Why and Wherefore of Planning in Police

Services

Andrew GrahamSchool of Policy StudiesQueens University

Why bother?

Old arguments – we’ll always be around

New realities – competition for resources

Planning is more than just filling in a form – it is leadership and direction

You do it or have it done for you

Democratic values: Authority is from outside the service Multiple stakeholders

What do you plan to do?

Set direction

Articulate values

Define yourself for others and your staff

Set priorities

Make your case for change and growth

Analyze pressures, uncertainties and opportunities

Communicate, communicate, communicate

What is a Strategic Plan?

...an integrated set of goals, objectivesand actions designed to bring about a particular result (usually termed a ‘mission’ or ‘vision’) at some future point

Think of a Plan as a Gameboard

Core Elements – the more stable parts

Building an annual Strategic Plan

How can that be? Annual and strategic?

Setting medium range goals key to winning budget support.

Being merely reactive will not win the day.

Process of building a plan is also the process of getting sing-on and support

It is also the process of learning and adaptation for the Service

9

What to look for in a strategic budget linkage

Strategic Plan

Does this organization know its Mission?

Does this organization have an end state or

vision?What are the ground rules or basic operating assumptions and principles?

Does it have a grip on reality – what is its situation analysis including risks.

Does it have goals and objectives that make sense?

Are there targets with measures that we can

understand.

Does what it is going to do this year mesh with its goals and

mission?

What’s it going to cost?

Is it sustainable?

Ch 6 -10

Strategy Formulation Framework

Stage 1:The Input Stage

Stage 2:The Matching Stage

Stage 3:The Decision Stage

Making it all real: Assessing your environment

Purpose: to establish a realistic and credible understanding of the risks, opportunities and challenges for the police service

To gather enough information so that the Board or senior management making decisions about your service or unit can make informed and balanced decisions

To understand the world around you not just as you see it but as other do and factor that perception into your final work plans

What goes into an environmental scan?

key demographic indicators, including recent municipal population forecasts;

community issues, perceptions and concerns ( Public Survey);

crime trends;

emergent police technology

legislative and policing trends

It can’t stop there

Need external input

Role of the Board/Commission

External partners, critiques, observers

Listening to the silence

Making it real: SWOT processes

Different names: environmental scan, risk analysis, etc

Strengths: attributes of the organization that are helpful to achieving the objective.

Weaknesses: attributes of the organization that are harmful to achieving the objective.

Opportunities: external conditions that are helpful to achieving the objective.

Threats: external conditions which could do damage to the business's performance..

SWOT Matrix

Strengths – S

List Strengths

Weaknesses – W

List Weaknesses

Opportunities – O

List Opportunities

SO Strategies

Use strengths to take advantage of

opportunities

WO Strategies

Overcoming weaknesses by taking

advantage of opportunities

Threats – T

List Threats

ST Strategies

Use strengths to avoid threats

WT Strategies

Minimize weaknesses and avoid threats

Setting Priorities and Goals

The vital few

Cannot be all things to all people

Avoid congestion

Clarity and decisiveness

It all has to work

together

Tactical Planning

High level goals need to be translated into reality

These become the next year targets and sources of money needs (not all the time)

This also becomes the basis for budget requests and assignment of internal funds

Let’s look at how one Police Service does this