CHAPTER 2: PREPARATION FOR THE ROLE OF POLICE SUPERVISOR Flashcards
It has been said that there is no more difficult nor radical a change in a police officer’s entire career than that which occurs when he or
she makes the jump from line worker to line supervisor. Most often, the change means giving up the job classification of patrol officer for that of patrol sergeant. Less frequently, it means surrendering the title of detective or investigator and replacing it with the label of detective sergeant.
MOST OFTEN: Patrol Officer to Patrol Sgt.
LESS FREQUENTLY: Detective or investigator to Detective Sgt.
The police officer aspiring to the job of police supervisor is look-ing at a host of changes in the way he must think and perform both on and off the job. Such a change will not be attempted by the ______ officer without some sweeping and thorough preparation for the brand new role. This chapter will examine that preparation in its sev-eral facets.
prudent
PSYCHOLOGICAL PREPARATION:
The officer who is pondering the decision as to whether or not he
truly wants to be a supervisor should do his thinking with ______ care.
Deliberate
PSYCHOLOGICAL PREPARATION:
The officer ex-changing a subordinate’s duties for those of the team or unit leader will find a set of new responsibilities, duties, expectations, problems, and rewards awaiting him.
The change will impact his very lifestyle, although just how much will depend on the specific nature of his agency, assignment, and ________.
personality
PSYCHOLOGICAL PREPARATION:
Peer pressure can be the strongest of motivations, for better or
worse. Here it is for worse. The experienced police officer is putting his judgment, common sense, and personal life goals aside for what he thinks others _____ him to do. Although his courage in facing the dangerous felon may know no bounds, his moral courage to stick with a decision that is right for himself may be lacking.
expect
PSYCHOLOGICAL PREPARATION:
He may elect to risk unhappiness and potential failure in a new and really unwanted position simply to satisfy the perceived expectations of others. Peer pressure alone is therefore not a _____ reason for seeking promotion.
valid
PSYCHOLOGICAL PREPARATION:
Should this employee succeed in attaining a promotion sought for
such a reason, he may find himself blaming his mate for each unpleas-ant moment that the job brings. In such an accusatory atmosphere marital discord will result which may cause further job problems. The resultant cycle of failure and reaction to failure can be a ______ one for any marriage.
terminal
PSYCHOLOGICAL PREPARATION:
How about some very personal feelings and goals that might be
served by a promotion to supervisor? Fine, provided that they include the right kind of emotions and personal objectives. The officer who seeks advancement because of _____ in his agency and in his own abilities should be encouraged in his endeavor. The officer who wants to move up because he knows he has some unique abilities to lead and direct, which he feels will greatly benefit the agency’s operations and image while simultaneously polishing his own reputation, should be cheered on, too. Likewise, the competent, capable man or woman who seeks the job of supervisor as a first logical step in a planned life-time career in an agency should not be obstructed in this effort. All of these people can do much good for their subordinates, their employ-ers, the community, and themselves.
pride
PSYCHOLOGICAL PREPARATION:
Conversely, the employee whose strongest personal, driving influence is a desire to gain the rank of supervisor to “_______” with a peer who offended him at some time in the past is on the wrong track in seeking promotion. He probably will find his own bitterness to be a poor companion in the isolation he surely will feel in a position gained through such motivation.
“get even”
PSYCHOLOGICAL PREPARATION:
This book has discussed many of the specific responsibilities and
expectations placed upon the police supervisor. Any officer considering whether or not to seek a supervisory position should first review the preceding pages and ask himself honestly if the listed _______ and _______ would make him hopelessly uncomfortable as a new supervisor.
demands and requirements
PSYCHOLOGICAL PREPARATION:
The ethics of a good supervisor should cause the potential candi-date no problems. If he is an ______ and ______ police officer, he operates under a similar set of professional and personal guidelines already. Yet questions arise about his added responsibilities as a rec-ognized and official leader. Will serving as a constant role model and perpetual good example make him terribly self-conscious, perhaps very uncomfortably so? Does he have the patience required of a good supervisor? If not, can he develop it
honest and interested
PSYCHOLOGICAL PREPARATION:
How about the supervisor’s vital task of evaluating his subordinates? Again, the skills of effective employee performance review can be taught. But is the man or woman who was perhaps only recently a member of a close-knit fraternity of working peace officers now ready to _______ convey to former peers their weaknesses as well as strengths in job performance? The process of personnel review and evaluation must be carried out continuously in the successful police organization. Again, however, not everyone is mentally and emotionally suited to pursue a function that may make him or her at least temporarily unpopular with former coworkers.
tactfully
PSYCHOLOGICAL PREPARATION:
To do the job of personnel evaluation properly, the supervisor
must above all else be frank and sincere. The new supervisor quickly learns that even the best-intentioned constructive criticism can still sting a relationship and cool a friendship, at least for a time. If the supervisor-to-be finds himself uncomfortable as an evaluator,
he may find the role of disciplinarian an intolerable one. The first-line supervisor should be very closely involved in the disciplinary process at both the determination and assessment levels. It is _______ for him to lay the blame for an unpopular disciplinary action on “the brass.”
inexcusable
PSYCHOLOGICAL PREPARATION:
While he may fight valiantly in a losing cause against discipline he feels to be disproportionate or otherwise out of line with the offense, once the decision is made the supervisor must fully support it. To do otherwise would be to participate in the _______ of the agency itself.
undermining
PSYCHOLOGICAL PREPARATION:
_________ is a process in which the supervisor must demonstrate
participation and support. The individual who cannot show ownership in a corrective action or decision in which he has been involved has no place in the leadership ranks
Discipline
PSYCHOLOGICAL PREPARATION:
Planning, too, must occupy some of the police leader’s time.
Whether it involves spending ten minutes planning the day’s personnel deployment or occupies hours of off-duty time on a special research project, planning remains an ______ part of the supervisor’s life.
inescapable
PSYCHOLOGICAL PREPARATION:
The ability to communicate freely and ______ as a supervisor is
also vital. The officer who has great difficulty expressing himself in a written form acceptable in both content and format will have serious obstacles to overcome as a supervisor. If he is unwilling to devote a lot of time to learning to write in a clear, concise, and accurate manner, police supervision probably will bring him more pain than pleasure.
openly
PSYCHOLOGICAL PREPARATION:
Also like many other supervisory skills, mastering them requires of the student the _______ of much time and considerable effort.
contribution
PSYCHOLOGICAL PREPARATION:
Then there is the supervisor’s role as a __________ for
unhappy citizens and disgruntled employees. The potential supervisor who cannot fathom that one of his employees could ever do wrong has no place as an impartial fact finder for complaints of police misconduct. Just as certainly, a man or woman likely to take off on a witch hunt for a prejudged-guilty employee should never be a supervisor, either.
grievance processor
PSYCHOLOGICAL PREPARATION:
Even more is expected of the supervisor while he is wearing his
grievance processor hat. He must do more than be fair and thorough in his inquiry into a complaint situation. He must always broadcast a clear-cut __________ and competency in his dealings with citizenry and police employees alike.
impression of fairness
PSYCHOLOGICAL PREPARATION:
Employee grievances against the agency and its supervisors also
require an extreme amount of supervisory
1) patience,
2) _______, and
3) integrity.
fairness
PSYCHOLOGICAL PREPARATION:
He must convey the complaint accurately and without ________ of his own making, regardless of the reaction it might be expected to elicit from the person to whom it is relayed by the supervisor.
coloration
PSYCHOLOGICAL PREPARATION:
Real supervisory courage is required to avoid compromising or betraying either the subordinate or the ________.
manager
PSYCHOLOGICAL PREPARATION:
Finally, the key role of personal counselor for troubled subordinates must be _______ by the aspirant to leadership ranks.
anticipated
PSYCHOLOGICAL PREPARATION:
It is widely recognized and acknowledged that promotion in just about any job brings with it improvements in pay, fringe benefits, social position, prestige, and overall ________.
working conditions
PSYCHOLOGICAL PREPARATION:
No matter how much a given police organization claims to further the goal of participatory management, it remains a fact of organizational life that one’s chances to _____ significantly on the agency and its operations increase steadily as one rises in the rank structure of that agency.
impact
PSYCHOLOGICAL PREPARATION:
As an instructor, leader, helper, and sometimes disciplinarian, the
new supervisor has a great opportunity to aid his fellow peace officers in meeting the daily challenges of working in a ______ and trying world. Surely no endeavor pursued with an equal degree of fervor could bring a greater sense of satisfaction and accomplishment.
complex
WHAT’S TO KNOW?
In an era in which being the biggest and meanest and gruffest are
no longer accepted as the mandated criteria for promotion, the can-didate for the supervisory slot must demonstrate that he has acquired wide-ranging job skills. In addition, he must show an __________ yet other tasks. Finally, he also must display a manner or demeanor expected of the professional police officer and competent leader.
aptitude for learning
Criminal Statutes
Most of his time should be spent on gaining recognition and understanding of which elements must be present for a _______ to have occurred.
specific crime
Criminal Statutes:
In other words, the supervisory candidate does not need to memorize every element of each crime in the statute book. He should, however, gain sufficient familiarity with the statutes to __________ which crime, if any, is present in a given field situation. The same holds true whether the situation is a hypothetical one on a promotional exam or a very real and critical one on the street some day
recognize quickly
Local Ordinances and Codes;
The pupil preparing for a promotional test should review his juris-diction’s penal laws that he can reasonably expect to meet in his future position of police supervisor. Obviously, he needs to be familiar with laws against criminal behavior that his troops will enforce. He also should gain at least a ________ and understanding of the less familiar laws that he may confront on occasion.
basic knowledge
Local Ordinances and Codes:
At least a very basic knowledge of some of these less-used ordinances will stand the future supervisor in good stead to handle _____ situations as they arise.
unusual
Traffic Statutes:
Most promotional exams are going to cover some general areas of
traffic law and accident investigation skills, at least at the patrol sergeant test level. Whether he is working with state laws or city and/or county traffic regulations, the adequately prepared test taker will have reviewed the traffic laws in use in his _____.
locale
Traffic Statutes:
While he need not be a technical expert in the field of vehicle accident investigation, the wise promotional candidate will know how to conduct a _______ accident investigation
highly competent
Agency Rules and Regulations
The potential supervisor would do well to be quite familiar with an
up-to-date version of his agency’s ____ and regulations.
rules
Agency Rules and Regulations:
Not least, he must engage in repeated __________ in which he applies these orders, rules, procedures, and guidelines to a host of hypothetical situations that he might face on a test or real ones that might confront him on the job. Such mental exercise is test preparation in its most useful form.
mental practice
Current Case Law:
The prospective leader must be conversant with up-to-date court
decisions affecting law enforcement operations and tactics. If there is a new holding dealing with searches of impounded vehicles, he must be aware of it and the _______ it places on the police officer.
limitations
Current Case Law:
The student should be more interested in the ______ of a court
decision than in worrying about number and citation. Still, he should be well-versed in legal matters to the extent that he can attach the title of the case to the legal principle it represents, if need be.
content
Current Case Law:
Simultaneously, he should practice applying the court decisions he studies to _______ field situations he might meet up with later.
hypothetical
Text on Supervisory Principles
In many agencies, the promotional candidate must prepare him-self to give his questioners the catch phrases and acronyms that have come to be associated with _______ and supervisory classes and textbooks. More important, the sharp candidate will review the con-cepts and principles applicable to effective supervision.
managerial
Text on Supervisory Principles:
As noted, the list of books, periodicals, and on-line material to be
covered by the prospective supervisor could be extremely lengthy. He should begin with the _________ listed and then branch out as time permits. He should obtain additional sources of knowledge that will strengthen him in known areas of personal weaknesses.
core sources
Text on Supervisory Principles:
First, of course, he will have to ______ what he perceives as challenges in an honest self-evaluation. His current supervisor may help him in this regard.
identify
TEST-TAKING SKILLS:
There is no magic in the fingers or the pencil of the officer who
gets a good promotional score. The good study habits, logical thought processes, and self-pacing test skills employed by most successful test-takers are talents that can be _______ by virtually any person of reasonable intelligence. Hopefully, the police officer would fit easily into such a category.
mastered
