Criminal Justice Leadership Strategies and Practices

The Role of Planning in Criminal Justice Organizations

In general, planning is one of the five essential functions of organizational management, along with organizing, staffing, coordinating and controlling (Safir, 2003). In some respects, planning is the most important of the five functions of management because it involves aspects of all of the other management functions. That is also the case within criminal justice organizations. More specifically, planning in criminal justice relates to strategic, operational and tactical-level leadership decision making (Safir, 2003).

At the strategic level, planning allows organizational management to shape the long-term mission and objectives of the organization and ensure that the short-term goals of the agency support those long-term missions and objectives. Typically, strategic planning involves analyzing the needs of the community being served by the organization in conjunction with applicable local and state requirements and consideration of federal issues. While state...
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