The effects of size and urbanism on structure among Illinois police departments

Abstract

The present research evaluates the hypothesis that dimensions of police organizational structure germane to police reformers may be affected by the dynamics of organizational size and urbanism, thus constraining the ability of reformers to invoke desired structural changes. Using data gathered from police departments in Illinois, we examined the impact of urbanism and size on four dimensions of agency structure of interest to advocates of police reform: concentration, height or segmentation, civilianization, and supervisory ratio. Size revealed both linear and nonlinear influences on two dimensions of structure. This finding suggests that research on factors affecting organizational structure, typically conducted in large departments, may not generalize to smaller agencies. The authors concluded that the influence of size, though affecting dimensions of organizational structure, was generally too modest to substantially constrain structural variation.