Understanding street‐level bureaucrats’ informal collaboration: Evidence from police officers across the jurisdictional divide

Galia Cohen, Nissim Cohen

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

We explore the conditions under which informal collaborations between street-level bureaucrats (SLBs) emerge and the motivations for them. From our analysis of 68 interviews with law enforcement officers from 26 law enforcement agencies in a large metropolitan area in Texas, we identified four themes, representing a mix of altruistic and self-interest considerations: 1) ineffective formal collaboration practices, 2) personal and institutional trust, 3) the balance of power between the collaborators, and 4) a supportive management. We contribute to the literature by demonstrating how informal ‘bottom-up’ practices allow SLBs to overcome the constraining ‘jurisdictional divide’ and achieve better work outcomes.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)224-242
Number of pages19
JournalPublic Management Review
Volume25
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 2023

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Keywords

  • Street-level bureaucrats
  • informal collaboration
  • law enforcement
  • police administration

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Public Administration

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