TOPIC 6 Introduction to Planning and Decision Making for Law Enforcement

7/29/2019 TOPIC 6 Introduction to Planning and Decision Making for Law Enforcement

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LE 101: Public Administration and Law Enforcement R.S. Damian +255713428318

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TOPIC 6: INTRODUCTION TO PLANNING AND DECISION MAKING FORLAW ENFORCEMENT [2 LECTURES]

Respicius Shumbusho DamianPlanning and Decision-Making: Conceptual RelationshipWhat is planning?A Plan Is a guide of action to be taken in the future. It is a statement of the future path thatdraws from the current realities. A plan can also be an unverified propositions about the future,

but must be based on the past successes and failures. It contains SWOT elements.

Planning: in formal organizations may be defined as a managerial/administrative functionthat is concerned with establishinggoals and state thewaysandmeansby which these goalsare to be attained. Therefore planning is taken as the foundation for future activities of modernorganizations be they public or private. Alternatively, in simple language; planning is decidingin advance, what is to be done or thinkingbefore doing.

Who does Planning?An individual, family, organization, government etc

Importance of planningPlanning is a managerial tool; it is used to forecast the future problems and selecting solutionsthat are most relevant. It is used as a tool for allocating scarce resources. It is used as adeterminant factor for effectiveness of management. Planning is used as a tool for distributionof income and ensuring economic growth. It is also a tool for maximizing efficiency inorganizations.

What is Decision MakingDecision Making: is a conscious process that involves choosing between the existingalternatives. Decision-making is the process of identifying a set of feasible alternatives andchoosing a course of action from them. It means taking the best, but less costly alternative.Commonly, in making decisions, an effective decision maker takes a decision that is costeffective. It is commonly said that failure to plan is planning for failure.

Relationship between Planning and Decision Making

The two are closely related since the planner must take decisions at every stage of planning.Both planning and decision-making involve choice (however limited it may be- e.g. in situationswhere you decide not to decide). At a given level of planning or decision-making there must be adecision. Therefore, scholars argue that non-decision differs from indecisionbecause it isitself a decision. Indecision means that there is no decision to decide, but non-decision meansthat the decision has been not to decide. Can you see difference between the two? Find outexamples .


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The process of planning includes a series of interconnected decisions. Both planning anddecision is making involve SWOT calculation that helps the participants to take the best path.Both of the processes involve collection and analysis of information related to the past, present,and future (forecasting) as well as the options available. The stages involved in either of theprocesses are the same and in most cases apply similar theories and models.

Decision making differs from planning in the sense that decision making has a narrow scopewhile planning has a wider scope. While decision-making means taking a course of action fromalternatives, planning is a process of taking future course of action. Planning goes an extra mailin making decisions; as the selected course of action must be clarified by identifying thestrategies and minor policies that would make the plan successful. All planning processesinvolve decision-making, but not all decision-making processes involve planning.

6.2. Public Decision Making and Planning as Processes, Strategic Orientation

The Process of PlanningThe process of planning is political in the sense that it involves power and influence. Sometimes,the acceptability of a path priority to achieve certain objective may not be technical. It may onlydepend on the capacity of planners to obtain information, analyze it, and convince the othersthat a certain alternative would be the best (rationally, cost, etc). Planning is a continuous orcyclic process. The end of one plan is the beginning of another plan. The process of planning hasstages at which the planner has to ask himself/herself several questions that lead him/her intomaking a choice (decision).

Both decision-making and planning as processes have stages in which the stages

interdependently support each other. Defects at one stage may affect the other stage.

Stage 1: Identification of the Problem:collect information, analyze it, define the problem,and clarify it. Set the goals and identify related objectives (specific). The objectives that the plan

wants to achieve must be identified. They must be as SMART as possible

Stage 2:Selecting the Alternative Options: Enlist the options that would be taken tosolve the problemStage 3: Choosing the best option: the best option must be the most effective, feasible,(andseemingly legitimate-though not all options taken might be legitimate)Stage 4: Set the Plan:means pulling together all the components into a logical order in the

way that each component support the other. For example, the objective supports the output-outcome; identify the cost versus the result, enlisting the barriers, select implementationstrategies and set timeframes.

Decision Making Stages: (1) Defining the problem (2) Developing alternatives (3) Evaluatethe alternatives (4) Make a decision (5) Implement a decision (6) Evaluate a decision-Then start

from the first stage.


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Stage 5: Implementation of the Plan: convert the plan into activities that are aimed atachieving the identified outputs and outcomes. Implementation needs availability of resourcesand managerial support as the implementers is not always part of the planning process).Stage 6: Monitoring and Evaluation: monitoring means making day to-day follow upaimed at making sure that implementation match with the processes and standards that

were identified during planning. The aim of monitoring is to provide necessary support toimplementers. Evaluation on the other hand, is related to making informed assessment of theplan implementation in relation to its outputsandoutcomes.

Strategic PlanningStrategic planning is defined as long-range planning that focuses on the entire organization.Strategic planning seeks to achieve strategic alignment between different (main and minor)plans and decisions in organizations. Unlike other types of planning such as short term (tacticalplanning) and contingent planning, involves executive directors and presidents, leaders of the

organizations at higher level who must define the direction of the organization and the rest ofthe plans need to establish mutual support to the corporate executive plans. It is a long termplanning 3 to 5 years. The nature of strategic planning is to develop strategies for achieving

yourobjectives, which must all support thegoal,vision, andmissionof the organization.

Vision= Answers the questions why does the organization/institution exists? What it does?For whom one? Where it wants to go? It is just like an impressive picture of where theorganization wants to go in the future-it is inspirational in nature.Mission=Answers the questions How to get to that point? Why we believe we must get there?

What means will make us reach the dreamt success. The vision energizes, while the mission

brings energy and shown the way thereon.

Requirements of Strategic Planning:all the plans should reflect the goal and vision of theorganization. The strategic objectives must be linked with the corporate goals and the vision.Objectives should be SMART and each objective should have clear indicators for measuring

both the outputs and outcomes. Planning must be done participatory and line managers shouldbe empowered as part of planners. The results should be reviewed continuously andimprovement strategies be supported.

Summary: plans can therefore be categorized in an overlapping way into contingent plans,short term (tactical plans), long-term plans, and strategic plans.

6.3. The basic models of Public planning/decision making (rationalcomprehensive,incremental, mixed scanning)

Answers that the models attempt to provide: how capable are decision makers? Isinformation about options available? What are the best plans/decisions?.


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(a) The Rational Comprehensive ModelAssumptions: Development is clearly predictable, information is cheap, and the policymaker is equipped with capacity and knowledge to collect information and analyze all thealternatives. Thus, there is a clear cut between the best and the rest of the options as alternativescan be ranked from the best to the least. There is also a clear cut between rational calculation ofdecision makers and values and beliefs. It is therefore possible (and best) to have new plans

which are rational.

(b) Incremental ModelAssumptions: It tries to address weakness of the rational comprehensive model and focuses onhow planners and decision makers behave in actual planning contexts. Goals and objectivesselection is intertwined with scientific analysis of the problem (not separate). Information ishighly costly and decision makers capacity to obtain all the available information and analyzeall the available alternatives is limited (some alternatives are not known). Therefore, decision

makers deal with alternatives at hand or what they know. The problems that confront adecision maker are constantly redefined and thus means-ends-means are continuouslyrevisited to improve plans. Therefore, planners make marginal adjustments on existing plansrather than making completely new plans.

(c) Mixed Scanning Model

Amitai Etzioni (1967), a sociologist found fault s in both rational comprehensive andincremental models. Hecriticized rationalists as Utopian because actors cannot command theresources and capabilities required by rationalist decision makers. He also criticized

instrumentalists for overlooking innovations and empirical fundamental decisions on whichincrementing build. He developed a model called mixed scanning that assumes that plansundergo both fundamental and incremental decisions. Therefore, both broad based analysisand in-depth analysis may be useful in planning and decision-making. He argued that plannersare just like chess players; they dont take long to examine all the opportunities, they think oneor two steps a head, running from trouble or toward a seeming opportunity and thus dividetheir time deciding between choosing fundamental approach (attack) or develop force (king )since the time for completing the game is limited. This mixed scanning in the policy andplanning arena may take place at different stages including choosing the strategy, sub strategy,and choosing an alternative.

Given the nature of planning environments, the MSM needs planners to use focused trial errorplanning, to be slowly and go tentative, to procrastinate if there is likelihood of uncertainty, tostagger their decisions, fractionize decisions if there are uncertainty, to hedge their bet, and also

be ready to reverse their decisions.

Given the context of LEAs, which of the models is the most useful in decision making andplanning among LEAs? Those who believe that LEAs can be transformed abruptly, they would


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rather go for rational comprehensive model while those who believe that it needs gradualtransformation would go for incremental model. Today LEAs need to be dynamic , flexible,innovative, and seemingly undergo fundamental transformations. However, there areestablished traditional norms related to LEAs roles that require LEAs to live preparedly. Inthis sense, LEAs would always continue planning and making decisions by building onprevious decisions. Decision-making and planning environments in LEAs are characterized bycomplexity, uncertainty, and shortage of information that would provide basis for reaching themost rational decisions. Sometimes, owing to the planning contexts of LEAs, planning wouldseek to be rational, but continue to be practically tactical, and contingent.

6.4: Barriers to Planning and Decision Making in the Context ofLaw Enforcement

The environment of LEAs and the nature of their functions generally affect it.In most of theLEAs, organizational purposes are clear, but the problem comes on the side of the developing

measurable objectives and indicators to assess the extent to which LEAs and individuals shouldbe regarded as having attained their performance goals in implementing plans. Publicorganizations, particularly LEAs aspire to move on with changes happening in the existingknowledge and practices of management, but are not as dynamic as market firms are. So, byusing the factors that determine success of planning, students may be able to identify whatconstrains planning in organizations of their choice.

Successful planning depend on several factors: these include Knowledge: especially concerned with linking the strategies selected with

future results (think of stopping road accidents through prohibiting night

driving). Information availability (research) that reduces uncertainty Power: the possibility of changing the behavior of the other (sometimes the

capacity to impose hard decisions)-National IDs for instance, economicrecovery through compulsory farm work in rural areas.

Availability of resources (human, physical, financial): Especially when itcomes to implementation stage.

Time: is especially needed so as to collect information, analyze it, goingthrough options, and making informed choice

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TOPIC 6 Introduction to Planning and Decision Making for Law Enforcement