NCJ Number
90439
Date Published
1982
Length
294 pages
Annotation
This workshop participant's handbook presents information and exercises for workshop sessions dealing with first steps in cost analysis of police services, applications of cost to policing, planning for cost analysis, techniques of cost analysis, problem resolution, a management perspective, and action planning.
Abstract
In the session on beginning a cost analysis, attention is given to how to formulate the issue to be addressed by the cost analysis, how to define the service to be examined, how to select units of service delivery, appropriate and useful terminology and definitions, and how to identify the components of cost that apply to particular management options. The session on the applications of cost to policing addresses some of the fundamental issues about how cost and cost analysis can be applied to police work, while the subsequent session presents six steps to be used when planning a cost analysis and discusses how the planning steps are applied to a typical cost-of-services problem. The session on how to conduct a cost analysis discusses indirect costs and how to analyze them, the specifics of certain costs, and several case studies. In another session, participants conduct a simulated cost analysis involved in billing for contract police services. The seventh session considers how to install a cost analysis system, what to do with cost analysis results, and some of the possible impacts of these results on the organization. The concluding session guides participants in applying the concepts of cost analysis to their own departments and jurisdictions. Worksheets, exercises, exhibits, and attachments are included for each session.