The influence of organizational structures on police decision-making on stop, question and frisk

Abstract

This chapter examines the existing scholarly literature on the influence of organizational structures on police decision-making during stop, question, and frisk (SQF) practices while posing several important questions regarding what research scholars may consider as they continue exploring this timely, crucial, and yet severely understudied topic. Organizations are social structures set up by individuals to support the collaborative pursuit of specified goals. Goals, as defined by Scott and Davis (2007, p. 36), "are conceptions of desired ends" and "are translated into a set of preference or utility functions that represent the value of alternative sets of consequences." However, within a single organization, both formal and informal structures influence various decisions of organizational members. Given this, police departments function as other organizations in the implementation of controversial policies such as SQF. In 1968, the Supreme Court ruled in Terry v. Ohio (1968) that an officer has the right to pat down a suspect's outer clothing based on the belief that the individual may be armed. However, the way(s) street-level workers, such as police officers, implement SQFs (commonly known as Terry stops) varies significantly. This chapter uses an organizational theory lens and available literature to consider how formal and informal structures within police departments are associated with officers' SQF decision-making.