Institutional isomorphism and the federal consent decree. The case of the Los Angeles Police Department

• Pages: 756-772
• Published date: 21 November 2016
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/PIJPSM-11-2015-0132
• Date: 21 November 2016
• Author: Jeffry R. Phillips,Allan Y. Jiao
• Subject Matter: Public policy & environmental management,Policing,Criminal justice,Juvenile/youth crime,Police studies,Health & social care,Criminology & forensic psychology,Criminology & criminal justice

Institutional isomorphism and

the federal consent decree

The case of the Los Angeles

Police Department

Jeffry R. Phillips

Internal Audits & Inspections Division, Los Angeles Police Department,

Los Angeles, California, USA, and

Allan Y. Jiao

Department of Law & Justice Studies, Rowan University,

Glassboro, New Jersey, USA

Abstract

Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to determine the extent to which constructs of institutional

isomorphism apply to Los Angeles Police Department’s (LAPD) performance measurements of the

US Department of Justice’s federal consent decree.

Design/methodology/approach –A case-study approach was used to gather and analyze the data,

including documentary research, personal interviews, and observations.

Findings –The findings demonstrate that isomorphic pressures existed in the LAPD’s Audit Division

and influenced the development of perfo rmance measures for reforms although n ot in a

straightforward or unidimensional manner.

Originality/value –Police auditing in the context of the federal consent decree is shown to be a viable

approach for institutionalizing police reforms, but further research is necessary on specific

performance measurements of police operations and relationship between these measures and

police effectiveness.

Keywords Performance measure, Federal consent decree, Institutional isomorphism,

Police auditing

Paper type Case study

Introduction

Police responsibility brings inherent risks because police officers routinely engage in

high-risk situations where they are susceptible to serious injury or death, disciplinary

action, or criminal and civil litigation. A significant issue for police agencies involves

performance measurements that accurately assess their activities. Measuring how

police perform in high-risk situations is critical, given the potential negative

consequences they may result. Such measurements, if established, should be helpful in

identifying weaknesses in internal controls and insufficiencies in policies leading to

more effective police operations.

A dearth of literature remains, however, on measurement of police performance,

especially as it relates to inherent risks and compliance with policy and procedure and

the law. Attention is focused on failures in these situations when headlines appear in

the media. Examples include police departments in cities of Maywood (California

Department of Justice, 2009), Burbank (Glover and Blankstein, 2010), and Inglewood

(US Department of Justice (DOJ), 2010), California, which were investigated for issues

related to search and seizures, use of force, and probable cause. The New Orleans Police

Department (Robertson, 2010) suffered widespread corruption and the San Francisco

Policing: An International Journal

ofPolice Strategies & Management

Vol. 39 No. 4, 2016

pp. 756-772

©Emerald Group Publishing Limited

1363-951X

DOI 10.1108/PIJPSM-11-2015-0132

Received 16 November 2015

Revised 13 January 2016

Accepted 1 February 2016

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

www.emeraldinsight.com/1363-951X.htm

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PIJPSM

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Police Department (California Department of Justice, 2009) faced questioning over the

integrity of its crime laboratory. Police departments that demonstrate a pattern or

practice of misconduct leading to civil rights violations often find themselves becoming

the subjects of investigations by the US Department of Justice (DOJ), at times leading to

memoranda of agreement and consent decrees. And when a police agency is

implementing reforms instituted by a consent decree, performance measures are

utilized to gauge their implementation process. But questions remain as to how these

measures are developed and whether they are effective in measuring police operations.

In 1994, the US Congress adopted 42 USC § 14141 in response to demand for

systemic reform of police organizations. The statute authorizes the US Attorney

General to investigate a “pattern or practice”in police agencies that violate citizens’

constitutional rights or the law (Ross and Parke, 2009). Dependent on the outcomes of

the investigations, the US DOJ may file civil litigation to enforce the elimination of

such illegal practices in the subject police agencies (Simmons, 2008; US DOJ, 2010).

The US DOJ also has the option of entering into memoranda of agreement, which are

of a “cooperative”nature between the US DOJ and a police organization (Ross and

Parke, 2009). Since 1997 the US DOJ has conducted at least 20 investigations into

police agencies, six of which resulted in memoranda of agreement and five in consent

decrees (US DOJ, 2010). Some state governments also have a similar process in place

to identify and reform police agencies in their respective states to stop violations of

state constitutional rights.

In most cases pertaining to a consent decree against a police agency, the US DOJ

reports the progress, or lack thereof, to the district court through an intermediary

independent monitor. The goal of the consent decree is to implement reform in police

agencies by requiring that they institute best practices to guard against constitutional

rights violations. In the course of a consent decree, the subject police agency is tasked

with implementing the requirements and compelled to provide evidence of the

implementation (Ross and Parke, 2009). Such evidence is defined as reform

performance measures within the police agency.

This study is focused on the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) as a case study,

looking into the manner in which the LAPD developed the ability to measure its

performance, specifically in relation to implementation of reforms mandated by a

consent decree with the US DOJ. The LAPD was one of the largest police agencies in the

USA, with nearly 10,000 sworn members and approximately 3,500 civilians in

administrative positions (Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), 2000). It comprised

four operational bureaus and 18 geographic areas that spanned approximately

450 square miles and served approximately 3.6 million citizens (LAPD, 2000). The US

DOJ and federal courts had concluded the consent decree in 2009, considering that the

LAPD had successfully implemented the reforms and demonstrated acceptable

operational performance.

This study used the theoretical framework of institutional isomorphism developed

by DiMaggio and Powell (1991) to examine the environmental influences affecting the

LAPD during the reform process. DiMaggio and Powell (1991) identified three

isomorphic pressures, that is coercive, mimetic, and normative pressures, within

institutions. The purpose of this study is to determine to what extent the constructs of

institutional isomorphism apply to the LAPD’s performance measurement of the

federal consent decree. Organizations respond to their environments by incorporating

policies, procedures, and practices purported to be successful, and changes in these

areas occur as a result of institutional isomorphism. The research questions in this

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Institutional

isomorphism

and the federal

consent decree