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June 1990
FACILITY PLANNING IN COLORADO: FORM VS.FUNCTION
By
James D. Munger
Chief, Colorado Springs Police Department
Colorado Springs, Colorado
and
Edward Spivey, Ph.D.
Supervisor, Research and Development Section
Colorado Springs Police Department
Colorado Springs, Colorado
What determines the manner in which a police department
operates--form or function? Surprisingly, this question appears
in any number of contexts in any department--policy formulation,
equipment selection, values orientation, or the design of the
training curriculum. Whatever the case, the form/function issue
influences decisively the nature of the organization and the
agency's mission and goals.
The Colorado Springs, Colorado, Police Department wrestled
with this form/function question during the past few years in a
number of ways, but particularly with regard to police
facilities. This article will discuss how this police department
recognized the relationship between its physical accommodations
and its role in the community and how the department has been
changed in the process. Of course, this process is not unique to
this department, but examining it may help other agencies
involved in self-assessment and future planning.
THE PROBLEM
Until the end of World War II, Colorado Springs was a rather
sleepy, small town whose major claims to fame were its
spectacular setting and its reputation as a health resort. But,
the establishment of several permanent military facilities after
the war led to rapid community growth. By the early 1960s, the
police department outgrew its accommodations in the basement of
city hall. A separate police headquarters was built next door,
but agency functions remained relatively unchanged.
As often happens with municipal facilities, budgetary
constraints limited construction to immediate needs. And, no one
was forewarned of the rapid population growth and the fourfold
increase in area size that would take place within the next 3
decades. Within 6 years after it was built, the police building
could no longer house the police department. Leasing and
occupying portions of several city-owned structures gained
additional space in a piecemeal fashion.
The physical fragmentation of the police department caused
problems in communications and led to diffused supervisory
responsibilities. At this time, form determined function. As a
result, ``turf'' issues began to interfere with operational
effectiveness, while the department's operating budget eroded
because duplicate equipment needed to be purchased or additional
support personnel had to be hired for units in remote locations.
By the early 1980s, it became clear that organizational
effectiveness could only be preserved by adequate facilities.
The relocation of patrol services in temporary facilities on
opposite sides of town alleviated the most pressing problems.
This made it possible to reallocate office and parking space at
headquarters. Patrol officers and sergeants were moved to the
two ``outpost'' stations but continued to report to a single
command structure at headquarters.
Administrators recognized that this fragmentation posed
organizational problems. Numerous attempts were made to
reorganize the existing facilities and to redefine operational
responsibilities more functionally. Planning for new facilities
continued, and by 1984, the department was committed to the
construction of permanent patrol substations. Up to this point,
any recommended changes were consistent with the department's
mission and remained within the department's traditional
centralized structure.
THE PROCESS OF CHANGE
The appointment of a new chief of police in 1985 coincided
with the national awakening of interest in redefining law
enforcement missions in terms of community involvement. The
department's new administration began an assessment of all agency
divisions. Task forces, composed of civilians and officers,
evaluated all aspects of the department both structurally and
functionally in light of these new ideas.
After approximately 3 months of study, the task forces
recommended a major reconfiguration of the department, along with
a schedule to phase in the changes. An essential element of the
reconfiguration was to decentralize line operations through three
divisional substations, while keeping a centralized component for
citywide functions, such as major crime investigations and
support services.
After city authorities accepted the concept, the department
initiated major planning efforts on several fronts. Budgeting
was, of course, the first priority. In the past, the department
made few funding requests for capital improvements; therefore,
the municipal authorities were more easily persuaded of the need
for major investments in police facilities. Because of
additional appropriations and departmental economizing measures,
the construction of two substations began. The long-range
strategy was to put these substations into operation, coordinate
new service delivery methods with a strong emphasis on community
policing, and then propose a bond referendum to finance a police
operations center that would include a third substation. During
the interim, the third patrol division occupied temporary
quarters that became available when the new substations were
opened.
Simultaneously, the department created another captain
position to serve as station commander, thus permitting the
reassignment of an experienced captain as a full-time facilities
planner. The facilities planner and the department's civilian
Director of Management Services shared the overall responsibility
of the project, but worked under the direction of the Deputy
Chief of Administration.
Early in the process, the department contracted for services
with an architectural and engineering firm experienced in
designing law enforcement facilities. The resulting combination
of operational experience, conceptual innovation, fiscal
prudence, and technical expertise proved beneficial.
Departmental planners also took care to coordinate closely with
the city's administrators and technical agencies to ensure that
all processes worked smoothly.
COMMUNITY-ORIENTED OPERATIONS
New facilities were the glamorous part of the process, but
laying the groundwork for a decentralized and community-oriented
operational mode proved more arduous. Computer programs and
hardware had to be modified so that the transition could be
smooth. Months before the physical relocation, reporting systems
were reconfigured to the new geographical patterns. This allowed
employees to become familiar with the new technical foundations.
This ``camping out'' period was sometimes hectic and required
patience from operations personnel and administrators alike, but
its inconveniences were repaid by the smooth physical transition
that resulted.
With the advent of community-oriented policing and
decentralized service delivery, the department's written
directives had to be thoroughly revised. The need to redesign
policies and procedures had become critical because the
department had also made a philosophical commitment to seek
national accreditation. Now, facing a complete restructuring,
this process could not be avoided. Therefore, considerable
effort was devoted not only to revising manuals for policies and
procedures but also to reviewing the process for ensuring
accountability. A task force went through existing directives
line by line to check for accuracy and adequacy, removing
obsolete passages and outlining items to be added. The manual
was then rewritten to bring it into accord with accreditation
standards and to express policies and procedures more logically.
Matters that were strictly procedural and subject to frequent
change were removed from the manual entirely and given to a task
force of patrol officers, who developed a code of standard
operating procedures tailored to the new functional
configuration. By doing so, authority for revising this type of
directive was moved closer to the operating level.
THE FINAL PHASE
Actual construction of the stations began in 1988, after
exhaustive planning that involved not only administrators and the
consulting firm but also task forces of patrol officers who would
be using the new facility. In March 1989, the new stations were
opened and public tours were conducted for several days. Each
station contained a large community room, which was open to the
public for scout meetings, homeowners' association meetings, and
similar events. Opening the stations to nonpolice activities
helped to quickly integrate the stations into the neighborhoods,
and this nonthreatening contact between citizens and officers
improved significantly the public's view of law enforcement.
More surprisingly, officers welcomed this contact with
law-abiding citizens as a healthy influence on their
perspectives.
During the final months of construction, the department
prepared a bond issue proposal to build a police operations
center, which was approved by the city council for a referendum.
A ``Police Bond Action Plan'' was developed to saturate the
community with facts about the importance of the operations
center to the delivery of effective police services. The plan
included a comprehensive media awareness effort, coordinating
presentations to the general public and to community service
groups, and the development of a citizens' support group, which
added ideas and raised money for campaign publicity.
THE RESULTS
The results of the police department's movement toward
community policing became evident when a better than two-to-one
majority of voters approved the police operations center bond.
The department interpreted these results to be a resounding
endorsement of a winning combination: Good service delivery,
thorough and innovative planning, and a strong effort to
recognize and satisfy the needs of citizens.
The Colorado Springs Police Department is now moving toward
developing the operations center. As with the substation
development, a task force approach again has been adopted and an
experienced architectural consulting group has been retained.
This close involvement during the design and construction stages,
as well as continued involvement by other branches of municipal
government, provides facilities and services that foster other
program innovations.
The most difficult part was not putting the bricks and beams
into place but initiating the operating structure. Although the
new facilities and operations services have been shaped, the
human and organizational engineering will never be completed.
The department's role in the community has already changed to
such an extent not believed possible several years ago, and it is
anticipated that this change will continue as a result of
intensified community involvement. This process has brought
about new ways of thinking, acting, and achieving the
department's mission and goals among all levels of personnel.
New programs have been implemented, and more are on the way a
number of them arising from the line units. Having worked
through the fear and discomfort of escaping traditional molds,
the department has found a dynamic concept of police work that is
both stimulating and enjoyable.
Indeed, the focus must be on function rather than form. As
long as a police agency is locked into traditional molds,
innovation is limited to merely rearranging things. Law
enforcement will always be tasked with necessary chores, such as
manpower scheduling and allocating vehicles, from which there is
no escape. And, although a certain sort of creativity is
involved in these activities, focusing on the overall mission
brings much more into play. It is essential, however, that the
definition of mission be derived from the interaction of the
agency with the community. A definition arising completely from
within a department is usually less comprehensive.
Finally, the process can be done only through action.
References to planning have been made often in this article and
with good reason. In one sense, everything is a part of
planning. However, planning consists of much more than academic
exercises. It must include proper execution, as well as
reintegrating the results of execution.
CONCLUSION
What the Colorado Springs Police Department has learned
throughout the last few years was certainly aided by research.
But learning came more by putting the results of the research
into practice. This requires an organization to work toward a
major goal.
This department's goal was to develop more adequate police
facilities, but other goals would serve as well, providing that
they are challenging and can involve the whole organization or at
least a major part of it. The elements within this department
that benefited most from this reorganization were patrol and
planning personnel.
Form and function, product and process, are dull and rather
abstract terms that are certainly not the everyday topics of
police discourse. Even though there is no guarantee that another
agency would reap the same rewards and benefits, enormous gains
can be made, even at the cost of some psychological and physical
comfort. The Colorado Springs, Colorado, Police Department has
shaped its new facilities and will shape those to come. More
importantly, however, it is also shaping itself in the process.