Design of quality service systems in the public sector: use of quality function deployment in police services

Successful service design and development requires a systematic approach th at links and interfaces with a comprehensive set of customer needs, their t ranslation into various ser vice attributes, and the development of a prope rly designed service process. One of the systematic tools for making the ab ove links is quality function deployment or QFD, which has been adapted for service environments. In this paper, a ser vice QFD analysis was implement ed at a federal police station in Belgium in order to match better the dema nds and needs of the general public and authorities to the activities deplo yed by the police service. The civilian is considered to be the consumer, c ustomer, and partner of the policing services. This fits well in today's co ncept of 'community policing', which emphasizes the link between the genera l public and the police. Important advantages of the QFD methodology includ e the structured manner of communication between the different constituents , and the sharing of information in teams when developing 'new' services. T he most important benefit stems from a better matching of the deployed ser vices with the needs of the customer.