Strategic Planning in Criminal Justice – CJUS 732

Course Description

This course studies strategic planning models, forecasting methods, trend analysis, systems thinking, and futuring. Participants will learn how to manage growth, change, and organizational innovation. The use of strategic planning tools such as scenarios, systems thinking, and change strategies will be presented through case studies and projects that utilize the principles of problem-based learning. Students will have the opportunity to design a mock strategic plan and develop scenarios to apply principles learned in this course.

For information regarding prerequisites for this course, please refer to the Academic Course Catalog.

Rationale

Criminal Justice leaders carry the responsibility of building and sustaining effective criminal justice organizations. Likewise, academics in the criminal justice field find themselves consulting criminal justice organizations in the development of a successful strategic plan. A successful strategic plan, whether it is developed internally or externally, helps organizational personnel understand the current and future destination of the organization. Additionally, a successful strategic plan can assist senior leaders build consensus around effective organizational practices.

Course Assignment

Course Requirements Checklist

After reading the Course Syllabus and Student Expectations, the student will complete the related checklist found in the Course Overview.

Discussions (2)

PowerPoint Exercise Assignment

Students will create an 7–10-slide PowerPoint presentation applying no fewer than five of the ten steps of Bryson’s strategic planning process described in Chapter 2 of the textbook and as explained in the workbook, to the organization the student used in Discussion: Public Safety Organization Strategic Plan. Students will apply those steps or stages that have the most relevance to the chosen organization. Students should structure his/her presentation as if given to his/her supervisor and/or board. Students will use a minimum of 100 words of bulleted or paragraph style speaker notes per main body slide. Students will have a title slide, 8 to 12 main slides (no more than 15 main slides), and a reference slide. It is expected that 3 to 5 references will be used in this presentation. Of these, you should bring in 3 outside scholarly references. It is recognized that there may be difficulty creating a 100% APA formatted reference speaker notes sections and/or main slide body due to PowerPoint formatting limitations. Citations of original works within the slides and/or speaker notes should follow current APA guidelines. For additional requirements see the PowerPoint Exercise Assignment Instructions.

Mission Statement Exercise Assignment

Students will search for a public safety organization that does not list their mission statement or use the organization they described in Discussion: Public Safety Organization Strategic Plan.  Students should thoroughly research the organization and provide the following:

1. A brief overview of the organization and the locality the public safety agency serves.
2. Create (in the case of an organization without a mission statement listed) or re-write (in the case the student is using the organization outlined in his/her Discussion: Public Safety Organization Strategic Plan), an organizational mission statement for the public safety organization. Students should explain why they crafted the mission the way they did.
3. Create an original vision statement and an original values statement for the organization chosen.

Assignment should include 7-10 double-spaced pages of content, not counting the title page, abstract or references and follow current APA guidelines. For additional requirements see the Mission Statement Exercise Assignment Instructions.

Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats Analysis Project Assignments (2)

Students will complete a two SWOC projects. Students may choose the organization they used in Discussion: Public Safety Organization Strategic Plan or the PowerPoint Exercise Assignment. Students should create a SWOC project of their chosen organization. They should list at least two issues per element in the SWOC project. In other words, the student should list two strengths, two weaknesses, two opportunities, and two challenges/threats. They will create a chart similar to the charts on pages 123 to 129 of their workbook. For additional requirements see the appropriate SWOC Project Assignment Instructions.

Strategic Planning: Consultation Assignment

Students will take on the role of consultant by developing a Strategic Planning Guide to assist local public safety agencies in the strategic planning process. Students will develop an innovative strategic planning guide that should be easy to follow by senior law enforcement command staff. The guide should cover the process of strategic planning, the opportunities and challenges associated with the planning process, and the steps necessary to carry out the plan. The Strategic Planning: Consultation Assignment will be roughly 15 pages double spaced, Times New Roman, 12 points, 1 inch margins.  A minimum of 12 current (within the last 10 years) academic, best-practice and organization analysis-based sources must be cited in current APA format. For additional requirements see the appropriate Strategic Planning Consultation Assignment Instructions.

Strategic Planning: Briefing Assignment

Based on the student's completed Strategic Planning: Consultation Assignment, students will prepare a PowerPoint Presentation on their strategic planning guide as if they were presenting to command staff level personnel. The presentation should include a title slide, 8 to 12 main slides (no more than 15 main slides), and a reference slide. As your Strategic Planning: Consultation Assignment contained references, it is expected that three to five references will be used in this presentation. Again, the focus of the presentation is succinctly thorough – you may have only 15 to 20 minutes to cover your material in front of council (you will not be presenting this in class).For additional requirements see the appropriate Strategic Planning Briefing Assignment Instructions.