Variability in the organizational structure of contemporary campus law enforcement agencies - A national-level analysis

    Authors

    E. A. Paoline;J. J. Sloan

    Comments

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    Abbreviated Journal Title

    Policing-An Int J Police Strategies & Manag.

    Keywords

    police; universities; policing; organizations; organizational theory; United States of America; POLICE; SIZE; COMPLEXITY; DIFFERENTIATION; INSTITUTIONS; TECHNOLOGY; CRIME; Criminology & Penology

    Abstract

    Descriptive analyses of campus police agencies reveal that agencies' tactical and operational features are similar to those found in municipal agencies. The problem is that none of these studies have examined, using multivariate models, the structural characteristics of these organizations. Using LEMAS data collected in 1995, this study answered two main questions: what are the organizational characteristics of campus police agencies; and what factors, both internal and external, explain variation in the structural dimensions of the agencies. The results indicated that campus police agencies possess the same structural characteristics of municipal police agencies identified by 40 years of police organizational research, and internal agency characteristics were most important in explaining variation in the organizations' structural dimensions. The degree to which campus agencies have adopted organizational structures that are similar to those of municipal police is discussed and framed within an institutional perspective.

    Journal Title

    Policing-an International Journal of Police Strategies & Management

    Volume

    26

    Issue/Number

    4

    Publication Date

    1-1-2003

    Document Type

    Article; Proceedings Paper

    Language

    English

    First Page

    612

    Last Page

    639

    WOS Identifier

    WOS:000189184100005

    ISSN

    1363-951X

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