NCJ Number
83183
Journal
Law and Order Volume: 30 Issue: 5 Dated: (May 1982) Pages: 20-23,26-29,31-36,38-42,51-55
Date Published
1982
Length
24 pages
Annotation
Six articles explore six aspects of law enforcement administration: the increasing amount of police time being spent on service activities not related to crime, the use of quotas in management by objectives, sexual harassment in police agencies, crime prevention strategies, the use of a computer-aided dispatch system, and a microfilm indexing and retrieval system.
Abstract
Numerous studies have shown that typical patrol officers spend about three-fourths of their time in providing noncrime-related services to the public. To restore the emphasis on crime control while continuing to provide noncrime-related services, techniques such as referring nonemergency, noncrime calls to community social service agencies and increasing the use of civilian personnel to handle such calls should be used. Management by objectives has often been implemented without the simultaneous implementation of participatory management. As a result, quota systems designed to build arrest statistics have been used to the detriment of morale and effective law enforcement. Participatory management is needed to assure the success of management by objectives. The increasing employment of women as police officers has led to incidents of sexual harassment and the establishment of procedures for dealing with this problem in the New York City Police Department. An effective community crime prevention program requires both traditional efforts of local law enforcement personnel and such community measures as Neighborhood Watch, Operation Identification, and residential surveys. The use of a computer-aided dispatch system in the Houston Police Department has produced manpower savings, improved investigative capability, and a more efficient system of recordkeeping. The microfilm system being used in the Sheriff's Department of Racine County., Wis., has produced greater clerical productivity, faster record access, reduced operating costs, and other benefits.