ABSTRACT
Major urban police departments are experiencing increasing pressures for change and responsiveness to public concerns as demands for better educated personnel who come from a variety of racial and ethnic backgrounds. Such personnel bring new life-patterns and values into police work. The analogy with business and government suggests that departments resemble businesses and governments, but tells us virtually nothing about how their organization facilitates police officer's day-to-day contacts with citizens, peers, and supervisors; nor does it describe the organization in relation to values and goals which make policing unique and distinct. Administrators have tried a variety of approaches to problem identification and information seeking. At one time or another, authoritarian, intuitive, rational, empirical, pragmatic, and consensual modes have been tried, individually and collectively; each has its adherents. In New York City, promotion up to and including captain is achieved through a competitive civil service examination given periodically by the department.
