Impact of Federal Funding on Policy Initiatives in Police Organizations

• In Event: Police Organizations and the Police Environment

Abstract

This paper provides an examination of the organizational change efforts needed to implement federal SMART Policing Initiative (SPI) policy ideals within an organizational learning framework in police agencies. Federal policy initiatives are designed to encourage state and local leaders to adopt promising and evidence-based practices. The U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance SMART policing initiative is representative of typical federal policy promulgation processes, whereby parameters for state or local implementation are predetermined and required. The SPI award supports practitioner-researcher partnerships in the creation and evaluation of their own programs and strategies to address crime, disorder and resource management practices. Qualitative data are gathered and analyzed based on four police departments in New England. The results present the logistical challenges of program implementation under federal predetermined parameters, sustainability efforts, and offers public policy recommendations. The outcome has been the development of a classification system based on Matland’s (1995) implementation typology.

Authors

• Julie Schnobrich-Davis, Central Connecticut State University

• Brenda J. Bond, Suffolk University