Consolidation of Police and Fire Services in the United States
More than 100 municipalities across the United States have consolidated their police, fire, and emergency medical services into a single, consolidated agency. Typical reasons for such consolidation are to reduce costs or improve efficiency. As initial reasons to consolidate change or diminish, some...
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| Tipo de documento: | Electrónico Artículo |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
| Publicado: |
2017
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| En: |
International criminal justice review
Año: 2017, Volumen: 27, Número: 3, Páginas: 203-221 |
| Acceso en línea: |
Volltext (Resolving-System) |
| Journals Online & Print: | Gargar...
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| Verificar disponibilidad: | HBZ Gateway |
| Palabras clave: |
| Sumario: | More than 100 municipalities across the United States have consolidated their police, fire, and emergency medical services into a single, consolidated agency. Typical reasons for such consolidation are to reduce costs or improve efficiency. As initial reasons to consolidate change or diminish, some agencies have deconsolidated, but many remained consolidated. In this work, we use perspectives of contingency theory and institutional theory of organizations to explore why agencies may remain consolidated. Using a mixed-methods approach, we first recruited two expert panels of consolidated agency leaders and others knowledgeable about consolidation and deconsolidation across the United States. From these experts, we gathered insight into a broad range of issues related to public-safety consolidation. We then conducted a series of seven case studies among communities chosen for their location and community features, interviewing agency executives and line staff as well as local officials. We found contingency theory helps explain why many of these agencies consolidate. We also found, as institutional theory would predict, that many conformed to standards of other bodies or even created their own “cultural” standards. This work highlights the importance of both theoretical perspectives in assessing the growth and persistence of these agencies. |
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| ISSN: | 1556-3855 |
| DOI: | 10.1177/1057567717698012 |