Integrating the Chief of Police into the Municipal Administrative Process

Abstract

Police administration has been among the weakest aspects of municipal government. Frequently, the blame for the deficiencies in police administration has been placed on chiefs of police. The real problem, however, is not the people who serve as chiefs but the state of the administrative environment in which they serve. As a result of political and cultural factors, police administration has been cut off from the mainstream of general public administration. This paper examines thefactors which have produced the isolation of police administration. It then presents an approach to reforming the relationship between the municipal chief executive and the chief of police which can counteract the forces of isolation.