Organization of the Police Department
John Doe
February 22, 2009
Fundamentals of Policing
Police
departments must be organized not only with regard to personnel but also with
regard to the geographic area they serve. Each officer and group of officers
must be responsible for a particular well-defined area. Geographic areas may be
beats or posts, sectors or zones, and precincts. In very large police
departments that have numerous precincts, the precincts may be grouped together
to form divisions. (2005 Wadsworth)
By
organizing police departments by area, it allows for more intimate interactions
between the police department and the people they serve. The beat or post is the smallest
geographic area that a single patrol unit—one or two people in a car or on
foot— can patrol effectively. A beat may be a foot beat, patrol car beat,
mounted beat, motorcycle or scooter beat, or even bicycle beat. (2005
Wadsworth) This type of area of patrol is the smallest, and therefore the most
intimate of the area’s that are patrolled by officers. It gives them the
ability to get to know the people of the area in which they serve which can in
turn give them better insight into the things that happen in a given area.
After the beat or ….
