A Descriptive Study on the Open Systems Approach to Dayton Ohio's Citizen Recognition Programme in Municipal Law Enforcement in the Usa
| Published date | 01 January 1996 |
| Author | James A. Adamitis |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X9606900106 |
| Date | 01 January 1996 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
JAMES A. ADAMITIS, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
and
Director
of
Criminal Justice Studies, The
University
of
Dayton. Ohio. USA
ADESCRIPTIVE STUDY ON THE
OPEN
SYSTEMS
APPROACH
TO
DAYTON OHIO'S CITIZEN
RECOGNITION PROGRAMME IN
MUNICIPAL LAW
ENFORCEMENT IN THE USA
Introduction
Designing and/or implementing an effective citizen recognition program
for municipal law enforcement within the United States or the United
Kingdom
necessitates
understanding
the
principles
of
resultive
organizationaltheory and management. The importance of understanding
one's
working ambiance or environment, and the influence it has on the
organization'sstructureand operations,issine quanon for an organization
to survive and perform.
This article represents arudimentary attempt to examine the various
aspects of the open systems approach to organizational theory as itrelates
to a specific municipal law enforcement agency's endeavors in the United
States to establish and maintain a citizen recognition programme. In
contradistinctiontoclassical management theorists, who asserted organiza-
tions were "closed" systems that concentrated their efforts on internal
designs, theopen systemsapproach examines the external, contextual and
environmental influences on an agency. Adopted from the initial work of
theoretical biologist von Bertalanffy (1950), thesystems approach contends
that organizations are similar to biological organisms and must adapt and
be receptive to their environments if they are to exist, develop and mature.
From a utilitarian perspective, open systems theorists focus on such
factors as
the
environment,
interrelated
subsystems,
intra
and
inter-organizationalrelations, and systemic dysfunctions (Morgan, 1989).
Given the pro-active service objectives of municipal law enforcement
agencies and the differing clientele they serve (Thibault, Lynch and
McBride 1990), this criminal justician contends familiarity with the open
system concept enhances the managerial perspicacities of the command
staff and contributes to the efficacy of the agency's daily operations.
As McDowellstated: "You cannothope to fully understand the criminal
justice system without looking at it 'alive' in its ecological relationship
with the rest
of
the community" (p.l2). As a public enterprise, the
January 1996 The Police Journal 41
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