The police mystique

The author, a retired police chief with 36 years of experience in policing and police management, examines the general and specific nature of policing and how it is structured and implemented to meet its goals. An overview of the dynamics of the police world is followed by a discussion of the tasks and organization of a police agency. A pragmatic perspective of life within the police agency covers departmental jobs, civil service and reform, career advancement, and the selection and tenure of the chief. An examination of an agency's internal climate considers the shaping of the recruit, corruption, morale, waste and inefficiency, personnel development, and risk distribution. A chapter on personnel addresses the conflict between expectation and reality, identification of the unfit, the conditioning process, and pressures experienced by the chief. A discussion of the limitations of police statistics as a measure of police effectiveness is followed by a profile of "street" criminals and factors in their criminal careers. Other chapters cover the police functions of public service and traffic management; management problems, concerns, and opportunities; controversies within the agency; police legal limitations; police response to woman battering; and dealing with police unions and the press. The book concludes with a discussion of the planning and management of police reform.