1st Edition
Planning and Evaluation for Public Safety Leaders A Toolkit
Planning and Evaluation for Public Safety Leaders presents field-tested techniques and tips to help public safety leaders effectively manage their organizations and overcome challenges.
Organizations and agencies operating within the public safety sector are unique in many respects. These unique elements provide a different context in which planning, and performance measurement occur. Without recognizing this particular context, most public planning texts ignore crucial pieces of the puzzle when it comes to effectively achieving and measuring public safety outcomes. This book’s practical approach equips students with approachable explanations specific to the public safety context, and practical tools for public safety leaders that can apply to their organizations.
Key Features
• Each chapter begins with a real-world case from the public safety sector that highlights the importance or possible application of the information covered.
• Cases are written in close coordination with the public safety practitioners to illustrate how the concepts covered in the chapter work in a real-world public safety context.
• "Put it into Practice" Reflections at the end of each chapter allow new or future public safety leaders to apply the material directly to their current organization.
• Boxes describe how to use and apply specific methods in a concise and easy to find tools addressing planning and evaluation challenges as they arise
• Key terms and application questions written specifically for students, focus in on the most important concepts and terms from the text.
• Overviews of relevant theoretical and scholarly work on the concepts offer connections with course material.
1. The role of planning and evaluation in public safety sector
2. Planning basics
3. Designing effective policies
4. Program evaluation
5. Collecting and analyzing survey data
6. Utilizing existing data
7. Developing effective collaborations
8. Communicating to the public
Biography
Shane Nordyke is Professor and the Allene R. Chiesman Distinguished Professor of Democracy at the University of South Dakota. She is also Director of the Government Research Bureau and the Chiesman Center for Democracy. Her research interests include homeland security, public safety, transportation safety and security, and research methods pedagogy.
"I have worked with Dr. Nordyke for the past 10 years on a variety of projects related to public safety, community preparedness and risk management. She has a unique and insightful approach to the development of mitigation measures that could benefit any agency willing to listen."
Dutch Geisinger, Executive Director, Safeguard Iowa Partnership, US Dept of Homeland Security ret.
"An integrative, much needed contribution to the field, broadly defined. Nordyke excellently explains practical tools for public safety planning, performance measurement, and evaluation - and very plausibly demonstrates their application with examples across a wealth of relevant domains. Strongly recommended reading for students, professor, and practitioners."
Alexander Siedschlag, Professor of Homeland Security, Public Health Sciences, and International AffPenn State Harrisburg
