Case #717.0

Neighborhood Policing in Los Angeles

Publication Date: January 01, 1987
Free
Current Stock:

Educator Access

A review copy of this case is available free of charge to educators and trainers. Please create an account or sign in to gain access to this material.

Permission to Reprint

Each purchase of this product entitles the buyer to one digital file and use. If you intend to distribute, teach, or share this item, you must purchase permission for each individual who will be given access. Learn more about purchasing permission to reprint.

Abstract:
For more than fifteen years the Los Angeles Police Department has made community relations and community mobilization important -- sometimes key -- elements in the way it goes about its work. This case focuses on the evolution of the LAPD away from a paradigmatically "professional" -- meaning independent and efficiency-oriented -- posture toward its present concern with attending to the felt needs of the city's neighborhoods. It examines the role and effectiveness of the Senior Lead Officer (SLO), a patrol rank charged with community mobilization duties as well as standard patrol and call-response duties. Resource constraints and management priorities have had great influence on the nature and extent of SLO's and the department's community mobilization activities; the case reflects officers' and community leaders' views on the choices the department has made.

Learning Objective:
The case is useful for illuminating the traditional practices and priorities of American police organizations, and how community input can affect them. More generally, it can support a discussion of how public managers should think about the "product" of their organizations. (Please see the abstract for Neighborhood Policing: The London Metropolitan Police Force, C15-87-770.0.)

Other Details

Case Author:
David Kennedy
Faculty Lead:
David Kennedy
Pages (incl. exhibits):
20
Setting:
United States
Language:
English
Funding Source:
Daniel and Florence Guggenheim Foundation