ABSTRACT
This chapter describes as the two separate cultures of the New York City Police Department is not unique to policing. Rather it is a situation which might be expected in any dynamic, large scale organization in transition. The emergence of a precinct social organizational model operationalized through the street cop culture and translated empirically into the cop's code is not unique to police organizations. The principle, which can be stated as, "Individuals seek to maintain themselves as individuals," may be translated into two maxims prevalent in organization theory. Planning is at the heart of the management function and is essential to the efficient and effective operation of policework. Two common findings in organizational research are relevant. One of the most persistent problems in organizational decision making is the dilution or distortion of policy directives as they move from central headquarters to the field.
