CHAPTER 13: SOME SPECIAL PROBLEMS

Question 1

SOME SPECIAL PROBLEMS

When police supervisors get together with others like themselves—others with whom they feel they can talk freely—several __________ seems to arise:

1. “What does this career hold in store for me? Isn’t there some-thing better somewhere?”
2. “My subordinates don’t appreciate me and my boss doesn’t understand me. Why do I continue to take such abuse?”
3. “The organization I’m a part of is not a very good one. It’s inef-fective at best. I don’t see how it will ever change.”
4. “My department is full of internal spying, back biting, and polit-ical intrigue. An honest, hard-working person doesn’t stand a chance for advancement against the two-faced bootlicker. If I just had a job that would pay as well, I’d be gone tomorrow.”

Answer 1

traditional concerns

Question 2

STRAIGHT TALK

The honest, conscientious supervisor is appreciated for what he is by upper management and street officers alike, but he is simply not considered an _______ part of either group.

Answer 2

intimate

Question 3

STRAIGHT TALK:

The wise supervisor is willing to wait long enough to see _______ and trends developing in his job. Maybe there are things he can do or changes he can make in him-self that will influence what he sees going on in his career.

Answer 3

patterns

Question 4

ORGANIZATIONAL SURVIVAL

Much less formalized effort is directed at teaching the new employee the rules of another sort of survival: __________. From his peers and from uncomfortable experiences, the employee gradually learns the rules of getting along in a bureaucracy, even if the bureaucracy is a relatively small one.

Answer 4

Organizational survival

Question 5

ORGANIZATIONAL SURVIVAL

The persistent theme running through all such expectations is again one of “let me do my job with a minimum of trouble and I’ll do the same for you.” There is nothing inherently wrong with this sort of logic, so long as it does not call for ignoring or covering ___________.

Answer 5

improper conduct

Question 6

ORGANIZATIONAL SURVIVAL

Name calling and backbiting accomplish nothing other than the generation of _______ strife and bad feelings. Avoiding such slander should be a cardinal rule for the ethical police boss.

Answer 6

internal

Question 7

ORGANIZATIONAL SURVIVAL

Unless an emergency exists in which life or property are clearly in peril, the survival-wise supervisor does not correct or criticize the personnel of another supervisor. Instead, he makes his criticisms known to that supervisor at the earliest reasonable moment. The errant employee’s boss can properly use his own knowl-edge of the situation and any necessary background information to formulate appropriate corrective measures.

Answer 7

criticize

Question 8

ORGANIZATIONAL SURVIVAL

The wise supervisor remembers that an _______ boss is generally a reasonably content leader, and he avoids keeping important facts from him. Bosses traditionally do not like secrets, at least not when they are the ones being excluded from the confidence.

Answer 8

informed

Question 9

ORGANIZATIONAL SURVIVAL

_______ is his weapon; emotion is not. He persuades and convinces others to come around to his viewpoint. He does not bully or bluster. Tantrum-throwers belong in kindergartens, not in police leadership posts.

Answer 9

Reason

Question 10

ORGANIZATIONAL SURVIVAL:

He also abides by a self-imposed rule of never engaging in rumor-car-rying himself. In addition, he asks for the ______ of wayward tales he hears from his peers. Stories that are suddenly without a source or otherwise nebulous in origin have to be doubted very much.

Answer 10

source

Question 11

INTERNAL STRIFE

___________ can reveal some amazing if frightening scenarios in
some of the police agencies where the head law enforcement officer is elected by the voters of the jurisdiction. If the top officer is elected every two years, the agency may see a year of relatively good law enforcement service, followed by a year of internal dissention and infighting as employees line up behind favorite candidates.

Answer 11

Election years

Question 12

INTERNAL STRIFE

Internal strife, in whatever form it arises in the police organization, is as ________ to employee morale as it is to the quality of service provided to the public.

Answer 12

destructive

Question 13

INTERNAL STRIFE

The strife generated by _________ creates public doubts in
the police agency’s effectiveness if it is allowed to continue unabated. Continuing dissension cannot help but become fodder for communi-ty conversation. A police organization that makes the news more often through internal convulsions than via crime prevention and suppres-sion cannot hope to retain public confidence for long.

Answer 13

internal bickering

Question 14

INTERNAL STRIFE

Proven checklist that may discourage internal strife:

1. He does not engage in the starting or passing of destructive rumors.
2. He does not second-guess his peers’ decisions to others. 3. He does not ridicule his peers, subordinates, or superiors to others.
3. While he remains a member of an organization, he does not criticize and condemn it to those outside of the organization.
4. He treats his coworkers in the same way he would want to be treated by them.
5. He does not carry tales from one group to another or from one individual to another for the purpose of causing bad feel-ings. When he hears something derogatory from one of his peers regarding another of his coworkers, he refuses to serve as a conduit for animosity. He allows the message to die with-out being relayed.
6. He does not expend his energies in building hostile alliances within the organization. He treats everyone fairly and thus has nothing to fear from any individual or group within the agency.
7. He does not compromise his integrity by eliciting favors or special treatment from others when the payback may involve him in improper activities.
8. He does not allow his job and its distractions to become so all-consuming that he misplaces the importance of his private life and responsibilities away from work.
9. He never replaces what he knows to be right with what appears to be easier at the moment. He realizes that propri-ety and expediency are not always one and the same. His integrity and character are not for sale.

Question 15

INTERNAL STRIFE

Most people, police officers included, do not enjoy strife between themselves and those with whom they share common beliefs, goals, and feelings. Sometimes it may initially appear that the easiest way to avoid dissension and unpleasantness is to go along with whatever emotion or opinion is holding sway at the moment.

However, little good is accomplished by such a stand (or a lack of one).

Answer 15

Noting the difference between diplomacy and hypocrisy.

Question 16

CORRUPTION OR INCOMPETENCE?

It is neither unusual nor inappropriate for police employees and supervisors to be dissatisfied to some extent with the status quo. That is a good indicator of their own job interest, professionalism, and devotion to a calling they see as important. Likely, they are all “Alpha” dogs.

Answer 16

Good indicators of ones own job interest:

1) professionalism
2) devotion to a calling they see as important

Question 17

CORRUPTION OR INCOMPETENCE?

Most of the time, problems with the operational efficiency of a police organization can be accurately attributed to shortcomings in __________, procedures, personnel skills, administrative functions, or supervisory leadership.

Answer 17

resources available

Question 18

CORRUPTION OR INCOMPETENCE?

It is easy to sit back and condemn one’s own agency for its incompetence. It is something else again to give of one’s own ______ and abilities to overcome that incompetence.

Answer 18

time

Question 19

CORRUPTION OR INCOMPETENCE?

He becomes touched by the corrupting influence himself if he tacitly acknowledges its existence yet refuses to ____ against it. A head in the sand attitude is unacceptable conduct for the police professional.

Answer 19

act

Question 20

CORRUPTION OR INCOMPETENCE?

Retreat before battle is seldom good practice. Only after he has worked unsuccessfully at the problem from within and without the agency should the ethical supervisor ______ the field. To do otherwise would be to admit to the triumph of corruption over fair play all too easily.

Answer 20

abandon

Question 21

CORRUPTION OR INCOMPETENCE?

Absolutely and finally failing in his attempts to dislodge corruptive
practices in his organization, the supervisor is faced with disobeying yet one more cardinal rule of his calling. He may ultimately be forced to go outside his agency for help. Never an easy decision, it is one made as a last and desperate resort in the cause of law enforcement professionalism. The route chosen by the supervisor may range from the office of the district attorney to the state attorney general. It may involve him in a session with representatives of another law enforce-ment agency or governmental body.

Answer 21

going outside of the agency is a last resort and will have irreversible effects.

Question 22

CURRENT ISSUES

The Americans with Disabilities Act, for instance, is important to all police managers for the effects it has on law enforcement hiring and ________ practices. Fair treatment and reasonable accommodations for persons with handi-caps are the just expectations of the ADA.

Answer 22

retention

Question 23

CURRENT ISSUES

Sexual and racial harassment issues are also a major concern for
the police personnel manager today. By relying upon his good common sense and staying _______ on case law and accepted employee relations practices the alert supervisor can ensure that not even a hint of impropriety sneaks in to smear his associations with his subordinates, or their relations among themselves.

Answer 23

current

Question 24

CURRENT ISSUES

The supervisor also will stay in touch with his agency’s source of _______ to ensure that he is aware of the tenets of the Fair Labor Standards Act that prohibits improper employer practices, such as assigning employees to work what amounts to overtime without appropriate compensation.

Answer 24

legal advice

Question 25

CURRENT ISSUES

Diversity issues also will be of continuing interest to the ethical police supervisor. Fairness and an _________ are the guideposts of the competent supervisor’s personal policy on diversity.

Answer 25

absence of bias

Question 26

CURRENT ISSUES

Some have declared the oncoming generation of employees to be
yet another “special problem” for today’s police supervisor. Known as the ‘_______ or simply the Next Generation, these young men and women following the much-ballyhooed Baby Boomers and Generation X into the workplace are not your grandfather’s generation. They are probably quite dissimilar from the supervisors they will be en-countering from the police academy onwards.

Answer 26

Nexsters

Question 27

CURRENT ISSUES

Often well-educated and technologically competent, the members
of this dangerously stereotyped group were born between the late 1970s and _______. As a group, they have been labeled as materialistic, socially conscious, and outspoken. If a member of this group feels wronged, his or her supervisor almost certainly will hear about it. Not overly impressed by rank or title, a member of this group like-ly will spout what is on his mind, or so the stereo typing goes.

Answer 27

mid-1980’s

Question 28

CURRENT ISSUES

If ‘Nexsters are direct, the police supervisor may find _______ his best bet for leading them effectively. The supervisor should approach the ‘Nexster directly with no verbal beating around the bush.

Answer 28

directness

Question 29

CURRENT ISSUES

Openness and honesty on the part of the leader likely will be ______ in kind. It is also likely that the more “extreme” members of this generation probably have not chosen law enforcement for a career, thereby making it less likely that the police supervisor will have to deal with their foibles in the first place.

Answer 29

returned

Question 30

CURRENT ISSUES

The smart supervisor will give them room and permission to solve a given problem for themselves. “__________” is one of this generation’s buzzwords, and the supervisor who wisely brings them into the problem-solving exercise may see good results.

Answer 30

Empowerment

Question 31

THE BOSS FROM HELL

Some supervisors reduce the stress that a bad boss can cause by ___________ with the offending individual. While that certainly can help, it still does not solve the problem.

Answer 31

minimizing their contact

Question 32

THE BOSS FROM HELL

Depending upon what the Big Boss is willing to do for the employee, the problem may get solved or it may get a lot worse. Terminally worse, that is, for the complaining supervisor. Talking to the Big Boss about one of his or her Little Bosses should be reserved as the ________; there will be fallout from having done so. The supervisor with a knack for organizational survival will “go nuclear” only as a last resort.

Answer 32

nuclear option

Question 33

THE BOSS FROM HELL

As in so many other areas of the law enforcement supervisor’s job, confronting a boss problem honestly and ________ is oftentimes the best way of addressing it. By providing the boss a chance to save face the supervisor may be able to achieve the desired change in behavior, or at least mitigate the dysfunctional practices of his superior.

Answer 33

tactfully

Question 34

SUMMARY

With more and more people of high moral fiber and good common sense entering the police profession, the possibility of never encountering such malignancies _______ steadily.

Answer 34

increases

Question 35

POINTS TO REMEMBER

_________ survival can prove just as much of a challenge as street survival in many law enforcement organizations.

Answer 35

Organizational

Question 36

POINTS TO REMEMBER

Starting ill-advised wars with his peers and superiors will not _______ a supervisor to his organization.

Answer 36

endear

Question 37

POINTS TO REMEMBER

If a supervisor believes his organization is so rife with internal strife and deep-rooted problems that he cannot change it, he owes ______ a change in employment.

Answer 37

him-self

Question 38

POINTS TO REMEMBER

Incompetence must be addressed; corruption or intentional malpractice can never be _______.

Answer 38

tolerated

Question 39

POINTS TO REMEMBER

His own ethics forbid a supervisor from ________ in or covering up for dishonest or unethical behavior.

Answer 39

participating

Question 40

POINTS TO REMEMBER

The supervisor afflicted with a bad boss can sometimes solve the problem by _______ the offending superior, but in a private and nonthreatening manner that allows the boss to save face.

Answer 40

confronting

Question 41

POINTS TO REMEMBER

Most of the “special problems” a supervisor will face can be _____ or mitigated.

Answer 41

fixed

Question 42

SUMMARY

An ethical supervisor will stay out of the ____________ and intrigue that goes on in too many law enforcement agencies.

Answer 42

political infighting