Managerial Control Of The Police

Download or read book Control in the Police Organization written by Maurice Punch and published by MIT Press (MA). This book was released on 1983 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contributors to this anthology examine how the police go about policing themselves in the real world. Police officers enjoy considerable autonomy and discretion, which makes strict accountability and close supervision the exception. In the lower ranks, mutual back-scratching, the code of silence, and the falsified report, can be used to cover up work avoidance, short-cut methods, illicit violence, and pay-offs. In spite of this, there are clearly constraints on police behavior in the form of both written and unwritten institutional controls. This book probes the various sources of organizational control, including: formal internal disciplinary regulations, the norms and values of the occupational culture, external legal constraints, and the overriding need to prevent scandals. The authors also suggest improving organizational control through managerial reforms to promote not just proficient bureaucrats, but leaders who possess insight into, and empathy for, the inescapable dilemmas of the men and women on the front lines.