Non-financial risk management for Police Force Dissertation

Non-financial risk management for Police Force - Dissertation Example Thus, risk management as a process â€Å"that can be used to identify potential risks and liabilities that could result in some kind of loss for both public and private sector organizations† (Cukier et al. 2009: p.1) should be understood as an integral part of police accountability. Risk management helps to provide more effective governance and internal control, to reduce insurance and other costs, to ensure a safer working environment. Although the risk management issues are increasingly emerging in agendas of police agencies, Cukier et al. (2009), consider that today risk management in the police services remains a relatively new discipline; different police agencies implement processes and tools in significantly different ways, they even use different terminology and vocabularies for the same things. This document presents a proposal for a piece of research which is aimed to analyse existing methods, procedures and processes of non-financial risk management in the police fo rce agencies; to identify best practices; and to develop and implement such risk management framework for a police force to become the best police force in the world. We hope that our study will play a significant role in improvement of the management and functioning of police force agencies and will make a contribution in positive changes in the system of the world security at a whole. 2. Background Risk is generally understood as â€Å"the chance of something happening that will have an impact on objectives† (OMBC 2007: p. 5) or â€Å"a condition, trend or event that may adversely impact the achievement of Service or Unit objectives† (Cukier et al. 2009: p.7). The impact may be both positive (when it brings an opportunity or a good chance) and negative (when it brings a hazard or a threat). So risk is always characterised by three major elements: an event, which can happen in relation to an object; a consequence of this event; and the impact, which this consequence h as on the object. When a risk is being assessed, it is also important to take into consideration the likelihood of the event. In business, risk management (i.e. recognising, identifying and assessing of risks) is considered as an essential positive aspect of a corporate culture. It helps managers to realise supposed risks and to consider them in performing day-to-day tasks, ensuring that either opportunities will be captured and used (in a case of a positive impact) or threats will be mitigated and eliminated (in a case of a negative impact). Archbold (2005) adds that risk management implies the protection of physical, human and financial assets. From the perspective of employees, risk management ensures safer working environment and improved conditions of work. Risk management can be generally defined as â€Å"a systematic, cyclical process to set the best course of action, under uncertainty, by identifying, assessing, mitigating, monitoring and communicating risk† (Cukier e t al. 2009: p.7). Many police force professionals and experts agree that today risk management is crucial for police agencies. As the work and role of police officers differ from other professions, mission of risk management in