Organizational Control

Chain of Command

The activities of police agencies must be coordinated.  One key organizational principle of control is chain of command.  Chain of command "establishes formal lines of communication within a police department" (Cordner, 2016, p. 116).  We reviewed chain of command when discussing hierarchical complexity, where communication typically flows downward from the top executive (i.e., the commissioner or chief) to the mid-level managers to the patrol officers.  Bypassing the chain of command can have dire consequences.  For example, if a chief gives orders directly to patrol officers without informing their immediate supervisors (e.g., sergeants, lieutenants), the supervisors are unaware of what the officers are doing and, worse, their authority is undermined.  Patrol officers may think the chain of command is unnecessary and bypass it, as well.  This would be chaotic and counter to the goal of organizing the agency!

Unity of Command

Unity of command means that every employee has one and only one supervisor.  Have you ever had two supervisors who give you conflicting directions?  Which do you follow?  What will happen when the other supervisor learns you disregarded his/her directions?  Bad things, right?  Taking orders from more than one supervisor can be confusing at best, but often is frustrating and dangerous.  Unity of command indicates that the patrol officer receive orders from the sergeant, who receives orders from the lieutenant, who receives orders from the captain, etc.  The orders flow down the chain of command.  This helps to keep a police agency organized.

Unity of command is not always as perfect as described here.  In the 24-hour policing agency, sometimes the sergeant has the day off or has an alternative assignment.  Considering this, Cordner (2016) recommends two adjustments to the unity of command principle: 

1. "it must be clear to employees which supervisors have the authority to command them under what circumstances; and
2. at any given time, the employee should be expected to take orders from only one supervisor" (p. 120).

Span of Control

The number of subordinates a supervisor can effectively supervise is called the span of control.  While some scholars suggest a specific ratio of supervisors to supervisees, others suggest span of control varies depending on where one is in the hierarchy.  For example, the chief of police has the narrowest span of control, which widens as one moves down the hierarchy.  Of course, additional supervisors comes with a price tag - something that also must be considered.

Reference

Cordner, G. W. (2016). Police Administration (9th ed.). New York: Routledge.