1. Chapter Twelve – Decision Making

2.  Be able to define decision making  Understand the basis for decision making rules of criminal justice practitioners  Understand the garbage can theory of decision making  Be able to briefly discuss the four types of criminal justice decision makers  Understand the major themes to improving criminal justice decisions

3.  A decision is a judgment, a choice between alternatives (Houston, 1999).  Decisions are often made within the context of a theory or broad framework (paradigm).  Three kinds of information o An awareness of the alternatives o An awareness of the possible consequences of each alternative o The subject of the decision

4.  Decision rules govern how the elements of the decision are combined.  In criminal justice many decisions are clinical and based on the decision makers education, training, and experience.  All decisions should be based on goals or preferred outcomes.  Feedback provides the opportunity to correct previously made decisions.

6.  Initially, decision making was thought to be a rational process.  Later, March and Simon (1958) proposed that decisions are based on bounded rationality o Decision makers are unable to collect all the information they need to make a completely rational decision. o The result is satisfycing – taking the first acceptable solution that comes along.  “Garbage can” analogy – decision makers keep previously made decisions and use them as needed.

7.  Decisions are often influenced by the organizational culture. o “We’ve always done it that way.” o “It worked in the past.” o “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”  Organizations tend to define problems and identify solutions to problems based on deeply rooted values and beliefs.

8.  Politics is power and power influences decision making. o Internal politics – processes by which interested parties within the organization express their concern and seek implementation and acceptance of their ideas and practices. o External politics – consist of the influence that outside parties exert on the organization’s definition of mission, the appropriate types of operations the organization exhibits, and the directions it takes.

9.  Sequentialists – use their experience to determine what items of information are the most important to the decision.  Ah yes! – collect large amounts of information and search for patterns in that information.  Simplifier – reduces complex problems to their simplest form.  Ratifier – wait for comments by someone else and then associate themselves with that person’s viewpoint.

10.  Directive – make decisions and announce them, highly task oriented and a low tolerance for ambiguity.  Analytical – high tolerance for ambiguity and tend to overanalyze situations.  Conceptual – work well with people and rely on discussion with others to consider the problem and possible solutions.  Behavioral – like to interact with others and welcome open discussions.

11.  Decision making styles can also range on a continuum from o Autocratic – boss makes and announces the decision, to o Laissez-faire – totally subordinate centered.  Some decision makers are democratic or participative and encourage input from subordinates.  Police chiefs tend to o Be autocratic, o Be directive, and o Rely on traditional beliefs and assumptions

12.  Accuracy – most important, but often least attainable because information is; o Complied from numerous sources, o From people with a vested interest in the outcome, and o Often only summarizes information about groups.  Order of presentation – affects sequentialist the most, but overall does affect the outcome of a decision.  Availability of alternatives – often there are only two possible outcomes. Additional alternatives complicate the process.

13.  “a situation in which an official has latitude to make authoritative choices not necessarily specified within the source of authority which governs his decision making” (Atkins and Pogrebin (1992:1).  Often essential in criminal justice decision making. o Complicated nature of job o Incomplete information  Others argue that discretion is “uncontrolled decision making”.  Recent attempts have been made to objectify decision making through weighted questionnaires.

15.  Prediction of the future influences criminal justice decision making. o The decision to arrest or not arrest o Criminal sentencing o Probation conditions  Recent applications of statistical techniques have improved this, but have not removed all unintended outcomes.

17.  Themes for improving decision making o Equity – similar decisions for similar situations o Accuracy – making correct decisions o Consistency with theory – adhering to a consistent paradigm or framework o Consistency with resources – pragmatism o Contribution to future decisions – use prior decisions and their outcomes to influence future decisions

18.  Decisions are often made under: o Time constraints, o During conflict, and o With personal bias.  Close and Meier (1995) pose four questions. o Will the decision violate Constitutional rights? o Does the decision treat individuals as mean? o Is the decision illegal? o Does the decision violate policy or a professional code of ethics?

19.  A decision is based upon goals and is the process of making a choice between alternative paths toward the goal.  Information can exhibit the alternatives available.  The consequences of a decision can be estimated.  Decision rules are clinical in nature.  Decisions are influenced by the decision maker’s education, training, and experience.

20.  Decision makers keep a repertoire of solutions in a “garbage can” and pull the solutions out as when they encounter a problem.  There are four types of criminal justice decision makers. o Sequentalist – make decisions based on experience o Ah yes – search for patterns in large amount of information o Simplifier – reduces complex problems to simplest form o Ratifier – waits for comments and feedback from others

21.  The important themes in criminal justice decision making are: o Equity – similar dispositions across similar cases o Accuracy – separating the guilty from the innocent o Consistency – applying the same decision rules over time  Improved decision making should contribute to future decisions.

22.  Your department has just received $2,000,000 from an asset forfeiture fund. This money may be spent in any way the department chooses.  You call a meeting of the command staff to decide how this money should be spent. During the meeting your four supervisors make the following statements.  Classify these decision makers as either sequentialist, ah yes!, simplifier, or ratifier.

23.  “The last time we got one of these checks we used it to upgrade our radios. That was ten years ago. I think it is time we do that again.”  “Let’s ask the city manager, city council, mayor and maybe even have a town hall meeting before we decide.”  “Let’s just put it in the bank and wait for a rainy day.”  “Let’s look over our strategic plans for the past ten years and identify a need that we have not yet addressed.”