ABSTRACT
A nationwide analysis of Compstat police departments (not including New York City) found that:
Compstat departments are more reluctant to relinquish power that would decentralize some key elements of decision making geographically … enhance ™exibility, and risk going outside of the standard tool kit of police tactics and strategies. ‰e combined e¥ect overall, whether or not intended, is to reinforce a traditional bureaucratic model of command and control. (Weisburd et. al., 2003, p. 448)
We can now con—rm that this virus has also infected the NYPD. Many of our respondents focused on the top-down management style employed by the Compstat leadership at its meetings. One wrote, “Comstat (sic) has lost its original theme. C.O.’s were allowed to make their own decisions when it —rst started and then held accountable. Now all you do is follow.”
