Examining Officer Perceptions of Consolidation Across Four Agencies

• In Event: Balancing Cost and Quality of Police Service: A Multi-Site Assessment of Police Consolidation

Abstract

Budget pressures on local governments may result in the need for cutting public safety service costs. Indeed, an increasing number of communities across the United States have looked to the consolidation of law enforcement, fire and other emergency agencies as a way to reduce expenditures and the duplication of public services. Because agencies operate within their own organizational and community contexts, the success of police mergers depends in part on how police and other stakeholders view the processes and outcomes of consolidation efforts. To date, however, there has been only limited research on police perceptions of consolidation. To address this research gap, we examine the similarities and differences in police officer views of consolidation across four communities. Using web-based and mail questionnaires, officers are surveyed regarding their views on several dimensions of consolidation, such as overall support of merging efforts and the effects of consolidation on agency performance, delivery of services and responses to crime. Findings from this study will demonstrate how differences across communities and police agencies are translated into officers’ views of consolidation.

Author

• Jeff Gruenewald, Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis