Cooperating Across the Blue Line: Barriers and Facilitators to Inter-Agency Cooperation Among Police Departments

• In Event: Police Perceptions and Attitudes

Abstract

Across most publicly funded agencies, a variety of cooperative relationships occur to provide public services efficiently and effectively. Many social problems are beyond the scope of any one agency; therefore, organizations collaborate to meet the needs of clients. These types of relationships have been studied, but the motivation and degree of inter-organizational activities that occur among agencies that provide the same services but have overlapping jurisdictions is not well understood. The motivation to cooperate has to be balanced with issues of competition. To answer this question, we use interviews with police chiefs and officers to examine the ways local and state police departments collaborate. We ask why, how, and to what extent departments within regional jurisdictions work together. We explore the types of collaborative activities undertaken and how these activities are initiated, managed, and sustained. We find that the degree to which collaboration occurs varies by manager communication and relationship-building abilities, administrative support for working relationships, and the history of inter-agency cooperation. We also find that the nature of police work (compared to other types of public services) affects the collaborative activities in which departments engage.

Authors

• Donna Sedgwick, Virginia Tech

• James Hawdon, Virginia Tech

• John Ryan, Virginia Tech

• Stacey Clifton, Virginia Tech

• Jason Callahan, Virginia Tech