The U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs has initiated a study regarding a census on state and local law enforcement agencies in 2008 . The aim of the current discourse is to present a comparative analysis of two police department organizations: a large organization which employees more than 500, as compared to a small organization employing less than 50.
Large police organizations employing 500 or more employees could be state or local law enforcement agencies are usually categorized as having tall and wide organizational structures. As revealed from the census, there were a total of 89 agencies with 500 to 999 police officers as of 2008 . This means that there are both a number of intermediaries along the organizational hierarchy from top to bottom; as well as it contains a number of different departments, each headed by an officer who governs a number of specifically identified followers. Thus, large police organizations could be considered more structurally complex. According to Shevory (2003), “structural complexity involves, for example, the number of levels of an organization, the division of labor within an organization, and the degree of specialization within it” (par. 3). Likewise, the extent of control could be deemed centralized with clearly structured and explicitly designed polices, rules, and regulations.
On the other hand, small police organizations employing 50 or less. The census reported that as of 2008, there were a total number of 1,300 agencies with this particular police organizational structure. As small agencies, their organizational structure are less complex, and contains shorter and narrower intermediary ranks between top to bottom and among lesser numbers of departments. As emphasized, small police organizations are “less complex and therefore have less formal hierarchy, less formalization of procedures, and, in general, a less centralized control system than a larger agency in a crime-prone jurisdiction” (Shevory, 2003, par. 5).
Thus, the comparative details have highlighted the following disparities: (1) structural complexity; (2) degree of control; (3) number of people to administer and govern; (4) the resources to support and maintain operations and efficient functioning; and the (5) provision of scope and extensiveness of details policies, procedures, rules, and regulations.
On the other hand, one could deduce that there are similarities in terms of being governed by similar mission and vision statements that stem from the Department of Justice, in general. Thus, the extensiveness of policies, procedures, rules and regulations could equally contain a standardized structural design with adheres and conforms to the requirements of the Criminal Justice System. Likewise, the goals of each law enforcement agency across states or local municipalities are also similar in terms of focusing on crime deterrence and ensuring peace and order within their respective areas of jurisdiction. There are also clearly identified chain of command where reporting to authoritative figures, even beyond the organization, have been explicitly indicated.
Overall, the current discourse have clearly presented the comparative analysis of large police organizations as compared to small organizations according to structural complexity, control, number of personnel, scope of resources needed for support and maintenance, reporting authorities, as well as policies and procedures, as expounded. Since large police organizations are deemed to be more structurally complex, it is a matter of designing the most effective control and regulatory guidelines to ensure that law enforcement officers adhere to the strictest standards of professionalism, as required and expected of this field of endeavor.
References
Shevory, T. (2003, August). Review on ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE IN AMERICAN POLICE AGENCIES: CONTEXT, COMPLEXITY, AND CONTROL by Edward R. Maguire. Retrieved from gvpt.umd.edu: http://www.gvpt.umd.edu/lpbr/subpages/reviews/Macguire03.htm
U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs. (2008). Census of State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies, 2008. Retrieved from bjs.gov: http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/csllea08.pdf
