Improving Police Performance: A Test of the CIV Tool in a Canadian Police Service

• In Event: Future Directions in Canadian Policing

Abstract

Performance assessment in policing traditionally focuses on the way individual police officers carry out their duties. This paper presents the results of a performance assessment process focusing on the way the portfolio of roles deployed by a police organization contributes to success. The CIV Tool (capability, importance and value) was developed as part of a broader project that police organizations could use to address their sustainability concerns (Caputo and McIntyre 2015). The CIV Tool was designed to provide a way of assessing key dimensions of the roles carried out by organization members. It responds to the idea that policing is carried out by organizations, and if an organization shows room for improvement, it takes much more than acknowledging this in order for improvement to occur. It requires the development and application of specialized tools, such as the CIV Tool, to motivate improvement. This paper presents the results of the application of the CIV Tool to in a large Canadian police service. The results indicate that the tool can be used to assess whether the roles front line officers undertake contribute value to stakeholders, help the organization achieve its goals, and result in satisfying and rewarding careers for police officers.

Authors

• Tullio Caputo, Carleton University

• Michael McIntyre, Carleton University

• Tarah Hodgkinson, Simon Fraser University