Morale and Policing in America - Research Paper Example

 Topic: Morale and Policing in America Introduction Police in America fulfil their various roles and responsibilities in unique environments, Gaines & Kappeler (2003). The economic and political operational environments of officers are dynamic as well as the inclusion of social and intellectual conditions. All these influence the officers and are critical in making judgements on where and when they will enforce the law, how they will go about doing this, as well as which laws will be enforced as others will need to be ignored. Although the officers exist in an institutionalised environment, their actions are largely controlled by forces within the environment that are external to the police organisations. The officer’s social and working environments are shaped by these internal and external forces. Having this in mind, the primary shapers of the American police institution are society and the government. According to Gaines, Kappeler & Miller-Potter (2003), the roles and responsibilities of the American law enforcers lie in four main areas. Law enforcement and order maintenance are the main focus areas but they also have jurisdiction over provision of miscellaneous services and convenience norm enforcement. This paper seeks to look into issues that affect police morale and the way they respond to their duties day in day out. A critical look into the significance of these factors in affecting morale will be addressed. Morale and Job Performance of Police Officers in America Morale can be described as the state of mind, which reflects the degree to which a member of an organization has confidence in the organization, and the other members of his work group. It is also the reflection of the degree to which a worker believes in the objectives of the organization and desires to accomplish them. It is difficult to measure morale especially in the policing environment. A misconception of a deliberate unjust act of supervision or some other act of unfairness can adversely affect the level of morale almost immediately. Hence a variety of framework can be used to measure morale including accident rates, group cohesiveness, general appearance of personnel, attitudes towards the leadership and goals of the group, quality and quantity of work performed, absentee rates and volume of negative disciplinary actions taken, (Schroeder & Lombardo, 2004).  Morale and the empowerment of police officers to effectively perform their duties are key to successful policing (Isenberg, 2009). Police chiefs need to have a reputation for building positive morale in departments. They need to go out and talk to officers about what is going on in the field. It is important to talk to the chiefs to talk to officers before making drastic changes in the department. Officers need to be involved in focus groups such as internal communication groups, external communication groups, vacation groups and tactic groups, (Isenberg, 2009). Commonly made mistakes police chiefs should be aware of include treating subordinates like children and berating. Social Organisation and Morale According to Cordner, Sheehan & Scarborough (2004), group interactions among the police officers is a critical survival element. Not only are activities important for group survival but they need to be incorporated with interactions and sentiments. Part of the required system of a police organisation includes activities such as report writing, retrieving records, sentiments such as believing in the concept of the due process of law, and interactions such as questioning witnesses and settling disputes. The chances of the police system in achieving its goals and objectives are diminished if the system falls short of any of these aspects. It is often incorrectly assumed that there is a positive relationship between group cohesiveness and productivity. Cohesiveness is the feeling of closeness and camaraderie that bind the officers together to work in a common interest. It is demonstrated by how well the group members get along with one another, how strongly they identify with each other, and the extent to which the norms of the group are accepted and followed. Cohesiveness indicators are employee turnover and attendance, much of which is related to satisfaction rather than productivity. Its indicators are poor morale has to be one of the commonly identified characteristics of police agencies. Sometimes it is accompanied by high degree of cohesiveness among street-level officers, reflecting conflict with management, the courts and the public. Some organisational departments exhibit poor morale which is associated with little or no cohesiveness among street-level police officers. On the other hand, other police organisations with low morale are nevertheless productive and effective, while others inefficient and unprofessional (Cordner & Sheehan, 2007). According to Maguire (2003), police organisation structures earn a great deal of attention among reformers. Police administrators have been exhorted to change the structures of their organisations to improve the morale of the officers. Advocacy is on the bureaucratic model of policing in order to centralise administrative control and reduce opportunities for corruption. However, an open model of police organisations with flat hierarchies, generalists’ orientation, and decentralised operations is advocated by criticisms of the bureaucratic model. Finance Aspects on Morale Allocation of resources used in combating crime in the United States has of late attracted criticism and support in equal measure. As crime becomes one of the pressing social problems in America, more resources are required to support the increasing demand for police services. Community policing is one of the initiatives and major reforms used in crime reduction; this strategy was adopted as it comes with aspects such as police-community reciprocity, area decentralization of police command, orientation of police patrol and civilization of the police, Zhang & Benson (1997). Without a doubt, patrol vehicles are the most expensive resources needed by a police officer. Foot and bike patrols have also been incorporated in a cost reduction bid. Individual policing assignment programs have also been tried but abandoned for various reasons. This is due to the initial large capital outlay required that doubles the existing fleet or even triple. Parts of the United States still practice and this is justified not by costs but by the value of other benefits. In other states such as Visalia the personalized patrol vehicle program has deemed a total success after almost eight years operation. A massive reduction in car maintenance costs as well as improvement of vehicle durability was the resultant of this initiative. A significant benefit of this program included increased officer morale. Other benefits include increased police visibility, flexibility in deployment and decreased in response time. It was also found out through research that individually assigned vehicles increased an officer’s morale as well as enhance their professional image (Baker & Baker, 2006). This had a significant effect in work enthusiasm to majority of the officers. Officers have a great inner feeling about them; as well as feel good about their equipment and job. Job morale thus increases. On the other hand, the allocation of pool cars decreased the morale of officers. They are a continued source of discussion and complaints among deputies, (Zhang & Benson, 1997; Marks & Sklansky, 2012). Leadership Style According to a Jermier and Berkes (1979) who carried out a study involving 158 police officers, sergeants and lieutenants in a mid-western US police Department; leadership roles play a significant role in job morale of officers. The study looked into the way officers behaved in relation to directions from their leader. Behaviors tested concentrated on leader exerting control over subordinates, commonly referred to as instrumental leadership. Leaders stipulating roles for the subordinates was found to have very weak supporting evidence on positive impact especially when subordinate job required a high degree of working with others or highly unpredictable job descriptions. In this situation, there were no informal leaders who acted as mentors or role models (Baker, 2006). This study also explored tendencies in participative and supportive leadership styles of the commanders and subordinates. The two leadership styles closely resembled transformational leadership and tit was found to have positively related to job satisfaction as well as job commitment. The findings uncovered that predictable jobs, supportive leadership was the preferred mode in morale boosting among subordinate officers. Preference was high on participative leadership in the case of unpredictable job structures. There was lots of consultative participation in case tasks were interdependent as opposed to directive style that best improves job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Another study involving 68 officers in mid-Western US city revealed that the relationship between leader role clarification and levels of job satisfaction was supported and had a significant impact on job morale. Psychological effects of the leaders were also addressed and the findings revealed transformation leadership scoring highly when it comes to psychological impacts on subordinates. Leaders scoring low on the transformation scale had the least or negative psychological effect to subordinates. Psychologically, genuine concern for other’s well-being and development scored the strongest. Among the subordinates, this concern brought about commitment to the job, self-confidence and self-esteem, job satisfaction, fulfillment and commitment to the organisation and motivation to exceed expectations. Findings of the study also brought to light the fact that a line manager who exhibited one aspect of transformational leadership was likely to display to the others (Bealey & Johnson, 1999). Elsewhere in Oklahoma USA, Steinheider and Wuestewald (2008), were undertaking a case study write-up of a shared leadership initiative and found out that such initiative can improve police officer morale. A policy decision leadership team with representation from all ranks of officers and civilian staff was set up. At the start of the survey and at the end, it was observed that al the officers felt empowered within the agency and felt motivated and committed to their organisation as participative management was unrolled to them. Shared leadership initiative was reported to have outstanding effects in the improvement of police productivity but the general causes of this cannot be asserted. Police Employee Organization The police chiefs in Nebraska USA consider the police employee organizations as well as unions as interferences and hindrance to policy implementations and police management. They have been described as opposing policies such as professionalization attempts, promotion procedures, disciplinary procedures and changes in departmental directives. Implementation of shifts and changes of overtime procedures were also policies that were opposed. In summary, they are actors resisting change while at the same time ignoring organizational structures and characteristics (Kadleck, 2003). These groups although claiming to advocate for the welfare of the officers, the groups lack collective bargaining ability and are left out in major decision making. They do not have enough memberships to voice out their concerns and get them the required attention. Groups identified with little collective bargaining ability have memberships that include a particular racial or ethnic group (Smith, 2004). Other groups having only female representation were identified with the same characteristics. As such, the overall effect to morale of the officers who were members to these groupings were not significantly affected whether positively or negatively. The non-significant effect to morale can be attributed to lack of proper structures in employee organizations and the fact that these organizations are small in membership. The leaders of these organizations had a minimal say to the policies related to issues affecting the employees. Further, the leaders feel that the management of the police can be trusted to make wise decisions on behalf of the officers in general. An attempt to balance racial aspects in the police force has been one of the main advocacies of such police employee organizations (Gustafson, 2013). Welfare of the minority groups when it comes hiring and promotions are the main advocate subjects. This will avoid the crises of legitimacy primarily on non-white urban groups. These employee organizations are also concerned with civil disobedience and discrimination of the minority as well as of those with disability. As far as it comes to disciplining the officers, they have the role I ensuring that a fare judgment is delivered in accordance with the law regardless of the race of the offender after a critical analysis of the crime and motive (Gottschalk, 2011) Effect of the Media Law enforcement is a requirement in every society but very few seem to understand what the profession entails. The media has time memorial been televising crime drama and police reality shows that depicts events in the real world but t neither do the scenes come close to understanding situations in real life. Media rather make the policing aspect seem easy to handle through stereotyped thoughts. People think they can get to know policing through the media. The reality is those dramatizations are quick to offer a sneak peak to what cops do and how they should be doing it. In the crime world, events run differently and the psychological effects to the officers are real. Debatable is whether the ever increasing fantasy being created by media is a good or a bad thing. Police response in form of tactics, effects, awareness and weapons are revealed in the most simplistic way. Just by watching police shows gives civilians the knowledge to make them think they can handle weapons. Eventually, expectations from the police are raised as everyone seems to know the fictional depictions of handling crime. Pressure is mounted on officers in solving crime, a situation creating psychological pressures to officers involved. According to Praveen (2000), the police department and the society at larger including the media are responsible for the morale, motivation and mental wellbeing of officers. Nevertheless, unfair media coverage in the event of a catastrophe is a massive morale derailed for the police officers involved. It is also a cause of psychological trauma for the officers handling such a situation. Alexander (2002) also asserts that boosting the morale of the officers calls for several internal measures especially in times of accidents. A participative leadership role adoption is important for effectiveness and efficiency. Rather than use the traditional police management that involves a patterned on the lines of army management with well-defined and strictly observed hierarchical demand levels. Facts of the situation need to be gathered at the level of constabulary, sub-inspectors and inspectors and reported to the high levels. However, working at a crime scene calls for instant judgment that will not necessarily accommodate follow of command. Decisions need to be made instantly and acted upon with immediate effect. Police culture will thus need to improve on its culture in embracing change so that sagging morale of the force will be eliminated. Freedom of Thinking and Creativity Additional benefit in the policing environment is most likely job enrichment for the officers. When the organisation gives the officer the freedom to think creatively, individual needs are most likely to be met. Freedom to think comes with an opportunity for growth as it involves allowance for creativity without the fear of punishment. The officers benefit in terms of increased job satisfaction and development of new skills; there will also be reduction of demands on police time, foster community support and improves the public image of the police. According to Miller, Hess & Miller (2005), freedom to think also comes with improving the police force’s crime-fighting capabilities as well as making the force more concern and knowledgeable about the public. The safety of the officers is improved and this acts as an assurance to the citizens of their well-being and fast response to reported crime. Benefits to the community will thus come in form of improved integration with the forces and increased security of the vulnerable groups such as women, children and the elderly. The kind of fear that comes with increased crime will reduce in the community and there will be an improvement in the quality of life as business will thrive. Policing Trends According to Buerger et Al (2011), the future of policing will require police leaders to think widely. Not only should they focus on crime, but they need to strategize on people, information and relationships. These latter elements have the overall effect and go an extra mile in providing solutions to crime. This is not to say that serious crimes should receive less attention from the law enforcers. In almost all the police work, always present in the operations are people, information and relationships. Policing is a business that concerns people; it is inevitable not to work with internal and external constituents in conflict resolving, listening to complaints and concerns and addressing the social ills humans generate within their communities. Police leaders must also focus on people, sovereigns, philosophies, traditions, norms and constraints. Not only will the police leader manage the internal processes that govern how an agency is to operate on paper. Police have the responsibility of leading people because policing is about people and relationships which cannot be restricted to the policing organisation. Agencies need to be concerned with public safety, social service provision and policing at large. Business leaders, church leaders, community leaders and citizens will help provide the required Intel in crime prevention. A key hindrance to organizational development is the resistance to change from the old cultures of the system. Effective change is partially predicted on the ability to recognize and manage how a culture will respond to a new policy, program, initiative or reformation. Police leaders seek to negotiate their job within the constraints of the law, policy, budget, technology and community culture and expectations among other limitations. Enhancing efficiency, integrity, efficacy, innovation and opportunities of the police organisation and police profession will call for effective police leadership. Improvement in operations is an inevitable aspect of every organisation. There is always room to enhance effectiveness and efficiency of a system. Successful managers will pursue ways to achieve these improvements. The tremendous power and discretion entrusted with the police, underling trust is the expectation that the police will use these privileges in a fair and judicious manner. Change and growth is a process as what worked yesterday might not work today or tomorrow. Police leaders should take advantage of such avenues and capitalize on improvements. Understanding the importance of exhibiting, developing and allowing leadership throughout the organisation will be creating effective successive policing. Leaders’ most effective policy is leading and allowing others to lead. Due to time and other dynamics, the policing nature is recently diffused. Hence leaders have little direct contact with subordinates in many situations. There is no way a leader will successfully control and fully manage the actions of individuals and officers. An exemplary and model leader will look to uphold the very same rules and standards he or she is leading to the followers as the same equality criteria should apply. Conclusion The quality of supervision in any organisation plays a significant role in morale development of the employees. The sergeant in a police department shoulders the greatest responsibility of building and maintaining morale among all the officers under the department. Strategies that can be utilized to increase morale levels include administering discipline in fair and impartial manner, praise workers in public as well as criticize the in private, always recognizing good performance and providing an opportunity for individual growth. Distributing assignments fairly and equitably and when possible, explain the reasons for department policies and procedures. Transformation leadership is the way to go as its positive impacts on subordinates’ increases job satisfaction. It is also essential to understand that officers with low job satisfaction can still share high group morale if they believe their interests are compatible with those of the group. An organizational sense of ownership goes a long way in inspiring group morale. The daily working conditions are the main determinant of individual morale of officers. A supervisor should subject all the junior officers to objective, fair and impartial treatment to build and maintain morale daily in the work place. As well the supervisor should be constantly aware of the needs of the officers especially recognition, opportunity, belonging and security. One critical senior to junior officer relationship should constantly be professional. This is to say that a senior officer should not be involved in the private problems of the subordinates unless requested as these personal issues affect the job performance. However, supervisors need to be in touch with the needs of the group as well as the individual. Independent action should be encouraged by deviating from extremely close supervision of routine tasks. This inhibits the exercise of independent thought and actions. Innovations too are limited due to the close watch and lack of freedom of expression. Job enlargement gives a worker the greatest milestone in increasing the job satisfaction levels. 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Ethno-racial political transition and citizen satisfaction with police: Policing-an International Journal of Police Strategies & Management. Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, USA Read More