Polly J. Smith

This Brief provides a quantitative and qualitative analysis of proactive strategies for management transitions in criminal justice and other public administration civic service agencies. These organizations have a unique need for managing transitions effectively. Compared to private organizations: they have a relatively high frequency of management transitions due to the terms of elected and appointed officials, and these new managers more often come from outside the organization. Through an mixed-methods study of criminal justice command level staff in New York state, researchers found a number of key components to successful transitions. Based on their study, the researchers prepared a set of guidelines called the Command Transition Matrix. This tool is aimed at police and public administration leadership. The methodology used to develop it will be of interest to researchers in Criminal Justice Administration, Public Policy, and Management Science.

Upstate New York is in a malaise. This husband and wife team of sociologists, Alexander Thomas and Polly Smith, wanted to know why. They take the reader on a tour of New York in order to diagnose the problems affecting the state and what can be done to address the issues. New York was built on the strengths of its strategic location and growing population to become the 'Empire State' during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. But a combination of unfortunate decisions and the creation of new technologies in which New York was no more competitive than other states translated into New York losing its dominant position in the world economy. The result has been several decades of deindustrialization and population loss. This book includes recommendations for ideas that can be further developed by the public.