Structural change in large police agencies during the 1990s

According to community policing advocates, police agencies should implement a variety of important organizational changes. These changes are supposed to occur in a number of different substantive domains, including the culture, behavior, and structure of police organizations. This paper examines the evidence for change in just one of these domains: formal organizational structure. Based on concepts derived from organization theory, and using data from six different data sets, the paper explores whether the structures of US police organizations changed during the 1990s. Overall, it finds mixed evidence. Some changes have occurred in the direction encouraged by community policing reformers, some changes have occurred in the opposite direction, and some changes have not occurred at all. Introduction The organizational structures of large municipal police departments in the USA have changed substantially throughout the twentieth century (Reiss, 1992). Precinct-based police organizations employing only sworn police officers have transformed into highly centralized, specialized, and formal organizations with tall hierarchies, large administrative units, and a diverse mix of occupational specialties (Fogelson, 1977; Maguire, 1997, 2002; Reiss, 1992). Over the past two decades, community policing reformers have urged police executives to revamp their organizational structures and administrative practices in a number of ambitious ways (Redlinger, 1994). Police executives have been implored by reformers to reduce the size of their administrative components; to decentralize, both territorially and administratively (Bayley, 1994; Cordner, 1997; Kelling and Moore, 1988; Mastrofski and Ritti, 2000; Moore and Stephens, 1992; Skolnick and Bayley, 1988; TELEMASP Bulletin, 1995); to deformalize (Goldstein, 1990; Mastrofski, 1998), to despecialize (Cordner, 1997; Mastrofski and Ritti, 2000); to reduce the depth of their hierarchies (Cordner, 1997; Mastrofski, 1998; Moore and Stephens, 1992), and to civilianize, replacing sworn officers with civilians in a variety of occupational specialties (Bayley, T h e E m e r a ld R e s e a r c h R e g is t e r fo r t h is jo u r n a l i s a v a ila b le a t http://www.emeraldinsight.com/researchregister T h e c u r r e n t i s s u e a n d fu l l te x t a r c h iv e o f t h is jo u r n a l i s a v a i la b le a t http://www.emeraldinsight.com/1363-951X .htm Portions of this research were supported by grant # 98-IJ-CX-0003 from the National Institute of Justice. Opinions or points of view expressed in this document do not necessarily reflect the official policies or positions of the US Department of Justice. The authors are grateful to Jeremy Wilson and an anonymous reviewer for their comments on an earlier draft.