Change in Police Organizations: Perceptions, Experiences, and the Failure to Launch

• Author: Joseph A. Schafer,Sean P. Varano
• Published date: 01 November 2017
• DOI: 10.1177/1043986217724532
• Date: 01 November 2017
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/1043986217724532

Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice

2017, Vol. 33(4) 392 –410

© The Author(s) 2017

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DOI: 10.1177/1043986217724532

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Article

Change in Police

Organizations: Perceptions,

Experiences, and the Failure

to Launch

Joseph A. Schafer1 and Sean P. Varano2

Abstract

Studies and accounts of change in police organizations frequently emphasize case

studies of specific efforts enacted during relatively discrete periods of time in one or a

few agencies. The narratives often emphasize the success of change efforts or seek to

explain why initiatives failed in the case study agency. While instructive, such accounts

do not provide broader insights into successes and failures with change across longer

periods of time, differing types of change, and diverse organizational contexts. Using

survey data from mid-career police supervisors attending the FBI National Academy

program, this study considers change experiences. In particular, consideration is given

to the frequency of change, its results, and the factors associated with successful and

failed outcomes.

Keywords

organizational change, police organizations, leadership, successful reform

Introduction

Organizational change in police organizations is often a stigmatized and controversial

process. Scholars have long lamented the barriers, obstacles, and sources of resistance

toward achieving successful outcomes in the pursuit of change and reform (Greene &

Mastrofski, 1988; King, 2009; Langworthy, 1986; Maguire, 2003; Mastrofski &

Willis, 2010), leading some to liken bringing about change in policing to “bending

1Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL, USA

2Roger Williams University, Bristol, RI, USA

Corresponding Author:

Joseph A. Schafer, Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Southern Illinois University, Faner

Hall, Carbondale, IL 62901, USA.

Email: jschafer@siu.edu

724532CCJXXX10.1177/1043986217724532Journal of Contemporary Criminal JusticeSchafer and Varano

research-article2017

Schafer and Varano 393

granite” (Guyot, 1979). In reality, however, the history of American policing is a his-

tory of change and evolution (Mastrofski & Willis, 2010; Walker, 1977; Zhao, 1996).

While that change process has not always been linear, police organizations and the

broader police profession in the United States have been on a slow and continual tra-

jectory of change (Uchida, 2010) even if the degree of success associated with many

major changes initiatives might be called into question (Cochran, Bromley, & Swando,

2002; Zhao, 1996).

Literature examining the change process in policing and police organizations has

often focused on either case studies of agency-specific implementation efforts or the

broader diffusion of innovative practices and approaches across the profession. This

case study approach, while informative, frequently fails to capture whether and how

change efforts have affected the larger context of police personnel and/or organiza-

tions. As meaningful organizational change is often a long-term process, case studies

limited to discrete points in time often fail to explain the bigger picture. The case study

approach more often than not tells “success” stories and systematically omits any sub-

stantive discussion about failed change efforts. When patterns of innovation are con-

sidered, the emphasis is on the decision to innovate, not failed efforts at bringing

innovation into organizations. This follows a larger tradition in the social sciences of

publication bias toward successful, as opposed to failed, interventions (see Franco,

Malhotra, & Simonovits, 2014; Kellerman, 2004). The result is that little is known

about the broader experiences police leaders have with change across its life cycle,

particularly efforts that fail or do not fully achieve their promised potential.

This study examines how mid-career police supervisors have experienced change

processes of varying foci across differing organizational contexts, but focusing par-

ticularly on failed change efforts. Operating from the premise that organizational

change is something often experimented with and something that frequently results in

failure, this study adds to the literature by illuminating the prevalence of change efforts

in police organizations and how police managers navigate the world of failed change.

Data are drawn from surveys completed by participants in the FBI National Academy

(FBINA) program. Although not a statistically representative national sample, the

FBINA provides a unique opportunity to glean insights from supervisors working for

agencies of all sizes and types from across the United States. Although the data are not

specific to one type of change effort (i.e., the implementation of intelligence-led polic-

ing strategies or the deployment of a less-lethal weapon in patrol operations), they

provide a broader perspective on the change process.

Literature Review

Over the past 50 years, studies examining organizational change have yielded a variety

of perspectives on implementation success or failure as it relates to processes, the role

leadership, personnel perceptions and commitment, and environmental factors (Decker

et al., 2012; Jones, Jimmieson, & Griffiths, 2005; Lok & Crawford, 1999; Piderit,

2000; Reichers, Wanous, & Austin, 1997). Change is complex and uncertain, in many

cases moving in anything but a linear fashion or as initially envisioned. Police