ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the principles that guide the structure of the police organization; and policies and procedures that guide police employees in their decision making and actions. Any organization in which someone has authority over someone else is a hierarchy. Governments, corporations, fraternities, universities, and police departments are all hierarchies. Authority and responsibility should be balanced in each position in the organization. In a properly organized police department, the chief delegates authority for decision making to people at all levels within the organization. The authority-level principle is based on the premise that authority exists within an organization at all levels and only decisions that cannot be made at a given level because of lack of authority should be referred upward for resolution. The chapter discusses several fundamental organizational principles. They are chain of command; unity of command; span of control; and grouping of like functions.
