Policing performance improvement: A case study of the Abu Dhabi Police

To respond to evolving societal ideals and expectations current approaches to performance management need to be reviewed to keep the police service ready to tackle new challenges (Dubai police, 2014). Performance management is... [ view full abstract ]

To respond to evolving societal ideals and expectations current approaches to performance management need to be reviewed to keep the police service ready to tackle new challenges (Dubai police, 2014). Performance management is a systematic effort to improve performance through an ongoing process of establishing desired outcomes, setting performance standards, then collecting, analysing and reporting on streams of data to improve individual and collective performance (Whitaker et al., 1982). Police forces such as those in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and in the UK have long been measured and ranked on a number of key performance indicators (KPIs) (Bright and Wilcox, 2001; Abu Dhabi Police, 2014). These include the number of crimes committed (reported), the number detected, complaints against police officers and the number of emergency calls responded to within the target time. In addition, awareness has increased within such Police Services that it would be mutually beneficial for all stakeholders if there was a concentration on improving the level of service performance (Home Office, 2011; Abu Dhabi Police, 2014). As each police service represents a diverse geography and social demographic, it should also be acknowledged that a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to police service is not feasible (Chiu, 2012). In this paper we examine performance management indicators currently being applied in the Abu Dhabi Police (ADP), UAE. Such indicators are worthy of study because police forces have to provide ‘a service’ that is comprehensive and wide-ranging and that embraces situations and scenarios which more classical service contexts could not have envisaged (Forker et al., 1997). The inter-relationship between the knowledge assets of intellectual capital (organizational capital, human capital and social capital) and strategic indicators of performance management are relationally examined to gain insights into how police forces might develop dynamic capabilities to allow them to overcome challenges relevant to performance in a changing organizational context. The relationship between these two sets is important because taking each into account can provide positive (competence enhancing) outcomes, whereas discounting such activities can result in negative (competence destroying) outcomes. A comprehensive framework is developed of performance management in the Abu Dhabi police force (ADP) and lessons learned are given.