Sexual Harassment In The Police Force - Research Paper Example

Sexual Harassment In The Police Force The police force is entitled with the duty of ensuring that law and order is maintained in the society. As such, the officers’ behaviour should be exemplary especially in public areas where the individual officer’s reputation would come into question alongside that of the entire police force. The senior police officers are therefore tasked with not only managing operations, but also addressing some of the personnel problems experienced in police force such as conflict (Deckop, 2006). In this scenario, several legal issues arise largely in relation to employee harassment or bullying. There are also professional and ethical issues that may also have legal repercussions. The Sheriff’s decision as to what is the way forwards for officer Rowdy and her supervisor will have numerous implications on the ability of the department to act professionally and ethically within the confines of the law. Rowdy raises very legitimate issues, which, I, the Sheriff, is inclined to believe. Discrimination on the bases of race, religion and sex is rampant in most discipline forces. Such transgressions can lead to legal action if the victim files a complaint with the relevant body. As such, I will undertake measures to ensure that the above concerns in the case are addressed in details through a series of recommendation. By law, the Sheriff, who acts, as an agent of the Saint Leo County police department can only be legally liable for his own criminal acts. As such, Rowdy can only sue the Saint Leo County police department for civil claims. In addition, I will not be liable for the supervisor’s transgressions. Sexual harassment would result in criminal proceedings while discrimination will result in civil proceedings. It is evident that in this scenario, the Saint Leo County police department can face legal proceeding for some of the incidences. One of the evident legal concerns in the above case is discrimination, which is unlawful. The police officers are unwilling to socialize with Rowdy due her religion. They also make mean jokes about her religious practises. The negative conduct of the officers is a manifestation of the long held stereotypes about persons of certain racial background. Evidently, the department is not doing enough to ensure that discrimination (Haas, 2009). The officers’ conduct at the bar brought to the forefront the issues that the department has to deal with. The male members of the force are unwilling to accept a female member into the force. Any female officer subsequently faces a huge task of gaining acceptance in the Saint Leo County police force. Such kind of conduct may result in legal proceeding against the force. For the above case, as the Saint Leo County Sheriff, I will undertake various measures to ensure that the above problems are solved. Firstly, the Sheriff should hold a seminar for all the officers. The seminar should address some of the issues that the officers seem not to consider when they were making their utterances in the bar with regard to Rowdy gender, religion and race. During the seminar, the officers should learn about various aspects of diversity in the police force and America at large. The government has enacted various legal provisions that encourage all employers to offer equal opportunity to all people irrespective of their race, religion and gender. Understanding such vital aspects of the law is imperative for the rest of the officers, in particular, Rowdy’s male counterparts who are unaccommodating. Organizations such as Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) were established with sole objective of addressing such injustices in the employment environment. If Rowdy filed complaints with such an organization, the Saint Leo County police department would be sued or face investigation. Education on diversity through a seminar would open up the minds of the police officers to the wrongs they are committing through their utterances. By making fun of Rowdy’s religion and race, the officers are making the workplace inhabitable for one of the employees. This amounts to discrimination and intolerance, which may be addressed through a forum such as a seminar. The second measure that I will employ to addresses the legal matters that may arise would include managing the human resource aspects of the Saint Leo County police department betters. Normally, most of the sheriffs are preoccupied by operational concerns leaving minimal time for addressing the personnel issues that may be arising in the department such as conflicts (Condrey, 2010). Accordingly, as the sheriff, I will also devote a considerable amount of time to addressing issues such as supervision, the command hierarchy, gender equality and diversity. These issues are at the heart of this scenario. For instance, to ensure gender equality and acceptance of women into the force, more women should be recruited and a minimum number of promotions set aside for women (Boland, 2005). The department can establish a policy that states that at least thirty percent of the recruits should be women. Having a higher number of women in the police workforce would greatly reduce the long held stereotype that disciplined forces are male careers. Women, who succeed in the forces, will enable the Saint Leo County police department dilute the male chauvinistic sentiments. Women are victims of sexual harassment in various sector of the economy, which reduces their ability to flourish professionally. As such, I will explore various ways to address such as aspect. In reference to the case study, Rowdy’s supervisor promises to promote her if she accorded him sexual favours. In this case, for Rowdy, a woman, to be promoted she has to give in to her supervisor’s sexual demands. To address such as concern, the Sheriff should establish a department that will receive and investigate complaints of this nature. One of the major challenges of this department would be the unwillingness of victims of sexual harassment to come forward making the department ineffective. Therefore, the Sheriff should begin by encouraging women and men to report instances of sexual harassment. Sexual harassment is one of the issues that can lead to legal action in any workplace where individuals use their position to make sexual advances. Addressing this grave misdeed will require bold steps by the Sheriff and the officers who are victims of such advances. In this case, I will encourage Rowdy to report the instances when she has been a victim of sexual advances. The available statistics suggest about thirty-five percent of the women in workplaces are victims of sexual harassment. Male colleagues are the aggressors in over ninety percent of the cases involving female victims. By contrast, only about seven percent of the male population suffer sexual harassment. Contrary to many stereotypes, men are also victims of sexual harassment. Therefore, sexual harassment is an endemic problem that will require tough measures to root it out. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) also deals with such cases. However, filling a complaint with such a body will result in a litigation that I want to avoid. As such, establishing the relevant structures would be the apposite solution. In the above scenario, there is an evident lack of a code of conduct for the officers. Accordingly, most Saint Leo County police officers misbehave during their recreational time in the bar. The unbecoming conduct of the officers may result in litigation since the officers are acting unethically. The officers should serve as a model to the community. In view of the above, as the Sheriff I will seek measures to enhance the professionalism of the officers. I will establish a code of conduct, which will guide the conduct of officers on and off duty. This will ensure that the image of the Saint Leo County police department is not tainted. Unruliness in the bar may result in the charging of officers, which would bring the department into disrepute. However, there is a minimal chance that the police officer’s display in the bar may result in any legal proceeding. Part of maintaining the law entails ensuring that individual liberties are protected. The poor show in the bar may be unbecoming however; it should not culminate in a suit. The code of conduct should enhance certain values that will ensure that police officers act in a manner which appeals to the public. I will ensure that officers adhere strictly to the code of conduct, which will reduce instances of their unbecoming behaviour while they are off duty. In addition, officers who breach the code of conduct will punished appropriately to ensure that the code safeguards the image of the Saint Leo County police department. One of the key failures of the Saint Leo County police department is lack of appropriate processes and structures. Accordingly, unscrupulous officers may exploit various aspects of its operations for their own personal gains such as promotions. Ideally, promotions should be awarded based on a meritocratic system in which the candidate’s ability determines their eligibility for a promotion. However, in this scenario, Rowdy’s fate lies in her supervisor’s hands. The supervisor is solely in charge of evaluations for promotion (Baker, 2011). Such a system is biased resulting in irregular awarding of promotions. By contrast, a panel of supervisors should evaluate the performance of the candidate and later determine the successful candidates. Therefore, I will establish a committee whose sole objective will determining who are eligible for promotion. From the face of it, Rowdy performed exemplary in her department, which facilitated her acceptance into the social group in the Saint Leo County police force. As such, she should not have to give in to any sexual advances to be promoted (Boland, 2005). Promotions are an imperative aspect in human resource management that contributes to motivation of the workforce. Hence, having a legitimate and fair process of promoting personnel should be one of the ways of addressing the problems the police force faces such as blackmail. The supervisor is exposing the entire organization (Saint Leo County police department) to legal action by agency. Rowdy can make a legitimate claim against the Saint Leo County police department. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is a body that can address Rowdy’s discrimination on religious basis by the supervisor who fails to promote her. However, she cannot sue the Sheriff directly unless, there is evidence linking him directly to a criminal act. The supervisor should be individually liable for their act since it is criminal in nature. Nonetheless, the Sheriff may face criticism for allowing such transgressions to happen under his watch. Rowdy failure to come forward with regard to the matters raised will be a major concern since it makes her complaints unbelievable. However, if she has her facts right, then her case may stand leading to a conviction of the defendant. References Baker, T. (2011). Effective Police Leadership: Moving Beyond Management. New York, NY:   Looseleaf Law Publications. Boland, M. (2005). Sexual Harassment in the Workplace. Naperville, IL: Sphinx Publishing. Condrey, S. (2010). Handbook of Human Resource Management in Government. New York, NY: Wiley and Sons. Deckop, R., (2006). Human Resource Management Ethics. New York, NY: Information Age Publishing. Haas, S. (2009). Sexual harassment in a male dominated workplace. Netherlands :Eburon Publishing. Read More