An Examination of Strategic Planning in American Law Enforcement Agencies A National Study

Strategic planning in police departments represents a significant departure from a traditionally reactive orientation to one that is more proactive in nature. This study followed an inductive reasoning approach to investigate the implementation of strategic planning in American law enforcement agencies and then develop theoretical models that might capture variation across organizations. Based on the initial results from telephone interviews and selective site visits, we were able to identify two key dimensions that seemed to differentiate the implementation of strategic planning among these law enforcement agencies. As a consequence, four styles of strategic planning emerged. This article discusses the development of strategic planning in U.S. police agencies and implications for the future.