officers to be “educated and trained to look upon their profession as a vocation for achieving close collaboration with the public” (p. 2). Carter, Sapp and Stephens (1988) suggest higher education to create understanding and bonds of solidarity with the people. The emphasis on problem-oriented policing (Goldstein 1990) suggests that the police need to identify crime and disorder problems and develop responses in cooperation with the community “to deal with both the causes and symptoms” (Gaines, Kappler, and Vaughn 1996, 344). Considering that community policing is being widely practiced in a majority of police departments (McEwen 1994), the need to impart training in this field is increasing. A large number of police departments now routinely use the techniques of situational crime prevention (Clarke 1992) and problem-solving (Eck and Spelman 1987) in their efforts to provide quality service to the community. Furthermore, specific successful programs such as Houston’s Positive Initiative Program for community building, Detroit’s Junior Police Cadet Section to orient youth toward policing, and Reno’s Neighborhood Advisory Groups to address community concerns (Gaines et al. 1996) are also well-known police efforts that emphasize problem solving as their main thrust. Accordingly, the need to introduce the philosophy and practice of these techniques as well as exposing the probationers to the emerging techniques of problem solving during the academy training period is a growing necessity. According to Rodriguez (1988), police training in Chicago is limited, as it has to compete with other priorities for funding. He added that the basic purpose of the recruit training is to create a cohesive group of people and to initiate a group of ordinary citizens to police culture. Six months were not enough for this purpose. The period was barely adequate for training on the basics. Annually, 700 recruits are trained at the Chicago Police Academy. The city’s police training center also trains cadets of Parkridge and Evanston. It functions under the Bureau of Administrative Services. The state-mandated hours of training in Illinois is 400. The training for

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Chicago Police Department recruits is more than 600 hours. In addition to the state-mandated and cultural awareness training, there are about 200 more hours for training at the Chicago Police Academy. These hours are used for teaching city laws. The Chicago City College undertakes forty hours of this training. There are ten weeks of field training and a probationary period of fourteen weeks. A newly recruited officer remains in training for one year. The majority of the instructors are patrol officers. The instructors go through a thirty- to forty-hour course on Methods in Teaching. The number of instructors at the academy is around twenty-five. Field Training Officers (FTOs) undergo two weeks of training (eighty hours), where they are taught how to evaluate, criticize, rectify, and so on. The FTOs are given a guidebook for this purpose. A trainee is evaluated in such matters as traffic stops, applying handcuffs, and so on. The Chicago Police Academy has a Cultural Awareness Unit, too, which consists of one sergeant and three patrol officers. They conduct twentyeight hours of training in cultural and racial awareness for all recruits. All courses are designed at the academy and approved by the deputy superintendent of the Administration Bureau. In San Francisco, the recruits receive more than 600 hours of training compared with 520 for the rest of California. As a result of the consent decree, one of the goals of training is the retention of officers. There is an exchange of contacts with the community college of San Francisco. Instructors go from the Police Academy to the Community College and vice versa. Recruits undergo field training for twelve weeks. Field Training Officers are approved through a state-approved training program. From time to time, the Pittsburgh Police Department sends its recruits for basic state-mandated training at the State Police Academy in Greensburgh. It was pointed out that the State Police Academy provides accommodation to the trainees in the academy. For five days a week they are kept under collective supervision which is said to help them develop cohesiveness.This academy creates a more structured and militaristic atmosphere for training that helps convert civilian trainees to uniform order-takers. But the trainees can also complete their mandated training in the city’s own Public Safety Training Academy, but it is not capable of providing residential accommodation, which was seen to be a drawback. Trainees go back home everyday and their transformation

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to the new professional standards, sought to be imparted through recruit training, tends to get diluted as they hobnob with their friends and acquaintances. It was pointed out that in Pittsburgh, after becoming police officers, many continue to live throughout their career in the neighborhoods they have grown up in because they accept those community standards and values. They do not like to pull up the roots developed in their childhood neighborhoods. It was interesting that some African American patrol officers mentioned that they were planning to move out of their neighborhoods to a better community. This account seems to show more concern for the recruits to be better order-takers and more disciplined. Very little seems to have been imparted toward making them capable of taking the initiative to work as partners with people and act as problem solvers.

Discussion The problems of the police are daunting (Langworthy and Travis 1994; Dantzker 1997; Das 1994). The major headache for the police in Chicago, San Francisco, and Pittsburgh was drugs and the related problems. The most troublesome spots were the housing complexes. Drug, alcoholism, domestic fights, and other crimes occurred there. The Chicago and San Francisco police have the problem of gangs that Pittsburgh does not have. According to the Pittsburgh police, the nuisance bars create problems. One of the reasons for bars being sources of trouble was that they are located in residential neighborhoods. The police in Pittsburgh also mentioned prostitution in the residential areas and “baby” prostitution (young teenagers) as problems related to bars and drugs. One problem narrated by the patrol officers in San Francisco was that cars were used by some homeless persons for sleeping. In all the cities the police consider gay and lesbian bars something special to share with visitors as one of their problems. Homosexual prostitution was pointed out in all the cities as a special problem. The police also pointed out that some homosexual prostitutes committed robbery particularly involving middle-age and older clients as they were not likely to report such incidents to the police. A Colombian homosexual prostitute in Chicago talked to the police in one of the author’s presence, saying that he had older and richer clients. The threat

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of AIDS was a matter of concern in San Francisco, particularly because at the time of field research, one police officer had died of AIDS. Another was suffering from the same and homosexuals were known to be present in the department. Organizationally, the police have been managing their departments for ensuring command and control and not with a view to solving problems that patrol officers face in their tour of duty. In Chicago, there are the largest number of divisions (bureaus) in the police department. San Francisco comes closer by four bureaus to Chicago’s five. Both San Francisco and Chicago have four bureaus in common. They are Administration Bureau, Investigations Bureau, Operations Bureau, and Technical Services Bureau. But San Francisco’s Administration Bureau which is headed by a deputy chief like the other bureaus, is directly under the chief. Unlike a separate bureau for community services under the direction of a deputy superintendent as in Chicago, San Francisco has a Community Services Division under the chief and it is headed by a captain. In Pittsburgh, the Bureau of Police has only two branches in common with the Chicago and the San Francisco police departments. They are Operations Branch and the Investigations Branch. Assistant chiefs (same as Chicago’s deputy superintendents and San Francisco’s deputy chiefs as heads) lead these branches. But for Narcotics there is a separate branch headed by an assistant chief. A division for “Nuisance Bars” is included in this branch indicating the importance of controlling bars in the city. Instead of a “technical services” bureau in the police department as in San Francisco and Chicago, the Support Services are administered by the Department of Public Safety with an assistant chief who is not a police officer. This department does not have any administrative branch in the Bureau of Police but a Bureau of Administration and Support Services is located at the Department of Public Safety. Legal and internal affairs are very important in all the police organizations. In Chicago and Pittsburgh the Office of Legal Affairs and the Legal Advisor are directly under the chief. But in San Francisco the Legal Division is under the deputy chief of the Administration Bureau. Chicago has an Internal Affairs Division directly under the superintendent of police. But in this city there is also an Office of Professional Standards, which is headed by a civilian administrator. San Francisco’s

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internal investigations are done by the Management Control Division. There is a civilian office for receiving complaints against the police. In Pittsburgh there is no internal investigation office at the Bureau of Police but in the Department of Public Safety there is an Office of Professional Responsibilities. Patrol officers are rotated from shift to shift every three or four weeks in Pittsburgh. But in San Francisco, people stay on the same shift for years. Some patrol officers who were interviewed during research had been on the swing shift for the past seven years. In Chicago police personnel staff the Control Room. In San Francisco the Communication Center is staffed by more than a hundred civilians and more than a dozen sworn officers. Some fifteen years before, only sworn personnel worked here. In Pittsburgh dispatchers in the Emergency Operating Center at the Department of Public Safety are police officers. The department replaced the dispatchers’ positions with civilians some years back but the police union challenged it in the court. As the court ruled in favor of the union, the department was replacing these civilians. In regard to the autonomy and independence of police chiefs in these three cities, the Superintendent of Police in Chicago seems to be enjoying it to the greatest extent. In Chicago the Police Board does not supervise police operations directly. But in San Francisco the Police Commission meets every week to discuss the chief‘s proposals and receives regular reports on police problems. In Pittsburgh, there is another senior mayoral appointee between the chief and the mayor, namely, the director of public safety. In the Department of Public Safety, the chief of police has the same status as that of the fire chief and the paramedics chief. In all these cities the chiefs have high-ranking commanders in exempt positions. In this regard, the Chicago superintendent of police seems to enjoy the highest degree of autonomy in selection of his team. In San Francisco the chief‘s selection is subject to the Police Commission’s scrutiny. As a matter of act, the Police Commission may suggest the names for the top-level posts to the mayor of San Francisco including that of the chief. It was pointed out that the Police Commission actively seeks to have a say in the composition of the top ranking managers. In Pittsburgh, the chief of police has to get the director of public safety’s approval before taking the names to the mayor. Both Chicago and San Francisco have extensive community services,

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including crime prevention as separate activities. In this regard, the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police has the least extensive arrangement. They have only a Crime Prevention Section included within the Operations Branch. San Francisco’s SAFE and Pittsburgh’s DARE are noted programs in these cities from the point of view of the departments. Police training is included in the Administration Bureaus in Chicago and San Francisco. All the city police departments under review have more recruit training hours than required under the state-mandated programs. Both San Francisco and Chicago have their own police academies, but the training is under the Department of Public Safety in Pittsburgh. There is provision for police recruit training in the academy in Pittsburgh. Administrative bureaus have heavy responsibilities with day-to-day management. It seems unlikely that training academies receive the same attention as daily problems confronting the department. In Pittsburgh it is not known how much of an input is provided by professional police officers into a matter controlled by the Department of Public Safety, which has many other concerns, too.

Community Policing Initiatives All the three departments have initiated community policing programs in recent years. Chicago has a program known as CAPS (Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy), which is a new partnership between the police and community. It is proclaimed as an attempt to “bring the police, the community, and other city agencies together to identify and solve neighborhood crime problems, rather than simply react to their symptoms after the fact” (Chicago Police 1999d). This is a scheme for problem solving at the neighborhood level through a variety of strategies, including neighborhood-based beat officers; regular beat police, and community resident meetings, extensive training for both police and community in problem solving efforts, use of city services to impact crime prevention and “new technology to help police and residents target crime hot spots” (Chicago Police 1999d). The CAPS program at Chicago has also brought about some changes in the training of officers. Officers are being taught about the changing roles and responsibilities with an emphasis on learning the skills needed to be an effective team member (Kaiser 1995). CAPS is being used to tackle serious crime problems as well as crim-

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inogenic neighborhood conditions such as abandoned buildings and vehicles, vacant lots, drug houses, and graffiti. Several important success stories are claimed and Chicago police assert that it is the most innovative community policing program in the country. Some specific programs include Neighborhood Problem Solving in which beat and rapid response officers, as well as gang and tactical officers are working together on solving problems of crime and neighborhood disorder and not just reacting to their symptoms. A block-by-block program involves a five-stage effort along the lines of problem-oriented policing as suggested by Goldstein (1990). This program is claimed to “enable ordinary people to do extraordinary things for their neighborhood” (Chicago Police 1999e). The police hold regular beat-level community meetings where specific problem-solving skills are being imparted. Involvement of other city service agencies and usage of new technology that seeks to provide information at the beat level are other features of these efforts. For instance with the ICAM (Information Collection for Automated Mapping) system, beat officers can generate crime maps of timely data to target hot spots of criminal activities. Success stones are heard frequently. In the 24th District, using the ICAM officers detected a pattern of armed robberies with a knife and set up surveillance at the affected areas. They succeeded in arresting an offender as he was trying to steal a senior citizen’s purse at knife point on the 1800 block of West Greenleaf, (Chicago Police 1999f). Similarly, in the 3rd District after residents in a beat meeting complained about an unusually high level of criminal activity, officers analyzed the beat using the ICAM. The maps showed a recent increase in both burglaries and robberies. Tactical officers set up surveillance, and with a tip from the community, arrested three offenders for armed robbery with a handgun. Many more such stories are narrated by officers. The department is implementing the ICAM 2 that will provide more information to give a more complete view of a district. Information from other systems like the 9 11 calls, the Department of Revenue, and the Department of Buildings will inform beat managers and community leaders about some of the underlying causes of the recurring problems. The ICAM 2 will be able to search for problem addresses and analyze by groups of crimes. The new initiatives are enhancing the quality of police officers’ roles. Officers Jordan and Smith are now called the “Pied Pipers” of Robert Taylor Homes for their work with the children. They interact

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with the children, offer advice and encouragement, and “let the youngsters know that someone truly cares about their schoolwork, about their future plans, about their fears and their feelings” (Chicago Police 19998). For years, police departments attempted to react to community problems and sought information about offenders after the incidents had victimized someone. Today, the public is still asked to report about crime incidents. However, the Chicago Police Department is taking a more proactive role and asking the community to be more than just crime informants. It is trying to involve community members in solving neighborhood crime problems and in making the streets safer for everyone. San Francisco police department is also transforming itself by taking a more proactive role in dealing with underlying community problems. It is running many special schemes such as Crime Stoppers Program, Wilderness Program, Volunteers in Policing, Operation Dream, and so on. These and other community policing efforts are reported to have drastically reduced the homicide rates in the city. The number of incidents involving gang shootings has declined and almost 1,200 guns have been reported taken off the street (San Francisco Police 1999~). The Operation Revitalization Program in the Bayview Hunter’s Point Area of San Francisco has been developed as a comprehensive, multiagency approach to combating violent crime, drug use, and gang activity. The attempt is to “weed” out crime from this targeted neighborhood and then “seed” it with a wide range of crime and drug prevention programs provided by city, state and community-based service providers. A new initiative is the so called Citizen’s Academy, where ordinary citizens are given “a crash course in law, defensive tactics, search and seizure, and preliminary investigations, and are then taken on a ride along with uniformed officers, giving the average citizen an uncensored look into the art of police work,” (San Francisco Police 1999d). Similarly, Operation Dream is a cooperative effort between the San Francisco Police Department and the community to enrich the lives of children in San Francisco’s Public Housing through educational, cultural, and recreational programs. Around 3,900 children between the ages of 6 and 15 living in public housing where violence, crime, and neglect abound are being targeted through these joint efforts of the police and community volunteers.

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Pittsburgh too has initiated several community policing programs. The Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE), the neighborhood watch programs, public safety councils, and the U-Can Program are some ways in which the police are attempting to reach out to the community to help fight narcotic abuse and other crime problems. A specific Community-Oriented Policing (COP) Program attempts to create partnerships between neighborhood residents, schools, businesses, and the police. The COP officers work with the community to solve crime and reduce the fear of crime, social disorder, and neighborhood decay. They help organize block-watch and business-watch programs and attend regular meetings, functions, and events of community and business organizations. Pittsburgh police department also has “COP satellite vans” that provide a variety of information regarding bike safety, drugs, gangs, and personal and home safety to the community. Every neighborhood in the Pittsburgh has been assigned a COP officer who works the 12 PM-to-8 PM or 3 PM-to-11-PM shift. There is also the Pittsburgh Police Citizen’s Academy that provides basic police training and information about the police to the community residents. The academy holds a twelve-week session comprising three hours of training, one evening each week, in many varied functions of law enforcement. The citizens experience police work and are taught the basics of criminal law, search and seizure, patrol tactics, firearms, and many other subjects (Pittsburgh Police 1999).

Conclusion An intimate glance at the police which this account seeks to provide, this tale of three cities, brings it out that street problems in Chicago, San Francisco, and Pittsburgh keep the patrol officers heavily engaged in responding to them. It is a pity that patrol officers still mostly respond to problems, find some easy way of controlling them, and really do not solve them. A practice of Pittsburgh police in regard to tackling street prostitution comes to mind. The police felt they could take care of the problem by charging the prostitutes with obstructing traffic. While on the face of it, the step is innovative, it is, no doubt, a BandAid approach. It is questionable if things have changed much. True, the situation has altered with the introduction of community policing. At the time of initial field research, Pittsburgh and Chicago

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were not engaged in long-term measures to solve the problems of juvenile delinquency, disorderly conduct in inner-city ghettos and, lack of avenues for recreational activities for the poor. San Francisco operated a number of recreational programs to provide amenities to those who could not afford such activities on their own. San Francisco also was engaged more deeply with projects involving police work with community. One of the reasons perhaps is that San Francisco has a greater input of community to the police operations and activities through the Police Commission. True, the commissioners were mayor’s nominees. But they represent a broader spectrum of society than the chiefs of police appointed by mayors in Chicago and Pittsburgh. Nowhere did the police impress the author doing field research as ideal and effective problem solvers. The organizational structures are conventional with top-heavy branches at the headquarters. Leaders and supervisors are all insiders who come up through the ranks imbued with the culture of the police, which is conservative, militaristic, and hierarchical. Greene, Bergman, and McLaughlin (1994) report that older, higher level managers typically were very resistant to change. In police training a new culture, a culture of autonomy and initiatives for solving problems, is not imparted to the police officers. As pointed out earlier, the training as particularly observed during research was intended to convert “civilians” to members of a “disciplined” force. The emphasis was on discipline and obedience on the part of the subordinate officers. The emphasis on discipline of subordinate police officers can have dangerous consequences (Stephan 1992). There was no thinking within the organization about ushering in another quality in police organizations, that of discerning judgment informed by moral sensitivity. Despite the development of community policing in all the departments, it is conjectured, based on the evidence gathered during previous field research and the latest literature on police training (Marion 1998; Cheurprakobkit et al. 2000), recruit training everywhere, including these three cities, is still continuing in the old fashion. It goes without saying that to be “problem solvers” the police organization will need to encourage police officers to solve problems. To do this, the organizational structure and leadership will also have to be more flexible. Police community projects will have to be more active, dynamic, and participatory. Public must be encouraged to become

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actively involved. Training will have to be redirected to become a vehicle for problem solving. Some of the community policing projects being initiated in these cities seem to indicate that these values are being accepted by the police leadership. The three police departments are giving more flexibility and initiative to the patrol officers. Innovative programs involving community and specific target groups are being devised and implemented with organizational support. How well these are progressing is difficult to assess conclusively, but the fact that the departments have begun to think differently is a welcome sign. Although, there is a long way to go, a beginning has been made.

AN ANALYTICAL PERSPECTIVE

The Image through the Ages Skepticism, if not outright denigration of the American police, is the characteristic tone of the literature comparing them with their counterparts overseas (Das 1985a). In 1915 Fosdick displayed nothing but praise for the police in Europe in his European Police System. In that pioneering work the American police emerge in unfavorable light and, over the last seventy years, the comparative police literature has continued to highlight the weaknesses of the police in the United States. Most authors portray the American police as deficient compared to the police abroad, particularly those of England, Europe, and Japan. Fosdick (1969) reports that European police forces enjoy an excellent reputation and public confidence. Their leaders were well trained persons free from corruption, and he attributed the excellence of the European police to these men at the helm of police affairs. He thinks that primarily it is due to the careful training of the heads of the departments and their freedom in selecting and removing their subordinates. He states that there does not appear to be any other basis that can permanently maintain the integrity of a police force. According to Fosdick, the European police departments are, on the whole, excellent organizations. Apart from good leadership, other factors contributed to their success and effectiveness. First of all, they had few confrontations with their citizens. They were not called on, for

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example, to enforce standards of conduct that did not meet with general approval. Second, their training standards were better as all police personnel were selected and trained with the same care and attention shown in the case of their superior officers. Five years later, in his 1920 monumental work on the American police, Fosdick applied what he considered the attributes characterizing the excellent European police to their American counterpart. He observed however, that the comparison of the American police with the European police provided no basis for pride (1969). He found that the police in the United States could not match the efficiency of the London Metropolitan police force nor that of the police in Paris who excelled in detections and investigations. Fosdick considered that the work of Carabinieri in Rome and of Politi in Copenhagen was better than anything the American police could do. Neither could he find in this country the effectiveness displayed by the police in Zurich, Edinburgh, or The Hague. He adds that police work in the United States is perhaps the most pronounced failure in all of the municipal history. Fosdick suggested that some of the reasons for this deplorable image were a parasitic growth of legality and intricacy that has thwarted and choked the criminal justice system. Politics were the main culprit for many evils suffered by the American police. Although New York had declared that it would build its police on the model of the Metropolitan Police of London, political considerations were responsible for wide deviations from the English model. The sponsors of police reforms in New York displayed a widely different spirit than that which characterized the reformers in England. He explains that the English act of 1829 was a nonpartisan attempt to remedy an inefficient system. The New York act, on the other hand, represented maneuvering of a Republican legislature to obtain control over the affairs and, particularly, the patronage of a democratic city. The glaring weakness of the police in America, Fosdick argues, was the absence of a trained executive of broad administrative experience and social outlook. According to him, this was in sharp contrast to the English, French, and Swiss practice of laying heavy emphasis on the character and experience of the police commissioner. He described the American police leadership as inadequate, unskilled, unfit, and unprofessional. Fosdick also points out that in police organizations the fundamental

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factor, underlying all others, is one of personnel management. He complains that character investigation of successful police candidates in America was perfunctory. A residence qualification required in American cities made it impossible for them to have the wide recruitment area which characterizes the police in Europe, including England. Police training schools, considered in London and Paris as integral to the police force, were thoroughly inadequate in America. Fbsdick observes that real success in police work can be achieved only if the training of the police officers is deliberate and thorough, with emphasis on the social implications and human aspects of the tasks. He also found considerable conscious pride of European cities in their police which could not be seen in the United States. He also found that public confidence was lacking in the United States, while the record of rectitude was equally depressing, a factor quite the opposite in the European countries. In Europe he could observe a genuine endeavor to create a maturing profession but in this country no such efforts were visible. He laments that there is little to be proud of in the American police system. He finds that the policing achievements are sordid and unworthy and that contrasted with other countries in this regard, the American police stands ashamed. For almost two decades after Fosdick’s European P o k e System (1974), there was hardly any noteworthy publication in the area of comparative policing. Despite the wave of police professionalism through the efforts of Vollmer, even in 1940 Bruce Smith (1960) pointed out that political patronage, criminal participation, and political corruption remain in the American police and in fact surpass that found in any European police. According to him, in America most efforts toward improvement were frittered away on relatively trifling matters unlike the far-reaching plans that ushered in the Metropolitan Police. He adds that the American police problem continued to be synonymous with nineteenth century municipal corruption and there seemed to be no end to its obscure and inglorious past. He argued that most Europeans and many Americans share the belief that American police systems are beyond all hope of reconstruction. Smith also reports that the American police indulge in many distortions of the judicial process, that was rarely seen in other Englishspeaking countries. Comparing the American police with those of England and Europe, Smith maintains that America pays more in cash

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per capita than does any other part of the world and, hence, there are expectations of more and more policy efficiency. Nevertheless, many foreign practices were better and more effective. Bruce still questions if such continental and British practices can be successfully implanted into the fabric of American political and social institutions. Cramer’s The World Police (1964) is an extensive documentation of the characteristics of the police in various parts of the world. It contains no comparison of one police force with another. However, his description also refers to a few shortcomings of the American police. According to Cramer (1964), the urban growth in the United States has been so rapid that Americans never had time to realize that it is necessary to build organized police forces to preserve law and order. He also mentions the serious problems faced by the police because of large scale immigration, the mad rush to discover gold, and frequent use of guns. Fragmentation of the American police also troubled Cramer. In regard to the impact of ever-increasing decentralization, Cramer observed that many of the small police forces did not receive regular training or have proper equipment. According to this British observer, sprawling fragmentation was also responsible for confusion and lack of cooperation between forces. Emsley (1983) has also suggested that the history of American police has been a “history of separate forces in separate cities” (p. 103). In New Orleans, the paid police force owed much to French influence while in Boston, separate day and night watches were established in 1837, influenced by old English police (Lane 1967). Banton’s The Policeman in the Community (1964) is an incisive comparison of the British police with their American counterparts. He dwells on the unique challenges of the police role in the United States because of the low integration in the society. He suggests that the national tendency to evaluate all occupations in terms of production and monetary reward affect the status of the police. He also thought there are negative consequences of the American tolerance of violence. He refers to the practice of political appointments in the American police and their dependence on local politicians and the electorate, which one did not see in England. He mentions that more attention is given to police training in Britain than in the United States. Banton observes that the American police face public hostility. He says that the American police attitude that they must keep together in the face of the public is not that strong in Britain. Banton explains that in the United States,

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public pressure on the police is stronger, which causes the police to band together. This reduces the powers of the supervisors and makes it harder for a police chief to eliminate illegal behavior within his department. In Britain opposed interests within the police can more easily find expression because the organization as a whole is under less external pressure. Banton further comments that higher crime, lower prestige of police affairs in the society, and loyalties to ethnic groups instead of the total society affect the police in America, making them incapable of maintaining order. He also adds that in Britain moral elements permeate police affairs, something not seen in the United States. Berkeley (1969) suggests that the United States has been resistant to the progressive trend toward police centralization that has benefited Sweden, Great Britain, France, and Germany. According to him, centralization is in many ways more consistent with democratization. He also comments that elements of democratic police administration that are visible in European police are absent in their American counterpart. In this connection, Berkeley refers to the practices of civilian police chiefs and employees found in European police departments. He considers useful recruitment procedures, induction of civilians in police administration, and education and training as some of the strengths of European police. He observes that the American police lag behind others in these areas, particularly in education and training. He argues that compared with most Western European countries, police education in the United States has grievous shortcomings and frequently does not even exist. Many smaller communities in the United States do not require special schooling for their new recruits. Most larger communities operate some kind of training academy, but the actual schooling is severely limited. Berkeley argues that in Sweden, Denmark, Germany, and Britain there is widespread support for the concept of a policeman as one who performs positive tasks and directly aids citizens. Berkeley adds that in general, American police efforts in this area suffer from a lack of conviction as to the efficacy or propriety as a police function. He also maintains that the United States presents a startling contrast to the European picture of minimal use of police force. As compared with other democratic countries in the West, Berkeley also notes that police opposition to growing restrictions on their power has been particularly vigorous. He refers to the reputation of the British

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police as corruption-free and adds that European police forces are also generally free from such temptations. However, Berkeley maintains that corruption has been a continuous and ovemding problem for American police. According to him, various democratic countries have used external means of controlling the police since the latter cannot themselves perform this task. But the American police have consistently resisted any such control. Bayley’s Forces of Order: Policing Modem Japan (1991) is a study of police behavior in Japan and the United States. He observes that, unlike the American police, the Japanese police have not resorted to any blue power movement and they do not pretend to be society’s last defense against moral decay. But they are effective in prevention and detection of crime. He maintains that the primary purpose of any police force is to protect people from crime. Since the crime rate in Japan is extremely low, especially in comparison with that of the United States, it seems the Japanese policemen are hardly challenged in their tasks. He suggests that perhaps this low rate accounts for their self-confidence. Bayley points out that the Japanese police are built on a welldesigned and efficient organizational foundation unlike the United States where the police forces have grown haphazardly out of patroland-watch activities in thousands of autonomous communities. He also notes that in Japan, unlike in America, the educational level of policemen is higher than that of the population as a whole. Nevertheless, they cultivate a humble attitude toward the people they police. Bayley explains that when Japanese officers are out on patrol, they maintain a self-effacing, low-key, and undramatic demeanor. Unlike American patrolmen, they do not play a visible role in public unless specifically activated to do so. Suggesting a parallel to the theater, he suggests that the Japanese officers do not fill the public space unless a specific situation requires it. He argues that they do not behave as if authority must be defended. According to him, the Japanese police go through formal training in a police school for one year as against about eight weeks in the United States. He points out that the American policemen are conscious of belonging to a distinct group based on occupational solidarity and subcultural idiosyncrasies. The Japanese policemen, too, belong to a work group. But according to Bayley, there is a world of difference between the blue power syndrome seen in American police and the Japanese

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work group. He explains that the Japanese police institution has been created deliberately. Their identity and keeping distance from others has been fashioned to augment pride. Community spirit is fostered to facilitate the carrying out of organization tasks. In the United States, police identity is a consequence of perceived resentment and antagonism. In Japan, Bayley adds, the police are encouraged to be self-disciplined, but in the United States, external means of restraint are used to achieve responsible police behavior. He also says that in America public respect for the police is low because of frequent police scandals. But the Japanese police enjoy high regard from the public, and scandals involving the police are rare. Bayley thinks that the Japanese policemen are not viewed by the community simply as agents of law. They possess enormous moral authority. Their role transcends legal provisions without contradiction. Bayley believes that a Japanese policeman is more than a specialist in catching criminals and advising about crime prevention. He finds the Japanese officers acting like teachers to shape conduct that conforms to community standards. Shane describes his Police and People (1980) as a comparison of five countries, but his book, like Cramer’s The World Police (1964), is purely descriptive without any attempt at analytical reflection. Shane also mentions that the police in the United States, as compared with those in Scotland, the Netherlands, India, and Israel are plagued with many very difficult functional problems. He mentions some of these problems to be the dispersed, fragmented, duplicative, unstandardized, and disorganized police powers and responsibilities. He also says that in none of the countries compared, have there arisen the kind of police scandals that have rocked various American forces.

Dimensions of the Image Over the last seventy years, the characteristics of the American police highlighted through the comparative literature have revolved around a rather narrow core. According to that literature, some of the readily identifiable dimensions of the police image in this country are:

1. Lack of efficiency particularly in regard to detection and prosecution of crime

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2. Unabashed politicization of the police 3. Absence of imaginative, open leadership with high purpose 4. Inferior quality of personnel at all levels 5. Inadequacy of police training and preparedness 6 . Lack of public confidence in the police 7. Extreme fragmentation 8. Nonacceptance of the moral authority of the police by the American public 9. Partisan loyalties of the American police 10. Corruption of the police in America 11. Lack of positive attitude to police functions as social service 12. Police inability to accept control and restriction of their power 13. Use of force and coercion instead of moral authority 14. Adherence to subcultural occupational milieu 15. Frequency of police scandals in this country The problems listed here can broadly be summed up as organizational, sociopolitical, and moral issues. Absence of proper leadership, poor personnel, inadequacy of police training, fragmentation, and inefficiency can be viewed as organizational and administrative issues. Politicization, lack of public confidence in police, police refusal to accept external control, subcultural idiosyncrasies, and absence of an attitude toward policing as a social service can be categorized under sociopoliticalissues. And the moral issues are the nonacceptance of the moral authority of the police by the public, partisan police loyalties, corruption, use of force and coercion, and frequency of police scandals. The surprising thing is not that these administrative, sociopolitical, and moral issues exist for the American police. These have continued to be highlighted in all scholarly work in American policing. But what is surprising is that the comparative literature tends to project an impression that in many foreign lands, namely, West Europe, England, and Japan, these problems have ceased to be threatening to police departments. It appears that there is a need to offer some thoughts as to why such an image emerges from the comparative literature.

Analysis of the Image

Administrative Issues Various administrative problems-absence of proper leadership, poor quality personnel, lack of adequate training, fragmentation, and ineffi-

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ciency-are all connected. While talking of leadership one must bear in mind that the United States has about 20,000 police departments which vary in number from 1 to 35,000 personnel. Also, the style of policing varies according to the characteristics of the community (Wilson 1978). As the accountability to the community is an unavoidable political constraint, police leaders tend to be chosen for political expediency. Naturally, mind-boggling fragmentations, varied styles, and political constraints are not the factors that can contribute to the standardization of the process of leadership selection. This is, however, not to be mistaken as an approval of the present practice. Good leaders are essential for improving the quality of policing and, as Stead (1977) in the development of the British police tradition explains: The contribution of Rowan and Mayne, the first commissioners of the Metropolitan Police, is unquestionably great. Their inspiration, their fortitude, and their tireless high-principled devotion to duty were to be the primum mobile of this new police universe [author’s italics]. (p. 83)

He also mentions that Peel was determined to keep the police away from politics. In an interesting comparative study, Raghavan (1999) compares the policing in India with that in the United States. Examining the nature of police leadership in the two countries he suggests that in the United States, “many chiefs would maintain good relations with the council members rather than risk even an occasional confrontation that could undermine the department’s efforts to get authorization for proposals involving staff and equipment augmentation” (p. 259). This he suggests is analogous to the case in India where some chiefs accommodate requests from political quarters for expanding departmental resources. He also points to a greater transparency in public discussion of police corruption as compared to India. Describing the extent of political interferences in police work he writes, “the Mayor-Police chief relationship did have certain political connotations, and that, a chief, out of tune with the Mayor’s political proclivities, seldom survived for long” (p. 269). Regarding the poor quality of personnel and the inadequacy of training, there is need for more data on these issues from other countries. It may be that the American police do not attract the best caliber because opportunities in this country are vast. Banton (1964) explains that in a rapidly developing economy the businessmen are rewarded with high status as well as high salaries. They are producers, the people who are

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considered to be taking the country forward. These businesses may draw upon the work of people in service industries like policemen, civil servants, and teachers. However, these service sectors have no material product to point to as an achievement and so they suffer by comparison. Further, it will be worthwhile to examine in greater details than are currently available, the quality of police personnel in other industrially advanced societies. In America, police training had received adequate attention in major urban departments. It was only in small departments that police training had been found rather negligible. So, training again had been a product of the organizational size. Nevertheless, presently in all the states in this country, state-mandated police training is the minimum requirement for certification as peace officers (Das 1984). In regard to efficiency it has been found that some police forces abroad are more effective than the American police in fighting crime. Ross and Benson (1979), for example, point out that the rates of violent crime are much lower in Japan and England than the United States. According to them, some of the reasons are (a) centralized law enforcement, @) standardized police training, (c) fewer legal restrictions, (d) speedier adjudication, (e) strict gun-control laws, and (f) public involvement in law enforcement. All these reasons seem to be good, but not generally accepted in the American context. In America, there is considerable scholarly skepticism whether the police can make any difference to crime at all. According to Walker (1985), crime is beyond police control. Oliver (2000) says “expecting the police to solve or eliminate [crime problems] is expecting too much. It is more realistic to aim at reducing their volume, preventing repetition, alleviating suffering, and minimizing the other adverse effects” (p. 23). Thus, even the police officers who advocate the police to control crime are rather indirect in their assertion in this regard. They argue for an aggressivepatrol strategy. However, therein lies the problem. Americans have always zealously guarded their personal freedom and they would probably not be prepared to barter their freedom for security. According to Stead (1983), the Paris police emerged as a renowned detective bureau because they enjoyed the benefit of the long established mystique of police omnipresence. This reputation has not come to the police of New York since it appears that Americans do not prefer omnipresence of their police. Fragmentation and decentralization again are invariably linked to the

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American tradition, values, and apprehension. Bayley (1985) aptly points out the extreme decentralization might be responsible for inefficiency, lack of coordination, uneven performance, and other problems. Nevertheless, there seems to be no hope that centralization of the police will ever be possible in this country. Bayley thinks that it is an article of political faith in the United States that responsible police work comes from decentralized control. This belief deters any step toward the path of reform.

Sociopolitical Issues As regards the sociopolitical issues, police politicization, lack of public confidence, police refusal to accept external control, subcultural idiosyncrasies, and absence of an attitude of service, it can possibly be said that these are issues connected with the history and development of America. It has been argued by Miller (1991) that Rowan and Mayne expected bobbies to be the impartial representatives of the law and they succeeded in keeping the policeman closely connected to yet aloof from the local community because of his independence from it. The circumstances were different in New York and the result was different, too. Miller (1991) explains it as follows: New York officials created a force which conformed to pre-existing, widely accepted representative patterns of democratic government. Survival of the new police depended originally on its ability to incorporate ideals of democracy in which authority was not only supposed to serve the people but also be the people. . . . [This democratic policeman’s] authority was personal, resting on closeness to the citizens and their informal expectations of his power more than on formal bureaucratic or legal standards. (p. 75)

He points out further that New York policemen did not command the legal and symbolic power of their London colleagues. And this was because of the New Yorkers’ attitude that their policemen should not have too much formalized institutional power. Thus the lack of public trust and the political environment that prevented the police from being granted formalized, institutional power are responsible for police alienation in the United States, with all its consequences. Brogden (1982) mentions that the separation from the community can be disastrous for the police and the last riots in Britain were the

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result of the loss of consensual approval of the police by the community. He says that the legitimacy of the police institution, and hence its relative independence, can only be sustained as long as it maintains a relation of consent with the social classes. According to Brogden, the contradictions in consent, and the fragility of police autonomy were never more evident in Britain. Jammes (1982) maintains that the French Gendarmerie, too, place emphasis on fostering a close relationship with the population and that the French have attempted to balance the need for public trust and coercive control. Mawby (1990) however argues that “the police forces of France are political agencies rather than public ones” (p. 47). Hudson (1988) also talks of the “traditional mistrust” between the French police and the public in which they have adopted a “disinterested, racist, and sometimes brutal approach” (p. 173). But an attitude of mistrust toward the police has always existed in America and their subculture can simply be interpreted as a response for survival. Bayley (1980) seems to suggest that alienation, subcultural euphoria, and the related symptoms are also consequences of the police frustration. According to him the American police realize that the criminal justice system of which they are a part is failing to provide the protection society wants. Brogden’s testimony here also provides insights into the fact that policing a complex society is a task that is fraught with the risks of hostility, anger, and challenges. Today, the British police are facing the impossible situation that Americans have long had to contend with. McNee (1983), a retired commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, expresses the frustrations of policing the contemporary British society which is marked by internal divisions and dissensions. He says that as the commissioner he had a clear duty not only to protect people’s right of lawful demonstration, but also to uphold the role of law on the streets of London. He mentions that he could not abdicate these responsibilities in the conflicts between groups who seek to achieve their ends by violent means. In the commissioner’s words the tone of angry challenge is unmistakable. Interestingly, Lee (1981), speaking of the situation in Canada, mentions that in a complex, heterogeneous society, even if the police changed their style from legalistic to service, there would not really be a change in the nature of police-minority conflict. So the situations in England and Canada seem to corroborate the American expe-

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rience that as social homogeneity decreases, distance between the police and the community increases. Police solidarity, alienation, bureaucratization, and the like are likely to thrive under such conditions.

Moral Issues The American police have been compared unfavorably on the following counts: nonacceptance of the moral authority of the police by the public, partisan loyalties of the police, corruption, use of force, and frequency of scandals. These issues are connected both with administrative and sociopolitical issues discussed above. American legal philosophy anchored on the Due Process Rights precludes the possibility of the police being entrusted with the moral authority. Conceived in the political tradition as an instrument of the government, the police learn to view themselves as responsible only for legal propriety. Hence, they are also perceived as insensitive to the minorities. According to Wilson (1978), some police departments follow “the legalistic styles” as a matter of policy which requires that the police will act, on the whole, as if there were a simple standard of community conduct, that which the law prescribes. However, this denies the fact that there are different standards for juveniles, drunks, and others. Indeed, because such persons are more likely than certain others to commit crimes, the law will fall heavily on them. Police corruption, use of force, and periodic scandals can be basically considered as administrative issues because organizations can probably control them. In view of the sociopolitical environment discussed above, the American answer to such problems has been to professionalize the police. However, as Greenhill (1981) points out, there are some inherent problems in police professionalization. For example, the practical, common sense approach, which is somewhat synonymous with anti-intellectualism, has been traditionally a viable police strategy recommended here and in England, too. It is difficult to iden@ a systematic body of police knowledge to form an intellectual base for study. In any case, the vast majority of the American police often do not hold college degrees since economic constraints play a major role in recruitment efforts. Finally, the intrinsic nature of much essential police work

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is dirty in the sense both of being manual work and colored by politics. Police professionalization efforts have remained in doldrums.

CONCLUSION Almost without exception, the major works on comparative policing in English have taken a macro approach to analysis of the police in various countries. Generally, these are analyses and descriptions of the predominant characteristics of the police of Europe, England, and Japan with reference to the police in America. In this process of comparison, the image of the American police tends to emerge as far from flattering. Although value judgment is not the objective of comparative study, such judgments are not easily avoidable. Banton (1964) mentions that in his work he has tried not to pass judgment on how well policemen do their job. However, inevitably many incidents and practices will seem to merit commendation or condemnation. Hence, it is possible that the American police chiefs will resent such comparisons and such a reaction is not conducive to their learning from the experiences of other countries. Another obvious danger in such comparisons is that in the process it becomes difficult to bear in mind that policing is the product of the unique culture, needs, values, and philosophy of each society. Moreover, in all these comparative ventures, there have not been many noticeable efforts for identifying the universal core of policing. Regardless of the different culture, political climate, and values of each society, policing as an occupation seems to produce its own impact on the incumbent. As Das (1985b) points out, it needs to be explored: Whether there is a universal core of Cinderella-like qualities in policing. No doubt the police are the products of the societies they come from. However, there seem to be some inevitable consequences of the profession itself which might, perhaps, explain the transcultural, common features observed in police in diverse regions of the world and in different periods of history. Self-righteousness, the posture of being defenders of justice, but, also, a nagging uncertainty about themselves have been pursuing police professionals throughout the history.

Violence, isolation, intransigence, and so on seem to be the universal negative traits of the police culture. Bayley (1991) praises the Japanese

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police for their self-effacing, low-key, and undramatic demeanor. Bayley also mentions that a great deal of brutality that results from a show of disrespect is true not only in the United States but in Japan too. Parker (1984) mentions the grievances of the Japanese students who clashed against their police in many campuses in the 1960s. Clark (1975) regards police isolation as a product of the occupation. He says that policing in the United States (research done at Illinois) and Great Britain occupies a position of some isolation within their perspective societies. His study indicates that a large proportion of the policemen sampled in both countries feel socially isolated although the British officers are more likely to notice the lack of social integration. In his study of the police in Amsterdam, Punch (1979) observes that in large metropolitan cities they operate at the nerve-end of society. Helplessness seems to be the most inevitable police reaction to the pressure to resolve on the street legal ambiguities, cultural conflicts, normative confusion, and various other ambivalences and dilemmas. According to Punch’s analysis, the police in Amsterdam exhibit the symptoms of a beleaguered minority. Becker (1976) refers to “blue flu” in the Stockholm police resulting from critical disagreement between the police and the government regarding the pay and working conditions. Das (1983) comments on the conventionality and harsh manners of the Indian police, and the stories of corruption that one hears about them. Thus, from Sweden to India, and Holland to Japan, one notices that the police share some common failings. An exploration of the universal core of police subculture may provide useful insights into the unique police problems that transcend the boundaries of geography and culture. Since police subculture is viewed as a major problem in America (Goldstein 1977; Van Maanen 1978; Crank 1998), such knowledge acquired through comparative study may prove to be a valuable diagnostic tool for identifying a proper remedy.

Chapter Five

The Armed Police in the British Colonial Tradition: The Indian Perspective

The unarmed bobby is a celebrated symbol of the British system of policing. He exemplifies “policing by concent,” the unique distinction of England’s purely civilian police from “paramilitarism” of the continental police represented by the French Gendarmerie, the Italian Carabinieri, the Dutch Marechausse, the Spanish La Guardia Civil or for that matter, the Irish Garda Siochana (Reith 1975, 1956, 1938; Banton 1964; Brogden 1982; Reiner 1991; Waddington 1991, and so on). Jefferson (1990) refers to the prevailing attitude to “paramilitary policing” and “colonial policing” as “un-British,” among other things, because of “the planned aggression of the arrest and dispersal tactics.” In stark contrast to this popular image there is another form of policing that was developed by the British administrators. It is entirely different in its publicly acknowledged concept and philosophy from the Metropolitan model of 1829, the home variety of policing that Sir Robert Peel introduced in London. This is the colonial system that originated in Ireland, namely, the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC). It was designed to police a foreign land to ensure security of the imperial elements and the colonial interests. This chapter describes the influence of the colonial model in the development of the system of armed police in India that are basically used for maintenance of order, and not for prevention and detection of 128

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crime. In other words, they are order police, not law police (Banton 1964). The armed police are a special police not legally empowered to perform fully the job of the police in India. We will first describe this system of policing that emerged from the policy considerations of the British imperial rulers and then follow its creation in India. We argue that the colonial model naturally had objectives different from those behind the creation of Metropolitan force of London and therefore led to a separate and distinct form of policing. It is necessary to understand the model in its totality to appreciate the emergence of such an armed branch in the Indian police system. We will further describe the present system of armed policing in India and argue that it is proving detrimental to the development of a civilian police primarily engaged in prevention and detection of crime. As it is well known, the British had colonies all over the world where the problem of governing people with different cultures and institutions forced them to experiment with different models of administration. We will keep the focus of this chapter on India and examine the current tradition of the armed police as a British colonial legacy. India also presents an important case of a different policing system since the colonial police, which originated in Ireland and spread to the colonies, was perfected in India. It is in India that the British fashioned it as a model for policing the rest of the empire. Coatman (1959) says that “the Indian police had more influence on the development of colonial force forces than either the FUC or the British force.” Tobias (1977) says that India was “crucial in the spread of the Irish model throughout the British empire.” He says, “The Indian police was the first overseas force to be formed on Irish lines and was and is the largest of those that followed the path. The Indian Police Service was to be a major formative influence.” According to Jeffries (1952), “the influence of the Royal Irish Constabulary was exerted not directly in these days, but indirectly through India.” Stead (1985) says that “the Indian police proved a model for other forces: in Burma, Malaya, East Africa, and in the colonial empire at large.” Another important point must be stressed right in the beginning. Although conceived under different political and cultural circumstances the Indian police were not fundamentally separate from the notion of “civilian control” inherent in the Metropolitan model (Bayley 1969).

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The police in India, like their British-designed counterparts in several colonies, were not military but civilian police. In fact, section IV of the Indian Police Act of 1861 (still in operation) specifically laid down that the police at the district level will function under the “general control and direction of the District Magistrate,” who was and remains a civilian administrator. In contrast, among other colonial police models, the British South African Police had “the clearest link with the military.” In emergencies the police in African colonies were “conscripted as arm of the military.” But a clear distinction was made in the Indian Police Act of 1861 “between policing and military functions.” The British and the colonial police overseas were not “separate categories but ranged on a continuum” (Brogden 1987).

THE IRISH MODEL OF POLICING: CIVILIANISM I N FORMATION BUT MILITARISM I N FORM The Irish model of policing is older than its British counterpart (Jeffries 1952; Breathnach 1974; Stead 1985). According to Jeffries, “modern police history begins not in Britain itself but in Ireland with the passing of the Irish Preservation Act in 1814.” Stead explains that Peel was “the principal administrator of Ireland” for six years beginning in 1812. He had to use the British army to keep order in this region “ravaged by riots” but it was hard to enlist military at that time because of Britain’s war with Napoleon. With the Peace Preservation Act, Peel authorized the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland “to establish police in any area in which he saw fit to proclaim a state of disturbance.” Stead adds that the Constabulary (Ireland) Act of 1836 created the Irish Constabulary “which was to be the model for police development in several parts of the world.” Stead describes the Royal Irish Constabulary, the predecessors of the colonial police, as “military in style.” They had “an officer and other rank division,” “training centers along soldierly lines,” and above all, their control was “vested in the central government in Dublin.” But Stead makes an interesting point explaining that the Irish police were military in form only:

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It is tempting to categorize the Royal Irish constabulary as a gendarmerie, but this is to misinterpret the character of the force. The RIC were not soldiers: gendarmes are soldiers: they receive full military training and are part of the regular army, liable to be called upon for combatant service in war. The men of the RIC were not privates, but constables, and their military mien went with an essentially civil status.

According to an Irish observer (Green quoted by Breathnach 1974), “it is a military police peculiar to Ireland, and officered in much the same way as the army.” This observer found no difference between “the Royal Irish Constabulary Depot” and “an army Infantry barracks-if I accept the cavalry contingent.” The role they played in suppressing the Fenian uprising in Ireland (1876), clearly displayed their importance as a quasi-militia unit. Breathnach points out that following their splendid performance in Ireland, “Her Majesty was graciously pleased to command that the Force be hereafter called the Royal Irish Constabulary.” Not withstanding the nomenclature, the imperial and alien nature of the force was clear to any observer. According to Breathnach: British writers rarely refer to the RIC without using the epithets “famous” or “glorious.” Irish writers, however, have been too preoccupied with the nature of the policies behind the police to afford them such flattery. Broadly, however, the police were as respected as they deserved to be, that is within the narrow limits of their liberality with the common people.

He adds that “the RIC was one thing to the Irish and a completely different thing to the British.” Their work in Ireland earned for them “a reputation throughout the empire as a peace-keeping force.” As they “learned” most valuable “tactics” in dealing with “the secret societies and agrarian outrages,” they became the “ideal choice for other commonwealth countries.” The success of this Irish model led to its exportation in regions with similar problems. Colonial policing had “a filial relation to the Royal Irish Constabulary” (Brogden 1987). Brogden comments that the British imperial policy makers and administrators organized colonial police forces composed of “the people, but insulated from them and not governed by them.” The British rulers persuaded the colonial population that “it was not sufficiently advanced to sustain its own judicial practices and law enforcement procedures.” Their policy through the length

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and the breadth of the empire was that “law was a weapon to ensure imperial rule.” Brogden includes the following characteristics as the distinguishing features of the model: 1. Colonial policing represented “the less noted features of the Metropolitan policing.” 2. “Reserve function” was an important duty of the colonial forces. 3. Unlike the home police accountable to the local authorities, the colonial police were accountable to the rulers. [In Ireland, the Royal Irish Constabulary was controlled from Dublin. In the Indian provinces the police were under the control of an official who was responsible to the governor of the region. This was in sharp contrast to the local control of the British police]. 4. And, like the Guardia Civil, the Gendarmerie Nationale and the Bereitschaftspolizei, the colonial police lived in areas separate from the civilian population.

Jefferson (1990) argues that the policing system “instituted in Ireland” in the late eighteenth and the early nineteenth centuries was “altogether more centralized and coercive than the subsequent British system.” Cramer (1964) maintains that the IUC provided the pattern on which the colonial police forces were “modeled.” Anderson and Killingray (1992) remark that “the Irish disturbances between 1917 and 1921 provided “the beginnings of serious reflection on the style and functioning of colonial police.” And, they say “the maintenance of law and order was a vital element in the political economy of all colonial territories.” They comment that “the nature, level, and intensity of policing” in the British colonial territories varied according to the “official perceptions of political security and stability.” Accordingly, policing was “modest” when the ‘‘legitimacy’’ of the colonial forces was not questioned. But “the operational role and intensity of policing was extended” when “legitimacy was challenged and political instability grew.” Sir Charles Jeffries sums up the impact of the Irish model on the colonies as follows: It is clear enough that from the point of view of the Colonies there was much attraction in an arrangement which provided what we should now call a “para-military” organization or gendarmerie, armed, and trained to operate as an agent of the central government in a country where the population was predominantly rural, communications were very poor, social conditions were largely primitive, and, the recourse to violence by members of the public who were “against the government” was not infrequent.

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However, the rationale behind the establishment of the colonial model was guided by considerations other than the interests of the governed people. Brogden explains the following as the most important rationale for the existence of the colonial police: But most commonly, professional policing was directly linked to the commercial interests of an expanding capitalism in search of new markets and resources. Colonial police history is essentially the history of that socialization of police work. The British South African Company, the Royal Nigeria Company, and the Imperial British East Africa Company, amongst others, established policing systems. The East Indian Company spread its police tentacles as far as Singapore.

In 1922 the Royal Irish Constabulary was “disbanded” (Stead 1985) and the Garda Siochana, Civic Guards, took over the policing of the Irish Free State. But the tradition of the Royal Irish Constabulary continued with the Royal Ulster Constabulary, which was formed to police Northern Ireland, where again the need to control the Catholic population seems to have been a major consideration.

The English Bobby The Metropolitan London police model was of course created with very different objectives. The main principles (Gaines, Kappeler, and Vaughn 1996) behind the reforms by Sir Robert Peel were:

1. The police will be a uniformed force but drawn from the local people. 2. The force will be totally unarmed. 3. It will be accountable to citizens through the office of the Home Secretary. 4. It will be beholden to judicial control. 5. It will work for the prevention of crime by winning the trust and cooperation of the people. The Metropolitan model emphasized crime prevention, winning the trust and cooperation of the people, and integrating itself into the neighborhoods, and advocated restraint on the use of force. This system was also made consistent with the English tradition of local responsibility

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for order maintenance developed from the statute on “hue and cry” (Walker 1999). Historically, the English peace officers were all selected from the local community and reflected its values rather than that of the government at London. This was continued for the new Metropolitan police too that were beholden to the community rather than any distant government and reflected the democratic principles of governance. The English police system was also conceived on the principle of the “separation of powers” that ensured adequate checks and balances on the exercise of its authority. The new police were deliberately organized so that it could not become a repressive force, Significantly,in the organizational structure two posts of commissioners with equal ranks was provided so that any one individual could not assume total control over the force. Furthermore, the police were also placed under the supervision of the Home Secretary who was answerable to the Parliament. The Metropolitan model thus incorporated the “philosophical and practical provisions to overcome fears of repression” (Langworthy and Travis 1994). Such careful craftsmanship and a genuine desire to reform the police for the good of the community “established the new police as an institution of order and liberty in England,” and not surprisingly, the “new police gradually won the respect and acceptance, if not affection and admiration, of the citizenry” (Langworthy and Travis 1994).

THE COLONIAL BEGINNINGS OF THE INDIAN POLICE: CIVIL IN PRECEPTS BUT MILITARISTIC IN PRACTICE The British came to India as traders in 1612. The leading trading organization was the East India Company. Initially, the British presence was “maritime and commercial in character” (Arnold 1986). The company officials functioned with the cooperation of the local rulers. They had maintained “small military and police establishments” and were allowed to exercise “judicial and executive powers over the factory enclaves.” By the early nineteenth century, the disintegration of the Mughal empire, weaknesses of native rulers, corruption and greed in the ruling class and several other factors “transformed the character of British power and began the conversion of the Company administration into

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a full-fledged colonial state.” But until the middle of the nineteenth century, there was no “satisfactory police system” (Griffiths 1971). Although the British established the modem police system, the roots of the current police system in India can be traced back to the structure developed by the Mughals in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. “The British not only borrowed this structure but also took over the. . . tone of the Mughal administration-a mixture of great pomp and show combined with benevolent and despotic intervention” (Cohn 1961). Almost until the nineteenth century the British kept their purpose limited to trading interests and changed the administrative structure of the country only sparingly. The country continued to be largely administered by the Mughal system while a host of other judicial systems were also prevalent, developed by the various kings, nabobs, and chieftains ruling in small principalities. Although by the victory at Plassey in 1757 the British emerged as the de facto ruling power in India, they still did not assume the reins of government except around Bengal where they were granted the Diwani (tax collection) rights by the defeated Mughal emperor, Shah Alam II. The absence of a well-organized police system made the task of maintaining order in the vast country extremely difficult. Roaming bands of ducoits (robbers), menacing thugs, and expensive demands on the military to maintain order presented formidable problems to the East India Company. The existing police system was also an embarrassment to the imperial power for it was an organization that was neither effective nor able to keep the trading routes safe. It also reflected a corrupt, brutal, and inefficient picture of the ruling power. After the annexation of Sind (now in Pakistan) to the British Indian empire in 1843, Sir Charles Napier was made responsible for the administration of this crime-ridden and difficult area. He reorganized the native police system after the pattern of the Royal Irish Constabulary based on two basic principles: “The police must be completely separated from the military, and they must be an entirely independent body” (Griffiths 1971). They were to be commanded by their “own officers” in discharging their “responsibility for law and order” under the collectors who were responsible for general civil administration. Napier’s system also provided for an inspector-general of the police who was responsible for the administration of the force throughout the territory, and “responsibility for law and order was assumed by govern-

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ment” (Bayley 1969). Bayley says that Napier was familiar with Peel’s Metropolitan system but “the Royal Irish Constabulary fitted more exactly the requirements of the situation he faced.” It soon spread into other parts of the country under the control of the East India Company. Although civilian in character, it was “to a certain extent a military organization, and in many ways resembles the Royal Irish Constabulary” (Cox 1911). Cox adds that it embraced “the principles adopted in England.” Napier (quoted by Cox) described his new police as follows: The whole system appears to work well, and the police not only seize every thief, but are very good troops. I took a large detachment into the hills to make soldiers of them. They had at first sundry battles with large bands of robbers, whom they generally defeated; now, no band exists. Napier regarded his force as military in form. He was proud of his “strong police of two thousand men, well armed, well drilled. The first all infantry, the last infantry and cavalry, and called the rural police.”

T h ~ spolice were of course the RIC model that was transported to India to serve the British colonial interests. The primary justifications for this colonial police were undoubtedly the exigencies of trade and company profit. The emphasis was on order maintenance, on keeping the trade routes safe and building a colony that would be the jewel in the crown. However, there were several secondary considerations too, like the ‘glamour and snobbery’ (Chakraborty 1989) of the Raj in which the slightest challenge to any official decree was taken seriously since it was felt that control would be impossible unless the people were totally subdued. Similar to the situation in other colonies, the British Indian Raj was established upon the strength and terror of the police administration (Gupta 1974). It was natural that the British would not let the police be under the control of the subjugated people and be a part of the community since that would have made the Raj redundant. The rule through a small number of British officers over the millions of Indians had to be largely symbolic, based on an implied authority and total submission of the people. The Indian police had to be modeled after the colonial RIC rather than the Metropolitan Bobby to ensure that it will maintain a distance from the native people. Accordingly, despite the obvious success of the Metropolitan model, its extension in the same period to 178 English towns and boroughs

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through the Municipal Corporations Act in 1835 (Gaines, Kappeler, and Vaughn 1996), the British rulers never implemented this system in India nor in any of their non-English colonies. The lessons learned in controlling the Irish population, the objectives of maintaining British hegemony and the racial superiority all contributed towards the refinement of the colonial model rather than the Metropolitan one in all the colonies. This model was unexpectedly very successful and helped Britain rule over vast tracts of lands where the sun never set. No wonder, from the viewpoint of the British officials, this colonial police made life “secure for ordinary citizens” and the police system of the colonial era proved to be “a reliable instrument for the maintenance of law and order” (Griffiths 1971) but for the Indian people, the experience was otherwise. Rule under the British police was synonymous with the notorious Kala Pani (literally, “black water”) prison at Andaman island, the public floggings and humiliations, the repression of more than thirteen million people in the name of “criminal tribes” (Yang 1985) and the terror unleashed by a police system in which there was no avenue for redressing complaints against the police personnel. In such a system, the unchecked venality and brutality of its personnel made them the hated symbols of British imperialism. Despite emerging as the de facto power, all was still not well with East India Company’s administration, for discontent and defiance were simmering underneath the strong rule. In a candid memorandum to the English parliament in 1856, the company’s directors acknowledged that “the police have hitherto remained the most faulty part of our system in India” (Imperial Gazetteer of India 1909). Nevertheless, it was not the poor system of policing but the first war of independence (labeled as “mutiny” by some authors) staged by the Indians in 1857 that provoked the British to reorganize the police. The war forced the English parliament to supersede the East India Company and assume the reign of the country directly into their hands. The threat to the Raj necessitated the formation of a system, one that would ensure no repetition of the “mutiny” by their subjects. It was also clear that in view of the increasing political consciousness, the vastness of the country, the existing state of the communications, and the distrust in which the Indian troops were to be held in the future, even the reorganized army could not possibly be relied on to ensure the safety and continuity of British rule. The war radically changed the attitude of Englishmen

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toward Indians and “the new spirit [became more] cold, bureaucratic, optimistic and racially arrogant,” (Cohn 1961). The subjugation of the people was to be the first priority of the police, and this was made evident even in the Indian Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code enacted in 1860-61, a year before the police itself were reorganized. In these legal documents, offenses against the state including conspiracy to wage war were given overwhelming prominence. The most common preoccupation of the police, offenses against the person and property, find mention in the code only from chapter XVI onward (Misra 1970). Similarly, in the criminal procedure code, the chapters on security for the maintenance of public order, including the use of force by the police and military, take precedence over provisions for the investigation and trial of criminal offenses. “The new police was so shaped in personnel, powers and procedures as to be a terror to the law abiding citizen” (Gupta 1974). The Indian Police Act of 1861 completely ignored the principles enunciated by Peel in England three decades before, and the police reorganization in India differed even from the policing systems being established in other colonies like Australia and Canada. The Indian Police Act of 1861 was primarily a mechanism to subjugate the people, and the traditional cooperation of the community was lost sight of in the concerns for law and order. The imperative need was to develop a sense of fear of authority in the entire population, and it was achieved through this system of ruler’s police. The police were to be shaped as an instrument of the Raj, one where men were disciplined, armed and without hesitation would follow British officers’ orders. It was this police that would baton charge Gandhi’s peaceful followers or shoot to death young people raising Indian flags. The police commission, appointed in 1860 to suggest a reorganization of Indian police, was not surprisingly told to bear in mind that the “functions of police are either protective and repressive or detective,” [and the] “line that separates the protective and repressive functions of the civil police from functions purely military, may not, always, in India be very clear.” However, the British were determined to keep the army from peace duties since not only was it expensive but after the 1857 war the army too could not be relied on. Therefore, the task before the police commission was to create a repressive police force that would

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nonetheless be civilian in character. Its Report (1860) says, “The military arm should be relieved from all non-military duties; the peace and order of the country should be preserved on every occasion of tumult and apprehended disturbance, by the Civil power, and not by Military Force.” The commission’s deliberations were later incorporated in the Indian Police Act of 1861 which is still the basis of the Indian police system. This act emphasized that policing was to be entrusted to a civil constabulary in each British Indian province of the subcontinent; the force was to be controlled by an inspector general responsible to the provincial governments and it was to be led by British officers (Bayley 1969; Ingleton 1979; Nigam 1963; Gupta 1974; Stead 1985; Curry 1977). Established as a civilian force and confined to the task of the prevention and detection of crime and the maintenance of the order, the Indian police adhered to “a clear separation” between “military forces utilized for police duties and an armed reserve of police” (Bayley 1969). But Bayley notes: The former was eliminated; the latter was kept. Considering that one of the substantial and senior tasks of government was the preservation of law and order and that communal disturbances, village faction fights, and depredation of sizable robber bands were common occurrences, the continued development of armed police is hardly to be wondered at.

The police were divided into two branches: unarmed and armed. Curry (1977) mentions that the “separate force of armed police,” “illiterate” but “useful” for special tasks knew “their British officers, who devote special attention to their discipline and training.” Gwynn (1936) speaks of the police reserve and armed police in admiring terms. Griffiths (1971) describes the various armed and “special forces” “engaged on police duties” like the Punjab Military Police, the Frontier Constabulary, the Special Armed Constabulary and others who were “mainly employed on semi-military operations” in colonial and the post-colonial India. In 1917 the Frontier Military Police became Assam Rifles and placed under the control of the inspector general of police. They were available for “internal security purposes when required.” Anderson and Killingray (1992) mention that during the anti-British movement and World War 11the Indian police, armed and unarmed, too, were “substantial bodies with an important role at central and provincial

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government level.” Quite clearly, these units were more economical than military and still served the same purpose. By keeping them under the police leadership and as part of the police administration the myth could also be continued that India was being ruled by a “civilian” authority. Between 1938 and 1943, the period when the independence movement and Gandhi’s “Quit India” call led to increasing demonstrations and protests, the police grew “from just over 190,000 to 300,000, with an increasing proportion of the force carrying arms.” Police including the special armed police units faced a terribly challenging situation as the Indian National Congress, the party fighting for freedom of India, united the masses in a “do or die” situation to fight the British imperialism. British rule did come to an end in 1947 but not before the country was partitioned into India and Pakistan and the transfer of population led to the killings of more than five million people from either side. Still, the change of power was amicable and Lord Mountbatten, the British governor general, was even retained as the first governor general of free India. According to Arnold (1992), when independence came in 1947, there hardly occurred “any significant change in police methods and attitudes.” Communal violence and unprecedented civil unrest before and following India’s independence compelled the national and provincial governments to “shelve indefinitely any possibility of a radical overhaul of the police organization they had inherited from the British.”

The Role of the Armed Police after Independence Independence left the provisions of the Police Act of 1861 untouched “regarding maintenance of law” (Chaturvedi 1985). Problems of order maintenance have become immensely more complicated. Protests, demonstrations, riots, revolts, and daring acts of terrorism have so threatened the fragile state that despite the recommendations of the Government of India (1979-83), no government has seen reason to dismantle the armed police and build a civilian, localized system of policing in the country. The problem of maintaining order has been seen as so critical that despite changes in government no political party has considered remodeling the police. All governments have seen fit to continue expanding the armed police battalions. This importance to specialized armed

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units has been at the cost of indifference to the investigative wings of the police (Ghosh 1988). While the strength of detectives has increased marginally, the number of armed police units have been increasing rapidly (Pandey 1987). These armed police forces meant largely for “lawand-order’’ duties, and created both at the central and provincial levels, at present far outnumber the ones engaged in crime investigative tasks. For instance, in Assam, one of the strategically highly sensitive and ethnically diverse states in the country, there were five police battalions (4,500 personnel) in 1965. These armed battalions are purely paramilitary units thoroughly drilled, disciplined, and trained almost like military regiments. They live in barracks, and are used for order maintenance and VIP (Very Important Person) security tasks only. Today, the same state has sanctioned 21,459 armed police personnel (National Crime Records Bureau 1995) and the recent upsurge in terrorist violence has led to the demand for more such forces. To understand the implications of this expansion better, one must know that the State of Assam has been bifurcated several times since 1965 to create three other states to grant greater autonomy to various tribal groups. All these states have their own police battalions, too, and the armed police units constitute almost 22 percent of the total force in different states (National Crime Records Bureau 1995). The need for such armed units has been justified on grounds of the increasing number of “lawless” situations. In 1994, for instance, 94,344 riot cases were registered by the police and as many as 3,090 police personnel of various ranks sustained injuries while fifteen officers were killed while dealing with these mobs (National Crime Records Bureau 1996). The seriousness of law and order problems has also resulted in the use of deadly force against the citizens. The year 1993 was particularly noteworthy as there were 2,902 police firings in which 2,219 civilians were killed and 1,603 persons sustained injuries (National Crime Records Bureau 1995). Indeed, confronting large crowds has become an everyday duty of the police and not surprisingly, there is more emphasis on using the armed police forces. Not only is there an increase in the number of armed police units but there also is an increase in different kinds of armed units for specific purposes. Thus, the National Security Guards (NSG) was created to provide security to the VVIPs (Very Very Important Person) after Indira Gandhi’s assassination. The Rapid Deployment Force is an especially

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mobile police unit for quick response to emergency law and order problems. In view of the increasing participation of women in demonstrations, mass rallies, and political confrontations, a women’s battalion in the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has also been created. There are other central forces, too, such as the Border Security Force, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, the Railway Protection Force, the Central Industrial Security Force, and the Assam Rifles, to name a few. These central forces are in addition to the provincial armed forces consisting of the District Armed Police and the state police battalions. Besides, there are also Home Guard units in states which are composed of trained civilians, kept on reserve, and ready to respond to emergency situations. In the troubled states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, the number of Home Guard reserves regularly deployed is generally one- third the number of police personnel on duty. During the post-independence period the use of the army has also been common in several states including Assam, Punjab, and Jammu and Kashmir to control internal unrest. Undoubtedly, the armed police system is the dominant model in India today.

CONCLUSION According to the Indian Police Act, the police in the country are a civilian force. It is theoretically correct. Armed forces, no doubt, play an important role in the maintenance of order in this vast land of millions with all kinds of diversity: economic, religious, linguistic, cultural, and political. But they can not exercise any law enforcement powers, which are in the hands of the unarmed, civilian police. In this regard the Indian armed police are unlike the French Gendarmerie, the Spanish La Guardia Civil, the Italian Carabinieri, and the Canadian Royal Mounted Police, all of whom can exercise police powers of arrest, search, investigation, and so on. In India the armed police cannot exercise these responsibilities. In the colonial police system that was implemented in India the police (the armed police are included in them) were designed as the ruler’s police. Conceptually, the police were considered the strong arm of the state and this view is shared by the police, the government, and the public. Arnold (1992) argues that the colonial state in India was

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“required to provide a general environment of law and order.” Indian police were “an essential part of this strengthening and refining of the state apparatus.” He adds that “the formation of the civil police forces was intended to lessen what by the 1850s had come to be seen as a dangerous reliance on the army for internal policing.” Volatile social, economic, ethnic, religious, and political conditions have made modem India lay more stress on order than law. Perhaps it indicates that the rule of law is possible only in an orderly state for before enforcing law, the ruling power must establish order and, unfortunately, this is continuing to be followed in independent India. The ideal of a civilian police force has not materialized in practice. No attempt has been made to reform the civilian police and establish a criminal justice system in which the people can repose faith and which can provide solutions to the escalating problems of a developing economy. Consequently, the country is becoming difficult to govern and maintenance of order is becoming a major challenge (Kohli 1990). It is also not surprising that the post independent Indian police are emphasizing coercive powers in their operations (Baxi 1980). As noted elsewhere in the essay, the British writers have praised that the Irish model was successfully implemented in India and through this country’s experience in other parts of the colonial world. The colonial model of course proved successful in protecting the British commercial interests by providing security and order (Brogden 1987; Anderson and Killingray 1992; and Griffiths 1971). Indian writers (Gupta 1974; Chaturvedi 1985) do not share this view. They argue that the model was transported primarily to serve the British imperial interests though in the name of bringing order to the chaotic conditions prevalent after the demise of the Mughal empire. But we tend to agree with Arnold (1986; 1992) that the model was not entirely malevolent. It served some Indian interests particularly those of the propertied class and helped to establish a strong administrative system that became a model for all the other British colonies. The model appeared effective in maintaining order and when the British colonies became independent countries, in almost all of them the model was retained without changes (Cramer 1964). It is because of its utility, however limited it was, that the colonial model was not thrown away after India became independent. However, its usefulness has been severely constrained by some of its perceived strengths. The short-term objectives of maintaining order rather than

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looking into the underlying nature of problems is leading to a dangerous situation in India. Moreover, with increasing usage these forces have begun to play a dominant role in police administration. Maintaining order, especially in the democratic framework of the country involves discretionaryjudgments that have both political and social implications. Armed police, outside the purview of civilian scrutiny can and do affect sensitive political issues like elections, communal problems and relations between the central government in New Delhi and the states. The deployment of armed police does not result in a neutral order maintenance role (Verma 1997). Moreover, the objectives that the police must safeguard in an independent India are based on democratic ideals and freedom. Armed police do not subscribe to these ideals and are not meant to do so either. The time to shed the reliance on armed police and develop the civilian model cannot be postponed further, however threatening the order maintenance problems may appear to be.

Chapter S i x

A Diagnosis of Police Organization

In chapter 1 and chapter 2, it was observed that the police are an organization with a mission, ideals, and values. As an organization the police have developed their own technology of operation: militarism, rigidity, lack of innovation, and so on. Further, police organizations are the product of the overall culture of the society in which they operate. Societal problems affect police organizations, and they react to them. Policing is an occupation and this has its own consequences. These are occupational characteristics and they affect police organizations. In the discussion of the police organizations in some American cities, Japan, Australia, England, and a few other countries we have noted that some police organizations have been able to pursue excellence. They have minimized organizational restraints. They are able to work in a spirit of understanding and cooperation with society. They have developed remedial sensitivity to occupational consequences. To identify organizational characteristics, the police must strive for, we discuss in the following chapter the major organizational theories. It is intended to familiarize the readers with various organizational schools and enable them to diagnose the police organizational style. Finally, we have stressed the significance of a learning organization. Police organizations should strive to be perfect learning organizations. We need to examine the principal organizational theories and schools to be familiar with nature of organizations, styles of management, motivation, human relations, and other issues. The main issue for a police department is to find a way to balance the external and internal pressures on the organization. The elected representatives control the 145

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resources and expect an efficient functioning of the department. At the same time subordinate officers do not want to be treated as mindless entities and demand a voice in decisions that affect their functions and performance. The challenge before the police organization and its managers is “to meet the society’s needs and the needs of the officers who work in it” (Swanson, Territo, and Taylor 1993, 81). We need to understand the different forms of organizations to decide what is the best management style for the police. Or is there one best style of management? Organizational theory has evolved over the years as research has brought in new ideas about how people work together. We will examine three types of broad organizational perspectives to identify the model of police organization.

1. Traditional organizational theory which will be considered in three parts: (a) Taylor’s Scientific Management Theory, (b) Weber’s Bureaucratic Model, and (c) Fayol’s Administrative Perspective 2. Open System’s theory in terms of (a) Human Relations, (b) Behavioral Systems, and (c) Open Systems theory 3. Bridging Theories-those perspectives that take into account both the traditional and open systems-the so-called (a) general bridging theories and (b) contingency theories

FREDERICK TAYLOR SCIENTIFIC THEORY Frederick Taylor was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania, in 1856, to a father who was a well-to-do lawyer of Quaker stock and a mother of Puritan origin. The unique heritage with Quaker-Puritan stock and training created in Taylor an unusual discontent for waste and slothfulness that motivated him to find better ways of doing things. Although he qualified to go to Harvard Law School, his failing eyesight prevented him from going there and instead he became an apprentice patternmaker and machinist with the Enterprise Hydraulic Works of Philadelphia. After four years of apprenticeship, Taylor moved to Midvale Steel

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in Philadelphia in 1878 as a common laborer. He rose from that position to chief engineer within twelve years. He had no management training and depended on his own investigations to determine the best way of doing something (Kakar 1970). “His experience at Midvale gave him insight into the twin problems of productivity and worker motivation” (Swanson, Territo, and Taylor 1993, 83). In 1883, Taylor was a consultant at Bethlehem Steel Company in Lehigh, Pennsylvania, and continued to develop his theory of task management. Here he introduced a cost accounting system. He made cost an integral part of daily planning and control. But the management did not like his ideas and he had to leave the company.

Age of Taylor Classical theorists who include Taylor were familiar with the pyramidal forms of organization as seen in the army and the church. What they described was an organization with all powers centralized at the top of the hierarchy. In modern times, decentralization, where suitable, has become more popular. Ford and General Motors are highly decentralized today. Maybe Taylor’s “Exception Principle” can be taken as a step toward decentralization. According to Stone and Deluca (1989, in Taylor’s time the dominant system of industrial capitalism required bigger and complex forms of organization that called for more skilled and knowledgeable management. The progress of science and technology produced a growing belief that any kind of problem or human need could be met through the rational application of scientific principles. Roberg (1979) argues that during this period, many large industrial factories were concerned with raising efficiency. The period from the 1840s to 1920s was also one in which the agrarian, rural economy of the United States was converting into an industrial and urban system. Accordingly, there were revolutionary changes in the processes of production and distribution in the country. In manufacturing, the railroad and telegraph further gave rise to mass production by concentrating all the processes and jobs in production under one roof and management. Some characteristics of Americans in the eighteenth century as described by Deutsch (1980) are:

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High mobility of people: About one-third of the people born in a state lived outside of it, while as late as 1870 only 5 percent of those who lived in Bavaria were from outside the state. Uniformity of culture: The constant flow of people kept the American uniform in speech and other cultural habits. Unlike English rural people whose speech varied every hundred miles, Americans spoke the same language over a thousand miles. High degree of literacy: Compared with any country in the world including Europe in the eighteenth century, Americans were more literate. High degree of political participation: This was true both in rural and urban areas. Habit of self-government: Americans also displayed the habit of self government and the capacity to form groups for various social, political, and cultural purposes.

Americans enjoyed a sense of freedom no other people in the world did as they were not under an aristocracy, powerful land owners, state, church, or king. The American economy has been a mixed bag from the beginning as evidenced by the construction of the Panama Canal, land grants, and considerable government spending in research and education.

Scientific Management Taylor’s scientific management can be called a theory only loosely because its focus was on the lower-level of the organization. Rather than a general model, it was a concern with one part of the organization. According to Swanson, Territo, and Taylor (1993), scientific management searched for the most physically and time efficient way to sequence tasks and then to use rigorous and extensive controls to enforce the standards. They quote from Taylor (1911) as follows: Well, if you are a high-priced man, you will do exactly as this man tells you tomorrow, from morning till night. When he tells you to pick up a pig and walk, you pick it up and you walk, and when he tells you to sit down and rest, you sit down. . . . Now a high-priced man does just what he is told to do, and no back talk. Do you understand? (pp. 44-47)

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Taylor also introduced the concept of Functional Supervision, which meant that supervisors’ authority to supervise was based not on hierarchical position but on knowledge. Wren (1979) says that instead of the previously typical hierarchical technique, the result was a new organizational method of functionalism. He also mentioned another principle of management, the Exception Principle-which meant that routine matters should be handled by lower-level supervisors who should keep the higher-level managers informed of deviations and below standard performance. At Midvale, Taylor developed the Task Management system, which he defined as management knowing exactly what they want workers to do, and then seeing that they do it in the best and cheapest way. He suggested that the relations between employers and employees was the best art of management needed to achieve this goal. Taylor gives further details of task management by saying that it has two parts. First, each worker was to be given a definite task with detailed written instructions and each component of the work was to be allotted a time element. Second, very high wages would be paid to those who perform the tasks in allotted time and only normal pay would be received by those completing the task in more time than set apart for it. Time Study was used to determine the time needed for it and also methods, tools, and materials were standardized. Taylor’s theory is based on the notion that a manager’s central responsibilities are to achieve production objectives (More 1979). In the same vein, Lynch (1986) says that for Taylor the principle was to determine the best method for each job, and the employees were expected to conform to the recommended procedures. According to Chandler (1977), in America, as the modem business grew, the managers became the most influential group of economic decision makers. He says that as late as 1840 there were no middle managers in the United States. There were no managers who supervised the work of other managers and in turn reported to senior executives who themselves were salaried managers. At that time nearly all top managers were owners; they were either partners or major stockholders in the enterprise they managed. He elaborates further on this aspect, arguing that the entrepreneurs who created the first large industrial firms by building their own marketing or purchasing organizations had to hire a number of middle man-

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agers. Neither the entrepreneurs, their close associates, nor their families could carry on the multitudinous activities involved in producing, marketing, and purchasing a massive volume of goods for national and global markets without feeling the need to hire middle managers. In this connection, it is instructive to examine the remarks of Simon (1945), who argues that the foundation of modem scientific management may be dated from F. W. Taylor’s paper, “A Piece Rate System.” This paper described a pioneering method of establishing standards of job performance at the Midvale steel plant. When such standards were set, it became customary to refer to the ratio of actual performance to the standard performance as the efficiency of labor. According to Taylor, restriction of output was due to “natural soldiering” and “systematic soldiering.” He explained “natural soldiering” as the natural tendency of men to take it easy. “Systematic soldiering” follows from causes such as: 1. Working faster, the worker was afraid of throwing fellow workers out of work 2. Workers were not motivated to work faster because of wrong management policies 3. Adherence to rule-of-thumb work methods He blamed the management for slow production. Taylor’s theory is also described as the theory of motivation. There are different opinions regarding what motivates people to work hard. Earlier thinkers thought that motivation depended on material rewards. According to Theory X, workers were lazy. They needed to be constantly supervised and monetary rewards motivated them. Whisenand (1981) says the contemporary view is that workers seek responsibility and autonomy. But as Lynch (1986) argues, in Taylor’s scheme the employees were seen as economic tools. They were expected to behave rationally and held to be motivated by the wish to satisfy basic needs. He adds that scientific management showed concern for tasks and not human beings. Hersey and Blanchard (1977) say the function of the leader under scientific or classical theory was obviously to set up and enforce performance criteria to meet organizational goals. The main focus of a leader was on the needs of the organization and not on the needs of

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the individual. According to Roberg (1979), Taylor emphasized that if workers were taught the best procedures, with their pay tied to their output, they would produce the maximum amount as physically possible, as calculated by time and motion studies. Taylor also believed that scientific management would help the worker develop a friendly mental attitude toward his employers and his working conditions, whereas before, a considerable part of his time was spent in criticism and sometimes in open defiance. Taylor also referred to “mental revolution” on the part of employer and the employee. As Wren (1979) explains, Taylor’s concept was that scientific management would involve a complete transformation on the part of the working man and also an equally complete mental revolution of those on the management’s side.

Applicability to the Police To illustrate the system of the allotment of time to each component of work from police, it may be pointed out that the patrol officers are told to report back within a specified time if they go on a house call. This is, of course, ostensibly done for safety reason. In some police departments (New Zealand, for example) the computer at the dispatch rooms is set up in such a way that after the allotted time there would be an automatic signal from it if there was no report from the officer. Whisenand (1981) gives examples of a traffic citation that is stipulated to take ten minutes and a crime report twenty minutes. In illustrating the Taylorian concept of mechanical productivity of the most efficient workers, a reference may be made to police practice of allocating set quotas for traffic citations. Promotions, as well as other forms of recognition, may depend on the number of arrests, property recovered, and so on. But, Sheehan and Cordner (1989) say, a performance evaluation system that places great emphasis on numbers of arrests, for example, might very well encourage police officers to use their arrest powers indiscriminately. Thibault, Lawrence, and McBride (1985) also say that the officer needs positive backing in taking care of such human situations as delivering babies, dealing with emergencies that need backup medical care, settling disputes, and other myriad services that constitute police work. Although arrests and apprehension of

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criminals is the most visible part of the business of law enforcement, the human service function is just as vital. Helping a police officer become as a problem solver cannot be achieved by conventional performance evaluation. In European countries like Finland, promotions are based on examinations with some credits given to performance. In America performance plays the most important role. Whisenand and Ferguson (1989) say that Taylor’s general approach to management is widely accepted today in productionoriented business organizations. More specifically, it has a major effect on the reform and economy movements in public administration and thus also influenced police administration. Its impact on public organizations is readily apparent today. One can find numerous managers and supervisors (private and public alike) who firmly believe that if material rewards are directly related to work efforts, the worker consistently responds with his maximum performance. Moore ( 1985) believes that Taylor’s scientific management concept complemented the new search for increased efficiency in government. He says that the major impact of scientific management on the public sector was an increased emphasis on job analysis to determine the responsibilities and skills needed to perform tasks. A natural extension of job analysis is job classification, or the grouping of jobs into standardized categories that have similar requirements. In 1923, the Congress passed the ClassiJcation Act, which established broad occupational divisions, called services, that were divided into grades and levels of importance and difficulty. This act was in response not only to a desire for efficiency and orderly management but also to pressure for standardized wages. Thus, job analysis and an emphasis on “one best way” to do a job also introduced efficiency ratings as a more objective way to manage; they became a major factor in promotions. According to More (1979) Taylor’s contribution is as follows: Taylor imposed the idea of research in place of rule of thumb. He felt that for any organization to visibly improve, planning was necessary. Similarly, standards became important in establishing levels of operation and quality work. Some historians also credit Taylor with introducing the principle of cooperation whereby management and labor meet their basic needs and desires. Finally, Taylor emphasized to management the concept of control. (p. 39)

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Blamed for a lack of concern for the worker and heavy reliance on economic motive, Taylor added greatly to the knowledge of industrial organizations and set the stage for a more comprehensive approach to management theory (Roberg 1979). Simon (1945) describes functional supervision as decision making by specialists. He called it “specialization.” According to Drucker (1980), Taylor’s discovery was that work could be managed and thereby made more productive. He also believed that to get more output was to work smarter-that is, more productively. Furthermore, he emphasized that the productivity of work is not the responsibility of the worker but of the manager. Despite the fact that Taylor’s scientific management raised productivity and cut costs, it was attacked from many quarters. Herzberg (1976) says that many of the personnel techniques that have accompanied Taylorism are in trouble. He mentions concepts such as rigid job descriptions,job evaluations, time and motion procedure, incentive systems, and performance appraisals. Union leaders saw it as a threat to their movement because it seemed to reduce, if not eliminate, the importance of unions (Swanson, Territo, and Taylor 1993). The management also did not appreciate an accurate appraisal of their performance and Taylor’s methods were also attacked in the U.S. House of Representatives. Nevertheless, many principles of scientific management such as time studies, work flow analysis continue to be used in industrial management. Currently, subjects like management science and operations research, and the quantitative and technical analysis of decision making are based on Taylor’s contributions (Swanson, Territo, and Taylor 1993).

MAX WEBER THE BUREAUCRATIC SYSTEM Max Weber attempted to describe an ideal type of bureaucracy, which was not intended to perfectly reflect reality, but rather to describe how organizations should be structured and managed. His approach to organization and management was formalized, impersonal, and authoritarian (Roberg 1979). According to Whisenand and Ferguson (1989), Weber was probing bureaucracy that will essentially be synonymous

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with large organization. Robbins (1983) believed that Weber viewed bureaucracy as the natural offspring of discipline. It was conceived to be a neutral, impersonal force where large numbers of people could to be coordinated in efforts aimed at the methodical accomplishment of formal goals. The underlying strength of the bureaucratic structure was seen in this organization of rational discipline. Bennis (1966) says the bureaucratic machine-model was developed to eliminate the effects of personal favoritism, subjugation for personal reasons, cruelty, and other evils associated with the whims and fancy of managers who acted on subjective impulses. Bureaucracy is the basis for modern civil service and a rational approach to administrating and organization (Thibault, Lawrence, and McBride 1985). According to Swanson, Territo, and Taylor (1993) the bureaucratic model of Weber included the following characteristics:

1. Regular activities are distributed in a fixed way as official duties. There is a principle of hierarchy with right of appeal and grievance redress from the lower to the higher posts. 2. Authority to give command is distributed in a stable way, and coercive means of sanction are defined by rules in a consistent manner. 3. Only persons who have generally regulated qualifications to serve are employed. This characteristic may be described as appointment on the basis of technical qualifications. 4. Fixed jurisdictions are ordered by administrative regulations. 5. Organizational members do not own the means of production. 6. Management is based on written documents, normally called the files. As Swanson et al. (1993) describe, administrative acts, decisions, and rules are recorded in writing. Commonly, bureaucracy consists of a staff of subaltern officials and scribes who prepare and maintain official records. 7. Specialized officer of management requires thorough, technical, and expert training and knowledge. Training in most kinds of organizations has been viewed as essential for productive performance in public and private structures. 8. Generalized rules are: a. stable b. exhaustive c. learnable

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This principle may be explained as Weber’s strong belief in the reduction of office management to a set of established rules. It implied the need for regulation of matters in an abstract manner. Weber thought this was an antidote to bestowing individual favors and privileges under patrimonialism. Knowledge of the rules represents special technical knowledge that officials possess (in modem society, special officials who are rule experts are accountants and lawyers). On rules, Swanson et al. say that official functions are bound by system of rational rules. Office holding is a vocation and a career. Perhaps Weber felt office management was a full-time job and his postulation of this characteristic was in response to the practice of considering management a secondary activity. Swanson, Territo, and Taylor (1993) call it specialized training. Officials have more status than the governed; insult of officials is prosecuted by law with appropriate sanctions. Swanson, Territo, and Taylor (1993) say that the rights associated with a position are the property of the office and not of office holders. Bureaucratic officials are appointed by superior authority, through a system of civil examination, and are not elected to the office. Tenure in the job is for life. Regular pecuniary compensation, meaning the employees receive regular and fixed salary. Officials have a career in the hierarchy. Probably, Weber believed that the office is the primary occupation of the incumbent and such officials were not permitted to hold any other office at the same time. Bureaucratic attitude. Most bureaucrats may not favor citizen participation because of fears (Gormley 1989) such as: a. unrepresentative demagogues would emerge as spokespersons for underrepresented groups b. citizens with no continuing stake in a program would behave irresponsibly c. a more open administrativeprocess would prove cumbersome and inefficient

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d. citizen participants would lack the expertise to make useful contributions

Contribution: Positive and Negative Consequences Weber’s bureaucratic theory and his concepts of administrative regulations, rational legal authority, and the criteria for division of labor have greatly influenced the management of American police departments. Karger (198 1) says that human service agencies kill the spirit of service and helpfulness by organizing their work in an assembly line, bureaucratic manner without regard to the fact that, unlike factory workers, human service workers need to exercise discretion, use a variety of approaches and provide individual treatment. He says that even an important service such as public welfare is converted into a routine job where there is an increased specialization and continually narrowing job descriptions. The system of numbered contact hours also begin to designate quantity rather than quality of the work. The office in a large bureaucracy with its large rooms filled with long rows of cubicles appear more like an assembly line than a private environment in which to discuss personal matters or assisting needy individuals. The client is objectified as a problem that must be processed as the line grows longer. Hannan and Freeman (1989) suggest that although Weber argued that organizations take on lives of their own, largely independent of the wishes and interests of those who created them, he thought that organizations would invariably carry out their initial programs and purposes. They suggest that Weber was among the few scholars to insist that the central political issue for all modem societies was no longer what type of economic structure prevailed-whether capitalist, socialist, or communist-but rather the increasing dominance of public bureaucracy over all other forms of authority. They also say that organizations also have the quality of accountability that gives them an advantage in the modem world. The spread of norms of rationality and a variety of internal and external contingencies demand that organizations be able to account rationally for their actions. They must be able to document how resources have been used and to reconstruct the sequences of organizational decisions, rules, and actions with particular outcomes. Weber perhaps believed that rational, legal bureaucracies will be

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politically neutral tools of great efficiency and longevity. It appears that Weber may be right because government departments never fade away and so are nearly immortal. However, there were two dimensions to Weber’s works. He did consider bureaucracy the most efficient form of organization but he also feared this efficiency may overwhelm individual freedom because of “its impersonal and oppressive routine” (Swanson, Territo, and Taylor 1993, 92). Weber also thought that a career bureaucrat lacked spontaneity and creativity and saw him as a “petty bureaucrat” (Gerth and Mills 1946, 50). HENRI FAYOL: ADMINISTRATIVE THEORY Administrative Theory, sometimes also known as Management Theory was an attempt to develop general or universal techniques of administration. This perspective is closer to the bureaucratic model than the scientific management but differs in its emphasis on “how” things are to be done. “At some risk of oversimplification, the principles both operationalize and reinforce features of the bureaucratic model” (Swanson, Territo, and Taylor 1993, 92). The main theorists of this school have been Henri Fayol (1841-1925); James Mooney (1884-1957); Alan Riley (1869-1947); Lyndall Urwick (1891-1983), and Luther Gulick (1865-1918). We will examine the contribution by Fayol here since he has been the most influential among them. Henri Fayol was from France. Graduating as an engineer from France’s National School of Mines at St. Etiene, he started a forty-year career with the Commentary-FourschambaultCompany. His main work is General und Industrial Management (1949), while his “Administrative Theory of the State” appeared in Papers on the Science of Administration. He was an engineer from 1860 to 1866, but his talents were recognized and he was made a manager of the Commentary at age 25. Six years later he was promoted to manager of a group of coal mines. During this period he published a number of works on geology and mine safety. In 1888 the company was headed for bankruptcy when Henri Fayol was made the managing director. As he was installed in this position. the coal pits of Commentary were near exhaustion. He procured the pits and iron works at Decazeville in 1892 and the new

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combine came to be known as “Comambault.” By the time Fayol retired at the age of 77, he had brought the whole combine to an unassailable financial position. According to Swanson, Territo, and Taylor (1993), Fayol’s Fourteen Principles of organization are: 1. A division of work similar to the concept of specialization 2. Authority and the power to extract obedience 3. Discipline visible in the outward marks of respect between the firm and the employee 4. Unity of command so that an employee receives commands from one supervisor only 5. Unity of direction so that a group of activities has one objective only 6. Subordination of individual interest to the general interest 7. Proper wages that are fair to the employee and the employer 8. Centralization-a natural order of things 9. Scalar chain of command from the highest authority to the lowest 10. Order-a place for everyone 11. Equity4ombination of kindness and justice 12. Stability of tenure 13. Initiative at all the levels of the organization 14. Esprit de corps-harmony and union of personnel (pp. 92-93) These principles suggest that responsibility and authority must be on the same level. These two principles are also appropriate for socialist enterprises when adopting the economic responsibility system. Litterer (1969) says that for Fayol the most important ability for the head of a small industrial company is technical ability. As one goes up the ladder, there is more and more demand on managerial skills compared with technical ability. He adds that an equilibrium obtains in a medium-size organization. Litterer refers to Fayol’s distinction between official authority and personal authority. He adds that a number of social scientists, including Bierstedt, Blau, Gibbs, Selznick, and Urwick, have made analytical distinctions between authority and leadership. The focus in their study is not so much on personal or informal leader-follower relations but rather on the fusion of leadership

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skills-be it charisma or routinized human skills-in a person who also occupies a position of authority. The focus is not on leadership as personal quality, but leadership as an organizational function. Fayol seemed to think that the knowledge of the human aspect of administration, the ability to mediate individual needs, and the possession of certain leadership traits by a superior would enhance the acceptance of formal authority on the part of his subordinates. However, he also recognized that his scalar principle could produce disastrous consequences if followed strictly, since it would hamper swift action (Swanson, Territo, and Taylor 1993). He developed “gangplank” or “horizontal bridge” (p. 93) concepts to combat this issue. Fayol also believed that a mediocre manager who stays is better than experts who come and go. The move to restrict hiring of “portable” police managers since the late 1970s has been explained on the basis of this principle. Fayol thought division of work was good because it would reduce waste, increase output, and ease the task of job training. It was similar to the ideas of Weber and Taylor. Taylor’s principle of Functional Supervision implies the same idea. Discipline implied a relationship between management and employees based on obedience and respect. Unity of Command was somewhat central to the concept of management thought of Fayol. Wren (1979) explains that everything that goes to increase the importance of the subordinate’s role is Fayol’s concept of decentralization and everything to reduce it is centralization. Tarrant (1976) considers that among a dedicated body of students of the practice of management, Henri Fayol is an eminent thinker. Barnard and Lino (1986) say there can be some principles of general organization instead of the general principles of organization. There are many species of industrial organizations as well as military, civil, labor, and religious organizations. Comprehensive study of the behavior in various types of organizations associated with such subjects as communication, authority, responsibility, status, groups, and the process of decision will give us in the end, if we are successful, the principles of general organization and for understanding them. This will not be sufficient, either, of course, for specific organization. Definite knowledge and concrete experience of specific organizations in specific situations are required to understand them as unique combinations. Drucker (1980) views management as establishing objectives, directing attainment of objectives, and measuring results. Viewed from this

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perspective, the management functions recommended by Fayol appear to be important management functions but they are clearly subordinate to the objectives of management and the achievement of these objectives by the organization. Further impetus in this Administrative Theory was provided by Gulick (1937), who coined the acronym POSDCORB standing for Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Directing, Coordinating, Reporting and Budgeting. This is similar in concept to the functional analysis suggested by Fayol in his book.

Overall Impact of Scientific Management Scientific management has been criticized because of its representation of man as machine. On the other hand, the more successful bureaucratic model has met with considerable denouncements. Bennis (1966) argues that bureaucracy does not leave room for personal growth and innovative ideas are blocked due to its command structure. The rigidities, conservative outlook of its personnel, and “red-tapism” have been the hallmark of most bureaucracies. Hage (1966), too, has argued that bureaucracies display: 1. high centralization 2. high formalization 3. high stratification 4. low adaptiveness 5. low job satisfaction 6. low complexity 7. high production 8. high efficiency (p. 305) Goodsell (1985) argues that there are some good bureaucracies, including police bureaucracies. Perrow (1972) also says that “bureaucracy is a form of organization superior to all we know or can hope to afford in the near and middle future; the chances of doing away with it or changing it are probably non-existent in the west in this century” (pp. 6-7). Considering that almost all the formal organizations in the world are bureaucratic in nature we may appreciate that the scientific

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theory and Weber’s conceptualization in particular, have been very influential.

Open Systems Theory Organizations that are said to be flexible, adaptive, and organic form part of this body of knowledge. Developments in this perspective began around 1920s and cumently there are, broadly speaking, three divisions in this theory: 1. human relations 2. behavioral systems 3. Open Systems Theory

These schools developed in response to “the mechanist orientation of the traditional theory which was viewed as neglecting or ignoring the human element” (Swanson, Territo, and Taylor 1993,96).

HUMAN RELATIONS: THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF ELTON MAYO, FRITZ ROETHLISBERGER, AND WILLIAM DICKSON George Elton Mayo was an Australian who received his master’s degree in logic and philosophy from the University of Adelaide in 1899. Mayo had taught logic and philosophy at Queensland University. Later he moved to Scotland to study medicine in Edinburgh and while in Scotland he became a research associate in psychopathology. It was this experience that served as the basis for his industrial research work. He received a grant from the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Fund in America and migrated to this country where he joined the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce at the University of Pennsylvania. Roethlisberger received degrees from Columbia University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and earned his master’s from Harvard in 1925. Dickson was the chief of employee relations in the research department at Western Electric. In 1924 the National Research Council of the National Academy of

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Sciences initiated a research project at the Hawthorne Plant (near Cicero, Illinois) of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company to determine the connection between illumination and individual efficiency. About 25,000 people were employed at Hawthorne. The experiment was started with two groups of women workers who were engaged in the task of assembling telephone relays. One group, the control group, was to be subjected to no change in illumination. But the other group, the treatment group, was exposed to variations in lighting, the level of illumination. But the experimenters were puzzled that no matter what the level of illumination was, the production always increased during the period of experimentation.Puzzled, the researchers tried manipulating other physical conditions like wage payments methods, rest periods, length of work day, and work week. But shortening or lengthening the weeks or days, rest pauses, providing refreshment or not during breaks had only one effect-increased productivity. During the whole period of experimentation individual workers produced an average of 2,400 to 3,000 more relays per week. According to George Pennock, Western Electric’s superintendent of inspection, the key interest focused on the workers was suspected to be the reason for the increase, but there was no proof of this. It was at this time that Pennock invited Elton Mayo to come to Cicero to study what was going on. Some of the conclusions of the Harvard group were as follows: 1. As the experimenters took over many of the supervisory functions, supervision became less formal and strict. Women were able to relate socially better with the supervisors. 2. As the women were working in a relay assembly test room, they had an opportunity to develop closer relationship with each other.

It became apparent to the Harvard group that human factors like pleasant and sociable supervisors, a friendly atmosphere at work, and so on led to increased productivity and worker satisfaction.

Organizations as Social Systems The researchers then conducted extensive interviews with 20,000 workers over a period of three years. Initially, the workers were asked direct

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questions, but this method was not very effective as the workers were guarded in their answers and not very informative. Later, they pursued a nondirect method of interview in which workers were encouraged to speak on matters important to them personally. In the interviewing program some of the lessons that became available were that the opportunity to let off steam made the workers feel better and that is why they expressed satisfaction about wages and improved working conditions although these had not changed (Wren 1979). Interviewers took pains to have all complaints thoroughly investigated and generally found that they were not based on facts. They discovered two levels of complaints, manifest and latent. The manifest level was the material content of the complaint. The latent level related to the psychological content of it. One worker complained of noise, fumes, and temperature at the work place but the latent concern was worker’s own health, as his brother died recently of pneumonia. Another worker complained about the low piece rate, which was not correct factually, but his concern was the rising medical bills resulting from his wife’s illness. Mayo and his colleagues noticed that workers’ preoccupation with personal problems affected their productivity. Early Mayo called it “pessimistic reveries.” Wren (1979) says that the new supervisor has to be more people oriented, more concerned, less aloof, and more skilled in handling social and personal situations. The product of this human relations style of leadership has to be better morale, fewer pessimistic reveries, and improved output. As a result of these Hawthorne studies, the link between supervision, morale, and productivity became the foundation of the human relations movement. Some other conclusions the Harvard group drew were as follows:

1. Morale improves when an opportunity is provided for airing workers’ grievances. 2. Complaints are not to be accepted as factual statements. 3. Factors that are external to the job influence workers. 4. Workers’ perception about their social status influences their work satisfaction. The last experiment, known as the Bank Wiring Room Study, was about a group of male operatives who assembled switches for central-

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office switchboard equipment. This experiment lasted six-and-a-half months and involved a group of nine wiremen, three soldermen, and two inspectors. Each worker was paid an hourly rate and a bonus based on production. All of the participants were between the ages of twenty and twenty-six. Their work was interconnected. The researchers noted that this group of workers knew what, for them, constituted a fair day’s work and it was lower than the standard set by the management. They had developed an informal code of behavior with values as follows:

1. One who turns out too much work is not to be encouraged. He was a rate buster. 2. However, one who produces too little work is also not to be accepted by the group. He was a chiseler (according to the Webster dictionary, a chiseler is one who cheats, a swindler; colloquial). 3. One must not report anything to a supervisor that may do harm to an associate; if someone does such a thing, he is a squealer. 4. Officiousness or social distance are not to be permitted. Accordingly, an inspector should behave like one of the boys. It was the perspective of Mayo and his colleagues that industrial life had made work meaningless and the worker needed the satisfaction of his basic social needs. It is noted that the final phase of the research program which ran parallel to the interviewing program concerned the study of group behavior. Informal groups and their influence on productivity has been recognized as the contribution of the Harvard group but Taylor also spoke of systematic soldiering. Roethlisberger and Dickson (1939) have noted that the study of the bank wiremen showed that their behavior at work could not be understood without considering the informal organization of the group and the relation of the informal organization to the total social organization of the company. Schein (1980) says that some of the implications of this approach of the human relationists were that social needs were the prime motivator for human behavior. Employees are more responsive to the social forces of the peer group than the incentives provided by the management as well as their control mechanism. If the management can fulfill the needs of the workers for belongingness, a sense of identity, and acceptance, they are likely to respond to management’s demands. Human relations

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imply that managers should not limit their attention to the task to be performed, but should give more attention to the needs of the people. Managers should accept groups as reality and introduce group incentives rather than individual incentives. Although a rational legal basis for supervisors may have to be continued even under the social assumptions of this new theory, the implications are that they may need more charisma to appeal to employees as their advocate. There may also be a paternalistic label attached to this style of management. However, it is seen that managers tend to spend much more time with their people in Japan and Mexico to socialize with them. Caring management should be able to prevent frustrations and alienation of workers. Informal groups then will not be opposed to management’s objectives. Schein says that if management can harness these informal group forces and get group norms working in the direction of organizational goals, a tremendous reservoir of energy and motivation becomes available. According to Sheehan and Cordner (1989), the human relations movement contributed to the improvement of the workplace, employee compensation, and other benefits. More important, the human relations movement was the first step toward recognizing that the human element in an organization is not comparable to other inert resources such as finance, machinery, and raw materials. The movement stressed that organizational productivity is dependent on treating workers with dignity and with respect. Wren (1979) says the Bank Wiring Room study was on group behavior; informal groups and their influence on productivity. This idea was also discussed by Stone and Deluca (1985), who say that the increased productivity was not the result of individual decisions but a product of group interaction for the workers set up their own production standards. However, Stone and DeLuca (1985) have argued that Mayo could not offer concrete rules and specific procedures and mere insights into human relationships were not easily translated into specific actions to be taken by managers. The concept of human relations has been widely used in police organizations. Earlier, the term was used to train officers in working with diverse ethnic groups. It has now come to imply individual and group relationships amongst the police personnel also. In fact, astute police administrators are always alert for opportunities to tap the energy of

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informal groups to support departmental goals and programs (Swanson, Territo, and Taylor 1993).

Abraham Maslow While Taylor and Fayol were from the field of engineering, Weber from sociology, Mayo studied logic, philosophy, medicine, and psychopathology, Maslow has been described as an early humanist psychologist (Wren 1979). Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory was first published as an article in 1943 and later expanded and refined as Motivation and Personality (1954). The theory describes the five levels of motivation as follows: 1. self-actualization-self-fulfillment , creativity; self-development 2. self-esteem-ego, sense of achievement, autonomy, independence, self-direction, status-recognition, appreciation from others 3. love and belongingness-acceptance, association and communication, being part of a group 4. safety-protection against harsh supervision, unsafe working environment; fair treatment, job security; predictable work environment, predictable fellow workers 5. physiological needs-good, comfortable working conditions, good Pay The need hierarchy is arranged in the form of a pyramid-from the lower order to higher-order needs. These authors state that the lower level had to be adequately satisfied before the worker looks for the higher level. If a worker is fully involved in the physiological level he is not going to be concerned with the other levels. They explain further by saying that the lower three levels are concerned with extrinsic factors. They are like Herzberg’s hygiene factors; they help avoid dissatisfaction. The other two are intrinsic; they are motivators. Wren (1979) says that the essence of Maslow’s contribution was in the evolutionary, dynamic qualities of the nature of human needs. In a subsistence-level economy, physiological needs would appear to predominate. As the economy moved beyond that stage, other needs would become more important. Wren (1979) adds that the human relationists made the assumption

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that the economy had in fact moved to a higher level of need priority. Further, that Maslow indicated that organizations had to be designed in such a way as to allow people expression of what was assumed to be a natural urge to find satisfaction in work. This called for new managerial styles and philosophies to satisfy human needs while still fulfilling the formal goals of the organization. Roberg (1979) also says that Maslow’s hierarchy appeals to managers because it is commonsensical and simple. Further, that practicing managers must continually be aware of individual differences; motivation is not necessarily tied to a specific hierarchy of needs. However, there are numerous exceptions to the theory and Maslow himself has admitted that higher needs may emerge not after gratification, but rather after long deprivation. The process could also be reversed. An officer suspended for a long period may face physiological needs more than others.

Applicability to the Police In his well-known study, Niederhoffer (1967) argued that people came to policing with the idea of service but the inability to accomplish these ideals sets in a sense of failure and frustration, which makes them disenchanted and cynical. Rhodes (1975) also states that police officers of today who are much better paid than before are not found to be bettermotivated. He says that the reasons are that officers, if deprived of the opportunities to satisfy ego and self-fulfillment needs, behave in a passive manner. They display resistance to change, make vague and frequent complaints without recommendations for improvement, and unreasonable demands for economical benefits. The officers are bound to demand more money under these conditions. Unable to attain selffulfillment needs at work, they try to buy happiness. It seems difficult to agree with this utopian concept in which leisure, not work, is the major sphere in life. Human beings are problem-solving creatures whose real happiness comes in setting and striving towards goals. Whisenand and krguson (1989) say that the police leadership and police organizations have not sufficiently been modified to accommodate the emerging generation of the police. Some of the characteristics of this generation are (a) little experience with any major economic depression, (b), raised in a social affiliative era, (c), used to being

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praised and congratulated for any good work done, and (d), greater independence than the previous generation. Thus, before they enter the service their basic needs have been met. They add that there continues to exist a resistance even among modern police leaders. They have not changed philosophically. However, police organizations are such that a great deal of autonomy can be built in at every level, and with this autonomy, an emphasis on self-actualization can become the most responsible approach to leadership in modern police organizations. Nevertheless, Maslow’s need hierarchy theory has been put to good use by a number of police departments. The Ohio State Patrol has developed a Blue Max award that is given for outstanding and continuous good performance in apprehending suspects. It has been reported that “in the first ten months in which Blue Max program was operated, arrests of car thieves was up 49 percent as compared to the entire prior twelve months” (Swanson, Territo, and Taylor 1993, 100).

FREDERICK HERZBERG: MOTIVATION-HYGIENE THEORY Three researchers, Bernard Mausner, Barbara Snyderman, and Frederick Herzberg worked on job attitudes at eleven work sites in the Pittsburgh area and reported on them in The Motivation to Work (1959). Later on, Herzberg developed the Motivation-Hygiene Theory in Work and the Nature of Man (1966). The researchers’ study indicated that there was generally a positive relationship between attitude and productivity (Robbins 1983). They were careful, however, to note that in many cases the correlations, although positive, were low. Herzberg explored what people want from their jobs. He asked people to describe what made them feel extremely good or bad about their jobs. Herzberg found that two sets of variables, called hygiene or maintenance factors and motivators were operating in the work environment (see table 6.1). Herzberg (Thibault, Lawrence, and McBride 1985) found that in a sample of 1,685 employees, hygiene factors contributed 69 percent to job dissatisfaction and only 19 percent to job satisfaction. Motivators contributed 8 1 percent to job satisfaction and 3 1 percent to job dissatisfaction. They also say that Herzberg combined the triangle of organiza-

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Hygiene Factors and Motivators in the Work Environment

Hygiene Factors

Motivators

Supervisory practices Policies and administration Working conditions Interpersonal relationships status Effect of job on personal life Job security Money

Achievement Recognition for accomplish ment Challengingwork Increased responsibility Advancement possibilities Advancement possibilities

Source: Swanson, Territo, and Taylor 1993. Police Administration: Structures, Processes, and Behavior, 3d ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 101

tional theory, industrial engineering, and behavioral science. He suggested that if jobs are organized in a proper manner there will be the most efficient job structure. Industrial engineering can create the most appropriate incentive system and design specific working conditions. Behavioral science can help build healthy employee attitudes and a humane organizational climate. As Robbins (1983) explains that Herzberg found certain factors were related to job satisfaction and some others were connected with job dissatisfaction. Certain factors like achievement, recognition, the work itself, responsibility, advancement, and growth were related to job satisfaction. These were intrinsic factors that Herzberg termed motivators. When workers felt satisfied, they tended to refer to them but they attributed their dissatisfaction to such factors as company policy and administration, supervision, relationship with supervisors, work conditions, salary relationship with peers, personal life, relationship with subordinates, status, and security. These were extrinsic factors; Herzberg called them hygienefuctors. His argument was that the opposite of satisfaction was not dissatisfaction. Removing the factors that cause dissatisfaction does not produce satisfaction. His dual continuum was that the opposite of satisfaction is “no satisfaction” and the opposite of dissatisfaction is “no dissatisfaction.” Managers can help avoid dissatisfaction of workers by introducing factors that create satisfaction; but that will not produce motivation. People were motivated by intrinsic factors like achievement. Munro

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(1977) says that Herzberg refers to two separate independent dimensions of any job, namely, job satisfaction and job dissatisfaction. “Satisfiers” are connected with work itself and are directly work related. The factors associated with dissatisfaction are present in the context and the environment of the work itself. Lau and Shani (1988) say that “dissatisfiers” are factors the people get used to. They draw an analogy from garbage collection, which we do not pay much attention to when it is picked up regularly as expected. But we become concerned about getting sick if garbage is not picked up as we expect it. They add that it is possible for people to be satisfied and dissatisfied at the same time. They may be dissatisfied with the company policy but welcome the opportunity the job offers for growth. Herzberg implied that job enrichment can motivate workers instead of job rotation (or job enlargement). Sheehan and Cordner (1989) note that Herzberg mentioned job enrichment could be achieved as follows:

1. Reduce controls but increase accountability 2. Assign workers to established, definitive work units or projects 3. Provide sufficient authority for workers to accomplish tasks within a milieu of freedom 4. Furnish workers with productivity reports directly on a periodic basis without involving supervisors as intermediaries 5. Give workers tasks that are more difficult and challenging than tasks previously assigned 6 . Allow workers to become experts by giving them specialized tasks

Criticism of Herzberg When things go well, people may take credit for themselves but they may blame their failures on extrinsic factors. Herzberg was unable to show the relationship between motivation and productivity. In a nationwide poll conducted by the National Opinion Research Center (Weaver 1976) it was noted that a sense of accomplishment was the most important characteristic of a job for more than half of the white, male work force in the United States. Roberg (1979) says that on the basis of the findings of Schwab, DeV-

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itt, and Cummings (197 1) hygiene factors were to be regarded as useful in motivating employees as were motivating factors. Furthermore, both types of factors meet employee needs, but it is primarily the motivators that result in job satisfaction. Motivators (which lead to satisfaction) include advancement, responsibility, the work itself, recognition, and achievement. Herzberg focused his research on motivators and encouraged management to create a work environment emphasizing satisfiers rather than dissatisfiers. Lau and Shani (1988) say that there may be a situation when the satisfiers, the potential motivators themselves, may cause dissatisfaction. For example, highly educated persons may feel frustrated by the fact that the job does not provide an opportunity to use their skills. However, the most important part of what Herzberg is saying is that managers should be aware of how people at work may be satisfied or dissatisfied. Lau and Shani add that it is the nature of the work itself that turns on the self-directing generators for accomplishment, and emphasis on human relations alone will not result in high productivity or job satisfaction. Job enrichment provides methods for redesign of work to make it more meaningful.

Applicability to the Police Generally, police managers have more control over motivators than basic hygiene factors for some policies may be controlled by the mayor or city government. The budget and resources for a police department are controlled by the city government and the police chief has little power to increase them. The managers can, however, vary the assignments, develop a proper performance evaluation system, personnel development programs, and desirable career paths (Swanson, Territo, and Taylor 1993). Two-factor theory and job redesign can also be used to improve police operations. An area in which this may be tried is team policing (Roberg 1979), which offers police officers broad responsibility and gives patrol officers responsibility for all police related functions. The recent developments in Community Policing (Trojanowicz and Bucqueroux 1990) also provide opportunities for decentralizing power and giving a bigger say to the subordinates in defining their responsibilities.

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DOUGLAS MCGREGOR The successor to the humanist theories was the behavioral systems theory that was concerned with making the organizations more democratic and participative. This theory is a post-1950 development and has received contributions from Lewin, Homans, Argyris, and McGregor among many others. They have also been known as “organizational humanists” and have striven for “organizational development” (Swanson, Territo, and Taylor 1993, 102). McGregor received his doctoral degree from Harvard University in 1935 and taught social psychology at Harvard from 1935 to 1937. He moved to MIT in 1937 and except for a period as president of Antioch College in Ohio from 1948 to 1954, remained at MIT until his death (Wren 1979). As explained by Robbins (1983), McGregor suggested two distinct views of human nature, one basically negative, labeled Theory X, and the other basically positive, labeled Theory Y. After viewing the way managers dealt with employees, he suggested that their behavior depends on certain assumptions: THEORY X ASSUMPTIONS 1. Employees inherently dislike work and, whenever possible, will attempt to avoid it. 2. Since employees dislike work, they must be coerced, controlled, or threatened with punishment to achieve the desired goals. 3. Employees will shirk responsibilities and seek formal direction whenever possible. 4. Most workers place security above all other factors associated with work, and will display little ambition. THEORY Y ASSUMPTIONS 1. Employees view work as being as natural as rest or play. 2. People will exercise self-direction and self-control if they are committed to the objectives. 3. The average person can learn to accept, even seek, responsibility. 4. Creativity, that is, the ability to develop innovative decisions is widely dispersed throughout the population, and is not necessarily the sole province of those in management positions.

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Robbins adds that Theory X assumptions tend to be made by managers in organizations characterized by conformity, antagonism, and m i s trust. In contrast, Theory Y is based on trust, openness, concern for others, and more respect for individuality. Schein (1980) agrees with Theory X and Theory Y assumptions. But he also explains the assumptions that follow from the view that employees are people in the pursuit of economic self-interest, rational-economic considerations:

1. Employees are primarily motivated by economic incentives and will do whatever affords them the greatest economic gain. 2. Since economic incentives are under the control of the organization, the employee is a passive agent to be manipulated and controlled by the organization. 3. Feelings are, by definition, irrational and, therefore, must be prevented from interfering with a person’s rational calculation of self-interest. 4. Organizations can and must be designed in such a way as to neutralize and control people’s feelings and, therefore, their unpredictable traits. Theory X assumptions as seen by Schein are: 1. People are inherently lazy and must, therefore, be motivated by outside incentives. 2. People’s natural goals run counter to those of the organization; hence, they must be controlled by external forces to ensure that they work toward organizational goals. 3. Because of their irrational feelings, people are basically incapable of self-discipline and self-control. 4. People can, however, be divided roughly into two groups: those who are self-motivated, self-controlled, and less dominated by their feelings and those who are otherwise. This former group must assume the management responsibilities for all others. These assumptions, Schein continues, are offshoots of the rationaleconomic assumptions that classified human beings into two groups. One group was the untrustworthy, money-motivated, calculative mass, and, the other was the more broadly motivated, moral elite who must

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organize and manage the mass. It is true that Theory X assumptions may fit some people, but Schein believes it grossly overgeneralizes and oversimplifies human behavior. He adds that the burden of organizational performance falls entirely on management. In an organization guided by these principles, employees are expected to be indifferent, hostile, motivated only by economic incentives, and the like. Furthermore, the managerial strategies used to deal with them are likely to train them to behave in precisely this fashion. Hersey and Blanchard (1977) draw out some of the characteristics of Theory X type organizations:

1. Centralized decision-making, superior-subordinate pyramid, and external control of work. 2. People can be defined by the views contained in Mayo’s Rabble Hypothesis. 3. Managers would structure, control and closely supervise employees with the belief that external control is necessary to deal with unreliable, irresponsible, and immature people. Sheehan and Cordner (1989) suggest that McGregor believed that management’s view of workers as lazy, stupid, and irresponsible, and management’s treatment of workers on the basis of that view will make it all but impossible for workers to display interest, intelligence and energy. If management’s views based on Theory X were incorrect, the workers will be frustrated because improved salary, fringe benefits, and job security do not result in higher productivity. Workers whose basic needs are fulfilled will look for Maslow-related higher needs. THEORY Y ASSUMPTIONS 1. Even the most untalented worker seeks a sense of meaning and accomplishment in his or her work after the lower-level or basic needs are fulfilled. 2. Workers seek to achieve maturity on the job and learn to exercise a certain amount of autonomy and independence. 3. People are self-motivated and self-controlled; external controls imposed on them are likely to reduce them to less mature adjustment. 4. Employees’ self-actualization goals and those of the organization

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are not in conflict; they can develop simultaneously for the mutual benefit of both. If those considerations guide management, there will be less stress on so-called human relations to make the work environment pleasant. Instead management will seek to make work more meaningful which can give employees a sense of pride and self-esteem. Responsibilities would be delegated to the employees according to what they can handle. Managers will attempt to provide an opportunity for the employees’ existing motivation to be harnessed to organizational goals. While Theory X assumptions create a calculative relationship between management and employees, Theory Y assumptions develop a moral rather than a calculative involvement, and thus releases a greater potential for commitment to organizational goals and creative efforts in pursuit of those goals. Hersey and Blanchard (1977) point out some Theory Y managerial characteristics as follows: 1. Theory Y managers are supportive and facilitating. 2. Managers would believe that being self-directed and creative, Theory Y will be profitable for employees and productive for organization.

Applicability to Police Sheehan and Cordner (1989) state that the applicability of Theory X/ Theory Y to police organization is obvious. The traditional hierarchical structure, proliferation of rules, and punishment-oriented management found in most police agencies clearly epitomizes Theory X assumptions. According to McGregor’s thesis, it is only natural for police officers to respond with work-avoidance behavior. Police administration would benefit greatly from the adoption of Theory X assumptions and a management system more honestly adapted to the realities of police work. It is true that it may not be possible to adopt a Theory Y approach with all employees in all situations. Theory X may be necessary with some employees in some situations. Argyris terms these as Pattern A and Pattern B behavior. Hersey and Blanchard (1977) explain that in

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Pattern A, individuals do not own up to feelings, are not open, reject experimenting, and do not help others to engage in these behaviors. Their behavior tends to be characterized by close supervision and high degree of structure. On the other hand, Pattern B finds individuals owning up to feelings, open, experimenting, and helping others to engage in these behaviors. Their behavior tends to be more supportive and facilitating. The result is a norm of trust, concern, and individuality. If management follows the Theory X in their administration then the underlying principle will be one of control, whereas in Theory Y it will imply supporting the subordinates and providing them with resources and creating a supportive work environment so that they may achieve organizational and personal goals. “The use of quality circles (QC) or employee participation groups (EPG) is one practice consistent with theory Y that is beginning to be used in police departments” (Swanson, Territo, and Taylor 1993, 108-9).

RENSIS LIKERT The work on organizational theory by Rensis Likert is similar to the concepts developed by McGregor. Likert has attempted to contrast traditional and democratic management in organizations. According to Lau and Shani (1988), Likert and his colleagues at the Institute for Social Research of the University of Michigan were engaged in research since 1947 for a science based system of management. They conducted survey research on leadership attitudes of supervisors of high-producing and low-producing sectors of various industries. The criteria used were (a) productivity per work hour, (b) turnover, (c) scrap, (d) costs, and (e) job satisfaction. They arrived at some findings as described below:

1. Those supervisors who had the best production records were found to be employee-centered. In other words, they paid a lot of attention to the human aspects of their subordinates’ problems. 2. They were observed as users of group methods in their work with their employees and were successful in building effective work groups with high performance standards.

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3. They were found to keep their employees under general supervision. 4. These leaders were helpful in problem solving when mistakes occurred. 5. Supervisors of low-producing units were more job centered. 6. They were apt to use less group methods and more one-to-one methods. 7. They were found to be more inclined toward punitive approaches when mistakes occurred. Likert and his associates used a questionnaire to collect data from thirty-one geographically separated departments to measure how much the managers displayed supportive attitudes toward their employees and the extent to which they believed in using group methods of supervision. They concluded that managers who have a supportive attitude toward their personnel and endeavor to build them into well-knit groups obtain appreciably higher productivity than managers who have a threatening attitude and rely more on person-to-person patterns of supervision. Likert (1961) developed four systems of management through the findings of the survey research and by building historical models. They are: System One: Exploitative authoritative System Two: Benevolent authoritative System Three: Consultative System Four: Participative group Operating characteristics are treated differently in each of the systems and these characteristics are leadership processes, motivation, communication, goal-setting, decision-making, and so on. Communication in System One would have a downward flow. In System Two it would be mostly downward. It would be down and up in System Three. In System Four it would be down, up and with peers. On further research Likert found that managers would like their organizations to move in the direction of the System Four and, hence this is the ideal model for increasing organizational effectiveness. According to Likert’s findings, three basic concepts of management

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applied successfully by managers in more effective organizations are as follows:

The Principle of Supportive Relationships Likert explains this saying that the leadership and other processes of the organization must be such as to ensure a maximum probability that in all interactions and in all relationships within the organization, each member, in light of his background, values, desires, and expectations, will view the experience as supportive and one that builds and maintains his sense of personal worth and importance. Lau and Shani (1988) say that whether the manager is creating a climate of openness and trust, one that involves both the economic and noneconomic motives of people and encourages personal growth, depends on the subordinate’s experience and perception, not the manager’s.

Group Decision-Making and Group Methods of Supervision But it must be recognized that final accountability for decisions, their execution, and the results remains with the superior.

High Performance Goals for the Organization The ideal is to move to System Four. The methods for moving successfully in this direction are (a) training of managers to develop group membership and group decision-making skills, (b) team use of the linkpin concept, (c) measurement of attitude and perceptions through questionnaires, and (d) human asset accounting. Likert also made a valuable contribution by contrasting man-to-man and link-pin pattern of organization. He suggested that in traditional organizations the reliance is on individual basis and managers tend to use positional authority to get the job done. The link-pin pattern is found in the democratically and group-oriented system that is similar in concept to the fourth system described earlier.

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OPEN-SYSTEMS THEORIES These perspectives developed during the 1960s when American policing too was undergoing fundamental changes. According to Stone and DeLuca (1985), systems theory treats an organization as one entity through which resources flow to produce something. They add that efforts to apply systems theory to police administration have been limited and less successful. Gaines, Southerland, and Angell (1991) define a system as a set of interrelated elements, like people and units, that are arranged to produce an organization such as a police department. System also connotes subsystems and therefore, a police department as a system will consist of a number of subsystems that represent various operations, groups, and sections. A system in turn is a subsystem and in that sense a police department is a subsystem of the larger social system. Systems are open and closed. An open system admits that it exists in an open environment and is influenced by numerous factors surrounding it. A closed organization, however, does not view itself as part of a larger whole but only as surrounded by its own internal divisions. A police department may ignore the community, political system, and different local agencies and consider the internal processes of the department like management, decisions, information, and implementations as the elements in its environment. It is clearly understandable that the criminal justice organizations like the police, courts, and prisons constitute one whole system. Gaines, Southerland, and Angell (1991) comment that contemporary administrative authorities have come to view the closed-system perspective as inappropriate for the organization and management of police departments. A closed-system philosophy leads to the creation of system boundaries which eliminates the influences from and interaction with the environment. A closed-system approach causes a manager to neglect the ends and emphasize the means in a manner that eventually results in organizational stagnation (i.e., the organization loses its ability to be creative and innovative, to make changes, or to effectively perform its function in society). According to these authors, open organizations demonstrate a belief in “equifinality,” which means that there are more than one way to

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solve a problem. They also add that community policing is an affirmation of the perspective that the police are an open system organization. Roberg (1979) stresses the importance of viewing the police and other parts of the criminal justice administration as comprising the administration of justice system. Such a perspective shows how the parts or subsystems are related and dependent on one another. He thinks that it is simply not possible to study police management as distinct and separate from other types of criminal justice management. Roberg refers to Barnard (1938) as one of the first proponents of the systems approach. Barnard is said to have referred to the most useful concept for the analysis of experience of cooperative systems embodied in the definition of a formal organization as a system of consciously coordinated activities or forces of two or more persons. He believed that informal organizations must be recognized. In this regard, Barnard was echoing the ideas of Bakke (1953), who said that a fusion process would result from the interaction between the informal and formal structure in an organization. He also explained these processes as the Socializing Process and the Personalizing Process, which combine to create the possibility of accomplishing the organizational goals and the actualization of personal goals. Katz and Kahn (1966) considered that open-system organizations functioned better because of their adaptability to the environment. More (1979) explains that all systems contain subsystems and are also parts of higher systems. A police system consists of a set of subsystems, such as planning, decision-making, and so on. In turn, the police system is a subsystem of the criminaljustice system, and this system is a subsystem of the social system. Lau and Shani (1988) refer to organization as a system with subsystems. They suggest that an organization has the need for the improvement of its performance at four levels: 1. Improving individual performance: It would include increased individual effectiveness; goal setting, interpersonal communication and leadership style are some of the likely methods to be used in this area. 2. Making work groups or teams more effective: Included in this effort would be improved decision making, goal setting, group problem solving, and so on.

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3. Enhancing intergroup effectiveness: This will call for more attention to resolution of conflicts between work groups or between interfaces of boss-subordinate, male-female, and minority as well as nonminority categories. 4. Stressing total organizational effectiveness: This takes place through integration of organizational culture, value systems, planning models, and so on. The systems approach suggests that an integrated, systematic approach may also help solve many of the problems in the following manner: 1. Noninvolvement with and indifference to people at work, which leads to ineffectiveness at work, low productivity, waste, or even sabotage. 2. Absenteeism, low morale, high turnover, and safety problems. 3. Excessive competition among groups, which may cause ill-feeling, coordination difficulties, and poor performance. 4. Breakdown in communications through inadequate information and distortions. 5. Confused and misunderstood goals which may cause poor results and failures. 6. Supervisors’ reluctance to assume responsibilities. 7. Resistance to change on the part of the people. 8. Greater need for creativity.

What inference can we draw about the police organization from this system’s perspective? Clearly, the police department is not a closed system and has many kinds of dynamic interactions with the larger society of which it is a part. Police interaction with the community is an integral part of its functions and it is this perspective that has been stressed in community policing. Recognizing that there is an obvious interrelatedness between the police subsystems and interrelatedness with the larger community will assist managers in fostering cooperation in their schemes. The systems perspective also emphasizes achieving the organizational goals through purposeful behavior (Swanson, Territo, and Taylor 1993). There have been several criticisms of this human relations concern in organizational theories. It appears to have a promanagement bias and

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depicts unions as promoting conflict between management and labor. Hawthorne studies perhaps empowered the management and provided means to manipulate the workers. Furthermore, the notion that satisfied employees will be more productive is not based upon research findings. “There is no consistent relationship between job satisfaction and productivity” (Locke 1976, 1,332). This of course does not imply that police managers should disregard efforts to increase job satisfaction or ignore dissatisfaction among the personnel. It is also true that “job satisfaction generally leads to lower turnover, less absenteeism, fewer cases of tardiness, and fewer grievances” (Swanson, Territo, and Taylor 1993, 116). However, behavioral systems theories have been criticized on the following grounds:

1. Insufficient attention to the organization compared with the emphasis on individuals and groups. 2. The arguments for humanism in organizations is not supported by empirical data. 3. Concerns have also been expressed about the variables that are actually measured in the name of job satisfaction, and so on. 4. Most humanist theories depend on an open and honest communication among organizational personnel. This may not always be forthcoming because of problems associated with the exercise of power. 5. It is possible that workers may have a utilitarian perspective and rather than psychological rewards like job satisfaction they may be more motivated by base concerns of monetary benefits. Swanson, Territo, and Taylor (1993) state that “despite the fact that [open] systems theory has enjoyed some popularity since the 1960s, its use has not penetrated into police departments to any discernible degree” (p. 118). They also argue that its applications require resources beyond the reach of most police departments, particularly “when considered in relationship to needs perceived as more directly relevant to their mission.”

BRIDGING AND CONTINGENCY THEORIES These perspectives attempt to incorporate viewpoints of both the traditional and systems theories. These explanations also arise due to the

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fact that the demarcation between the two earlier explanations is not so wide. There are many overlapping themes and their classification in one or the other theoretical mold is a matter of judgment. Under this broader theme we will describe two perspectives-the Bridging Theories and the Contingency Theories. In this section we will examine the works of Chester Barnard (18861961), James March (1928- ) and Herbert Simon (1916-2001). Whereas Barnard’s arguments have been seen as part of human relations, social systems and systems perspectives, both March and Simon’s research has been seen as “part of the decision theory school” (Swanson, Territo, and Taylor 1993, 119). Bernard served as an executive with AT&T and the United Service Organization and also as president of Rockfeller Foundation. His principal work is The Functions ofan Executive, in which he placed all his experiences and arguments. His main contentions were: 1. Emphasis on decision making and limitations on the powers of choice 2. An organization is a system of coordinated activities in which the need is to examine external influences to which adjustments must be made 3. Individuals can transcend their limitations through cooperative group actions 4. Group actions are determined by their effectiveness in meeting the objectives and in being efficient 5. Efficiency depends upon organizational equilibrium-a balance between inducements provided by the organizations and contributions made by the individuals 6. The role of the informal organization is fostering communication and feelings of self-respect 7. Authority rests on a person’s acceptance of given order 8. Complex organizations are themselves made of smaller units 9. Organization also includes those involved from the outside like investors, suppliers and customers 10. Executive work is the specialized work of maintaining the organization and its operations (Swanson, Territo, and Taylor 1993, 119) Clearly these conceptualizations incorporate both the open and closed organizational perspectives. Barnard saw the worth of structure,

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objectives, and efficiency as well as the need for cooperation evolving through informal networks and relationships with the outside world. Simon added to this perspective by pointing out that organizations are decision-making entities where both structure and behavior were important. Along with James March he co-authored Organization (1958) in which “the administrative man reflects the tension between the traditional theory’s nonnative values of rationality, effectiveness, and efficiency and the open system’s views of human behavior and the complexity of organizations” (Swanson, Territo, and Taylor 1993, 120).

Contingency Theory A series of studies in the 1950s and ’60s in England led to the development of what came to be known as Situational or Contingency Theory. This perspective believes that there is no best way to go about organizing, managing, motivating, and so on. It does not favor either the traditional or the open systems theories and argues that the specifics of a situation suggest which approach is most appropriate. Burns and Stalker (1964) are closely associated with this perspective and their assertion that “the beginning of administrative wisdom is the awareness that there is no one optimum type of management system” (p. 125) reveals their inclinations. Contingency perspective has also developed due to the uncertainty inherent in any organizational functions. According to James Thompson (1967), uncertainty appears as the fundamental problem for complex organizations and coping with uncertainty is the essence of the administrative process. Because uncertainty renders decision making difficult and is disruptive of normal operations, organizations will devote more and more energy to reducing the level of uncertainty in the environment. Those organizations marked by mass production technology will integrate vertically better to control the sources of raw materials and channels of distribution. Organizations with an intensive technology, like the intensive care unit of a hospital, will try to acquire as much control as possible over the object worked upon, be it the patient or the X-ray machine. Organizations with a mediating technology-a mechanism that mediates, that connects the different users of a service or a product (like a telephone network)-will tend to diversify, the better to avoid too great a dependence on any one market.

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Thompson’s 2 x 2 paradigm of organizational adaptation to the environment is shown in table 6.2. Note that the unstable (changing) environments are characterized by uncertainty. Bums and Stalker (1964) conducted a survey of twenty firms in the United Kingdom, drawn from various industries and operating in both relatively stable and dynamically changing environments. The specific characteristics that they examined were the rate of change in the scientific techniques and the markets of the selected industries. In the early stages of their fieldwork, Bums and Stalker found two distinctly different sets of management methods and procedures that they came to classify as the mechanistic system and the organic system, a terminology reminiscent of Emile Durkheim’s classic formulation. They found the mechanistic system to be apparently well suited to enterprises operating under relatively stable conditions, and the organic system suited to companies operating under changing conditions. The authors provided many detailed descriptions of characteristics associated with each of the two ideal types. These have been listed in adjacent columns for ready comparison in the figure below. The Bums and Stalker study suggests that the effective firms in the more dynamic industries were more organic, that is, with wider spans of supervisory control, with a higher degree of task interdependence, with less attention to formal procedures, with more horizontal commuTable 6.2

Organizational Adaptation to Environment

Homogeneous Environment Heterogeneous Environment Cell I Cell I I Cell Ill Cell IV

Stable Environment

Unstable Environment

I II

111 IV

Typified by a 7-Eleven store near a gasoline station (convenience store). Characterized by rules and categories for applying rules. Typified by a large department store. Characterizedby rules and categories for applying rules. Typified by EDP systems. Characterized by uncertainty absorption (monitoring), contingency planning. decentralized decision making. Typified by complex corporations like General Motors, IBM, and so on. Characterized by uncertainty absorption (monitoring), contingency planning, decentralized decision making.

Source: Thompson, J. D. 1967. Organizations in action: Social bases of administrative theory. New York: McCraw-Hill.

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nication, and with more decisions made at the middle levels of the organization. In short, they were less bureaucratic, less structured. Organizations in the more stable industries, on the other hand, tended to be more mechanistic with formal rules and procedures reached at higher levels of the organization, with narrower spans of supervisory control, with a high degree of task specialization, and with more vertical communication. In short, the mechanistic system was more bureaucratic, more structured. According to Bums and Stalker (1964), no one type of organization was more effective than the other: each was most effective in its own given environment. To sum up, the Burns and Stalker study showed that effective organizational units operating in relatively stable sectors of the environment were more highly structured than those in relatively dynamic sectors of the environment. It refuted the one best design concept of traditional management. This concept was replaced with one in which the most appropriate management system was contingent on environmental and task demands facing the organization (see table 6.3). Woodward (1965) has also supported this notion by suggesting that traditional management was suitable for mass production while the organic, accommodating system was better for less repetitive tasks. Sherman (1966) also advocated “pragmatic perspective,” stating that “there is no ideal design or arrangement that will fit all times, all situations, all objectives, and all values” (p. 57). Katzell’s theory Z is also supportive of contingency approach. It argues that depending upon the specific need of the case, it may be suitable to apply McGregor’s theory X or theory Y. Bridging theories have been criticized for both confirming and disconfirming the traditional and system’s perspectives. Furthermore, “Contingency theories of organizations rest presently on relatively limited research, often involving small samples of specific types of organizations” (Swanson, Territo, and Taylor 1993, 121). Table 6.4 attempts to summarize the theories discussed here.

APPLICATIONS OF ORGANIZATION THEORIES TO POLICING Most of the organizations, both in the public sector and the private enterprises follow the Weberian model of bureaucracy. The police have,

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Comparison of Mechanisticand Organic Systems of Organization Mechanistic

Organic

1. Tasks are highly fractioned and specialized; little regard paid to clarifying relationship between tasks and organizational objectives

1. Tasks are more interdependent; emphasis on relevance of tasks and organizational objectives

2. Tasks tend to remain rigidly defined

2. Tasks are continually adjusted and redefined through interaction of organizational members

unless altered formally by top management

3. Specific role definition rights, obligations, and technical methods prescribed for each member

3. Generalized role definition members accept general responsibility for task accomplishment beyond individual role definition

4. Hierarchic structure of control, authority, and communication, Sanctions derive from employment contract between employee and organization

4. Network structure of control, authority, and communication. Sanctions derive from community of interest rather than from contractual relationship

5. Information relevant to situation and operations of the organization formally assumed to rest with chief executive

5. Leader not assumed to be omniscient; knowledge centers identified where located throughout the organization

6. Communication primarily vertical between superior and subordinate

6. Communication is both vertical and horizontal, depending on where needed information resides

7. Communication primarily takes form of instructions and decisions issued by superiors, of information and requests for decisions supplied by inferiors

7. Communication primarily takes form of information and device

8. Insistence of loyalty to organization and obedience to superiors

8. Commitment to organization’s tasks and goals more highly valued than loyalty or obedience

9. Importance and prestige attached to identification with organization and its members (Burns and Stalker 1964)

9. Importance and prestige attached to affiliations and expertise in external environment

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188 Table 6.4

Summary of Theories

Theorists Taylor Weber Fayol, Mooney Reiley, Gulick & Urwick Mayo Maslow

Herzberg Lewin Homans Argyris McGregor Likert Bennis Bertalanffy, Parsons, Katz Kahn Barnard Simon & March Burns and Stalker Woodward, Sherman Lawrence, Lorsch Vroom Fiedler Katzell

Traditional Theory

Bridging Theory

Open Systems Theory

Scientific management Bureaucratic model Administrative Hawthorne/ Human Relations Bottom 3 levels of need hierarchy Hygiene factors

Immaturity Theory X System 1

Top 2 levels of need hierarchy

System 2-3

Motivators Group dynamics internal-external systems Maturity Theory Y System 4 Organizational development Systems theory

Cooperative system Administrative man

Contingency Theory Expectancy Theory Situational Leadership Theorv Z

Source: Swanson, Territo, and Taylor. 1993. Police administration: Structures, processes, and behavior, 3d ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 122.

of course, been an obvious bureaucracy, although many experiments have been made to adopt other organizational systems within this model. In many police departments in the 1960s and early 1970s, the concept of Team Policing became a popular theme. This experiment sought to introduce the idea of Team Management that was similar in concept to the Open Systems approach. However, such attempts to modify the departmental organizational functioning “may succeed tem-

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porarily in large police departments if only because such efforts produce a Hawthorne Effect.” Furthermore, “the human systems approach is flawed by its small-group orientation in what is largely a large-scale organizational world” (Swanson, Territo, and Taylor 1993, 123). The move toward Community Policing and Problem-Oriented Policing are also efforts that seek to introduce the Open Systems concepts into the police bureaucracy. For instance, this type of policing is based on the belief that citizens should have open access to police organizations and contribute to policy making. Community Policing also emphasizes more face-to-face interactions between the officers and individual citizens that are sought to be achieved through foot patrolling, door-to-door policing, and directed patrols. Furthermore, the thrust of policing is on “problem solving, crime prevention, and similar activities when not handling calls and emergencies” (Cordner 1999, 140). Accordingly, the philosophy of Community Policing demands that the style of police leadership, management, and supervision should lessen emphasis on rules and discipline, decentralize power, and introduce humanistic values and culture. It is perhaps too early to say where such efforts are going but many scholars (Klockars 1991) have argued that this move is more of a rhetoric than any serious reorientation of police departments. The police organizations need to be responsive to the external societal pressures that result in an organizational style promoting efficiency but not internal democracy and participation. Thus, the major challenge before the police managers is to continue with the bureaucratic system but temper it with perspectives from the other theories. As Doerner (2000) says, “Promoting organizational change is not always an easy thing to accomplish. There will be internal resistance, as well as an external reluctance, against embracing efforts to transform the organization. However, if today’s police leaders are to be successful, they must confront these challenging problems and search for innovative solutions” (p. 12).

Chapter Seven

Directions for Change: Police as a Learning Organization

In the previous chapter, it was seen that police organizations share many aspects with the classical school of administration. True, there are more liberal, progressive, and innovative features in today’s police organizations, if not everywhere, in several parts of the world including the United States. It must also be acknowledged that police organizations are shaped by culture, political priorities, and immediate needs of the situations surrounding them. It is perhaps not appropriate to suggest a universal model of administration for the police. Nevertheless, one can say with certainty that police organizations will benefit immensely by being knowledge organizations. In search of learning, the policethe American police particularly-can benefit from the lessons of international studies and other research including the new developments in community policing and steps toward intelligent bold leadership. It is our conclusion that as a learning organization the police in America will achieve much greater success in implementing the mission.

LEARNING ORGANIZATION The idea of an organizational learning has been suggested in management studies for a long period but has become widely recognized only during the 1990s. Indeed, business executives have long realized that the ability to learn faster than their competitors may be the key to busi190

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ness success (Collis 1994). Senge (1990) describes a learning organization as one “where people continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free, and where people are continually learning how to learn together” (p. 3). This becomes even more necessary in the current world, which is becoming more interconnected, complex, and dynamic. In such a situation it is no longer sufficient to have the police chief bringing a new vision for the organization. It is just not possible any longer to build a plan from the top, and have everyone else following the orders of the grand strategy. “The organization that will truly excel in the future will be the organizations that discover how to tap people’s commitment and capacity to learn at all levels in an organization” (p. 4). Five “component technologies” have been suggested that provide a vital dimension to build a learning organization that can enhance its capacities: 1. Systems Thinking-a conceptual framework to help see how to change effectively 2. Personal Mastery-the process of continually clarifying, focusing energies, developing patience and living the life in the service of highest aspirations by people in the organization 3. Mental Models-assumptions or images that help understand the world. These need to be constantly exposed to external influences so that the personnel learn to understand their basis and need to change them if necessary 4. Building Shared Vision-a common vision for the organization helps people learn and excel and it is the role of the leadership to create a picture for the future that the personnel may strive to attain 5. Team Learning-leads to greater achievements since the individual members learn more rapidly than they could have learned otherwise.

Senge (1990) writes that these five disciplines need to develop as an ensemble to create what he calls the Fifth Discipline-one that integrates different ideas and fuses them into a coherent body of theory and practice. Such thinking requires the concept of building shared vision,

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mental models, team learning, and personal mastery to realize the full potential of the organization. Building shared vision fosters a commitment to the long term. Mental models focus on the openness needed to unearth shortcomings in our present ways of seeing the world. Team learning develops the skills of the groups of people to look for the larger picture that lies beyond individual perspectives. And personal mastery fosters the personal motivation to continually learn how our actions affect our world. (Senge 1990, 12)

ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING AND LEARNING ORGANIZATION However, some scholars have differentiated between organizational learning and learning organization: Organizational learning has concentrated on the detached observation and analysis of the processes involved in individual and collective learning inside organizations; whereas learning organization has an action orientation, and is geared toward using specific diagnostic and evaluative methodological tools which can help to identify, promote, and evaluate the quality of learning processes inside organizations. (Smith, Araujo, and Burgoyne 1999, 2)

Finger and Brand (1999) however argue that “the learning organization is an ideal, towards which organizations have to evolve in order to be able to respond to the various pressures [encountered by the organizations]. On the other hand organizational learning is the activity and the process by which organizations eventually reach this ideal”(p. 136). Organizational learning is said to be concerned with the processing, interpretation, and response to the information flowing into and outside the organization. Huber (1991) states that “an organization learns if any of its units acquires knowledge that it recognizes as potentially useful to the organization” (p. 89). Argyris and Schon (1978) have suggested two ways of organizational learning, which they describe as “single loop” and “double loop” methods. In the former, an organization tries out new methods and tactics and seeks feedback to make continuous adjustments and adaptations. The latter is associated with radical changes that may involve strategic changes in the direction and wholesale revision of systems.

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Levinthal and March (1993) also point to the distinction between exploration and exploitation in the uses of technology. The former may lead to the development of new knowledge in the long term while the latter may lead to high performance in the short term. Thus, a balance has to be kept between the two. Zuboff (1988) has introduced the concept of “informatting”-the idea that information technology can be put to different purposes. Thus, it can be used to provide information to all the employees or can be used to assess and control the behavior of individuals. Smith, Araujo, and Burgoyne (1999) suggest a “Social Perspective” on organizational learning that focuses on the way people make sense of their work experiences. For instance, police officers may get information about their department from explicit sources as official statistics or derive from tacit sources such as the “intuition” of a skilled investigator. That is, learning emerges from social interactions in the normal work setting. This tacit form of learning involves socialization into the community of practice (Blackler 1987) where any data has no significance of its own until people assign meaning to it. “A central idea from this perspective is that much crucial organizational knowledge exists not on paper, nor in the heads of individuals, but within the ‘community’ as a whole. Hence learning takes place either through the expansion of the community to incorporate new individuals, or through the adoption of new forms of behavior and non-canonical practices” (Smith, Araujo, and Burgoyne 1999,5). Wardman (1994) argues that to create a learning organization one must begin the process from the inside. It is the commitment of the individuals in an organization who are willing to examine their ways of thinking about the world, who are willing to focus on the organizational systems and structures that helps set the path to the learning organization. Indeed any organizational development involves visions of a learning organization that is concerned with improving work relationships, processes, results, and, above all, the capacity of the organization to create its own future. The learning organization is thus one that develops a healthy community where the members feel free to explore new ways of working and thinking. Finger and Brand (1999), on the basis of their study of public sector undertakings, stress the need for transhierarchical and trans-sectoral communications that are said to be necessary conditions for the learning organization. Furthermore, to solve organizational problems collec-

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tively, “the constitution of the group has to be thought through from the perspective of the problem and not from the perspective of the organization” (pp. 145-46). Finally, the culture of the organization may pose obstacles to the development of the learning organization and hence will demand a transformation. The authors suggest that to create a learning organization in the public sector various learning activities must be initiated to facilitate the process of learning and then enlarged to lead to a full-fledged learning organization. These activities must be seen as interventions into the learning process that contributes to the achieving of the organization’s strategic objectives. The following presents an outline of these learning activities: 0

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Educational and training activities-those that take place “on-thespot, just-in-time, and on-the-job” Active use of learning resources inside the organization-such as job rotation, sharing of information, access to statistical data, audit reports mentoring, management information systems, and performance standards. Active use of resources outside the organization-such as citizen panels, feedback loops, complaint analysis, public-opinion research, media research, joint ventures, and so on Creating an environment conducive to learning-that includes collective rewards, selection and promotion criteria, rewarding collective learning, participation of collaborators, and management by objectives. (Finger and Brand 1999, 148)

Naturally, this list is only suggestive and every organization will have to develop its own learning activities depending on its needs and objectives. Moreover, all these activities will have to be measured in terms of their quality and quantity. These indicators will be an index of the growing capacity of the organization to learn and to what extent is it making a difference to the functioning of the organization. The concept of the learning organization is based on a set of fundamental principles. Those who subscribe to bureaucratic and authoritarian values in an organization create an environment where the subordinates too reflect rigidity and resistance to change. Accordingly, every learning organization should subscribe to some core values, and it is suggested that for the police organization, in particular, the following values may be most appropriate:

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Each person deserves equal respect as a human being regardless of job position. Each person should receive equal consideration to develop his or her full potential. Each person’s potential is limited only by their aspiration and not by organizational barriers. Each person’s view is valid for it is shaped by life’s experiences. Operations should be open, based on trust, and should nurture an environment where diverse voices can be heard. No one is more important than the other, but everyone is important in a unique way. People should be valued for who they are and not what or who they know.

The important consideration in transforming an organization is underestimating the power of vision. Kotter (1996) argues that “vision plays a key role in producing useful change by helping to direct, align, and inspire actions on the part of large number of people” (p. 7). Indeed, the role of the leadership is in establishing direction-a vision for the future. It is only after this that the organization can develop strategies for producing these changes, aligning the personnel to create coalitions that understand this vision and accept its validity and finally motivating and inspiring them to overcome obstacles, both political and bureaucratic. Kotter (1996) outlines an eight stage process of creating a major change in the organization that is worth attention. He argues that methods to transform organizations are likely to fail because “inwardly focused cultures, paralyzing bureaucracy, parochial politics, a low level of trust, lack of teamwork, arrogant attitudes, a lack of leadership in the middle management, and the general human fear of the unknown” (p. 20) can block any well-meaning attempts. He suggests an eight stage process that addresses these common obstacles to organizational change efforts. The most important and first step lies in establishing a sense of urgency to bring a change. This should be followed by the creation of a “guiding coalition,” a group that has been given sufficient power to lead the change mechanism. The leadership, in alignment with this team should then create a vision and a strategy to help direct the change efforts. This vision then must be communicated to every mem-

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ber of the organization with the guiding coalition modeling the behavioral roles that are expected of the employees. The next step is to empower a broad based action by dealing with the obstacles, changing the systems or structures that undermine the change vision and encouraging risk taking along with generation of new ‘ideas, activities, and actions.’ The leadership and coalition must also generate short term “wins,” small achievements that employees bring about during the implementation of the overall change. Such employees need to be visibly recognized and rewarded. The next step involves consolidating these gains and producing more change. This will involve increased credibility to change obstinate structures, systems, and even people who block the change process. It may even involve hiring, promoting, and firing personnel who do not fit with the new vision. Finally, the change agents need to anchor these new approaches in the overall culture to create a better performing organization, effective management and “articulating the connections between new behaviors and organizational success” (Kotter 1996, 21).

CONCLUSION The ability of the police departments to meet their mission requires new ways of thinking and functioning. They need continuous improvements and continuous learning characterized by the learning organization. Learning has to be internalized in day-to-day activities. It has to go beyond formal training and incorporate informal leaning. This will come when the barriers of hierarchy, autocratic leadership styles, the atmosphere of distrust, and failed communications are consciously broken down. “Until this aspect of organizational culture is dealt with, there is little likelihood that meaningful organizational learning activity will occur” (Dilworth 1995, 245). Building learning police organizations requires transformation in how personnel think and interact. It requires creation of an atmosphere where “generative conversations and concerted actions” (Kofman and Senge 1995, 33) can take place. The police leadership needs to realize that learning organizations are generative and more adaptive than traditional ones; that it will require vision, patience, and courage to think and evolve a new kind of police system. It is not really an individual task but a complete change in

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thinking and perception and it will only come from the patient, concerted efforts of communities of its people. The learning organization will “provide opportunities to exercise responsibility, to learn from experience, to take risks and to gain satisfaction from results achieved and lessons learned’’ (Handy 1995, 55).

Chapter Eight

Human Values and Police Leadership

All the scholars of organizational theories and the cases studies we have discussed suggest that in organization, and particularly in the police organization, human beings are most important. Among the resources of the police, the people who work for them are the most valuable. What makes a police officer a wise, humane, and effective agent of public service?

SOCIAL BEHAVIORIST APPROACH Innovative approaches to police work need to be considered appropriately. One such approach is provided in Policing: A Social Behaviorist Perspective (Sykes and Brent 1983). According to Sykes and Brent, a focus on violence is central to the orthodox view of policing. Among the proponents of this view we find Bittner, Reiss, Goldstein, Manning, Rubinstein, Muir, and, of course, Westley. The authors consider the orthodox view an inadequate representation of everyday reality of police work, in the course of which force must occasionally and regrettably be used. Although they admit that the police should be specialists in its use, Sykes and Brent see a greater need for the police to be specialists at mediation and arbitration. They interpret this perspective as the less dramatic but more important aspect of police activity. The authors present an alternate interpretation of police work, 198

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arguing that it consists primarily of talking. Concerning the police officer, they add that he has the responsibility to discover precisely what kind of disturbance is occurring and what the roles of the principal actors are; to appeal to conscience or to prior agreements; perhaps to negotiate a new basis of order; to mediate, arbitrate, cajole, argue, persuade, convince, suggest, order, command, and, if necessary, threaten. If none of these is effective, then he must use force. Sykes and Brent (1983) state that their main avenues of inquiry include the process of police intervention in disturbances, the way police carry out their duties without resort to coercion, and the police’s exploration of their task of talking. In the process of exploring these issues, the authors arrive at some interesting findings. After analyzing approximately 5,000 actual encounters between police officers and civilians, the authors found that an officer’s behavior is a product of his or her definitions of the situation rather than of uncritical acceptance of the account given by a complainant or a dispatcher. The officer acts as the task leader of a volatile working group consisting of complainants, suspects, victims, and others. He or she does not thereby differ from doctors, dentists, and nurses, who have a similar position regarding their patients. In getting their work done, police officers go through a whole series of complex and discretionary decisions. According to Sykes and Brent, a police-civilian encounter may be best conceived as a problem solving work group supervised by a police officer. The process of talking marks all interactions between police and civilians. Talking has a basic order or sequence, and it enables officers to carry on their work without resorting to physical force. The authors hope that the social behaviorist perspective will succeed in focusing attention away from violent coercion. This perspective, they expect, can also teach the police to be persuasive and sensitive to the meanings of others. Nevertheless, Sykes and Brent have an appropriate, contemporary, and valuable message for readers interested in the police. Their statement that the police are reinforcers of both formal and informal, public and private norms is certainly acceptable. Such a concept is the basis of the present experiments on the broken windows (Wilson and Kelling 1982) theory as well as the nostalgic call to go back to community policing (Manning 1997). In current efforts to professionalize the police through technological aids, it has sometimes been forgotten that

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police authority should, insofar as possible, be moral or calculative, not coercive. Sykes and Brent (1983) forcefully stress this point and urge that police officers internalize the values required for such an attitude. No one can deny that persuasive and sensitive officers who confront police problems by talking with common sense seem likely to be in tune with a democratic society. Besides practicing the model propounded here, the new police officer may be encouraged to learn from the lessons and practices abroad.

INTERNATIONAL STUDIES In his book on Indian police, Bayley (1969) says that the Indian police executives, the IPS officers, display a breadth of interest and knowledge. He does not believe an American high school graduate or even many college graduates would show up as well. Here he has in mind the fact that many American chiefs have only high school education. Bayley points out that India, then, has twice as many people per police officer as the United States or Great Britain. But crime rates in the largest cities are only one-third the national rates in the United States, England, and Wales. He mentions that judged by proportionate size of police force, India has done as well as the West, if not somewhat better in her major cities. In the matter of law enforcement, Bayley (1991) notes, Japanese law enforcement is a different world. There is no blue power syndrome, no heroic stand by the police as society’s last defense against moral decay, and crime and violence against the police were much less in Japan. The police showed no undue vulnerability to stress; they were proud, confident of public support, and accustomed to being viewed by the public as the possessors of exemplary conduct. How very unlike the American police! Further, the Japanese police are proud rather than defensive and they perceive the public as supportive who, in turn, expect exemplary behavior from policemen. While the Indian police combine British liberal tradition and colonial values, their Japanese counterparts have achieved a remarkable combination of modernity and tranquillity. Bayley (1991) then asks: How can it have happened that a country so similar to the United States can be a heaven for a cop? Based on the fixed police posts, called koban in cities and chuzaisho in rural areas,

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police operations in Japan are unlike those in the United States. Bayley (1991) mentions that Japanese policemen, many of whom walk instead of ride in cars, are fondly addressed by people as “Omawari-san, Mr. Walkabout” (p. 31). Hierarchy has a special status in Japanese police organizations while in the United States administration is considered a necessary evil, a fit place for persons without the ability to hold active command. This is because, Bayley explains, there exists a profound difference in the evolution of the police systems in both countries. American police forces grew haphazardly out of patrol and watch activities while the Japanese police were created from the top down by explicit acts of central government initiative. Police officers in Japan are compelling without being coercive. Both American and Japanese officers seem to share a sense of status inferiority but compared to the former, the Japanese policemen are self-effacing, low key, undramatic, inconspicuous, and averse to playing a visible role in public. Japanese policemen do not use earthy language which in the United States acts as a badge of membership. In that country policemen are not used to swearing and crude language. The book (Bayley 1991) abounds in instances of dissimilarities in everyday behavior and routine activities between the Japanese and American police. One is inclined to analyze these differences in terms of recruitment, training, supervision, and prospects for career development. In all these aspects, Japanese practices appear more rational and advanced. Bayley points out that these are elements considered important by Americans to keep police misconduct under control. In Japan there are some unique factors like group oversight that may extend to the practices of senior officers acting as marriage brokers for young policemen. Group norms stress values such as that policemen are the new Samurai, infused with Nihon damashi-Japanese spirit. To the policemen their organization is a community and their job a way of life. The work community emphasizes that the key to public morality is public respect to be secured through responsible self-discipline and identification with the larger community’s standards of appropriate behavior. But the American public believe more in external checks, public standards are rejected by police officers, and the police resist public criticism because acceptance of outside criticism is equated with disloyalty to the organization. In brief, the Japanese police are molded in unique

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ways and police behavior is the product of general patterns of value and behavior. Bayley (1991) discusses whether Japanese practices can be fruitfully imported to America in view of the excellent record of the police in Japan. He says that not all police practices are interchangeable as all of them are unlikely to fit a different social context. To those who may advocate American police reform through importation of practices from Japan, Bayley suggests that they must first decide in practical terms what is to be changed. Second, he suggests, the advocates of police reform must diagnose where the impediments to change lie. Such impediments may vary depending on what is to be changed. Over certain matters like direct recruitment at two levels, as in Japan, the police may have total control. To change, practices that call for additional funds-upgrading American police training to the Japanese level, for example-would have to be undertaken only with community support. In certain areas of reform the police do not have to wait for community support but can take the initiative. They can encourage the growth of community spirit by soliciting greater participation of private citizens in crime prevention. Bayley (1985) examines from a global perspective the two main concerns that he has been pursuing consistently. The first concern is: How does social context affect what police do? And his second concern that he thinks through more deeply in this book is whether change in the police depends on social changes. However, both questions are so interlinked that they can be discussed together. Bayley’s position seems to be that the police are shaped by the forces outside them but they also possess a margin of initiative and can exert powerful pressure on society. This has been his argument all through his writings. In the Minorities and the Police (Bayley and Mendelsohn 1969), reformers of policeminority relations, were asked to bear in mind that the police are creatures of society in which they live and work. However, the police were advised that a measure of initiative certainly belongs to them. In his Indian work, Bayley (1969) asks, how does the social and political environment affect the police and how do the police affect the social and political environment. In Forces of Order, Bayley (1991) is more straightforward in stating that the police reflect the society but they are not powerless to change by their own initiative. In his chapter on the limits of police reform (1983, Bayley says that

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unless American society is prepared to modify familiar and prized habits and customs, no reform of the police in America in regard to a fonnidable list of features is possible. Included in this list are such elements as armament, role, mechanism of accountability, relations with the rest of the criminal justice system, cooperation by the public, morale, use of force, incidence of misbehavior, and scale of organization. These characteristics of the American police are due to culture as opposed to other plausibly related factors and, hence, they cannot be transformed. Bayley reassures us that there is no need to despair and assume that nothing can be done. Police reformers must carefully determine the extent of impingement of culture on different aspects of police operation. Second, they must be sensitive in to the fact that the aspects of culture vary in regard to mutability. True, Americans might refuse to be disarmed but they are likely to be amenable to greater doses of police professionalism, discretion, and standardization of police jurisdiction. Third, the police themselves, as Bayley says elsewhere too, are formative agents and they can help change society’s attitude and values. Pragmatic considerations are not at all neglected by Fosdick (1969). He mentions that police forces of the world will find many points worthy of careful study in the German police. In the London police Fbsdick finds an attempt to harmonize the democratic spirit with the requirements of effective organization. Fbsdick sees an undoubted advantage in the continental practice of bringing in new but well-trained material from outside sources for filling superior positions in police departments. But he also notes that the possibility of extensive promotions which exists in the English police departments provides the incentive to faithful and painstaking work on the part of the rank and file of the police forces in that country. Compared with that situation, subordinate officers in continental police units are likely to find few compelling inducements to efficient work. Fosdick suggests a general proposition in this regard. To avoid being mechanical, police departments may encourage infusion of new blood in high administrativepositions. There are many such passages of pragmatic import incorporated throughout the book. Glueck‘s work (1974) has many unmistakable pragmatic dimensions. It was conceived at a time when New York was looking for answers to great problems facing the city’s law enforcement apparatus. According to Glueck, the city could not find the answers in America because the

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situations were as bad in every city, as shown in the Wickersham Commission Report a few years later. Glueck’s study pointed to the need for greater democratization of the European police and more professionalization of the American police. It was successful in laying to rest the cynicism among critics that it was useless to compare conditions that differ so fundamentally. Glueck also stated that there are important lessons to learn from Europe. The beat system and effective patrol work, for example, can be imported from The Hague and Berlin. Most important, America should learn from Europe that police work is a profession practiced by people of education, training, and dedication. Pragmatic considerations play a major role in Berkeley’s (1969) study. As a matter of fact, his conclusions, particularly the last portion, contain many suggestions for the improvement of American police based on the practices of the police in Europe. He recommends that education of the police should form the central core of the reform strategy, as Berkeley considers that police education has received great attention in the countries across the Atlantic. He also advocates centralization for American police as it has been a great boon to some foreign police forces he has studied. He adds to his list many other features of excellence he found in several European police agencies, such as civilianization, unionization, positive work, reduction of repressive tactics, elimination of corruption, and enhancement of the police role as a positive social instrument. According to Shane (1 980), this is because, unlike the other countries studied, America does not have supervision by higher levels of government over the police. He believes there are certainly viable alternatives in equally democratic countries that could be examined for possible application in the United States. Scandals that at times rock various American forces are unheard of elsewhere. But pragmatic concerns do not seem to be Ames’ motivation. Perhaps he thinks that it is not possible to import police practices from Japan because of certain unique characteristics of the police there. For example, Ames (1981) says that the Western concepts of the right to privacy and self-fulfillmentare sometimes abridged in Japan. The country is politically one of the freest nations on Earth, but this does not necessarily equate with social freedom. Parker (1984) differs, saying that he is not averse to American police learning from Japanese police. He comments that his work shows his very high regard for the Japanese

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system and that possibilities for learning from this system are rather obvious. Clearly, American police will find it useful to learn from some of the practices and principles being followed in the police systems of other countries.

POLICE LEADERSHIP To ensure that police personnel fit into the environment of police department as a learning organization, the role of police leadership remains the most important factor. “Leaders are responsible for the practices within their organizations” (Hauptman 2000, 53). Dantzker (1999) points out that leaders are different from managers. The difference lies in the fact that managers create policies and procedures while leaders set examples, encourage, and influence others to follow principles. Gardner (1995) says, “Leaders are persons who, by word and /or personal example, markedly influence the behaviors, thoughts, and /or feelings of a significant number of their fellow human beings” (pp. 8-9). Although, managerial practices, technology, and training are important factors in policing but the role of police leadership is undoubtedly critical. Swanson, Territo, and Taylor (1993) state that police leaders have responsibilitiesof fulfilling “the police mission, making work productive, helping the subordinates and producing impacts” (p. 163). Furthermore, that “leadership is the process of influencing organizational members to use their energies willingly and appropriately to facilitate the achievement of the police department’s goals” (p. 165). However, to make this impact, police leaders must get away from the desire for personal power or the need to be well thought of by others. Swanson, Territo, and Taylor (1993) also suggest that police leaders require three kinds of skills:

1. Human relations skills-to communicate within the department the goals of the organization and ability to receive feedback from their subordinates. Also, they should be able to win political support to obtain resources for the organization. 2. Conceptual skills-the ability to understand and relate various kinds of information to ensure that the organization does not deviate from its objectives.

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3. Technical skills-involves current knowledge of new tools like computer applications, analysis of physical evidence, modern management principles, budgeting, planning, and financial accounting. There are many theories about what makes a good leader. Carlyle (1902) believed that great leaders were born while Hegel (1952) argues that events produced such great personality. Galton (1887) even suggested that great leaders were the product of genetics. British General Montgomery (1961), thought leaders were those who possessed infectious optimism, confidence, intellect, and good judgment about the character of their subordinates. Lewin, Lippitt, and White (1939) identified three traits of leadership: 1. The authoritarian leader, who makes all the decisions without consulting the subordinates and even controls their performance. 2. The democratic leader, who is group-oriented and attempts to involve everyone in planning and execution of the work. 3. The “laissez-faire” leader, who keeps a passive approach in dealing with subordinates.

Cohen (1980) from his study of senior managers of the New York police department suggested that police leaders may be classified in two categories: (a) tradition-oriented and (b) reform-oriented. As the term suggests, the first category includes those who are satisfied with the status quo and tend to identify with the rank and file. The reformers were generally college-educated and independent and looked with disfavor the prevailing corruption, brutality, and human-rights violations. They were also less authoritarian and strived to reform the system. Pursley (1974) also found that the “nontraditional” police chiefs were younger, educated, more inclined to accept input from their subordinates, and adopted a participative type of management. In contrast the “traditionalist” chiefs functioned to assert control over their subordinates and displayed a tendency towards centralization of powers. Van Maanen (1978) distinguished between two types of sergeants: (a) stution house sergeants, who preferred to work in the office, concentrated on paper work and record keeping and supported the management culture of the department, and (b) street sergeants, who preferred working

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in the field and disliked paper work and office procedures. Yet, in terms of leadership traits, it turns out that station sergeants stood behind their officers and were quietly able to secure better favors for their officers. The street sergeants were action-oriented and generally seen to be interfering in the work of their subordinates. They may get media publicity but would generally get in trouble for official violations. Blake and Mouton (1962) suggest a management grid that ranges from concern for personnel to concern for meeting organizational objectives. In the former situation, the leader will show concern for people’s health, their families, and financial or emotional problems. A leader falling in the latter category is largely concerned about meeting targets and will drive subordinates to achieve them. Burns (1978) suggests that there are two kinds of leadership traits: (a) the transactional and (b) the transforming. The former are those who “bargain” with their subordinates to get a job done. They will provide inducements for good performance and emphasize values of fairness, acceptance of responsibility, commitment, and completing work on schedule. The transformers try to elevate this relationship with their subordinates by emphasizing a cause greater than personal conveniences. They stress values of justice, liberty, and other such noble sentiments. Bums’ work has received many favorable comments from other scholars. Kouzes and Posner (1987), extending these ideas, suggest that successful leaders display some basic commitments. They challenge the existing process, searching out opportunities to innovate, change, and improve the situation. They are ready to experiment, take risks, and learn from their mistakes. Furthermore, they inspire a vision, talk of a better future, and try to enlist others by appealing to their values, interests, and dreams. Such leaders enable others to act by promoting cooperative goals and building trust, sharing information and decision making, and increasing the discretionary powers of their subordinates. Above all, they set an example by their own conduct and value systems. They reflect on consistent progress and attempt to build commitment for the organization. Accordingly, they give credit to individual and team contributions. Swanson, Territo, and Taylor (1993) also argue that “it is essential that such transformational leaders have transactional skills” (p. 190). They also suggest that police leaders need to contribute to the fulfillment of the department’s objective, ensure that their subordinates are productive and have an effect on their areas of responsibility. For these responsibil-

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ities, the leaders must “practice habits of mind” such as “employing their time wisely, building on the strengths that they and their subordinates have, and concentrating on the results to be achieved rather than on the units of work to be achieved” (p. 194). The most significant quality that a police leader should possess is one of integrity, moral values, and a vision for the organization. Setting an example is extremely important for anyone attempting to be an effective leader (Blanchard and Peale 1988). Goodwin (1998) adds that effective leaders define a vision and help people move toward that direction. Hauptman (2000) adds that an “ethical leadership is a moral leadership” of one “who practices acceptable standards of behavior and readily differentiates between what is right and wrong” (p. 56). Souryal (1992) also says that the “power of ethical management is the power of knowledge, vision, decency, and good faith” (p. 186). All these scholars suggest that a desirable change can only come from such an ethical leadership in the police department. Larimer (1997) suggests that leaders can promote ethical work environment in any organization by: making a formal commitment to advance ethical behavior throughout the organization; developing and communicating an ethical vision for the organization; demonstrating ethical behaviors; establishing appropriate ethical performance criteria and conducting training, and rewarding ethical achievements and responding to misconduct in a timely, thorough manner. (PP. 5-6)

The actions and thoughts of leaders reverberate throughout the organization. These send a clear message to everyone concerned about what will be tolerated or accepted and what will be disapproved. Leaders have an obligation to draw attention to any forms of discrimination, wrongful practice, unethical behavior, and misuse of force. This is “not for personal gain but to improve the system” (Nair 1997, 136). An ethical leader commits to make the right decision and take action even if it may not be the most popular thing to do. This may involve emphasizing that all people, regardless of race, ethnicity, class, gender, or criminal record have basic human rights that must be honored in all circumstances. The police department has to be operated not only for the prevention of crime and apprehension of offenders but also keeping in mind that these tasks have to be accom-

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plished through ethical means. “The morally correct response for a police officer in any given situation requires an understanding of the role the criminal justice system is intended to play, and the diverse interests to be balanced” (McGrath 1997, 147). Indeed, the U.S. Supreme Court has, over the years, evolved a high ethical standard to which the system must conform. The court sets only legal limits and not moral ones, but inherent in any decision are the issues of limits to the exercise of police powers that touch on the ethical dimension of how all people, whether guilty of violation or not are still to be treated by police officers. The police constantly face the temptation of taking shortcuts that provide practical gains but lead to moral degeneration. In view of such temptations, the standards set by police leadership become crucial in guiding the action of subordinate officers. The knowledge that the department expects results but only through prescribed means, prevents officers from misusing their powers and maintaining the department’s integrity towards upholding the law. Accordingly, our question of the ways to have humane and concerned police officers may be answered by pointing towards the importance of having leaders who possess these qualities. A police leader of this nature is likely to set an example, influence the subordinates, provide a vision, and move the organization toward such a desirable goal. This is a lesson that we learn not only from the research carried out in past decades in the United States but also from the examples of foreign police organizations that we have discussed.

Chapter Nine

Other Innovations and Experimentations

Skolnick and Bayley (1986) pointed to the new blue line and growing innovations in the American police. Kelling et al. (1988) went so far as to suggest that “a quiet revolution is reshaping American police.” The changing face of the American police has been mentioned by other scholars, too (Conser and Russell 2000; Blakely and Bumphus 1999). Indeed, the “research revolution” (Walker 1999, 24), resulting in several important developments between 1960 and 1990, has contributed to a rapid transformation of the police. Community policing is now a buzzword, but other forms such as problem-oriented policing, team policing, and decentralized management (Goldstein 1990; Hale 1981) have also found their way into police vocabulary over the years. There is a growing evidence that many police departments have begun to adopt new management policies, introduce high technology into their work, and decentralize their operations. In this chapter we will consider some of these new innovations that are being experimented with in the American police. Early research supported by the president’s Crime Commission (1965-67) suggested that most police work involves noncnme activities and that there is considerable discretion involved in a patrol officer’s work. The Kansas City Preventive Patrol Experiment (Kelling et al. 1974) and Rand Corporation’s study of Criminal Investigation (Chaiken, Greenwood, and Petersilia 1977) further suggested that merits of patrolling were questionable, while investigation work was largely 210

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unproductive. Studies also pointed to the importance of improving working culture since officer’s attitudes and behavior were shaped by the job environment rather than by their individual characteristics (Walker 1999). All these factors coupled with the growing public pressure for improvements in police services forced the departments to change their working philosophy. Goldstein’s Problem Oriented Policing ( 1990) suggested that police should not be driven by public calls for service but should adopt a proactive initiative in handling citizen problems. The realization that police capacity to deal with crime problems is limited was another impetus to think differently. Furthermore, Wilson and Kelling’s “broken windows” hypothesis (1982) suggested that police should be involved in the small problems of the neighborhood to combat criminal activities successfully. These research studies laid the foundation for what has come to be known as “community policing,” wherein the police are beginning to “develop innovative strategies to deal with neighborhood problems” (Walker 1999, 28) as part of its responsibilities to combat criminal activities. Kelling goes further to argue that “the police were not just developing new tactics,” but a whole “new philosophy, organizational strategy, model, or paradigm” (Kelling 1990, vii). Trojanowicz and Bucqueroux (1990) write, “Community policing changes the way the police think and act” (p. ix). Community policing works on the belief that community problems need a decentralized and personal approach by the officers in which the people are organized to police themselves. These authors suggest ten broad principles on which this new model of community policing is based: 1. That law abiding people deserve input into the police process in exchange for their participation and support. 2. That organizational strategy demands everyone in the department to be involved in translating this philosophy into action. 3. That specific line officers (CPOs) be created that are free from routine police responsibilities to work closely with the people. 4. These CPOs work creatively with the community to improve overall quality of life in the area. 5. That police acts a catalyst in helping people solve their problems and in developing long-term strategies for community concerns.

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6. That it adds a proactive element in making communities safer and more attractive places to live. 7. That it seeks new ways to protect the vulnerable sections and involves the whole department in preventive efforts. 8. That reposes trust in the front line officers to fashion creative approaches to community problems. 9. That it provides vital information about the community to the department so that it bridges the gap between the people and the police. 10. That it encourages people to think of a new role for the police, as a resource to use for solving their problems. Community policing philosophy has initiated several innovative experiments in policing. We discuss a few as an illustration of the new approach in policing.

CHICAGO'S CAPS PROGRAM A new partnership between police and community is the foundation of Chicago's own philosophy of community policing, known as Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy (CAPS), (Chicago Police, 1999a). CAPS is based on the understanding that the police alone cannot solve the crime problems, that the cooperative efforts of police, community, and other city agencies is required. This program was started in 1993 in five districts selected in terms of their demographics, economics, crime problems, and levels of community organization. After gaining experience, the program has been extended to all twenty-five districts of the city. CAPS partnership is focused on dealing with serious crime problems, as well as criminogenic neighborhood conditions, such as abandoned buildings and vehicles, vacant lots, drug houses, troubled families, and graffiti. Specially trained police officers work with community leaders in identifying and solving these problems. All the concerned officers, such as beat and rapid-response officers, as well as gang and tactical officers in the districts work together. Their objective is to solve problems of crime, security, and neighborhood quality-of-life issues, and not just react to their symptoms. These officers work with the community members in developing beat profiles-comprehensive

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records of the characteristics, resources, and chronic crime problems of the community to prioritize and plan strategies. Thereafter, through cooperative efforts specific beat plans are made to initiate a plausible problem-solving process. For instance, a block-by-block, five-step problem-solving process has been initiated at Gill Park that has reclaimed the park from gang bangers and drug dealers:

Step 1: Identify and Prioritize the Problem Community meetings suggested that Gill Park was a problem area,

Step 2: Analyze the Problem Using a device called the Crime Triangle, police and residents analyzed the Gill Park problem from three perspectives: offenders, victims, and location. First, specific information was developed on who were buying and selling drugs. The victims were identified as the families who could no longer use the park, plus nearby property owners whose buildings were devalued by the criminal presence at the park. Other problems such as poor lighting, overgrown shrubbery, and an overall design that provided ideal hiding places for illegal activity were also pointed out.

Step 3: Design Strategies The police and community developed a number of strategies to address the offender and location sides of the Crime Triangle. Foot patrols at strategic times and curfew and loitering laws were energetically enforced to target the offenders. People living adjacent to the park were involved to keep a watchful eye and report suspicious activity. The city agencies were invited to redesign the park to discourage criminal activity and present an inviting look for family recreation.

Step 4 Implement Strategies The implementation was carried out in a cooperative manner. The community, in particular, stepped forward to provide architectural services and raise money for the park redesign. The police stepped up its activi-

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ties against the offenders and park renovation was undertaken on a priority basis.

Step 5 Evaluate and Acknowledge Success A review of successes and failures were closely monitored. Which strategies worked? What challenges remain? In Gill Park, the signs of success were seen by the increasing use of the park facilities by the local people. The community felt a resurgence in quality of life and safety for its young members. The five-step problem-solving process is one of the many ways CAPS has been operating. It is enabling ordinary people to do extraordinary things and suggesting that a few good citizens who care enough can make a difference in their neighborhood. CAPS has also initiated regular Beat Community Meetings that are hosted by the Chicago Police Department. The objective is to bring together residents and the police officers who patrol that beat. This allows beat police officers and the neighborhood residents to get to know one another. These meetings also enable the police and residents to identify, analyze, and begin to solve neighborhood crime problems. The Chicago Police Department is making a huge investment in training both police personnel and the community in the CAPS philosophy of problem solving. All members of the police department-sworn and civilian-are receiving some level of CAPS training, ranging from orientation to advanced problem-solving skills. Chicago officials have recognized that graffiti, abandoned vehicles, abandoned buildings, malfunctioning street lights, and other signs of neighborhood disorder can all affect the level of crime in a community. Accordingly, CAPS has been made a priority of all city agencies and not just the police department. A procedure has been developed whereby the process is initiated through the City Service Request Form, which police officers complete and submit to the Mayor’s Office of Inquiry and Information. This request is fed into a computer that sends an electronic work order to the appropriate city agency for investigation and action. Technology has been seen as an important part of community policing. A new computer program called Information Collection for Automated Mapping (ICAM) has made neighborhood problem solving easier through the collection and analysis of crime data at the beat level.

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With ICAM, beat and other police officers are able to quickly and easily generate maps of timely, accurate crime data for their beats, sectors, or districts. This information helps the police officers target hot spots of criminal activity. The system also makes it easier for the police to share crime information with the community as they work together. This system has been very useful and successful in apprehending offenders and controlling crimes. In the 24th District, tactical officers detected a pattern of armed robberies with a knife near Clark and Greenleaf within the same three-hour period. A surveillance was set up that helped in arresting an offender as he was trying to steal a senior citizen’s purse at knifepoint in the 1800 block of West Greenleaf. In the 10th District officers established a regular schedule of mapping different crimes to understand emerging patterns (robberies one day, auto thefts the next, burglaries, and so on.). This helped in identifying an armed robbery pattern at grocery stores on Beat 1014 and in apprehending a known gang member with an extensive criminal history who confessed to many crimes in that area. In all the districts, these crime maps are being shared with the community at beat meetings and other gatherings. Such sharing of information is also helping the community to better understand the crime problems in their neighborhoods and to help the develop tactics such as citizen patrols, Neighborhood Watch, Ameritech Cellular Patrol, and so on, that are being used to fight crime. The ICAM is being used now to map not only crimes, but also the locations of other institutions or problems in the community. Physical features such as abandoned buildings, liquor establishments, and schools are a few of the things that have been mapped using ICAM. By creating this Geoarchive--combined data of crime and community information (Block 1997), the police and community have begun to recognize some of the underlying causes and conditions that lead to crime. Now a more developed Emergency Communications Center that consolidates emergency communications for police, fire, and emergency medical services has been established that is likely to enhance these problem-solving capabilities. The effect of CAPS and emphasis on working with the community has also been beneficial for individual officers. As an illustration, Chicago police have posted information about officers Jordan and Smith who are known as the “Pied Pipers” of Robert Taylor Homes. These

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officers preferred to work with kids and that love shows loud and clear as they walk their beat. The two talk with the children, offer advice, and encouragement, and let “the youngsters know that someone truly cares about their schoolwork, about their future plans, about their fears and their feelings” (Chicago Police 1999b). The kids have also responded positively. “Officer Jordan and Smith are like our best friends,” says one 11-year old. “They tell us to stay in school and stay off the streets. They tell us there’s better stuff than drugs. They’re just good for us” (Chicago Police 1999b) The credit certainly goes to CAPS, which allows officers to go out and actually work with the citizens. Officers Jordan and Smith were awarded the department’s Partnership Award at the 35th Annual Police Recognition Ceremony. Throughout its history, Chicago police have followed the traditional model of reactive policing. However, with CAPS, the police department has proactively attempted to involve the community members and worked together to solve neighborhood crime problems and make the streets safer.

NEWPORT NEWS The police department here initiated a problem-oriented policing approach in 1984 (Trojanowicz and Bucqueroux 1990). This effort was supported by the Police Executive Research Forum, which developed a system to collect and analyze different kinds of information about criminal incidents in the city. The department selected thirty-nine problems concerned with crime and disorder to be dealt through this new approach. These citywide problems included such crimes as burglaries, larcenies, prostitution, drugs, traffic violations, and disorder problems like loitering, runaways, and disturbances. The projects involved active participation of citizens, police, other city agencies, officers, and community members. Many measures were taken such as new policy and procedures, information brochures, new yardsticks for officers’ performance, and regular meetings with the communities. A problem analysis advisory committee (PAAC) consisting of police officers and others was established to guide the projects through the four stages of identification or scanning of the problem, its analysis, response, and assessment (SARA). Finally, the local media was also involved in highlighting the success of these initiatives.

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These efforts succeeded in solving many crime problems. Cases of people driving away from gasoline stations without paying for their fuel was solved by working with the owners and developing a new alternative tele-service desk for these types of calls. Residential burglaries at Briarfield apartments were solved by assigning neighborhood cops who enhanced police-community relations by working with the residents. Storefront units were established with funding from local businesses that assisted in driving away drug dealers and restoring the playgrounds to the children. This unit also established a Role Model Program for young people and the innovative efforts led to a substantial reduction in crimes also. The Newport News initiatives have shown that problem solving can be applied by officers through the department and that these efforts do lead to a reduction in the problems experienced by the citizens. The police department claims that this philosophy has been actively embraced by its personnel and has become a part of a value system. Several policies have been developed to implement this philosophy. These measures suggest that problem-oriented policing is a more practical, challenging, and different way of dealing with citizen problems. It is changing the way the police department has been functioning and is improving the quality of life in that city.

BALTIMORE POLICE DEPARTMENT This police department has transformed from few specialized community policing units with a narrow focus to a departmentwide decentralized structure that is geared toward working with the community. The new initiative started in 1982 with the development of Citizen Oriented Police Enforcement (COPE) unit that addressed citizens’ fear of crime. After gaining experience from these methods the department initiated a second reorganization in 1991 through its matrix and initiative management principles. The former was used to pennit information, guidance, and authority to flow both vertically and horizontally throughout the department. This led to direct contact among all officers without going through a structured chain of command. The latter technique helped to prioritize the problems and organized the resources to deal with them. In

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particular, the department concentrated on community policing, crime prevention, drugs, and inculcation of human values among its personnel. These procedures have assisted in decentralizing crime prevention efforts and encouraged the officers to focus on community problems as part of their anticrime work. Baltimore County officials have also made other city agencies to work cooperatively with the police and neighborhood committees to address the problems from a wider perspectives. An example of this initiative has been the 828 unit apartment complex of Village of Tall Trees. This place had been plagued by drugs, social and economic problems, and rising criminal incidents. A partnership between the citizens and police was formed that targeted these problems. A large community center is being funded from private and government sources to offer education, health, counseling, and other services to the community. The center is also going to be the meeting place for the community, police, and other governmental agencies. Other initiatives like defensible space development and a holistic approach to solving problems of the community is being taken by the police department. In the process the department is itself undergoing a far-reaching transformation.

PROBLEMS OF ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGES The traditional model of policing has been one of disciplined enforcers of law and order. This has resulted in a reactive force that follows orders from the top without question. This may have been a desired quality in the initial phase of policing but it has resulted in stifling creativity, prevented decision making at the crucial line level, and discouraged the patrol officers from taking the initiative in solving citizen problems. The transition to community policing, however, requires that police develop a partnership with the community and decentralize its operational commands. There is considerable resistance to this transition that goes beyond the common notion of officers opposing a change in their time tested work culture. The move toward community policing requires field officers to develop a close relationship with community leaders, give weight to citizen opinion, initiate innovative solutions to problems that appear noncriminal in nature, and use a conciliatory

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approach rather than an authoritarian one in their dealings. On the other hand, within the department discipline, accountability to a chain of command and traditional management practices remain unchanged. This creates a dichotomy and encourages resistance by the line officers toward new initiatives. The challenge before the police leadership is to adopt the community policing philosophy completely and introduce transformation throughout the department rather than only as a specific measure. It is not sufficient that the department advocates community policing and creates a specialized unit but does not make changes in rest of the organization. Management has to implement changes at all levels to break away from the past and adopt new standards. The supervisors need to understand the desired behaviors and attempt to teach these to their subordinates. The field officers have to be made social equals in solving citizen and departmental problems. This is a crucial factor and demands that police leadership has to share its powers with their subordinates. They have to teach their line officers to distinguish between situations where strict compliance is required and ones where a personal initiative is required to solve the problem. This naturally calls for a reevaluation of existing management practices and a transformation in the decision-making process of the department. Unless there is a genuine and tangible decentralization of powers and magnanimity to suffer honest mistakes, most field officers are likely to believe that what is being said is not being followed. They will not feel empowered to solve the citizen problems if they lack decision-making powers within their own organization. Moreover, the police leadership will have to accept the fact that in many cases their subordinates, working with the citizens, may be in a better position to solve the problems. They should resist the temptation of being knowledgeable and need to display the humility of learning from their subordinates. Gilmartin and Harris (1999) argue that those who continue with business as usual inside the department while espousing the values of community policing outside the department will have to face more internal resistance and misunderstanding, and will not realize the benefits of community policing. However, a planned change from traditional management practices to an all-encompassing community policing philosophy is not easy to suggest. Brown (1989) states how a police executive can shift an organization from a more traditional philosophy to community policing

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philosophy has been unclear. Barker and Mullen (1999) suggest that three stages may be identified in this transformation: 1. interdepartmental changes 2. changes between the police and other service providing organizations 3. changes between the community and the police

Interdepartmental Changes Trojanowicz and Bucqueroux (1990) argue that such a change is possible only through an alteration in organizational culture. The police leadership has to decentralize power within the department and encourage their officers to participate in decision making (Kelling and Moore 1988). Furthermore, this requires that civilian input in problem solving be encouraged by the organization (Oettmeier and Brown 1988). However, the exact process of this change is difficult to state for it is dependent on the organization and community in question. Barker and Mullen (1 999) suggest that Organizational Development (OD) is an appropriate management strategy to implement these changes. French and Bell (1978) also argue that OD encompasses a change in organizational culture. OD has been described as being the applied side of organizational culture, providing a variety of techniques to bring about a transformation. Clearly, a change in values is needed to decentralize power and share authority in problem solving tasks. OD is able to serve some other objectives, too: 1. improving the managerial competency 2. inculcation of values in organizational dynamics 3. greater understanding among the members, which also reduces interpersonal tensions 4. more team efforts that increases the group capacity 5. development of better rational methods and reduction in authoritative measures 6. spread of mutual confidence and trust and wider sharing of responsibilities (Bennis 1966) However, there are shortcomings in any management policy. One is described as innovation ghetto whereby a small, independent unit

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attempting a change is forced by the larger organization to regress back to the normal (Toch and Grant 1982). This is seen in the attempts to introduce team policing during the early 1970s that could not go beyond a certain level (Kuykendall and Roberg 1982). A major problem of transformation in the police department is the difficulty in getting officers to accept citizen participation. Police officers have a long history of resistance to citizen input in their work (Goldstein 1990; Manning 1997) and they have generally expressed “suspicion of outsiders” (Skolnick and Bayley 1986, 221). Similarly, citizen boards have not been allowed to determine the nature of policing and have been restricted to dealing with individual deviance on a limited scale (Kelling, Wasserman, and Williams 1988). This questions the sincerity of the police attempts to involve citizen input in community policing. It remains to be seen how much the officers and their union will tolerate citizens as an equal partner in determining the selection of problems that police will deal with and the techniques that should be applied for their solution. It is here that OD is seen as a useful management technique to usher in a radical change. By promoting collaborative decision making it breaks down the cultural barriers. It teaches the officers the value of cooperative ventures and makes them more receptive to participating with the citizens. Above all, it helps in developing a corps of officers who are trained in working jointly within the department and therefore are open to the idea of sharing responsibilities with the citizens. This mechanism suggests a successful growth in appropriate values and attitudes through learning process. OD also involves a role for consultants and guidance for managers facing community and political elements hostile to change. Furthermore, the process controls the speed of transformation and a feedback system that can help determine how open or closed the organization should be during the period of cultural changes. OD has found considerable success in public sector organizations (Golembiewski, Proehl, and Sink 1981) and so may be useful to police managers, too. Changes Among Service-Providing Organizations

Another important factor involving transformation to community policing is the need for cooperation between the police agents and other service-providing agents of the municipal government. After all, com-

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munity policing is concerned with quality-of-life issues (Kelling and Moore 1988) and begins with the process of “fixing broken windows” (Kelling and Coles 1996). However, many of these community problems require intervention by other service providers and perhaps multiple agency efforts (Oettmeier and Brown 1988). However, community policing requires that police influence and ensure other service agents perform beyond their normal routines. This is likely to raise the questions of status and result in a power struggle among different municipal agencies. The process is also one where the power of the police is likely to be greater since they are the first to contact the citizens and, after all, community policing is their baby. Many scholars have raised fears about this possibility (Klockars 1988; Bayley 1988). The possibility of other agencies resisting and even opposing police efforts is a genuine concern in this transformation. For instance, the police demand to demolish a vacant abandoned building may not receive the same priority from the civil works department that may lack resources or even may have another priority. Thus, community policing officers need not only a technique to solve citizen problems but also to learn about other agencies and seek appropriate cooperation from them (Farrell 1988).

Sharing Responsibility between the Community and Police Another concern is about the ability of the community to assume equal responsibilities with the police department. Community policing demands that citizens provide a responsible voice in the decisionmaking process (Barker and Mullen 1999). However, as Bayley (1988) has warned, there is a genuine concern that some of the vocal and wellentrenched groups not monopolize these voices. The police have to maintain their independent judgment and a system of control to ensure that the problem-solving techniques operate for the general good. This raises questions about how the partnership between the police and community be managed-what powers should be delegated and what responsibilities and resources should be shared. Trojanowicz and Bucqueroux (1990) argue that in a “sick” community, where a section of the population is not able to exist on an equal basis, community policing initiatives may turn out to be inappropriate. The people who may

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need these measures the most may be least able to participate meaningfully and receive the benefits. Barker and Mullen (1999) suggest that in such a case the best strategy is to evolve a gradual and controlled shift from traditional policing to a community problem-oriented model. The police must change its style gradually but steadily. This discussion suggests an outline of transformation for a traditional police department. Obviously, these managerial principles need to be adopted according to the state and nature of the department and the community. Some organizational changes may be undertaken slowly and others at a faster pace. Other inputs such as research, field analysis, training, and evaluation will also determine the shape of transformation. These will help “the police administrators discover obstacles to change prior to implementation as well help monitor the process once it has begun” (Barker and Mullen 1999). It has also to be realized that the chief and other middle-level managers play a crucial role in any implementation process (Desza 1988). As yet, community policing has not been properly conceptualized (Murphy 1988) and lacks a theoretical basis (Greene and Taylor 1988). The lack of a reasonably developed change model is likely to fail even sincere and well-meaning attempts. Thus, the need is to proceed cautiously taking the original mission in account before venturing into turbid waters.

CONCLUSION This book is the product of two police officers’ experiences in policing, their reflections on their experiences, and the study of policing after a change of career from active policing to academic pursuits. Its theoretical underpinnings are thickly overlaid with practice-oriented observations. It is the authors’ conviction that policing is a noble profession. Bittner (199 1) suggests that “the [policing] process involves prudence, economy, and considered judgment, from case to case. The enterprise as a whole is conceived as a public trust, the exercise of which is vested in individual practitioners who are personally responsible for their decisions and actions” (p. 48). Indeed, Sheldon (1913) proposed that policemen should be Christian missionaries and social workers. Vollmer, at the International Associa-

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tion of Police Chief‘s annual meeting in 1919, advocated the theme of policeman as a social worker (IACP 1919). Henry Bruere (1914) published a treatise titled “Police as Welfare Workers” and early reformers in the United States “envisioned the police department as the central coordinating agency for an attack on social problems because police were thought to have more immediate and first hand contact with social problems than any government agency” (Douthit 1991, 106). Robert Peel laid down that “a polite, aloof officer who was trained and disciplined according to strict guidelines would be best suited for the functions of crime prevention” (Uchida 1989,24). The importance of policing all over the world, in every nation, can be easily realized from the fact that the numerous international human rights instruments, including the 1948 The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights contain many provisions for controlling and regulating as well as guiding police action for the protection of human rights. The U.N. General Assembly has even formulated a Code of Conduct (1979) for police officials. Such attention from the world body is a testimony of the significant role the police can play in a new world order as well as also the potential for abuse inherent in the profession. This book explores the historical roots of police mission, ideals, and values. The role of the police is varied and generally ill-defined. The police are expected not only to provide safety and security but also to enforce criminal laws, investigate violations, and help in the prosecution of the offenders. In addition, the police are also expected to provide a variety of service-related functions, supervise traffic, and assist in the smooth running of society. In various places this assistance is defined in different ways, such as selling stamps to citizens or helping retrieve a cat stuck in a tree. These tasks remain ill-defined and depend on the expectations of the community as well as past traditions. For all these reasons it becomes difficult to state clearly what the mission of the police is in any given society. Consequently, the task of reforming police services, improving its functions, and meeting the expectations of the citizens is rather difficult. In the absence of a clear mandate, it is left to the whims and fancies of the police leaders and the politicians to decide the operations of the police force. In such a situation there is little scope of improvement for there is no long-term planning nor

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proper organization (Kelling and Moore 1988; Walker 1977; Uchida 1989). We set out to examine the mission of the police in this book and explored ways of determining this mission. In many countries, such as India, the role of the police is defined in the Police Act itself, which sets some boundaries to the work that is expected of the police personnel. However, even these definitions are in general terms and do not spell out clearly all the functions that the police are expected to shoulder. On the other hand, in most of the societies even this formal definition is missing and there is no clear consensus about the role of the police. For example, it is clear that in the United States there is no legal statute that can describe the mission of the police force. The extreme decentralization and vast variety of police forces in the country imply that the police functions cover a wide variety of areas and there is no uniform legal statute to determine it. Indeed, the American Bar Association listed a large variety of functions that define the role and responsibilities of the police. Some of these are described as protecting constitutional guarantees, resolving conflict, and creating and maintaining a feeling of security in the community (American Bar Association 1971). We have argued that this mission has to be derived from the history and tradition of policing in the country. Indeed, the founding principles of any society serve as the lampposts for understanding the mission of the police. In the United States these are the Bill of Rights that suggest a role for the police. In addition, the English legacy and the tradition of service provide other means of determining the mission of the police. It acknowledges that the police must not forget those ideals in its functions. In chapter 1, we analyze the vision embedded in some of the historical landmarks in the United States-the Bill of Rights, and the influence of the Peelian model of the police and the related traditions. Accordingly, it is not surprising that in the United States, different departments proclaim different mission statements. Das (1994) suggests that in every society the police have a distinct mandate and a philosophy that governs their functions. The Australian police have adopted a model of policing “which embraces and keeps reiterating the importance of police-community nexus” (James 1994, 24). In Finland, “the main tasks of the police is to prevent and investigate crimes” (Laitinen 1994, 143). The Indian police force follows the colonial model set up by the British and still

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maintains that its mandate is the prevention of crime and maintenance of order (Verma 2001). The Japanese police have attempted to merge the organizational system borrowed from Germany with the traditional peacekeeping mechanism where the police officers were equated with wise elders and given the same respect as the community leaders. The Japanese police have “the mandate and philosophy to keep the peace and to protect the weak from victimization” since the “victims are weak and the offenders are strong” (Ueno 1994,240). In contrast, the distinctive mandate of the police in New Zealand was shaped by the colonization of the Maori people, who were able to resist the intruding European people more effectively than in Australia. Thus, the earlier mandate was the model of armed police which was seen as “the best way to suppress and civilize a tribal society” (Dunstall 1994, 288). However, growing urbanization and modernization of the European society and migration of Maori people to these urban centers brought new conflicts and violence. This led to a situation where police responsibilities were shaped by “the laws to be enforced, by requests for service from the government and members of the public and ultimately by the police leadership itself.” The mandate of the police became, therefore, “the authority to use reasonable force to effect an arrest for illegal behavior or to suppress disorder” (p. 290). To seek ways of implementing the mission we also add a discussion in this section on the qualities and characteristics of excellent companies operating in America. We reflect and discuss why the police are not able to exhibit the degree of “excellence” found in these well-run corporations. We suggest that American police learn from the practices of the corporate sector-management practices that attempt to serve the customer by emphasizing a decentralized and humanized work ethics that encourages employees to put forth their best efforts in attaining the objectives of the company. We also stress the issues of performance appraisal, personnel management, technological development, and financial management that enable U.S. companies to be the best in the world. As a free-market economy and unashamed promoter of capitalism, U.S. society has also been deeply influenced by business practices and few governmental regulations. It was said that what is good for General Motors, once the largest motor vehicle company, was good for America. The policies and procedures of this nation are entwined with that of

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the corporate sector and there is no dichotomy between the two. This has, in turn, influenced police practices. There have been times when the role of the police were seen to be to safeguard the interests of the business sector. The police were used to break worker’s strikes and provide security to the industries. Thus it is clear that the mission of the police has been one of ensuring the safety of the economic system. However, this relationship has not been one way only. The police departments have learned their practices and procedures from the business sector. The administration and organizational culture of the police has been influenced by the corporate world of American economy. We also argue that there is much that the police can and should learn from the working models of excellent companies in the United States. Their emphasis on human relations and promotion of a culture of excellence are equally relevant to the police organization. We argue that to achieve the mission, the administrative and management issues need to be dealt with properly and that there is extensive literature about these issues from the business world that the police should emulate. In particular, we carry out an organizational diagnosis to describe a variety of theoretical perspectives that were developed for industrial production but which have relevance to efficiency in the police departments also (Moore 1985; Whisenand and Ferguson 1989; Swanson, Territo, and Taylor 1993). This chapter on excellent companies opens the door for an exhaustive, comprehensive, and critical review of police culture, which we argue is the reason the police cannot live up to the historically embedded vision nor attain the status of the America’s best-run companies. This book also includes perspectives on police culture from a wide range. In the “Criminological Perspective” we present reasons why policing is not primarily nondiscriminatory, ethical, and democratic. In the “Anthropological Perspective” of police culture one noted British police chief and another American chief of no mean achievement discuss what makes the police vulnerable. We bring the “Multicultural Perspective” on police culture to explore the universal nature of police failure to implement the noble mission of police work. We continue to search for the causes of police inability to implement the values and ideals of a noble profession through discussions of “Organizational Perspective,” “Situational Perspective,’’ “Colonial Perspective,” and last, “Street Cops’ Perspective.” We also describe several practices and procedures of policing in other

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countries to provide an international perspective about current police management. For instance, the emphasis on discipline and need to control discretion are major contemporary issues. It is necessary that American police officers learn from other experiences-the lessons of the French police collaborating with the hated Nazi regime and Mexican police mistreating the native people should not be forgotten. Both had their roots in the principle of strict but unaccountable discipline that many police managers subscribe even today. Similarly, there are many lessons for U.S. police to learn from policing practices followed in other countries. The Australian police have conducted many experiments with systems of accountability that could serve as models for civilian overview in the United States; the police in Israel have achieved notable success against terrorism that the United States also can emulate. The system of lateral and direct entry into the higher echelons of police management followed in India, Japan, and Thailand could inform police leaders here about the benefits of bringing college educated people into the department. All these perspectives throw fresh light on the negative aspects of police culture that we diagnose as the reasons for police failure to implement their mission. As mentioned earlier, we have been guided by our experiences in making what may be described as an intuitive and subjective diagnosis. Although subjectivity is open to refutation we believe that our interpretations have validity as perhaps most police officers can relate to our perceptions, feelings, frustrations, and reflections (Bouza 1990; Shah 1992; Lob0 1992; Stacey 1981; Griffiths 1971; Maibach and Lisken 1996). Based on these multiple perspectives on police culture, we set out to examine the various “Police Organizations” with a view toward identifying the school that characterizes these perceptions the most. This section has another purpose. We believe it will give the students of policing, both undergraduate as well as graduate, a broad familiarity with organizational theories. In the course of this discussion they will learn the predominant characteristics of the police organization that will help them understand the peculiar viewpoints we bring to this discussion. In the final part we have presented “Directions for Change” to indicate not only the encouraging developments that have been taking place in the field of policing but also the path that seems to us to be promising. As police officers, we wanted our organization to be successful,

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effective, and inspiring models of public service. With this objective in view, we discuss that the police organization must strive to become a “learning organization.” In particular, we emphasize the concept of learning organization for the police and argue that the best way to achieve the mission is to develop the capacity to learn from various sources and find innovative solutions to the emerging problems. We suggest that “any organizational development involves visions of a learning organization that is concerned with improving work relationships, processes, results, and above all, the capacity of the organization to create its own future. The learning organization is thus one that develops a healthy community where the members feel free to explore new ways of working and thinking.” We reiterate that the ability of the police departments to meet their mission requires new ways of thinking and functioning. The police leadership needs to consciously break down the barriers of hierarchy and autocratic leadership styles, the atmosphere of distrust, and failed communications to develop a new style of policing that meets the expectations of the people. Police leaders are extremely important for setting the tone of the organizational ethos and goals for achievement. We have described ways in which the American police are doing well, and learning as an organization. The Community Oriented Policing and Problem Oriented Policing initiatives, Geographical Information System-based Crime Mapping, and many other innovations mark some U.S. police departments as leaders in policing-a substantial improvement from what was perceived by Fosdick in 1920s (Fosdick 1969). But there is a long way to go-terrorism, racial profiling, and a better appreciation of human rights issues are areas where American police have not been doing well. Thus, this is indeed a story we tell about police mission that as practitioners we believed in and researched as academicians. We have narrated the negative aspects of the culture we experienced and analyzed later as researchers. We discussed organizational theory that we almost unconsciously practiced, which compelled us to study the organizational theories from the perspective of applicability to the police. Last, we write about how the police can be progressive, goal-oriented, and successful by following the new directions of change. We hope the book will help students, practitioners, and researchers understand the police organizationbetter, both its limitations and its tremendous potential for serving the community.

Web Resources: Global Police Web Links

Austria Australia Finland France Germany India Israel Italy Japan South Africa Spain Sweden Thailand United Kingdom

In-inter1.bmi.gv.at/ www.afp.gov.au/ www.poliisi.fi/ www.interieur.gouv.fr/ www.bka.de/ cbi.nic.in/ www.police.gov.iY

www.poliziadistato.it/pds/index.html

www.npa.go.jp/ www.saps.org.z d www.europol.net/police/Spain/spain.html www.police.se/ www.phuketpolice.com/ www.police.uk/

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Index

accountability, 16, 24,28, 29, 60, 64, 121, 156, 170, 178,203,219,228 Anglo-American, 2, 10, 17,27, 30,45 autonomy, 15, 19, 20, 21, 40, 107, 112, 124, 141, 150, 166, 168, 174 broken windows, 199,211,222 brutality, 14, 27, 36, 37,49, 86, 127, 137,206 bureaucratic, 6, 10, 22,42,45, 72, 86, 123,138,146,153-57,186,188,

189, 195

63, 77, 85, 97, 144, 156, 199, 203, 207,210 discrimination, 38, 51, 58, 62, 208 education, 32, 35, 52,69, 73, 80, 102, 103, 117, 118, 194,200,204 efficiency, 20, 36, 114, 116, 119, 122, 147, 150, 152, 157, 160, 162, 183, 184, 189,226 ethical, 7,60,81, 103,208,209,225 excellence, 18, 20, 21, 113, 145, 204, 226,227 Fayol, 70, 146, 157-60, 166, 188

CAPS, 108,212-16 COPE, 217 corruption, 14, 35, 36, 54, 56, 66, 68, 113, 115, 118, 120, 121, 125, 127, 204,206 crime prevention, 6, 81, 82,97, 100103, 107, 108, 119, 133, 189, 202, 218,224

Herzberg, 153, 166, 168-71, 188 human rights, 3, 206, 208,224, 229 humane, 3, 5, 10, 77, 81, 169, 198, 209

DARE, 108 democracy, 3, 28, 80, 123, 189 deviance, 54,58-60,221 discretion, 7, 22, 38,48, 54, 58, 59, 62,

ICAM,109,214,215 ideals, 1-5,8, 10, 15, 18, 19,21,51,59, 60,76,112,123, 131,143,144,145, 153, 167, 177, 178, 185, 186, 192, 213,224,227 judgment, 7, 22-25, 28, 30, 32, 34,48, 61,96,112,126, 144,183,206,222, 223

249

250

Index

228; integrity, 37, 113,208,209; Israel, 65, 84-85, 87, 119, 228; Italy, 65, 68-70, 73, 75, 77, 82, 83; Likert, 176-78, 188 Japan, 65,75,79-83, 113, 118, 119, 120, 122, 126,127,145, 165,200, Maslow, 166-68, 174, 188 201,202,204,227; leadership, 30, Mayo, 161-65, 166 32, 33, 75, 83, 113, 114, 121, 140, McGregor, 172-76, 186, 188 167, 189, 196, 198, 205, 209, 219, misconduct, 3, 35, 63, 86, 201, 208 224, 229; Mexico, 65, 73-75, 77, mission, 1-2, 6, 10, 196, 223-29 82, 165,228; military. See armed multicultural, 53, 58,62 police; paramilitary. See armed police; Pittsburgh, 89,90, 94-95, order maintenance, 1, 11, 17, 100, 133, 96, 98, 99, 102, 104-8, 111, 112; 136, 140, 141, 144 recruitment, 53, 85, 115, 117, 125, organizational: culture, 22, 28, 30, 32, 201,202; Royal Irish Constabulary, 33,59,88, 181, 196,220,225; S ~ C 128-33, 136, 143; San Francisco, ture, 6,65, 88, 96, 98, 112; theory, 82,90,93-94,96-99,101,102, 146,168, 176,229 104-8, 110-12; South Africa, 65, 84-88, 130; supervision, 66,74, 86, Palestine, 84 88,98,100,104,134,189,201,204; Peel, Sir Robert, 5-9, 17,32,67,68,75, training, 16, 21, 35, 52, 53, 59, 64, 121, 128, 130, 133, 136, 138,224, 65,67,69-76,79-81,83,86-90, 227 97,99, 102-5, 108, 111, 118, 120Police: armed, 65, 128, 129, 139, 140, 22, 130, 131, 139,201,202,204, 141, 142, 144,227; Australia, 22, 205,208,214,223 29,30,32,62,63,64, 138, 145,227, politicization, 14, 27,47, 83, 120, 123 228; Chicago, 12,21,66,88,90-92, professionalism, 28, 37, 59, 60,79, 81, 96-113, 212-16; civilian, 6, 117, 115,203 128-30, 142-44; colonial, 129-33, 136-37, 142; complaints against, SARA, 216 26,28, 56,62, 81,97, 107, 137; Scarman, 51,61,62,78 England, 6,9, 13, 15, 16,22,25-32, Simon, 150,153, 183, 184, 188 44,56, 61, 65, 75-79, 82, 83, 122, systems theory, 146, 161, 172, 179, 124, 125, 127, 128, 133, 134, 145, 182, 188 200; France, 9, 15, 16, 22-25, 30, 32, 33, 74, 76, 114, 117, 122, 124, Taylor, 70, 146-53, 159, 164, 166, 188 128, 142, 228; function, 1, 2, 7, 9, technology, 18, 35, 59, 108, 109, 145, 11, 15, 16, 17,35,43,45,51,53,58, 147, 184, 193,205,210,214 60,63,65,68,70,74, 81,86,96,97, Theory X, 150, 172-76, 186, 188 152, 171, 181, 206, 224, 226, 227; Theory Y; 172-76, 186, 188 Germany, 15, 24, 117, 203, 227; India, 21, 65, 119, 121, 127, 128Weber, 70, 146, 153-57, 159, 161, 166, 30,135-44,200,202,226,227, 186, 188 koban, 81,97,200

About the Authors

Dilip K. Das is a professor of criminal justice and human rights at State University of New York, Plattsburgh. He has written extensively on comparative international policing. He is founder and president of the International Police Executive Symposium which, among other activities, brings together police practitioners and researchers each year for deliberations on a topic of contemporary importance in the world of policing. Das is also founder and editor-in-chief of Police Practice and Research: An International Journal, a quarterly devoted to strengthening globalization of policing and collaboration between police practice and research; a human rights and policing consultant to the United Nations; and editor-in-chief of the World Police Encyclopedia, which will contain essays about police from every country in the world as well as international police agencies. Arvind Verma was a member of the Indian Police Service for several years and served as chief of police in the Indian State of Bihar. He is currently an associate professor in the department of criminal justice at Indiana University, Bloomington. Kis research interests are in policing, criminal justice policy issues, research methods, mathematical modeling, fuzzy logic, and geographical information systems. Verma is also the managing editor of Police Practice and Research: An International Journal and consultant to the Bureau of Police Research and Development, Government of India. His recent publications include “Consider25 1

252

About the Author

ation of the Raj: Notes from a Police Station in British India, 1865-1928” from Criminal Justice History, “A Topological Representation of the Criminal Event” from Western Criminology Review, and “Organized Crime: A World Perspective” with Dilip K. Das and Jay Albanese.