Dicussion Question 8

Planning and Decision Making Chapter 8 Charles R. Swanson, Leonard Territo, and Robert W. Taylor Police Administration: Structures, Processes, and Behavior (Eighth Edition) Police Administration (8 th Edition) Swanson, Territo, and Taylor © 2012 by Pearson Higher Education, Inc Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved • The first step in the effective operation and management of a police department • Management by crisis • Crisis by management Planning Police Administration (8 th Edition) Swanson, Territo, and Taylor © 2012 by Pearson Higher Education, Inc Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved Performance of Programs Clear Sense of Direction Commitment of Personnel Greater Public Support Planning accomplishes the following: Better Allocation of Resources Better Information Analysis of Problems Clarify Goals, Objectives, Procedures Cooperation & Coordination Police Administration (8 th Edition) Swanson, Territo, and Taylor © 2012 by Pearson Higher Education, Inc Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved Planning Approaches Police Administration (8 th Edition) Swanson, Territo, and Taylor © 2012 by Pearson Higher Education, Inc Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved Synoptic Planning • Traditional approach • Based on “objective” or “rational” decision making • Different approaches to selecting alternatives (step 7) – Strategic – Cost -effectiveness – Must -wants Police Administration (8 th Edition) Swanson, Territo, and Taylor © 2012 by Pearson Higher Education, Inc Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved Strategic Analysis • Suitability studies • Feasibility studies • Analysis of retained courses of action Police Administration (8 th Edition) Swanson, Territo, and Taylor © 2012 by Pearson Higher Education, Inc Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved Cost - Effectiveness Analysis • The alternative chosen should maximize the ratio of benefit to cost • Each alternative is weighed against a criterion • Alternatives are ranked in order of preference Police Administration (8 th Edition) Swanson, Territo, and Taylor © 2012 by Pearson Higher Education, Inc Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved • Combines strengths of both strategic and cost - effectiveness analysis • Uses a comparative chart to conduct analysis • Useful when comparing similar items/alternatives Must - Wants Analysis Police Administration (8 th Edition) Swanson, Territo, and Taylor © 2012 by Pearson Higher Education, Inc Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved Must - Wants Chart Police Administration (8 th Edition) Swanson, Territo, and Taylor © 2012 by Pearson Higher Education, Inc Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved Must - Wants Chart (cont.) Police Administration (8 th Edition) Swanson, Territo, and Taylor © 2012 by Pearson Higher Education, Inc Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved Summarizing Synoptic Planning Police Administration (8 th Edition) Swanson, Territo, and Taylor © 2012 by Pearson Higher Education, Inc Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved Types of Plans Administrative (Management) Procedural Operational (“Work Plans”) Tactical Police Administration (8 th Edition) Swanson, Territo, and Taylor © 2012 by Pearson Higher Education, Inc Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved Effective Plans • Must be sufficiently specific • Benefits must offset the efforts of development and implementation • Involvement in formulation must be widespread • Should contain a degree of flexibility • Must be coordinated in development and implementation with other units of government • Must be coordinated in development and implementation within the police department • The means for comparing the results planned v. produced must be specified Police Administration (8 th Edition) Swanson, Territo, and Taylor © 2012 by Pearson Higher Education, Inc Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved Decision Making Rational Incremental Heuristic Police Administration (8 th Edition) Swanson, Territo, and Taylor © 2012 by Pearson Higher Education, Inc Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved Alternative Decision - Making Models • Organizational Process • Government Politics • Operational Modeling • Naturalistic Modeling • Thin Slicing Police Administration (8 th Edition) Swanson, Territo, and Taylor © 2012 by Pearson Higher Education, Inc Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved Decision Making During Crisis Events Branch Davidians:

Waco, TX • 1993 ATF raid to search for illegal weapons • Led to a 51 -day standoff – Ended in a fire killing many children • Combined ATF and Branch Davidian deaths 72+ • Concerns about the collaboration between military and police – Posse Comitatus Act Weaver Family Ruby Ridge, ID • 1992 U.S. Marshalls investigation of suspects and illegal weapon sales • Confusion over death of suspects’ 14 -year -old son and a U.S. Marshall – Led to a standoff at the suspects’ fortified cabin • FBI snipers killed 2 adults who were inside the cabin Police Administration (8 th Edition) Swanson, Territo, and Taylor © 2012 by Pearson Higher Education, Inc Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved • Incidents represent a series of individual decisions that depart from most mainstream models • Started within the Rational Model – Swayed by emotion or national attention? • Each event followed its own course – Similar to Incremental Model • Decision makers make different decisions based on timing and ability to control events – Vigilant decision maker – Groupthink – Defensive avoidance, do something Post - Event Analysis Police Administration (8 th Edition) Swanson, Territo, and Taylor © 2012 by Pearson Higher Education, Inc Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved • Policies should be institutionalized • Agencies must adopt a philosophy that clearly articulates the importance of the safety and security of human life during such events • Police agencies must consider withdrawal as a strategy • Police executives must consider the role and use of SWAT teams • Training for protracted conflicts should extend to executives • During crises, outside/neutral referees should assist the situation Future Crisis Events Police Administration (8 th Edition) Swanson, Territo, and Taylor © 2012 by Pearson Higher Education, Inc Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved Group Decision Making Assets • Greater total knowledge and information • Greater number of approaches to a decision • Participation in problem solving increases acceptance • Better comprehension of the decision Liabilities • Social pressure • Individual domination • Conflicting secondary goals – Winning the argument Police Administration (8 th Edition) Swanson, Territo, and Taylor © 2012 by Pearson Higher Education, Inc Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved 1. Recognize ethical issue 2. Get the facts 3. Decide who has an important stake in the outcome 4. Carefully consider options from one or more perspectives 5. Make decision based on which option is the right thing to do 6. Test decision Ethics and Decision Making Police Administration (8 th Edition) Swanson, Territo, and Taylor © 2012 by Pearson Higher Education, Inc Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved • Cognitive nearsightedness • The assumption that the future will repeat the past • Oversimplification • Overreliance on one’s own experience • Preconceived notions • Unwillingness to experiment • Reluctance to decide Common Errors in Decision Making