Organizational or Victim Needs: The Implications for a Policing by Objectives Strategy
| Date | 01 July 1983 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X8305600312 |
| Author | J. Mervyn Jones |
| Published date | 01 July 1983 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
J.
MERVYN
JONES, M.Sc.
Hampshire Constabulary
ORGANIZATIONAL
OR
VICTIM
NEEDS: THE
IMPLICATIONS
FOR A POLICING BY
OBJECTIVES STRATEGY
This paper reports some of the implications of recent research' into
police organization, which used as a tool for analysis a study of the
relationships between the victims of crime and the police.
Against the background of the continuing debate surrounding the
development of the police organization's statement of philosophy, or
what is referred to in policing by objectives terms as the mission
(Lubans
and
Edgar, 1979)the purpose of
our
research was to explore
levels of public satisfaction with the police handling of certain classes
of crime and its victims. This was undertaken in an early attempt to
define one possible policing goal which we see as a necessary, indeed
vital, step prior to creating specific objectives against which the
efficiency
and
effectiveness of the police can be measured. The
authors intend this study to be a pilot for a comprehensive
programme of research which willembrace the multiplicity of police
roles engaged in service, watchman and enforcement styles of
policing (Wilson, 1968).
This studyexamined the reactions of victims to the crimes they had
suffered, identified their needs as a consequence and the expectations
they had as a result of their involving the police. The results, it was
hoped, would indicate in some way the efficiency and effectiveness of
one aspect of policing operations, not byrelying solely on traditional
internal measures of success such as crime statistics and clearance
rates whose relationship with actual police performance is to say the
least questionable,
but
rather by considering the standards of
satisfaction as set by the victims themselves. The implications of
our
research, we thought, would assist those forces interested in (i)
establishing specific goals
and
objectives based on relevant research,
(ii) more effective management of existing, non-increasing police
resources, and (iii) more appropriate evaluation of police
performance,
both
on an organizational and individual basis.
276 July 1983
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