Dealing With Law Enforcement Bureaucracy, Essay Example

According to Jackson a bureaucracy is an organization composed of agencies in a way that the overall system consists of conspicuously coordinated activities explicitly designed to achieve specific ends. According to Weber, bureaucracy must be characterized by rational legal authority.  There are three forms of authority; charismatic, traditional and rational legal.

There should be a continuous organization of official functions with rule boundaries. Division of labor and specialization should be on top of the list. There should be a hierarchical organization of offices. Rules requiring qualifications and training to understand and administer a bureaucracy should be put in place.

All clients in an organization should be treated equally. Appointments should be based on merit and not favor or bias. Payment should be on the basis of rank accompanied by pension rights. There should be separation of private and public life when it comes to finances and interests. Discipline should be strict and systematic in control of day to day work and finally there should be documentation of decisions, acts and rules formulated (Kilgannon, 2010).

The generally accepted characteristics of bureaucracy should include having in place effort saving rules and equal treatment, clear division of labor and specialization. The principle of hierarchy applies where no office is left uncontrolled. Managers must have technical training and everything must be on record and filed.

Administrative model focuses on technical organization and development of principles aimed at directing managers to more efficient activities. It focuses on the technical aspect while bureaucracy focuses on theoretical aspect. Bureaucratic model is used widely in law enforcement for various reasons.

Bureaucratic organizations are more effective in controlling the work of large number of workers. They are technically superior relative to any other type of organization in accomplishing complex goals. These among other reasons make bureaucracy model the ideal choice for law enforcement.

Works cited

Kilgannon, Corey “Serpico on Serpico”, New York Times, 2010.