U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

High-Performance Policing for the 21st Century

NCJ Number
171975
Journal
Police Chief Volume: 64 Issue: 11 Dated: (November 1997) Pages: 32-35
Author(s)
K H Shafer
Date Published
1997
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article examines indicators of high-performance companies and successful strategies and philosophies that public agencies can emulate to become more efficient and productive.
Abstract
High-performing companies: (1) are driven by demanding leaders who work together and understand their business at all critical levels; (2) relentlessly pursue a vision and have fairly simple measures of what constitutes superior performance; (3) are intense, performance driven and demanding, with real accountability throughout the organization, and the basic attitude that there are "no excuses"; (4) develop simple structures; (5) provide world-class training and view education as a critical competitive weapon; (6) value "people skills"; and (7) are entrepreneurial, i.e., the best big companies behave like small companies. Police agencies must demand quality, productivity and competence; should be simplified wherever possible; need to make personnel education and development a top priority; and must learn how to respond more rapidly to the need for change. Notes