U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

National Institute of Justice

Washington, DC 20531

Official Business

Penalty for Private Use $300

PRESORTED STANDARD

POSTAGE & FEES PAID

DOJ/NIJ

PERmIT NO. G–91

2011 July

NCJ 232077

*NCJ~232077* 

 

 
This and other publications and products of the 

National Institute of Justice can be found at: 

National Institute of Justice 

www.nij.gov 

Office of Justice Programs 

Innovation • Partnerships • Safer Neighborhoods 

www.ojp.usdoj.gov 

 

 

 

 

U.S. Department of Justice 

Office of Justice Programs 

810 Seventh Street N.W. 

Washington, DC 20531 

Eric H. Holder, Jr. 

Attorney General 

Laurie O. Robinson 

Assistant Attorney General 

John H. Laub 

Director, National Institute of Justice 
02-Strategic Cutback Interior.indd 1 7/7/11 4:0

 

 

 

 

 

July 2011 

Strategic Cutback Management: 

Law Enforcement Leadership for 

Lean Times 

Findings and conclusions of the research reported here are those of the 

author and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the U.S. 

Department of Justice. 

NCJ 232077 
ii 

R E S E A R C H f o R p R A C t i C E / J u l y 2 0 1 1 

02-Strategic Cutback Interior.indd 2 7/7/11 4:0

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About this report 

The United States is experiencing the 10th economic decline since World War II. This 

document presents lessons 

learned from past experience 

and suggests approaches 

leaders can use to address 

financial crises in law enforcement agencies. 

Leadership is the most critical element for success. We 

know from the past that an 

organization’s leaders create 

a shared sense of the importance of the priorities and 

tasks of the group. It is this 

inspiration that induces workers to follow along in support 

of the group’s mission. 

Additional lessons learned 

from the past: 

■ Avoid across-the-board 

cuts. They cause disproportionate harm. 

■ Use the crisis to improve 

management and improve productivity. In law 

enforcement, examples 

abound of departments 

faced with unfortunate 

crises — from consent 

decrees to accidental 

shootings — where the 

events provided meaningful moments of reflection, 

learning and process improvement. Budget crises 

are no different. 

■ Think long term. Research 

has shown that organizations capable of enduring 

a deep fiscal crisis had 

developed and were able to 

stick to a strategic plan with 

a multiyear time frame. 

■ Do not just cut costs, look 

for revenue opportunities. 

Research on past recessions shows that increasing 

a tax or fee provides relief 

faster than cutting expenditures. Although police agencies do not have the power 

to levy taxes, they may be 

able to charge user fees for 

some services. 

■ Invite innovation. During past fiscal crises, new 

approaches were tried that 

are now standard in many 

cities. For example, local 

governments have privatized 

certain city services and sold 

public facility naming rights. 

■ Look outside for help. 

Law enforcement can 

look outside the department to other government 

agencies, or to suppliers, 

academics or other subjectmatter experts for suggestions on improving operations at reduced cost. 

■ Targeted layoffs are more 

effective than hiring 

freezes. 
1 

S t R A t E g i C C u t b A C k M A n A g E M E n t 

02-Strategic Cutback Interior.indd 1 7/7/11 4:0

 

About the Author 

Jane Wiseman is a 

management consultant 

specializing in public 

administration. She 

served as Assistant 

Secretary for Public Safety 

in Massachusetts and was 

previously Assistant to 

the Director for Strategic 

Planning at the National 

Institute of Justice. 

Jane Wiseman 

strategic Cutback Management: 

Law Enforcement Leadership

for Lean Times 

Is it possible to manage well Challenges for law 

during an economic decline? enforcement during Is it possible to actually times of economic improve operations instead decline of just trying to do more with 

less? The answer to both For police managers, several

questions is “yes.” factors make tight economic 

situations more challenging: Although the current economic picture is bleak, execu- ■ Public safety is an essentives still have options that tial function of governallow them to manage well, ment. Some government

and in some cases to actually functions can be cut or 

improve operations. 	 temporarily suspended to 

save money. For example, This document presents to save money, some gov­ alternatives to across-the­ ernment agencies shorten board, slash-and-burn budget their operating hours. The cutting. It provides police de- police, however, cannot partments with practical tools simply close one day a for strategic fiscal manage- week to save money. ment in difficult times. There 

is limited academic literature ■ The success of commuaddressing law enforcement nity policing has elevated

cutback management. By public expectations. Many

gathering existing sources, departments have achieved

this document represents a success in forging bonds

first step in moving the field with communities through

along from anecdote toward years of proactive policing.

more rigorous cutback man- That success brings with

agement theory. it the expectation from the 

community that service 

levels will remain constant, 

even in times of fiscal 

distress. 
2 

R E S E A R C H f o R p R A C t i C E / J u l y 2 0 1 1 

02-Strategic Cutback Interior.indd 2 7/7/11 4:0

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Helpful SourceS 

Excellent examples of police departments using a crisis as 

a springboard for change and process improvement are 

found on pages 44-50 in Good to Great Policing: Application of Business Management Principles in the Public 

Sector (http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/RIC/ResourceDetail. 

aspx?RID=427). This document also provides a quick summary of the business improvement classic Good to Great 

by Jim Collins (New York: HarperBusiness, 2001). 

An excellent source for innovative ideas in all areas of 

state and local government is the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at the Harvard Kennedy 

School. This group gives out annual Innovations in Government awards. Information on its work can be found at 

http://www.innovations.harvard.edu. 

The President has launched a website to share government innovations. Although this is primarily aimed at 

federal government agencies, some of the innovations 

leverage technologies (Web conferencing, networked 

communities) discussed may be useful to police departments. This source of innovative government ideas can be 

found at http://www.whitehouse.gov/open/innovations. 

■ Collective bargaining 

reduces discretionary 

spending. Personnel is 

the largest budget item in 

police departments.1

 When 

collective bargaining agreements set salary and benefit levels, there is very little 

discretionary spending that 

can be cut by an executive. 

This makes it difficult for a 

police leader to balance a 

budget quickly. 

■ Police are not the sole 

determiners of their budgets, and in a fiscal crisis, 

top-down decisionmaking may further reduce 

discretion. Even without 

a fiscal crisis, half of police 

departments report that 

budget limits are set by 

the mayor, city manager or 

finance director.2

 In a crisis, 

chief executives often 

want to seize control of the 

situation. In some cases, 

governors and mayors 

make decisions about 

agency budgets without 

first soliciting input. 

■ Change is always hard, 

and it is even harder in 

difficult fiscal times. It 

is human nature to resist 

change. When change 

is achieved, it is often 

because those affected 

believe the benefits are 

greater than the costs. In 

a tight budget, it is hard to 

make any benefits available, so it can be harder 

to get buy-in for change. 

The rewards necessary to 

inspire cooperation may 

simply be unavailable.3 

■ Morale can suffer. No 

one is happy to see their 

overtime income decrease. 

Employee spirits are 

dampened when travel or 

training budgets are cut. 

Layoffs, furlough days 

and loss of staff through 

attrition can erode institutional experience. Both 

managers and those in 

collective bargaining units 
3 

S t R A t E g i C C u t b A C k M A n A g E M E n t 

02-Strategic Cutback Interior.indd 3 7/7/11 4:0

may experience decreased 

morale. The result can be 

decreased commitment to 

problem solving and creativity. The long-term cost 

of these intangible losses 

is hard to quantify but significant nonetheless. 

Ways to manage 

during times of 

economic decline 

The most common approach 

is to spread budget cuts 

evenly across an agency 

or across all agencies in a 

government. Across-theboard cuts may seem to be 

fair because they spread 

the pain. The problem with 

such cuts is that they do 

not alter the fundamentals 

and can often degrade the 

effectiveness of the agency 

over time. Across-the-board 

cuts disproportionately hurt 

small agencies and efficient 

operations. Such short-term 

solutions can result in low 

morale, reduced creativity 

and innovation, and stagnation of skills. 

The good news and the bad 

news is that the current fiscal 

crisis will last a while. This 

means public agencies will 

have time to implement lasting organizational improvements. Fiscal stress lasting 

three or more years has been 

shown to allow departments 

time to create new ways of 

doing business in accounting, 

budgeting, priority setting 

for service calls and better 

resource targeting.4

 These 

new ways of doing business 

embody a strategic management approach to budget 

cutting. Strategic cutback 

management sets priorities 

rather than allowing the organization to drift. 

Experts on public administration estimate that a budget 

cut of 7 percent in any one 

year, or 15 percent over 3 

years is about the maximum 

an organization can sustain 

and continue to “muddle 

along” in achieving its 

mission. If a budget cut of 

greater magnitude than that 

is required, strategic management will be needed. When 

the state of Washington 

faced a 15-percent budget 

gap in 2002, the governor 

decided to try a drastic and 

different approach to budgeting. An editorial in The 

Seattle Times described the 

new approach this way: 

The usual, political way 

to handle a projected 

deficit is to take last 

year’s budget and cut. It 

is like taking last year’s 

family car and reducing 

its weight with a blowtorch and shears. But 

Across-theboard cuts may 

seem to be fair 

because they 

spread the pain. 

The problem 

with such cuts 

is that they do 

not alter the 

fundamentals 

and can often 

degrade the 

effectiveness of 

the agency 

over time. 
4 

R E S E A R C H f o R p R A C t i C E / J u l y 2 0 1 1 

02-Strategic Cutback Interior.indd 4 7/7/11 4:0

 

Strategic 

cutback 

management 

sets priorities 

rather than 

allowing the 

organization 

to drift. 

cutting $2 billion from 

this vehicle does not 

make it a compact; it 

makes it a wreck. What 

is wanted is a budget 

designed from the 

ground up.” 5 

The next sections of this 

report discuss three effective strategies for managing 

during times of economic 

decline: Business process 

re-engineering, performance 

measurement and budgeting 

for outcomes. For suggested 

questions to ask during the 

strategic cutback management process, see the Appendix, “Key Questions 

for Effective Cutback 

Management. 

Business process 

re-engineering 

The strategy called “business process re-engineering” 

(BPR) has come back into the 

spotlight as a way to save 

money in lean times. The 

concept is known by a variety 

of names: business process 

re-engineering, business process improvement, business 

process optimization, value 

stream optimization and so 

on. For simplicity, the original 

term BPR is used here. 

The concept first became 

popular in business but 

can also help government 

agencies achieve better 

results. One consulting firm 

expressed it this way: 

In our work with government and public institutions around the world, 

we have seen incontrovertible evidence that 

dramatic improvements 

in performance and productivity can come about 

when governments make 

thoughtful, disciplined 

operational changes. 

Simply doing the same 

tasks in new ways, as it 

turns out, can be extremely powerful.6 

Numerous examples of how 

BPR works in the public sector include the following: 

■ The city of Grand Rapids, 

Mich., has achieved customer satisfaction despite 

workforce cuts through 

consolidating operations, 

streamlining processes 

and reducing or eliminating wasted time and effort. 

The city set up interdisciplinary teams to develop 

new ways of achieving 

their work. Each year, the 

process reaches new 

agencies.7 

■ The Boston Police Department re-engineered its 

payroll processing into a 

streamlined system that 
5 

S t R A t E g i C C u t b A C k M A n A g E M E n t 

02-Strategic Cutback Interior.indd 5 7/7/11 4:0

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

can track regular time, sick 

time, overtime and detail 

pay. The BPR effort was 

inspired by a newspaper 

article that revealed officers were simultaneously 

collecting sick, regular or 

vacation pay while working 

paid detail shifts. 

■ Montgomery County, Md., 

cut its accounts payable 

staff by more than half by 

giving departments the 

authority to pay invoices 

up to $5,000 rather than 

going through the central 

accounts payable office.8 

BPR is defined by Michael 

Hammer and James Champy, 

authors of Reengineering 

the Corporation,9 as “the 

fundamental rethinking and 

radical redesign of business processes to achieve 

dramatic improvements in 

critical, contemporary measures of performance, such 

as cost, quality, service and 

speed.” During the 1990s, 

BPR generated great success 

in back-office processing, 

manufacturing and warehouse operations. Today it is 

coming back to address the 

economic challenges of the 

customer-facing side of business. For businesses, this 

will include product development, sales and marketing. 

Helpful SourceS 

Executives who face the challenge of declining resources 

can draw on research and experiences others have faced 

in the past. Effective cutback management starts by asking 

questions and developing a detailed budget analysis. The 

Appendix is a guide for starting the process. It outlines the 

beginning steps and critical questions to ask. 

Asking critical questions in the right context with the right 

focus will result in categories of cutback. The questions 

provided in the Appendix were used by multidisciplinary 

teams from across the criminal justice system who 

discussed how their interrelated missions and functions 

would be affected by any changes in budget or process. 

The questions can also be a helpful guide for agencies or 

for divisions or departments within an agency. 

In government, adoption of 

BPR has been uneven across 

states, regions and types of 

agencies. Many opportunities 

still exist to improve business 

processes for the better. 

Sometimes the result will be 

money savings, other times 

it will be time savings, and 

in other cases it will simply 

mean greater customer 

satisfaction. The potential for 

time and money savings are 

the key reasons that BPR is 

of interest during the current 

fiscal crisis as a way to reduce costs or become more 

efficient. 

In the years since the initial 

publication of their book, 

Hammer and Champy have 

come to realize the most 
6 

R E S E A R C H f o R p R A C t i C E / J u l y 2 0 1 1 

02-Strategic Cutback Interior.indd 6 7/7/11 4:0

 

important concept of their 

definition is “process” and 

that making process the 

heart of the organization is 

the key to success. They 

note that governments often 

fail at re-engineering efforts 

primarily because those 

in leadership positions are 

not process-oriented but 

are instead policy leaders.10 

This bodes well for process 

re-engineering in law enforcement agencies whose 

leaders often come from 

the field and understand the 

basic business processes of 

the agency. 

BPR is best undertaken by a 

team diverse enough to generate a variety of ideas. This 

may mean including different 

levels, different agencies or 

even complete outsiders who 

have a stake in the quality of 

the process. The important 

questions to ask in a BPR 

project are: 

■ What are we doing? 

■ How do we do it? 

■ Why are we doing it 

that way? 

■ How could we do it differently if we were building 

the process from scratch 

today? 

Performance 

measurement 

Performance measurement 

is a management tool used 

to help get better results 

by measuring activity and 

setting targets for desired 

results. Performance measurement is a way to draw 

management attention to 

priority activities of an 

organization. 

Performance measurement is 

relevant to cutback management as a way to get more 

value or productivity out of 

existing resources, and as a 

way to identify activities that 

are not meeting performance 

standards and can be candidates for elimination. 

performance measurement in 

law enforcement and public 

safety agencies 

Thinking about how to 

measure performance in 

policing, in 1992 George 

Kelling wrote a paper called 

“Measuring What Matters.”11 In it, he challenged 

the existing measures of law 

enforcement (arrests, crime 

rates) as appropriate ways 

of measuring the success of 

community policing efforts. 

In the years that followed 

publication of that paper, the 

National Institute of Justice 

and the Office of Community 
7 

S t R A t E g i C C u t b A C k M A n A g E M E n t 

02-Strategic Cutback Interior.indd 7 7/7/11 4:0

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oriented Policing Services 

jointly hosted a series of 

meetings for academics and 

practitioners concerned with 

understanding how best to 

measure success in policing. A research report was 

published in July 1999 with 

summaries of the papers presented at the three sessions 

held to explore this topic.12 

Various perspectives for measuring what matters include: 

■ CompStat at the NYPD. 

One of the most wellknown examples of performance measurement in 

public safety is the implementation of CompStat at 

the New York City Police 

Department. According 

to William Bratton, who 

served as police commissioner in New York City, 

measuring police efforts is 

a key to motivation and success. In his words, “Goals 

become a means not only 

of measuring success but 

of replacing unproductive or 

counterproductive behaviors with effective, goaloriented activity.” 

■ Maryland StateStat. 

Maryland Governor Martin 

O’Malley manages state 

government with numeric 

data and a policy of accountability for managers 

to meet performance 

Helpful SourceS 

In The Reinventor’s Fieldbook: Tools for Transforming Your 

Government (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2000), David Osborne and Peter Plastrik provide an extremely practical set 

of tools for carrying out the work described in Reinventing 

Government, by Osborne and Ted Gaebler. This is a very 

useful and accessible handbook. 

In Creating Public Value: Strategic Management in Government (Bridgewater, N.J.: Replica Books, 1997), Mark 

H. Moore has a chapter on “Reengineering Public Sector 

Production” in which he compares two case studies, one 

from the Boston Housing Authority and the other from 

the Houston Police Department. Using the cases, Moore 

describes how to define the organizational mission and 

the product. He then provides advice on how to redesign 

the production processes, reflecting the fact that police 

departments are like service enterprises in the private 

sector in that their greatest cost element is personnel 

and that the “product” is actually the interaction of those 

personnel with outside customers. Moore ably addresses 

police culture, the importance of aligning systems with 

mission, and the tradeoffs between centralized control and 

connection to community. 

A useful source for information on process improvement 

is http://www.lean.org. This website is run by a nonprofit 

organization that provides free Web-based training services and also has a wealth of articles for free and other 

materials for purchase. 

targets. One of the benefits 

of looking at the numbers 

is being able to make decisions based on total costs 

and benefits. For example, 

a state juvenile detention 

facility was closed because 

it was operating at far less 

than capacity. The total 

savings was $1.5 million. 

Of that amount, $600,000 

was used to fund less 
8 

R E S E A R C H f o R p R A C t i C E / J u l y 2 0 1 1 

02-Strategic Cutback Interior.indd 8 7/7/11 4:0

 

expensive communitybased programs that 

use evidence-based family 

therapy and education 

programs proven to be 

more effective than 

incarceration.13 

■ Massachusetts Sex 

Offender Registry Board. 

The Massachusetts Sex 

Offender Registry Board 

is responsible for registering and classifying sex 

offenders. When thenMassachusetts Governor 

Mitt Romney’s performance measurement initiative was launched in 2004, 

the agency did not know 

how many individuals required to register as sex offenders had failed to do so. 

Simply asking for the basic 

statistics from the agency 

was a helpful exercise. But 

even more helpful was the 

ability to focus efforts on 

the most serious cases. 

When the agency identified 

those in violation of their 

registration requirements 

who were at the highest 

risk to reoffend, they were 

then able to engage state 

and local law enforcement 

in sweeps to locate and 

register these offenders. 

■ Sunnyvale, Calif. When 

Sunnyvale, Calif., pioneered performance-based 

budgeting in the 1980s, it 

established outcome goals 

for every agency of government. It set nine outcome 

goals for the police department and each goal was 

given a weight of one to 

five depending on how 

important it was to public 

safety. “When the police 

began measuring these 

outcomes and adding the 

weights, they realized that 

domestic violence accounted for 50 percent of 

the weighted crime. The 

Public Safety Department 

then reorganized internally 

to attack domestic violence 

more effectively, and it 

convinced the City Council 

to spend more on combating domestic violence.”14 

the mechanics of 

performance measurement 

Many law enforcement 

agencies have already implemented performance measurement for crime statistics, 

following in the CompStat 

model. That is well documented in other sources. 

When developing new performance measures, one of 

the key recommendations 

is to make sure they are 

“S-M-A-R-T” measures. That 

means that the measures 

should be: 
9 

S t R A t E g i C C u t b A C k M A n A g E M E n t 

02-Strategic Cutback Interior.indd 9 7/7/11 4:0

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

■ Specific — Performance 

measures need to be precise and clear, otherwise 

it is hard to understand 

exactly what they are. For 

example, “decrease crime” 

is unspecific. A more specific performance goal is 

“decrease violent crime by 

3 percent.” 

■ Measurable — Performance measures and 

targets need to be things 

that can be measured. 

Employee sick days can be 

measured, overtime expenditures can be measured 

and number of burglaries 

can be measured. Vague or 

general terms like “morale” and “crime” are harder to measure. For any area 

in which performance measurement is desired, law 

enforcement leadership 

should try to find something that can be measured. 

For example, morale can be 

measured through employee 

satisfaction surveys. A proxy 

measure for morale is often 

the use of sick time. 

■ Attainable — Setting performance targets that are 

unrealistic will only deflate 

morale when they are 

missed. Attainable goals 

are inspiring. 

Helpful SourceS 

There are a number of performance measurement reports 

that are public and may provide helpful inspiration. Some 

examples include: 

New York City Mayor’s Management Report (available 

online at http://www.nyc.gov/html/ops/html/mmr/mmr. 

shtml). 

City of Portland [Oregon] Service Efforts and Accomplishments: 2008-09 (available online at http://www. 

portlandonline.com/auditor/index.cfm?c=49566&a=274496). 

Prince William County, Virginia, 2006 Service Efforts and 

Accomplishments Report (available online at http:// 

www.pwcgov.org/accountability). 

An excellent source for examining the philosophical 

debate on how performance measurement can be used in 

a law enforcement agency is found in the NIJ publication, 

Measuring What Matters: Proceedings From the Policing 

Research Institute Meetings, Research Report, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of 

Justice, July 1999, NCJ 170610. 

The National Performance Management Advisory Commission published a public review draft in July 2009 of a 

helpful tool for implementing performance measurement 

and performance management efforts. A Performance 

Management Framework for State and Local Government: 

From Measurement and Reporting to Management and 

Improving (http://pmcommission.org/APerformance 

ManagementFramework.pdf) provides step-by-step 

instructions for beginning a performance measurement 

effort and provides helpful advice and suggestions for the 

implementing process. 

For information on federal performance measurement efforts and for sample performance measurement questions, 

visit http://www.expectmore.gov. This Office of Management and Budget website provides information to the 

public on federal programs that have been evaluated using 

performance measures. 
10 

R E S E A R C H f o R p R A C t i C E / J u l y 2 0 1 1 

02-Strategic Cutback Interior.indd 10 7/7/11 4:0

 

■ Relevant — Performance 

measures must connect 

to core elements of the 

agency’s mission or they 

are not useful. 

■ Time-based — Performance measures and 

performance targets need 

deadlines. For example, 

“decrease violent crime by 

3 percent within one year” 

is time based. Without a 

deadline, it will be impossible to determine if the 

goal is on target or not. 

performance 

measurement trends 

Increasingly in the private 

sector, organizations are 

moving from performance 

measurement to performance management. The 

difference is in adopting a 

philosophy throughout the 

organization that the results 

— either achieving performance goals or not — have 

consequences. Management then motivates staff 

to achieve goals and creates 

both incentives to achieve 

and penalties for not achieving metrics. In settings with 

collective bargaining units, 

management and unions 

collaborate to establish the 

incentives and penalties. 

Organizations that use performance measures effectively 

use them both internally and 

externally. The look at the 

external environment is 

called benchmarking. In 

“benchmarking,” an organization looks at similar agencies 

and at best-in-class agencies 

to compare performance. 

This is a way to ensure that 

performance targets are aggressive and meaningful. 

Budgeting for outcomes 

In their book The Price of 

Government (see note 8), 

David Osborne and Peter 

Hutchinson argue that the 

problem with traditional budget cutting is the focus on 

what is cut and not on what 

is kept. They argue entities 

should stop focusing on the 

10-15 percent of the budget 

that gets cut and instead devote themselves to improving the effectiveness of the 

85-90 percent of the budget 

that is kept. They ask, “What 

value are we getting for our 

money? “ 

Their idea brings back 

memories of “zero-based 

budgeting” but with a twist. 

In zero-based budgeting, 

each program is reviewed 

with the assumption that it 

must prove itself in order not 

to be zeroed out. “Budgeting for Outcomes” looks at 

the desired end result across 
11 

S t R A t E g i C C u t b A C k M A n A g E M E n t 

02-Strategic Cutback Interior.indd 11 7/7/11 4:0

all agencies of government, 

rather than looking at each 

spending line item in each 

individual organization. An 

excerpt from the book summarizes their approach: 

The first step is to turn 

the budget process on 

its head, so that it starts 

with the results we 

demand and the price we 

are willing to pay rather 

than the programs we 

have and the costs they 

incur. The second is to 

build the budget by deciding to buy only those 

programs that deliver 

the results we want and 

leave the rest behind. 

Then we must cut 

government down to its 

most effective size and 

shape, through strategic 

reviews, consolidation, 

and rightsizing; use competition to squeeze more 

value out of every tax 

dollar; make every program, organization and 

employee accountable 

for results; use technology to empower customers and save money; and 

reform how government 

works on the inside (its 

management systems 

and bureaucratic rules) to 

improve its performance 

on the outside.15 

One key element of Budgeting for Outcomes is that it 

is done across an entire 

government enterprise — a 

state, county or city. The 

outcomes desired by citizens 

often cut across departments, and the budget then 

is driven by outcome instead 

of by department. As Budgeting for Outcomes practitioner Roger Neumaier, the 

Snohomish County, Wash., 

finance director said, “We do 

not fund processes: we fund 

outcomes.”16 

Although the approach is 

meant for an entire unit of 

government, the key themes 

are relevant to a police 

department — getting more 

value out of the budget by 

focusing on what is most 

important and ignoring organizational silos in pursuit of 

valued outcomes. 

Traditionally, law enforcement agencies have used a 

line-item budget format. This 

is the least flexible format 

for police executives, as the 

authorizing agency (mayor or 

city council) determines the 

budget on a line-by-line basis. 

More and more agencies are 

using performance budgeting or mission-driven budget 

processes.17 

Although there are challenges to adopting Budgeting for 
12 

R E S E A R C H f o R p R A C t i C E / J u l y 2 0 1 1 

02-Strategic Cutback Interior.indd 12 7/7/11 4:0

 

Outcomes in a law enforcement agency, there are some 

elements of the process that 

can prove useful. A quick 

summary follows. 

■ Set goals. Budgeting for 

Outcomes starts with 

defining the goals that are 

most important to the community. Specific recommendations in the book 

regarding goals include: 

– Adopt a narrow focus. 

The book recommends 

keeping a clear focus 

and not having too 

many goals — 15 is too 

many, 10 is good, five 

is even better. When 

Mesa County, Colo., 

implemented Budgeting 

for Outcomes, it identified 10 priority areas for 

government. Multnomah 

County, Ore., established 

six priorities of government for its 2007 budget. 

– Focus on outcomes, not 

outputs or activities. For 

example, if the goal is to 

reduce gang violence, 

police executives should 

focus on that, not on 

activities such as arrests, 

home visits or call out 

meetings. 

– Be realistic. Achievable goals are inspiring; 

impossible goals are not. 

Police executives should 

choose bold but achievable goals. 

– Reach out. Management 

should not set the goals 

in a vacuum but should 

involve collective bargaining units and other key 

stakeholders such as 

clergy, community leaders, academics, business 

leaders and other justice 

system players.18 

■ Rank the goals. All possible budget items are 

ranked from highest to 

lowest priority based on 

the input of the stakeholders. Some cities are using 

citizen surveys, town hall 

meetings and focus groups 

to gather input on what 

their community most 

values. 

■ Do the homework. Budgeting for Outcomes teams 

search for evidence-based 

practices in each goal area. 

They look at other government agencies and also 

at the private sector for 

strategies and approaches 

that are effective in getting 

results. 

■ Allocate budget dollars 

to the top goals. When 

priorities are set, budgeting 

can be done by “buying” 

the top-priority items and 
13 

S t R A t E g i C C u t b A C k M A n A g E M E n t 

02-Strategic Cutback Interior.indd 13 7/7/11 4:0

moving down the priority 

list until all available funding 

is spent. In some cases, 

Budgeting for Outcomes 

teams “buy” services from 

other governments or from 

private contractors if the 

value is greater than that 

already provided. In law 

enforcement, only ancillary 

services (cleaning, vehicle 

repair, etc.) are appropriate 

for this type of outsourcing. 

With this structure in place, 

only the highest priority items 

are purchased. Any new 

budget proposals, or proposals to fund something that 

is below the priority cutoff, 

must simultaneously propose 

knocking a higher priority 

item off the funding list. 

An example of Budgeting for 

Outcomes may help illustrate 

this process. In Washington 

state during the 2002-03 

budget cycle, then-Gov. Gary 

Locke needed to trim the 

budget by $2 billion, which 

would have required 15­

percent across-the-board 

cuts. Rather than do an 

across-the-board cut, he 

chose to focus on the 

“keeps” rather than the 

“cuts.” He said, “Closing the 

$2 billion gap we face in the 

next biennium would require 

an across-the-board cut of 

15 percent — if that’s all we 

did. And that is not what we 

are going to do. I don’t want 

to thin the soup. I want state 

government to do a great 

job in fulfilling its highest 

priorities.”19 

The results were impressive. Not only did the governor succeed in cutting the 

budget and keeping his top 

priorities protected, but he 

also achieved recognition 

from a variety of sources. 

One newspaper (The Seattle 

Times) called it a “big step 

forward,” and another had 

this to say: 

Few Washingtonians will 

find much to like about 

the brutal state spending plan Governor Gary 

Locke recommended 

Tuesday. But as ugly as 

the result was, there’s 

a lot to like about the 

way Locke and his staff 

arrived at it, using a new 

process that forced hard 

choices about the 

core priorities of state 

government.20 

Perhaps most important is 

that the public approved. In 

a survey, 64 percent concurred with the statement, 

“Whether or not I agree with 

all of the governor’s budget 

recommendations, I respect 

his leadership and vision to 

solve the current problem 

and get the state’s economy 

back on track.”21 
14 

R E S E A R C H f o R p R A C t i C E / J u l y 2 0 1 1 

02-Strategic Cutback Interior.indd 14 7/7/11 4:0

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Helpful SourceS 

The most comprehensive source for learning about Budgeting for Outcomes is the book The Price of Government, 

by David Osborne and Peter Hutchinson (see note 5). Other 

helpful references include: 

Government Finance Officers Association, at http:// 

www.gfoa.org, includes helpful information for smaller 

municipalities to implement the Budgeting for Outcomes 

approach. An icon on the lower left of their home page 

links to the sources there, such as a Web-based set of 

resources and coaching package, including a stepby-step guide to implementation and more than 125 

documents that can be used as templates or examples. 

Information is also available via e-mail at bfo@gfoa.org. 

Public Strategies Group, at http://www.psg.us, provides 

up-to-date information on states, cities and counties that 

have adopted the Budgeting for Outcomes approach. 

One interesting component 

of Budgeting for Outcomes 

is “gainsharing.” Gainsharing 

provides a financial incentive 

for employees to identify 

savings opportunities. Employees keep a portion of 

savings they identify or help 

achieve, either as an individual payment or as an agency 

allowance. 

When Seattle instituted 

gainsharing for its wastewater treatment operation, over 

the course of four years, the 

employees got to keep $2.5 

million in savings generated 

by their ideas. There was 

no reduction in quality of 

service.22 

Gainsharing may be challenging in a law enforcement 

agency, as the greatest 

component of cost is personnel. However, there may 

be opportunities in support 

services, procurement, 

information technology or 

other areas where innovative employee suggestions 

can create financial savings 

that can be shared among 

employees. In implementing 

a gainsharing program, The 

Price of Government recommends that the amount 

employees keep be enough 

to inspire their participation, 

and suggests 50 percent of 

the savings may work. They 

also recommend that the 

savings be protected from 

being raided to balance the 

budget, as this type of “bait 

and switch” could undermine 

confidence in the system.23 

Examples of agencies that 

have implemented Budgeting for Outcomes do not yet 

include any (known) police 

departments. Most of those 

that have taken it on have 

done so across all agencies 

of government. Some examples include Washington 

state; Iowa; Spokane, Wash.; 

Denver, Colo.; Dallas, Texas; 

Fort Collins, Colo.; Azusa, 

Calif.; Mesa County, Colo.; 

Multnomah County, Wash.; 

and Snohomish County, 

Wash. 
15 

S t R A t E g i C C u t b A C k M A n A g E M E n t 

02-Strategic Cutback Interior.indd 15 7/7/11 4:0

Budgeting for Outcomes 

is becoming a more and 

more valuable tool now that 

so many governments find 

themselves with deficits. It 

provides a method for being 

strategic; rather than cutting all programs across the 

board, this method allows 

for focusing on what is most 

valued by the community. 

It forces agency leaders to 

make tough choices that are 

aligned with the strategic 

plan. 

The Government Finance 

Officers Association (GFOA) 

launched a program to help 

smaller communities implement Budgeting for Outcomes with a set of Webbased tools and training, 

along with some technical assistance for implementation. 

GFOA hopes to build capacity 

for the long term, beginning 

now with the budget crisis as 

the incentive to change. As 

the GFOA website says, “In 

eras of budget constraint or 

surplus, this new strategy is 

revolutionizing public sector financial management all 

across the country.” 

selected current 

approaches 

This section of the document 

describes common cutback 

management strategies 

typically used in law enforcement agencies. Approaches 

for personnel are presented 

first, as personnel costs are 

the largest component of a 

law enforcement budget. 

Vehicle and technology 

operations cutback management approaches are also 

addressed. For each topic, 

strategic approaches are 

described, followed by a 

discussion of short-term approaches that are best used 

with caution. 

Personnel cutback 

management strategies 

As the largest component 

of any law enforcement 

budget, personnel costs are 

a key area to look for savings. Strategic approaches to 

personnel management with 

long-term benefit include the 

following: 

■ Proactively managing 

overtime. In many departments, overtime can 

become a huge expense. 

Research about overtime 

shows that it can best be 

controlled by recording, 

analyzing and managing. 

Although overtime is an unavoidable cost of policing, 

it can often be managed 

better than it currently is. 

Many police departments 

do not have systems to 
16 

R E S E A R C H f o R p R A C t i C E / J u l y 2 0 1 1 

02-Strategic Cutback Interior.indd 16 7/7/11 4:0

 

record the number of 

overtime hours used and 

the circumstances of that 

overtime. Most departments can produce records 

for their overtime use, but 

many cannot document the 

number of overtime hours 

used in the last five years. 

Recommendations for 

better managing overtime 

include such techniques as 

scheduling court appearances during regular work 

hours instead of using 

overtime and holding shift 

supervisors accountable for 

shift extension overtime 

decisions.24 The following 

two examples demonstrate 

success and the third 

presents a cautionary note 

on proactively working to 

ensure overtime cuts do 

not decrease morale: 

– The Milwaukee Police 

Department (MPD) has 

taken an aggressive 

approach to overtime 

management. Through 

active monitoring, the 

MPD was able to come 

in on budget last year 

for overtime for the first 

time in 10 years. According to Chief Edward Flynn, before the 

overtime management 

initiative, overtime was 

“spent like water,” going 

over budget each year. 

By providing an overtime 

budget to each manager 

and then holding that 

manager accountable for 

managing to the budget, 

significant reductions 

were achieved. Prior to 

the initiative, the City of 

Milwaukee Office of the 

Comptroller conducted 

a study and found that 

MPD spent more on police overtime than did its 

peer cities.25 The largest 

reductions were in areas 

where there had been 

habitual overuse, such as 

in investigations. Many 

patrol officers saw no 

change in their overtime 

pay and, as a result, 

morale problems were 

averted.26 

– The Massachusetts State 

Police reduced overtime 

by 53,000 hours in 2009 

and saved $3.3 million. 

Colonel Mark Delaney 

attributed this to more 

careful management by 

supervisors. A separate 

initiative has reduced sick 

time use.27 

– In Portland, Ore., when a 

large decrease in overtime was implemented it 

undercut morale significantly. In fact, “some undercover officers showed 

their displeasure by dropping whatever they were 

doing at the moment 
17 

S t R A t E g i C C u t b A C k M A n A g E M E n t 

02-Strategic Cutback Interior.indd 17 7/7/11 4:0

 

 

 

their shift ended — even 

while tailing suspects or 

executing warrants.”28 

Working collaboratively with 

collective bargaining units will 

be important to the success 

of any overtime-reduction 

effort. 

■ Review employee health 

care costs. Employee 

health care costs can be 

significant. Increasing the 

employee contribution to 

health care premiums is 

one strategy to consider. 

This approach may be 

difficult in a collective 

bargaining situation, but 

if successful can achieve 

savings. Encouraging or 

requiring eligible retirees 

to enroll in Medicare for 

their health coverage can 

produce large savings. A 

midsized New England city 

saved $5 million in 2007 

and “at least that much” 

for fiscal years 2008 and 

2009 by enrolling municipal 

retirees in Medicare.29 

Another strategy is to institute wellness programs 

that can reduce overall 

health care costs related 

to sick time and insurance premiums. Motorola 

implemented an employee 

wellness program that 

saved $3.93 in health care 

costs for every $1 invested 

in the program, and when 

Johnson & Johnson instituted a wellness program 

they saved $224.66 per 

employee per year in 

health costs.30 

■ Supplementing staff with 

volunteers if possible. 

Whether called reserves, 

auxiliaries, deputies or 

specials, volunteer citizens 

are helping as a modernday “posse” in some law 

enforcement agencies. In 

some cases, college interns are providing no-cost 

or low-cost services that 

were previously done by 

civilians. In many municipalities, collective bargaining agreements will make 

it difficult to replace officer 

effort with that of volunteers. But if it is possible 

to do, significant savings 

can occur. Volunteers save 

on payroll costs, but do require monitoring and supervision. There are also costs 

associated with recruiting, 

training and equipping volunteers. Some examples 

of the use of volunteers 

include the following: 

– At the New York City 

Police Department, 

Auxiliary Police perform 

uniformed foot, vehicle 

and bicycle patrols. They 

are trained to observe 

and report conditions 

requiring the services 
18 

R E S E A R C H f o R p R A C t i C E / J u l y 2 0 1 1 

02-Strategic Cutback Interior.indd 18 7/7/11 4:0

 

of the regular police. 

Whenever possible, they 

assist in nonenforcement 

and nonhazardous duties. 

Auxiliary Police assist 

with community festivals, parades, concerts, 

street fairs, park patrols, 

subway entrances and 

token booth areas, 

and crime prevention 

activities.31 

– In St. Joseph, Minn., 12 

people volunteer their 

time to the Dakota County Sheriff’s Mounted Patrol. These volunteers not 

only donate their time, 

they also provide their 

own horses and trailers. 

They help with crowd 

control and with searches. Dakota County also 

has part-time licensed 

officers who receive the 

same training as full-time 

deputies. They make up 

a special unit, can carry 

weapons and can make 

arrests with a full-time 

officer present. They 

contribute 2,000 hours of 

service each year.32 

– In Green Valley, Ariz., 90 

men and women volunteer their time to back 

up local deputies. They 

control traffic at accident 

sites, aid in search and 

rescue missions, and 

check houses left empty 

for extended periods of 

time such as for summer 

vacations. The commander of their unit estimates 

their service saves $1 

million a year.33 

– Jackson County, Ky., 

saves $250,000 to 

$500,000 per year with 

their reserve deputy 

force. Reserve deputies 

help with drug busts, 

security for celebrities, 

patrol functions at major 

events, fundraising for 

a children’s charity and 

speaking engagements 

at schools.34 

■ Disbanding costly specialized units. In Boston 

and San Diego, mounted 

patrol divisions have been 

disbanded due to budget 

shortfalls. In San Diego, 

the horses were sold. In 

Boston, the department 

was optimistic and signed 

contracts to sell the horses 

with a contingency that the 

horses be returned if the 

funding becomes available 

to support the unit again.35 

■ Rethinking staffing 

and supervision ratios. 

In Massachusetts, the 

state police troopers 

union is seeking an outside 

audit of the supervision 
19 

S t R A t E g i C C u t b A C k M A n A g E M E n t 

02-Strategic Cutback Interior.indd 19 7/7/11 4:0

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

structure. The group claims 

that it would be possible 

to reduce the number of 

management positions and 

save $1 to $7 million a year 

in staffing costs by reducing the number of management positions.36 

■ Rethinking staffing for 

public building security 

details. In some cities and 

states, police officers providing building security are 

being reassigned to patrol 

duties. In one case, several 

entrances to a public building have been closed to the 

public to save on the cost 

of paying an officer to man 

the station. 

Short-term or one-time cost 

cutting measures are being 

used in many law enforcement agencies to close 

budget gaps. While these 

measures are common and 

do solve short-term budget 

challenges, they are not 

structural changes and will 

not have enduring impact. 

The following measures are 

not strategic changes and 

provide only temporary relief 

from budget problems. 

■ Delaying hiring. Deferring 

the start of a new recruit 

class and keeping vacant 

positions open will produce 

short-term budget savings. 

However, when a class of 

recruits is ready for training 

but put on hold, some may 

take other jobs before the 

class is started. Then when 

the class does start, it may 

cost more time and effort 

to recruit to replace those 

who have been lost. Delaying hiring is not a long-term 

fix and should not be the 

sole method used to close 

a budget gap. As with 

other short-term fixes, it 

may be appropriate to use 

this in concert with longterm strategic changes. 

■ Cutting back on training. 

Training is typically 

among the first budget 

line items to be cut. This 

is a short-term fix that can 

have negative effects in 

the long run as skills 

stagnate and morale 

Helpful SourceS 

For a classic explanation of how to manage overtime, see 

Bayley, D., and R. Klorden, “Police Overtime: An Examination of Key Issues,” Research in Brief, Washington, D.C.: 

U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice, 

May 1998, NCJ 167572. Although this report is more than 10 

years old, the principles remain solid. 

For an excellent “Fiscal First Aid Kit” with detailed questions to ask for each area of budget cutting addressed 

in this section, see the Government Finance Officers 

Association website, at http://www.gfoa.org/index. 

php?option=com_content&task=view&id=938#goto7. 

Free online law enforcement training related to DNA forensic evidence is available at http://www.dna.gov/training. 
20 

R E S E A R C H f o R p R A C t i C E / J u l y 2 0 1 1 

02-Strategic Cutback Interior.indd 20 7/7/11 4:0

 

suffers. Drastic reductions 

in training levels may hurt 

certification. Further, to 

become a more efficient 

organization, often training 

is necessary for improved 

performance. Rather than 

cut back on the amount 

of training that is offered, 

an alternative is to reduce 

the cost of training. One 

method is to switch from 

training that requires travel 

to training that can be conducted nearby or online. (In 

addition to online trainings, 

many organizations are using webinars or webcasts 

rather than in-person meetings and conferences.) 

For additional offerings 

on general management 

topics, the federal government provides a portal at 

http://www.golearn.gov 

with free training courses. 

Completing training online 

saves travel funds if not 

training time costs. Further, 

if some training time can 

be shifted from overtime 

to regular time, that also 

saves on the training cost. 

■ Encouraging early retirement. New employees 

are typically paid less than 

senior employees. Many 

states and cities offer early 

retirement incentives to 

reduce labor costs. The 

downside of early retirement is the loss of experience that goes out the door 

with the retirees. A partial 

solution to this challenge is 

to invite retirees to come 

back part time. Not only is 

there a savings by having 

them work part time, there 

is also an advantage that 

retirees already have their 

health insurance paid for so 

they do not incur that new 

cost to the agency. 

■ Furloughing days and 

allowing fewer paid days 

off. Whether it is reducing the number of paid 

holidays or paid personal 

days off, the idea of getting 

workers to work more for 

the same pay is a challenging one. This is a strategy 

likely to save only a small 

amount compared to systemic change. Further, it 

can significantly lower morale. In addition, it may be 

impossible to execute this 

strategy in a collective bargaining situation. Employee 

furlough days present the 

same challenge. For public 

safety agencies, furlough 

days are more common for 

civilian staff than for sworn 

staff. Morale can suffer 

when furlough days are 

implemented, so this strategy is not recommended. 
21 

S t R A t E g i C C u t b A C k M A n A g E M E n t 

02-Strategic Cutback Interior.indd 21 7/7/11 4:0

Force multipliers: 

Partnerships and 

technology 

Organizational improvements can achieve significant savings through use of 

partnerships or adoption of 

new technologies. Some 

strategies already being used 

or worth considering in law 

enforcement include the 

following: 

partnerships 

■ Consider outsourcing 

for nonessential services 

where appropriate. Many 

police departments have 

saved money by outsourcing services that can be 

provided at lower cost by 

outside vendors. Security 

concerns will be among the 

top issues to be considered 

in any possible outsourcing. 

However, with appropriate 

safeguards, outsourcing 

can be cost-effective for 

IT services as well as other 

administrative, facility 

and equipment-support 

services. 

■ Joint purchasing with 

another agency. A fundamental rule of procurein the same jurisdiction, 

or other departments in 

the region, could achieve 

economies of scale for the 

purchase. Compare notes 

with peer agency leaders 

to determine if there are 

appropriate choices that 

can be made as a group 

more cost-effectively than 

as individual agencies. 

■ Co-location with another 

agency. Coconino County, 

Ariz., Sheriff’s Office and 

Flagstaff, Ariz., Police 

Department each needed 

a new building. They built 

one together and saved 

considerable cost by building one facility instead 

of two separate ones. In 

addition to the building 

cost savings, there were 

also some efficiencies for 

equipment and personnel. 

They implemented shared 

services for communications, records and warrants. Instead of each 

having a separate graveyard shift dispatcher, they 

now share one. Joint acquisitions of radios and other 

equipment saved money 

and allowed for purchasing 

higher quality equipment.37 

ment is that larger volume ■ Increased collaboration 

purchases achieve lower with private security. For 

unit costs. A joint purchase communities with a strong of technology or equip- existing presence of private ment with other agencies 
22 

R E S E A R C H f o R p R A C t i C E / J u l y 2 0 1 1 

02-Strategic Cutback Interior.indd 22 7/7/11 4:0

 

security, it may be helpful 

to coordinate budget planning activities. There may 

be opportunities to reduce 

redundancies without 

creating gaps in service. In 

many cities, private security provides as much as 

or more law enforcement 

protection as municipal 

police services. 

technology 

■ Review new technology 

options as “force multipliers.” Any technology 

that can reduce stress on 

patrol time will be helpful if 

the cost of the technology 

pays for itself in reduced 

staffing costs. Some 

technologies to consider 

include red light cameras, 

surveillance cameras or 

other manpower-replacing 

technologies. Further, 

manpower-intensive tasks 

that can be done more 

quickly with technology 

should be considered. 

For example, allowing the 

public to enter incident 

reports electronically, and 

either submit to a police 

department portal or mail 

in printed documents, will 

save officer time. 

■ Link existing data in new 

ways. The Chicago Police 

Department created a way 

to link existing data from 

within its own systems in 

new ways. There were tactical, statistical and administrative files in separate 

places around the department that were disconnected. It created CLEAR 

(Citizen Law Enforcement 

Analysis and Reporting) 

to link the existing data. 

The results have been 

impressive — a 22-percent 

reduction in violent crime 

and a 27-percent decrease 

in homicides. Officers are 

able to solve crimes more 

quickly, and can solve 

crimes that were unsolvable before.38 

■ Review vendor service 

agreements for possible 

economies. Often, technology vendors charge an 

annual maintenance fee for 

their products and services. 

Depending on the contract 

terms, there may be an 

opportunity to find savings. 

For example, a software 

service agreement typically 

has a cost per license. It 

may be possible to pay for 

fewer licenses, or to negotiate with the vendor for a 

reduced rate after a certain 

number of years. A number 

of strategies are explored 

in the technology purchasing strategy documents 

prepared by SEARCH 

for the Department of 
23 

S t R A t E g i C C u t b A C k M A n A g E M E n t 

02-Strategic Cutback Interior.indd 23 7/7/11 4:0

Justice. Those materials 

can be found at http:// 

www.search.org. 

■ Review outdated technologies and consider 

retirement. The New York 

City Police Department 

maintains typewriters as a 

backup for their computers and also for filling out 

some forms. The cost of 

the typewriter maintenance 

contract has been reported 

as nearly half a million 

dollars last year. Eugene 

O’Donnell, a former officer 

who is currently a lecturer 

at The City University of 

New York’s John Jay 

College of Criminal Justice, calls the typewriters 

an anachronism — and a 

waste. He says, “The two 

places you’d find typewriters are the museum and 

the police department.” 

He believes that the typewriters create significant 

efficiency and storage 

problems for the department, causing extra labor 

and unwieldy paper trails.39 

Vehicle cost-reduction 

strategies 

A few years ago, when the 

price of gasoline spiked dramatically, many departments 

developed innovative ways to 

reduce their gasoline costs. 

Strategies to reduce overall 

vehicle costs include: 

■ Extending vehicle life 

with proactive maintenance. One of the most 

common strategies employed by agencies during 

the gas price increase of 

2008 was to proactively 

manage preventive maintenance of vehicles. Some 

examples include: 

– Developing an automatic 

“tickler” for each vehicle 

for when it should receive its routine service. 

This makes sure that no 

vehicle slips through the 

cracks and is not actively 

maintained. 

– Installing hour meters on 

vehicles so that preventive maintenance can be 

performed based on the 

number of hours a vehicle was running. In the 

case of vehicles that idle 

for long periods of time, 

the number of hours running was a more powerful indicator of needed 

service than the number 

of miles traveled. 

– The San Diego Police 

Department runs biweekly, monthly and annual cost reports on each 

vehicle and vehicle type 

to look for patterns and 
24 

R E S E A R C H f o R p R A C t i C E / J u l y 2 0 1 1 

02-Strategic Cutback Interior.indd 24 7/7/11 4:0

 

to manage preventive 

maintenance. They track 

mileage for all vehicles 

and can reassign a high 

mileage vehicle from one 

substation to another 

if needed. Also, doing 

95 percent of the maintenance work in-house 

saves them money on 

repairs. 

■ Improving service and 

reducing costs with 

outsourcing. For larger 

departments, outsourcing 

the maintenance or repair 

of vehicles can save money 

and improve outcomes. For 

example: 

– The Chicago Police 

Department fleet came 

under the control of a 

citywide fleet manager. 

A parts outsourcing 

contract saved the city 

$1 million in 2004 for 

police-related parts. The 

city of Chicago turned 

its entire parts inventory 

over to a private auto 

parts firm and pays for 

parts only as needed. In 

2004, the city realized 

about $600,000 in warranty reimbursements 

for the police fleet. As 

a result of efficiencies 

achieved there are now 

only 150 vehicles per day 

out of service instead of 

the 200-250 prior to program implementation. 

– The New York City 

Police Department uses 

outsourcing for selective repairs, purchases 

extended manufacturer 

warranties on most vehicles, performs warranty 

repairs in-house and then 

gets reimbursed by the 

manufacturer, and does 

extensive preventive 

maintenance. 

Vehicle costs can also be 

saved in the choice of vehicle 

purchases. This has longterm benefit throughout the 

life of the vehicles. Various 

approaches include the 

following: 

■ Lower vehicle and fuel 


costs by switching to 


smaller or more fuel-


efficient vehicles. 


■ Negotiate and prioritize to 

reduce the add-on costs of 

customizing new vehicles. 

Fuel costs are also saved by 

being more strategic about 

the use of vehicles, including 

driving less, idling less and 

seeking employee reimbursement for their use of the 

vehicles. 

■ Handling requests for 

service by phone when 

possible. In Raleigh, N.C., 
25 

S t R A t E g i C C u t b A C k M A n A g E M E n t 

02-Strategic Cutback Interior.indd 25 7/7/11 4:0

some requests for service 

are now handled over the 

phone rather than sending 

an officer to the scene. The 

Washington County Sheriff 

in Virginia also has some 

requests handled via phone 

if it is agreeable to the 

caller. This saves fuel. In 

Milwaukee, a Differentiated Police Response (DPR) 

Unit allows injured officers 

to handle a range of calls 

for service over the phone. 

Typical calls sent to the 

DPR are noise complaints 

and other situations that 

can be handled with the 

officer providing the necessary service via phone. 

■ Lowering fuel costs with 

less idling. Some agencies 

are directing their patrol 

officers to shut off the 

engine and walk the beat 

for a period of time (for 

example, 15 minutes 

every hour or 2 hours per 

shift.) In Las Cruces, N.M., 

officers turn off cars at 

calls unless emergency 

equipment is on. For even 

greater fuel efficiency, 

Chesterfield County, Va., 

officers use smart route 

planning. They are also 

advised to turn off vehicles 

when possible. 

■ Driving less and driving 

more efficiently. The 

Pennsylvania State 

Police instituted a policy 

encouraging carpooling 

to meetings and using 

videoconferencing instead 

of driving to meetings 

when appropriate. It also 

recommended taking 

unnecessary items out of 

the trunk to make the 

vehicle more fuel efficient 

and imposed strict enforcement for tire pressure 

monitoring. 

■ Employee reimbursement for personal use of 

vehicles. The West Virginia 

State Police instituted a 

rule to require employees 

to reimburse fuel costs for 

traveling to and from contract work sites while using 

their agency vehicles. 

■ Reduce fuel costs by 

using agency stations. 

The Arizona Department 

of Public Safety Highway 

Patrol has asked its officers 

to fill up at state fueling 

stations. When officers use 

commercial sites they are 

encouraged to seek out the 

least expensive option.40 

Looking forward 

Drastic budget declines are 

here to stay. The situation is 

likely to get worse before it 

gets better. Police executives 
26 

R E S E A R C H f o R p R A C t i C E / J u l y 2 0 1 1 

02-Strategic Cutback Interior.indd 26 7/7/11 4:0

 

are left with no choice but to 

act, and act boldly. Tinkering 

at the margins simply will 

no longer do. Big problems 

such as this call for big solutions. The time is now to find 

significant cuts that do not 

erode core services—and 

that requires rethinking operations to cut strategically. 

Notes 

1. The Police Executive Research 

Forum (PERF) conducted a survey in 

1998 of police departments serving 

populations of 50,000 or more. The 

survey yielded 297 responses, for a 

response rate of 61 percent. Survey 

findings are presented in the PERF 

publication, Police Department 

Budgeting: A Guide for Law Enforcement Chief Executives, November 

2002. 

2. Ibid. 

3. Levine, Charles H., “Cutback Management in an Era of Scarcity: Hard 

Questions for Hard Times” Public 

Administration Review (March/April 

1979). 

4. Levine, Charles H., “Police 

Management in the 1980s: From 

Decrementalism to Strategic Thinking,” Public Administration Review 

45 (November 1985): 691-700. 

5. Editorial, “The First Steps Toward 

Living Within Our Means,” The 

Seattle Times, November 17, 2002. 

Referenced in Osborne, David, and 

Peter Hutchinson, The Price of Government, New York: Basic Books, 

2004: 1. 

6. Arnum, Hans, Thomas Dohrmann, 

John Dowdy, and Allison Phillips, 

“Government’s Productivity Imperative,” McKinsey on Government 

(Summer 2009): 2. 

7. For more information on the 

Grand Rapids efforts, see their 

website at: http://www.grand-rapids. 

mi.us. 

8. Osborne, David, and Peter 

Hutchinson, The Price of Government, New York: Basic Books, 

2004: 1. 

9. Hammer, Michael, and James 

Champy, Reengineering the Corporation: A Manifesto for Business 

Revolution, New York: Harper 

Business, 1993. 

10. Hammer, Michael, and James 

Champy, Reengineering the Corporation: A Manifesto for Business 

Revolution, revised and updated, 

New York: HarperCollins, 2003. 

11. Kelling, George, “Measuring 

What Matters: A New Way of Thinking About Crime and Public Order,” 

City Journal 2 (2) (1992): 21-34. 

12. Langworthy, Robert H. (ed.), 

Measuring What Matters: 

Proceedings From the Police Research Institute Meetings, Research 

Report, Washington, D.C.: U.S. 

Department of Justice, National 

Institute of Justice, July 1999, NCJ 

170610. 

13. Osborne and Hutchinson, The 

Price of Government, 166 (see note 

8). 

14. Osborne and Hutchinson, The 

Price of Government, 86 (see note 

8). 
27 

S t R A t E g i C C u t b A C k M A n A g E M E n t 

02-Strategic Cutback Interior.indd 27 7/7/11 4:0

 

 

 

 

15. Osborne and Hutchinson, The 

Price of Government, xiii (see note 

8). 

16. Spray Kinney, Anne, and Beverly 

Stein, “A Solution for Uncertain 

Times: Budgeting for Outcomes,” 

California Counties (May/June 2008): 

10-14. 

17. PERF (see note 1). 

18. Osborne and Hutchinson, The 

Price of Government, 70-71 (see 

note 8). 

19. Ibid., 6. 

20. The News Tribune. Quoted in 

Osborne and Hutchinson, The Price 

of Government, 11 (see note 8). 

21. Osborne and Hutchinson, The 

Price of Government, 11 (see note 

8). 

22. Ibid., 15. 

23. Ibid., 250. 

24. Bayley, D.H., and R.E. Worden, 

“Police Overtime: An Examination 

of Key Issues,” Research in Brief, 

Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department 

of Justice, National Institute of Justice, May 1998, NCJ 167572. 

25. Morics, W.M., Audit of Milwaukee Police Department Overtime, 

Milwaukee, Wisc.: Office of the 

Comptroller, June 2007. 

26. Interview with Edward Flynn, 

August 19, 2009. 

27. Murphy, Shelley, “Troopers Ask 

Patrick for Audit of State Police,” 

The Boston Globe, August 9, 2009. 

28. Osborne and Hutchinson, The 

Price of Government, 28 (see note 

8). 

29. Carey, Robert L., “Controlling 

the Cost of Municipal Health 

Insurance: Lessons from Springfield,” May 2009, available online at 

http://www.mccormack.umb.edu/ 

centers/cpm/documents/ 

SpringfieldCostStudy_001.pdf. See 

also, Massachusetts Department of 

Revenue (Marilyn Montagna, contributor), “Saving Money on Retiree 

Health Insurance,” available online at 

http://www.mass.gov/Ador/docs/dls/ 

mdmstuf/Technical_Assistance/Best_ 

Practices/savemoneyretirees.pdf. 

30. United States Department of 

Health and Human Services, Prevention Makes Common “Cents,” 

Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department 

of Health and Human Services, 

September 2003. 

31. See http://www.nyc.gov/html/ 

nypd/html/careers/auxiliary_police. 

shtml. 

32. Hildreth, R., “Modern Posse,” 

Law and Order 38 (6) (June 1990): 

30-33. 

33. Ibid. 

34. Ibid. 

35. Collette, Matt, “Boston Police 

Commissioner Defends Dismantling 

of Mounted Unit,” The Boston Globe 

June 23, 2009, Brown, Steve, “The 

End of an Era for the Boston Police 

Mounted Unit, “WBUR 90.9FM, 

June 25, 2009, available online at 

http://www.wbur.org/2009/06/25/ 

bpd-mounted-unit; “Police Commissioner’s Internal Memo to Department Members,” posted March 

4, 2009 at http://www.bpdnews. 

com/?s=FY2010+Budget+Cuts; 
28 

R E S E A R C H f o R p R A C t i C E / J u l y 2 0 1 1 

02-Strategic Cutback Interior.indd 28 7/7/11 4:0

 

Martin, Jeff, “Mounted Police Fading 

in Sunset?” USA Today, February 

11, 2010; Kahn, Amina, “San Diego 

Police Department to Fold Mounted 

Unit, Auction Off Horses to Cut 

Costs,” Los Angeles Times, 

February 5, 2010; Dudley, William, “Balboa Police Horses To 

Be Sold at Auction,” San Diego 

Examiner, January 6, 2010; Cubbison, Gene, “Put Out to Pasture,” 

NBC San Diego, January 8, 2010, 

available online at http://www. 

nbcsandiego.com/news/local-beat/ 

Put-Out-to-Pasture-80945972. 

html; San Diego Police Department 

press release, January 29, 2010, 

available online at http://www. 

sandiego.gov/police/about/media/ 

pdf/2010/100129horsetackauction. 

pdf. 

36. Murphy, Shelley, “Troopers Ask 

Patrick for Audit of State Police,” 

The Boston Globe, August 9, 2009. 

37. Chrisinger, Jim, “A Law Enforcement Sharing Story,” Public Management 92 (4) (May 2010). 

38. Wexler, Chuck, Mary Ann Wycoff, and Craig Fischer, “‘Good to 

Great’ Policing: Application of Business Management Principles in the 

Public Sector,” Washington, D.C.: 

Police Executive Research Forum, 

2007: 41-42. 

39. Kessler, Jason, “Typewriters 

Live on in New York Police Department,” CNN.com, July 13, 2009. 

40. LeSage, J., “Cutting Car Costs,” 

Police: The Law Enforcement 

Magazine 29 (4) (April 2005): 42-44, 

46, and Gavigan, J., “Rising Fuel 

Prices Affect Agencies Across the 

Country,” Law and Order: The Magazine for Police Management 56(8) 

(August 2008), 74-76, 78-80, 83. 

Appendix: Key 

questions for effective 

cutback management 

Step 1 — Asking the big 

questions. The following critical overarching questions of 

cutback management guide 

the exercise and address the 

enterprise as a whole. Working through these questions 

guides the entire process. 

Looking at each activity 

across the enterprise, leaders 

ask: 

■ What things can we stop 

doing? 

■ What things can others do? 

(e.g., city, state, county, 

private agency) 

■ What things can be done 

more effectively? 

■ Where can lower cost labor 

be used? 

■ Where can capital or technology substitute for labor? 

Step 2 — Conducting 

detailed budget analysis. 

For each activity that the 

organization undertakes, ask 

the following questions to 
29 

S t R A t E g i C C u t b A C k M A n A g E M E n t 

02-Strategic Cutback Interior.indd 29 7/7/11 4:0

evaluate whether the cost of 

that activity can be reduced 

or eliminated. 

Examine organizational 

mission 

■ What are the organizational 

musts or mandates, as 

defined by statute, funding 

guidelines, executive order, 

etc.? 

■ What are nonmandated 

organizational functions? 

■ What activities does the 

organization do very well? 

■ What activities does the 

organization do with less 

effectiveness? 

■ Which traditional organizational functions have not 

recently been examined 

for degree of fit with the 

mission? 

Examine marginal 

investments 

■ What programs have the 

highest unit costs? 

■ What programs serve a 

small or isolated clientele? 

■ What programs provide 

services available from 

other public or private 

organizations? 

■ What programs have consistently fallen below their 

goals or expectations? 

■ What programs, if cut back, 

would have long-term pressures and greater future 

costs? 

Install rational-choice 

mechanisms 

■ What management tools 

have been developed to 

assist managers and policymakers in making rational 

choices among competing 

demands? 

■ Are performance measures 

available to assess 

effectiveness? 

■ What program evaluation 

techniques have been 

used? 

Improve personnel 

management 

■ Have employee inputs 

been solicited for reduction 

strategies? 

■ Do incentives exist to 


encourage employee 


participation?
 

■ Have managers openly 


discussed resource 


constraints with union 


leadership?
 
30 

R E S E A R C H f o R p R A C t i C E / J u l y 2 0 1 1 

02-Strategic Cutback Interior.indd 30 7/7/11 4:0

 

 

 

■ Have unions indicated 

willingness to work with 

managers to achieve 

economies? 

■ Have productivity programs 

with sufficient incentives 

been tried or explored? 

■ Have organizational changes such as consolidation, 

centralization, decentralization, facilities closing and 

schedule changes been 

considered or attempted? 

■ Once made, are personnel 

decisions quickly carried 

out? 

■ Are some personnel overqualified or underqualified 

for the tasks they perform? 

■ Are some tasks overly 

simple for the personnel to 

whom they are assigned? 

■ Can position reclassification reduce the cost of 

selected tasks? 

■ What administrative duties 

can be transferred to junior 

personnel? 

■ What administrative duties 

can be transferred to civilian personnel? 

■ What services can be 

provided by part-time or 

consultant resources? 

■ What services can be 

delivered by volunteers? 

■ What additional workload 

can be placed on existing 

slack resources? 

Examine equipment and 

technology 

■ Can vehicles or other 

equipment be downsized? 

■ What processes can be 


automated?
 

■ How can existing computer 

systems be used more 

efficiently? 

■ What communications 

technology can be used to 

streamline processes or 

save labor hours? 

■ Are there items that can 

be leased rather than 

purchased? 

■ Can any service agreements for equipment or 

technology be renegotiated 

at more favorable rates? 

Improve external 

relationships 

■ Has the manager communicated problems to key 

external stakeholders? 

■ Has the manager solicited assistance from stakeholders? 

■ Has the manager kept the 

political body informed? 

■ Has the manager kept the 

public informed? 
This and other publications and products of the 

National Institute of Justice can be found at:

National Institute of Justice

www.nij.gov

Office of Justice Programs

Innovation • Partnerships • Safer Neighborhoods

www.ojp.usdoj.gov

U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

810 Seventh Street N.W.

Washington, DC 20531

Eric H. Holder, Jr.

Attorney General

Laurie O. Robinson

Assistant Attorney General

John H. Laub

Director, National Institute of Justice

 

 

 

 
U.S. Department of Justice 

Office of Justice Programs 

National Institute of Justice 

Washington, DC 20531 

Official Business 

Penalty for Private Use $300 

PRESORTED STANDARD 

POSTAGE & FEES PAID 

DOJ/NIJ 

PERmIT NO. G 91 

 

 

 –

*NCJ~232077*
 

July 2011

NCJ 232077