Comparative Organization of the Police in English-Speaking Countries

Abstract

In order to describe adequately the national organization of police, it is necessary to distinguish the number of autonomous forces, the coordination of jurisdictions among them, and the territorial and functional distribution of commands within them. Among the five English-speaking countries of Australia, Canada, Great Britain, India, and the United States, the number as well as the coordination of forces varies sharply. As a result, differences in scale are so great as to call into question the value of using either forces or police stations as units of managerial analysis. Surprisingly, the scale of jurisdictions does not affect the number of command levels within forces. One implication of this is that the concept of centralization/decentralization must be grounded in considerations of scale. Differences in national structures of policing depend on political settlements achieved at the time countries were formed. Differences in functional organization are smaller among countries than structural ones, and they depend on professional outlooks shared internationally. Finally, very little is known about the effects of police organization on goals and objectives. The entire subject is shrouded in unexamined assumptions often unintelligently applied.