The structure of an organization within the criminal justice system is fundamental for the improvement of institutional performance. These organizations are guided by bureaucratic structures, which assist in ensuring that the criminal justice organization is orderly and efficient. One such organization is the police department, which is accountable to the residents of a particular locality. Police organizations are characterized based on the means of their operations. According to Palmer Berlin and Das (2012), the different methods of police operations could lead to their description as quasi-military entities, street-level, and monopolistic bureaucracies. Each of the identified labels is essential for providing vital insight regarding the nature of the bureaucratic organizations as well as the challenges that are associated with their management.
In the light of the identified provisions, it would be possible for an individual to argue that bureaucracy is one of the most effective ways through which an organization can be set up since it encourages equality through clear descriptions of the division of labor. This requirement focuses on the establishment of appropriate organization functions, which are vital for supporting public administration (Cronkhite, 2013). The principle could be likened to the division of labor among police officers, which means that not one person or office could be assigned all organizational duties. For instance, almost all police departments divide the responsibilities of the entire agency among several divisions or units. The divisions are inclusive of a criminal investigation, administration, and patrol, among other responsibilities.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
The other principle that guides a bureaucratic organization is the hierarchical principle, which Cronkhite (2013) describes as one of the fundamental principles in political hierarchies. The hierarchical principle encourages accountability primarily because of an existing clear chain of command (Gaines & Miller, 2016). Within an organizational hierarchy of authority is the existence of the span of control, which is characteristic of the organization structure of police departments. Since a bureaucratic organization implies formal communication as well as supervision (Mallicoat & Gardiner, 2013), the span of control relates to the number of officers that a supervisor is responsible for overseeing. This provision eliminates conflicts of given orders or instructions.
On the other hand, Cronkhite (2013) considers the principle of scientific management. This principle, whose foundation is the science of administration, is based on Frederick Taylor’s efforts, focuses on the idea that it is possible to use a single method in an organization to accomplish production functions (Cronkhite, 2013). Taylor also uses the idea to provide that it is possible for an individual to accomplish a particular task within a social organization using a single method. Even though this principle might apply to some organizations, it could be considered as dehumanizing in nature since it considers individuals as mechanical.
According to Mallicoat & Gardiner (2013), organizations in the contemporary society use few of the identified principles. However, the adaptation of the principles depends on the rigidity or flexibility of a particular organization. For this reason, organizations follow different practices, most of which relate to the primary function that it is supposed to accomplish. In spite of this consideration, there is a possibility of arguing that most of the bureaucratic organizations in the contemporary society, with few exceptions, follow the principle of scientific management. As noted earlier, the principle follows a time and motion approach, which follows mechanistic provisions of production. This means that humans are likely to be considered as mechanical creatures, who maximize their skills by systematically accomplishing different duties. However, since some of the divisions in the police department are likely to focus on the mechanistic way of accomplishing functions, some of the divisions might be successful when observing this principle.
References
Cronkhite, C. L. (2013). Law enforcement and justice administration: Strategies for the 21st century (2nd ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Gaines, L., & Miller, R. (2016). Criminal Justice in Action: The Core (9th ed.). Cengage Learning.
Mallicoat, S. L., & Gardiner, C. (2013). Criminal justice policy . Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications, Inc.
Palmer, D., Berlin, M., & Das, D. (2018). Global Environment of Policing: International Police Executive Symposium co-publications . CRC Press.
