Police Management Issues - Essay Example

Examine a published research report which has been conducted about police management or management in a related field profession. This paper seeks toexamine a research report on best value policing conducted by the Policing and Crime Reducing unit, home office, England and Wales. Adrian Leigh, Gary Mundy, and Rachel Tuffin authored the report which was published in August 1999. The title of the research report is "Best Value Policing: Making Preparations'' Research background. From April 2000, best value became a statutory duty for local authorities, fire and police authorities in England and Wales. Best value policing is a management concept engineered to create a partnership between police and fire authorities, local authorities and their communities to encourage continuous improvements in local service delivery. Best Value service delivery is a noble management theory to consider and pursue especially in public service delivery. However, there is the need to explore avenues of implementation, building on existing mechanisms, and exploring the creativity of the professionals. Best Value policing is also bringing in a major change in the daily routines of the forces and would need major organizational change management techniques. It is an acknowledged management concept that implementing new ways of working brings instability and uncertainty among workers if not managed well. The legislation required authorities to review all their services over five years and critically examine whether the service is needed in the first place comparing it with other competitive alternatives. Review findings must be published together with improvement actions and targets in an annual performance plan. The legislation deliberately did not provide what mechanisms and techniques are needed to provide best value but left it to local police and fire authorities along with other public service providers to decide ''how best to establish their strengths and weaknesses, how to benchmark; what consultation methods to use; how to produce and carry forward action plans; and so on.'' Research Aims and methodology Early 1999, the home office working group on police performance and best value decided to develop briefing information on best value policing. There was a recognized need to draw on practical experiences in three formal best policing pilots authorities and on preparatory work in some departments the service. The aim of this research was to find out Preparations police authorities and forces in England and Wales were making towards implementing best value What models and techniques being developed for use by police authorities and forces Developing relationship between police authorities and forces and Early lessons and emerging issues from the experiences of authorities and forces most advanced in their preparations. Data was collected in three methods. The research team carried out a Telephone survey of all forces in England and Wales in March and April 1999 Constructed and analyzed a database of best value developments and A one on one interview with key personnel in a sample of nine police authorities and forces during June and July 1999. Some key elements the study revealed where that Most forces were at differing stages of their preparations, but it was clear that developments were moving at a very fast pace. Though authorities were adopting different methods of implementing best value, at a point, the approaches and preparedness was broadly converging. Authorities were mainly aiming to build on existing structures, systems and cycles rather than creating radical changes in their set ups. All forces were using the business excellence model in varying degrees though, as a self-assessment tool. Most forces were forming teams to oversee daily best value management details. There were signs that police authorities were developing closer working relationships. Despite these developments, there were some emerging concerns and challenges. Some of these were Forces were feeling challenged about some elements in the reviews and some service heads were reluctant to help with reviews. Authorities and forces planning cycles did not match their best value programmes. Some were however, trying to cope. Some police authorities were finding out that best value was remaining the preserve of a few members due to lack of effective communication. They were therefore trying to develop ways to communicate across authority. Some authorities found out that there was little they could learn from their local authorities. All most all the tools developed for best value had potential disadvantages in terms of complexity, relevance or comparability. However, most authorities accepted them as nothing more than aids, which they could build on according to their experiences. In a number of reviews, forces found out that data was not available and so started collecting and collating data, they would need when review is due. . In any organization, be it public or private, service delivery or a trading set up, implementing major or minor changes might fail or succeed depending how the change is managed. The study findings about implementing best value in the police service show the usual feelings of uncertainty among staff, which are common occurrences in organizations when changes occur as 'Forces were feeling challenged about some elements in the reviews and some service heads were reluctant to help with reviews.' Organizations are made of human beings and organizational changes would always require more performance than they currently give. The reason for change in any organization is always to maximize performance and efficiency. This changes routines, confidence and time; sometimes staff tends to question whether they have the capacity and confidence to handle the tasks. This tends to make workplace atmosphere stressful until they adopt. It's always better to involve staff in the change process and take their contributions and creativity serious as the police service in England did. Organizational change is fast and less stressful if staff is involved as shown in the report that "Most forces were at differing stages of their preparations, but it was clear that developments were moving at a very fast pace. Though authorities were adopting different methods of implementing best value, at a point, the approaches and preparedness was broadly converging" In public sector service delivery, best value delivery is impossible without teamwork and effective collaboration. The report indicates that 'Most forces were forming teams to oversee daily best value management details' which got everybody involved. Data collection and communication are very important to an organization's continuous existence. They are vital to implementing successful change in any organization. The police service found out during their reviews that they do not have the necessary data they need for their reviews. Also because information could not get to others best value was becoming a 'preserve of a minority." However, this could happen in any organization. A critique of the research report The methods of data collection were adequate only for the forces because it covered all the forces in England and Wales, which means no force authority, was left out. The construction and analysis of best value developments and key personnel interviews were all relevant. There was no indication in the report that the data collection instruments covered local community authorities and public sector service delivery other partners. This limited the research to only the forces and so makes one wonder what the other partners were doing and had achieved so far. The need for the study was important, as it aim at providing evidence-based data on preparations with in the forces, their challenges and achievements. Others could draw on these experiences to make implementation easier in their area and facilitate communication in the forces; bridge information gap so everybody would know what anybody is doing at what time. The report failed to mention how data was analyzed, what percentage was qualitative and what percentage are quantitative. The outcomes of the research show that the objectives of the study were achieved. The report was conclusive on all the preparations made by the various forces, their challenges and how they were been addressed. The report states that 'in a number of reviews, forces found out that data was not available and so started requiring so that data would be available when needed for review' and also recognized 'all most all the tools developed for best value had potential disadvantages in terms of complexity, relevance or comparability. However, most authorities accepted them as nothing more than aids, which they could build on according to their experiences'. According to the authors, the research findings 'reflects a snapshot of how authorities were and forces were approaching best value in the first half of 1999' Outline for future research to improve best value policing. In the future further research into best value policing would seek to improve on the data collection methods. These would include Allowing a wider sampling size to include other public sector service delivery partners and the receiving public which this study did not include Key interviews with some members of the legislature Some case studies of best service delivery in some professions for comparative analyses Random selection of officers regardless of rank for interviews on their perceptions of best value, their ideas on what would work and what wont, their challenges and their fears. Allow about six months for data collection. By putting the above measures in place, I hope to be able to able to Collect and collate the views and perceptions of the other service delivery partners, their achievements, their challenges, expectations and needs to make best value work. Know the expectations of the receiving public. Able to address best value implementation from every angle or according to all 'concerned' Get an overall picture of staff and the receiving public understanding of best value policing. Allowing about six months for data collection would give enough time to be able to collect enough data give good picture of the preparedness of the forces and police authorities in delivering best value. References: Leigh A., Mundy G., and Tuffin R. Best Value Policing: Making Preparation; August 1999. Read More