Book Description

Planners, architects, engineers and others engaged in the planning, design and construction of law enforcement facilities are charged with a number of decisions that will affect future resource allocations by the agency operating the constructed facility. Such future resource allocations would include the agency's being required to provide more (or fewer) personnel to operate the facility, to provide more (or less) frequent replacement of the component parts of the facility and to provide more (or less) supplies to operate the facility. Decision makers should be sensitive to the economic impact of their decisions projected over the life of the facility. The analytical tool presented in this paper for the evaluation of the economic impact of various design alternatives is the technique of life cycle costing. Through the use of this technique, the life cycle allocations by an agency for a law enforcement facility can be minimized.