Controlling Police Work: Problems of Organisational Reform in Large Public Bureaucracies

Abstract

The issue of control in public bodies has been topical in Britain and has taken varying forms. Government has sought to increase central control by a variety of managerial strategies, whilst critics of government have sought popular accountability through democratic reforms. This debate has been at its most controversial with respect to policing. Despite their shortcomings, models of organisation and control used in the police field serve the useful purpose of illustrating strategies of control common to police organisations and other public bodies. Consideration of them calls into question the notion of unambiguous control found in much organisational analysis. Control is a problematic and uncertain relation, and different organisational contexts demonstrate variable alignments of control. Thus it is necessary to analyse the dynamics of control in any organisation before an effective strategy of reform can be implemented. Drawing on the concepts of `strategy' and `alignment' of control, I examine the prospects for progressive reform in police organisations and suggest a pluralistic framework of democratic intervention is appropriate to the task. Finally, I consider the implications of my argument for control in other public bodies by reference to public sector housing allocation and managerial reform in the National Health Service.