Broken Windows

In the case study “Broken Windows, Damaged Gutters, and Police Supervision,” Chief Harold Furman wants to implement his new philosophy of policing to Merrysville’s police department. Chief Furman is aware that implementing community policing to a conservative community will be a difficult task. He also knows that the results of implementing community policing would be nothing but positive. Chief Furman’s plan was basically to work with the community and assist in cleaning up their neighborhoods. Although Chief Furman encountered many obstacles, restructuring Merrysville’s police department was necessary in order for this plan to be effective.
Some of the obstacles police reformers face when trying to implement a community policing philosophy within a police department is similar to the obstacles encountered by Chief Furman in the case study. Some of the obstacles that Chief Furman encountered were employee resistance, lack of team focus, lack of involvement in the initiative’s design, implementation and monitoring but most important, clashes between “command and control” management styles and expanded decision making by line officers. In the case study, officer Strzykalski was skeptical to the change, he was a veteran and in the beginning he resisted the change and lacked motivation and team focus. “For officer Strzykalski and other officers, these changes were too drastic and ineffectual” (Stojkovic, 2003). Officer Strzykalski like other veterans resisted the change because they were too comfortable with their conservative ways.
One issue in police supervision that is most important in making a switch from a traditional police organization to one structured by the principles of community policing is the disagreement between the conservative and the contemporary way of management. In the conservative way of management the “command-and-control” management style is used versus the team approach in the contemporary way of management. Conservatives tend to follow the...