The Measurement and Variation of Public Safety Consolidation

• Author: Clifford A. Grammich,Jeremy M. Wilson
• DOI: 10.1177/1057567718814905
• Published date: 01 December 2019
• Date: 01 December 2019

Article

The Measurement and

Variation of Public Safety

Consolidation

Jeremy M. Wilson

1

and Clifford A. Grammich

1

Abstract

Public safety consolidation of police and fire departments has long existed, but there are no

quantitative measures of its implementation. Previous research has suggested a typology ranging

from nominal to full consolidation. Our research explores how public safety departments may vary

by both command consolidation and cross-training of personnel. Considering both these dimensions

is essential to measuring the form and extent of implementation of this service model. To develop a

scale for consolidation, we surveyed all known U.S. public safety departments, asking each about its

services, administrative structure, and training requirements. Altogether, 74 of the 130 (57%)

departments we were able to identify responded to a mail surveywith phone follow-up, providing us

information on their levels of structural integration and cross-training, among other characteristics.

The results showedboth some concentration at lower and higherlevels of measured consolidation as

well as some variation among departments with identicalscores. Although our researchis limited by a

relatively smallnumber of departments, preventingdevelopment of more sophisticatedmeasures, use

of this additive scale can still yield insights on what influences consolidation, the problems con-

solidation may ameliorate or produce, and operational characteristics by extent of consolidation.

Keywords

police, fire, public safety, consolidation

Public safety consolidation of police and fire departments into a single organization has long

existed. In the United States, consolidation of police and fire services into a single department dates

back more than a century to when Grosse Pointe Shores, MI, created the first public safety depart-

ment (Matarese, Chelst, Fisher-Stewart, & Pearsall, 2007). Outside the United States, some even

trace the model to ancient Rome and note its use in the early 20th century in Germany, Japan, and the

United Kingdom (International Association of Firefighters and International Association of Fire

Chiefs, n.d.; Morley & Hadley, 2013). More recently, the model has also been used in Canada

1

Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA

Corresponding Author:

Jeremy M. Wilson, Michigan State University, 655 Auditorium Road, 560 Baker Hall, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA.

Email: jwilson@msu.edu

International CriminalJustice Review

2019, Vol. 29(4) 335-347

ª2018 Georgia State University

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DOI: 10.1177/1057567718814905

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