i q I+,9~ -+. [ OONmDm'~",AL I+ ~. ~ ~. c~- . ~o<o The Quiet Devolution: Thinking About The Roles of Police Middle Managers in Support of Community Policing by William A. Geller, Police Executive Research Forum Guy Swanger, San Diego Police Department July 1995 © 1995 by William A. Geller The research on this monograph was supported by National Institute of Justice grant number 92- IJCXK004 to Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management, and a subcontract to the Police Executive Research Forum. NIJ's and Harvard's support are gratefully acknowledged. Points of view in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice, Harvard University, or the membership of PERF. For inquiries about this monograph, please contact: William A. Geller Associate Director Police Executive Research Forum-Midwest Office 2116 Thomwood Ave. + Wilmette, IL 60091-1452 Phone: (708) 256-0017 ~ t ~'~~ ~ ~ '~ ~'i • ~-' :~ ~ ~.,~, ~/~ ~1, ~' This book is dedicated to the many police middle managers across America who are doing an excellent job implementing community policing---despite the expert prognostications that middle managers are the worst obstacles to organizational change. As the great pitcher Satchel Paige observed (and great cop Chris Braiden so helpfully reminds us), "It ain't what we don't know that hurts us. It's what we know that just ain't so." It is affectionately dedicated as well to Geller's mentor, Norval Morris. Upon his recent retirement from full-time teaching at the University of Chicago Law School, Norval remarked what a queer experience retirement was: "I still think of myself as a promising young man," he confided. Many of us still think of you that way, too, Norval. Godspeed as you continue reaching. 0 0 0 Contents Introduction ....... "...................... ................. 1 Chapter I: Defining the Department's Mission 3 Chapter IIi What Do Police Middle Managers Do--- And Should They be Doing It? • 7 Chapter III: Why Middle Managers Oppose, or Have Been Considered Obstacles to, Community Policing 11 [] They have mastered the current systems ..... , ................... 12 [] Power as a zero-sum game .................................. 13 [] Zero tolerance for experimentation and failure .................... 15 [] Loss of promotional slots if organizations are flattened or downsized .... 16 [] It's not police work ....................................... 17 [] Problem solving and community engagement don't make sense under current conditions ...................................... 20 [] We didn't try it and it didn't work ............................ 22 [] I'm on the B-Team ....................................... 23 [] Pluralistic ignorance ....................................... 25 [] Accountability beyond authority .............................. 25 [] You want it WHEN? ...................................... 27 [] The middle managers' bosses encourage traditional policing ........... 27 [] A desire to stay in the loop .................................. 29 [] Paramilitarism ........................................... 30 [] The management of community problem solving is hard work ......... 34 [] The line don't like rate-breakers .............................. 36 [] We're too busy to change ................................... 36 [] Distance from customers .................................... 38 [] Boosting expectations: If you think our crime clearance rates look bad, wait 'til you see our problem closure rates! ............ 40 [] People hate change ....................................... 41 Chapter IV" Reasons to Believe that Middle Managers Can be Willing Partners in the Reform Movement .......................... 43 Some Examples of Middle Managers Facilitating Community Policing ... 54 1. Birds in the attic, a hose in the alley, and the meaning of officer empowerment .................................. 54 2. You're only left out of the chain if you allow yourself to be the weak link ..................................... '56 3. A tale of two detective unit leaders .......................... 58 4. A patrol watch commander challenges and facilitates his subordinates.. 62 5. Helping officers harness the community's power ................. 66 The Quiet Devolution 6. Confronting the conventionalists ............................ 70 7. "Kid, DON'T forget everything they taught you in the Academy". .... 75 8. The bridges of Will County . .............................. 78 9. Don't tell her it's not her job ....................... ...... 80 Chapter V: Some Thoughts About How to Help Middle Managers Facilitate Community Problem solving ..... ..... ....... .... 83 [] Don't accept "middle managers' resistance to change" as the definition of the organization's problem 84 [] Build on middle managers' existing strengths ............... ...... 87 [] Cheerleadmheip officers and sergeants believe they can win 89 [] Clarify first-line officers', supervisors', and managers' new roles and reduce mixed messages from the top about those roles ............. 92 [] Change the emphasis of middle management from controlling to coaching ...................................... 95 [] Talk sense and act sensibly about empowerment ..... ............. 96 [] Don't give power away for free . ............................. 100 [] "Democracy is the worst possible system except for all the alternatives" 101 [] Recognize the first-line officer as the department's most valued asset so middle managers can feel the importance of working with "valuables" . .................................. 102 [] Recognize that people are unique and allow middle managers to act on this reality ....................................... 103 [] Develop powerful incentives for teamwork ....................... 107 [] Help subordinates improve by building on their strengths ............ 108 [] The power of trust to inspire trustworthiness ...................... 111 [] Give credit where it's due .................................. 111 [] Find a suitable place to file the rule manual ....................... 112 [] Challenge middle managers to facilitate and assure quality .............. 113 • Freedom to fail forward .......... ...... ... 114 [] Promote innovation 116 [] Recognize that, "what we have here is a failure to communicate" . ...... 120 .... i [] Reinvent the department's infrastructure... ........... ............. 123 Recruitment and hiring . .......................... ...... 124 ~r Training, including peer assistance programs ............... • .... 124 ~" Supervision ' ... 125 ~" Performance appraisal ...... ... .... ..,... ..... .............. 126 R&D and information systems ....... ,. ..... 129 ~" The tyranny of 9-1-1 . ' 130 mr Work schedules and assignments that impede : ,,, ,~' collaborative problem solving 131 m~. The balance between specialization and generalization .... ... ..... 132 mr Factors that cause agency units to work at cross purposes .. 135 [] Middle managers as demographers and ethnographers . 135 [] Middle managers as diplomats • 137 [] Middle managers as border guards ............................. 140 The Quiet Devolution [] Middle managers as boundary-spanning agents and resource brokers ..... 141 O Address the problem of middle managers' distance from the department's customers ........................ ~... ..... 142 [] Address the problem of middle managers' distance from the department's worker bees .......... ..... .... .. ....... 144 [] What chiefs, senior police managers, and local government leaderscan do to help ............. ............ .... 145 References and Bibliography ........................ .... ........... 159 p I r ~v ¸ Lr~ Ir • I I Introduction Organizational development experts, experienced senior managers within and outside of policing, and battle-scarred police strategic reformers share widely the perception that middle managers in hierarchical, bureaucratic organizations are likely to be among the most daunting obstacles to efficient and meaningful organizational change. Why this may be so we shall discuss somewhat later in this monograph. Perhaps one could contest on ~::i "i:::i':r :i;:. ;":T ::.;,:!::~!;"i: :;i : ": ~i :.:; : :" ': :::: ': T :.:i:.~i:!::::::;: ~.!~r :!: :.::: " :i : :::: T :~i 7 !::i:!:i:::~?:~r.:!::i theoretical or experiential grounds the "Fairly:often police officers try t* follow :,::~.!!!I conventional wisdom that most mid-level my request that they take innovative approaches to community problems, only employees will staunchly resist most to find that their superiors balk at the i organizational change (e.g., Kanter 1982, departure from past practices" (Chief ~ 1983; Sayles 1993; Kelling and Bratton 1993; Bruce Chamberlin 1995b).--: - .- :..:::!i:~i!i .. .-., - . Braiden 1995). For purposes of commencing . ! this discussion, however, we are willing to assume that the prevailing view among the experts is correct. We shall assume as well that thinning the ranks of middle management, if it could be accomplished on a widespread basis, would be a better way than merely reorienting middle managers' work to accelerate police organizational improvement. But here we reach a problem, for we do not believe that most police departments enamored of community policing are likely in the near future to significantly flatten their organizations by eliminating such middle management ranks as lieutenants, captains, or comparable level civilian employees. (Admittedly, some agencies have pruned