Administration

Administer comes from the Latin word administrāre, which means to assist, operate, perform, manage the affairs of. This is basically what administration is all about.

Defined formally, administration is the universal process of efficiently organizing and managing an organization’s resources so as to achieve its goals and objectives. Resources include everything from the organization’s financial means to its labor pool.

This process includes the supervision and management of the functions of the different functions or systems within an organization. Additionally, administrators also govern the duties, responsibilities, and roles within the organization.

In the context of an entire country’s government, administration would generally refer to the management of public resources, such as taxpayer’s money, and services, such as public education and national security.

Police Administration

In the simplest terms, police administration is the application of all the fundamentals of administration towards law enforcement agencies. This means that police administration is not limited to offices specifically named police. In the Philippines, this covers agencies such as the Bureau of Fire Protection and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.

Police administration is concerned with the setup of the objectives, plans, and operations of a police organization. The functions of police administration include the control and operation of the duties of police agencies such as keeping the peace, improving public safety, and preventing crimes. Other activities include deployment of officers, training and development, and community relations.

Ultimately, the goal is to ensure the safety and security of the communities they serve as well as upholding the law.

Police organizations tend to be firmly hierarchical and strictly formalized. This means that the members of the police forces clearly know who their supervisors are as well as their subordinates, and each member rigorously adheres to this structure.