Analysis of the Mode of Communication Used by Police Officers Law and Order Show - Assignment Example

Organizational Communication Law and Order Episode Summary (Episode 23- Season 20) Law and Order is a recent television series that is based on catching criminals and fighting against dead law. The 23rd episode of 20th season is the most recent episode aired on television two months ago. It is based on catching for cyber criminals. Blogging is a relatively new trend. It allows people to create their own profile and write about their day to day life happenings. Many use it for fun sake but some take it negatively and misuse the facility. This episode was based on such negative usage of internet and blog sites. The parents of a seventeen year old girl go to the police to complain about a young man who runs a blog with pictures of naked young girls. The police finds out that the blog has more to it, besides sexual absurdity, the blog also contains pictures of explosives and a video of a pipe bomb threat in the locality. Luckily, they are able to recognize the place and arrange for adequate bomb disposal crew in time. This however, creeps out the police who now want to search for the person who originally posted these videos. They get to know that the young boy that they have at their disposal has merely copied it from another blog which seems much scarier. The police go to search for the person who is running the other blog. They read updates and get to know that it is someone who wants to blow off a school with over 600 people. They search schools and meet teachers asking for students who may have done so. Upon researching, they figure out that the person is not actually a student, but is a potential teacher. They look for teachers who have been accused of wrongdoings since they are the ones who might think of devastating the school in aggression. By short listing potential criminals they figure out it was an English teacher who was unjustly accused of molestation a year ago and so lost his job and now worked as a substitute teacher in different schools. Rick Benson, the criminal, also gets to know of the police’s advancements and so he plans to destruct the school earlier. The police thankfully run in due time and save the day by catching Rick and destroying all the bombs. No lives are taken and the criminal is taken into arrest. Communication theory explained Since this episode of Law and Order is very recent, it used the most recent technology for communication. The police communicated with each other via cell phones and internet and they communicated anonymously with the criminal through mails on his blog. Also, it showed how the police communicate effectively to ensure that the assigned task is accomplished in the least possible time. Every time the police decided on a new strategy, they arranged a meeting and talked about it in privacy. Once that was done, the task was divided so that each member gets something different to do. This method which is very similar to division of labor makes sure that the tasks are accomplished as early as possible (Zalabak, 2005). While one police officer was busy talking to a psychologist, the other was busy blogging on the criminal’s side; the other police officers went out to search in possible schools and offices. This is based on Humanistic Theory of Communication where there is a smooth flow of communication and the tasks are predetermined. Humanistic theory actually relies on working for self and it stimulates the feeling of self esteem and self improvement in the employees. It is based on working for one’s own benefit only which eventually leads to the benefit of the whole firm. It is a relatively new concept which has gained immense momentum since the last decade. The environment of the police office was very formal. One of the senior police officers was suspected of a fatal disease that would have been very expensive to cure. She, however, kept her professional and personal lives apart. When other police officers tried to intrude and arrange for a fund raising dinner, she showed strong disagreement over it. This shows that the office environment was very stern and professional (Ivancevich, 2006). The officers were not allowed to get friendly with one another. However, they worked great as a team. When three police officers were assigned to look for the possible criminals, they first made a list of all potential people that they would like to interview and then they looked for the right clues and short listed the list accordingly. This was done as a team, each member helping the other (Ivancevich, 2009). So despite the seriousness and solemn environment that prevailed, the police officers understood each other and were able to work as a group. Group work is extremely important for police and investigation officers since each clue builds up on another. Unless the police officers know how to work as a group, they can never reach the criminal before the real harm has taken place. One of the most major forms of communication used was the internet. It is undoubtedly the most abundantly used mode of communication today. The criminal, Rick Benson, used a blog under the fake name of Moot. He posted videos of what he plans to do. The police found out that over 2500 people had viewed his blog but no one bothered to inform the police. This tells that there is a huge ridge of lack of communication existing between the common man and the police (Johnson, 2008). The general public is too scared of the police and they tend to keep things hidden from the police not realizing how severe they may be. It also focuses on the informal, casual attitude with which most people take blogs. The senior most police officer even disapproves of the idea of searching for Moot because he thinks that blogs are a very casual mode of communication. However, the other police officers secretly find out that the threat by Moot is real and they blog on the site too. The other mode of communication used by police officers was via mobile phones and walkie talkies. These modes are most commonly used in workplace because they are most convenient, cheap and widely linked networks. With threats of bombs, even the saving of time in milliseconds count so the officers need to be very vigilant and pass on the right information as soon as it is received. Most modes of communication that are used today have broad networking such as the telephone network which is global and so is the internet. It depends more on need than on the availability of network. Even if the internet is available, most organizations would prefer to use mobile phones for timely contact. However, some organizations may choose to differ and think that would be unprofessional. On the whole, it is all about suiting one’s needs and making sure that the communication modes are used effectively. Conclusion At workplace, one needs to communicate effectively to be able to work in the most efficient manner. If the flow is broken or disrupted, the progress of the work is hindered. Organizations in general need to be very well planned and all tasks and missions need to be predetermined and sketched out (Velasquez, 2005). Also, work ethics need to be kept in mind. Communication needs to be frequent but very professional and formal. Any personal disputes, problems or depressions should not be communicated to colleagues as an attempt to gain sympathy or help. (Spector, 2009). References Zalabak, P. (2005).Fundamentals of Organizational Communication. Allyn & Bacon. Ivancevich, M. (2006).Organizational Change. Ashford University. Ivancevich, J. (2009). Human Resource Management. Mc-Graw Hill. Velasquez, M. (2005). Business Ethics. Prentice Hall. Spector, B.(2009). Implementing Organizational Change. Prentice Hall. Johnson, D. & Johnson, F. (2008).Joining Together: Group Theory and Group Skills. Pearson. Read More