NCJ Number
109608
Date Published
1986
Length
130 pages
Annotation
In providing police managers with data on the use of civilians (paraprofessionals) in law enforcement, this study focuses on the existing level of civilians in law enforcement across the Nation, the focus for the future, and how data can be scrutinized to produce the desired result.
Abstract
The information provided in this report is intended to help police managers understand how the use of paraprofessionals to perform some police functions can help maintain service quality under fiscal restraints, given the high cost of hiring sworn officers. Three alternative scenarios portray how civilians may be used in police work. A labor force forecast predicts future quantity and the ethnic makeup of the labor force. A strategic plan addresses anticipated resistance to a civilianzation program. A proposed transition management plan is designed to help a police agency ease into a civilianization program. This study concludes that the scope of the civilianization movement across the Nation has reached a plateau in diversity and effectiveness. It proposes that civilianization be expanded into the specialized, technical fields of computers, lasers, robotics, holographics, etc., through the hiring of civilians with expertise in these areas. Appended supplementary information, 32 endnotes, 34-item bibliography. (Author abstract modified)