DEFINITIONS Flashcards
An intrinsic trait further developed through training, education, or experience that allows performance of a function which is either mental or physical
Ability
The result of task-oriented, autocratic management. Under such management, subordinates become reluctant to make decisions on routine matters, believing they will be criticized for even minor mistakes.
Apprehension of Authority
Details the amount of money needed to deliver police services in a community. It is an estimate of the need for human resources (people-their salaries, benefits, and training and physical resources (such as cruisers, desks and forms.
Budget
The total amount of money authorized for the entire city budget for a fiscal year is determined by the city manager, city council, or mayor. Department heads (police chief, fire chief, parks and recreation manager, and so forth) are informed of the allocations for their departments. The police chief then submits a budget based on the projection, estimating the level of police service that can be provided for the amount of money allocated.
Zero-based budgeting
The most frequently encountered method of police budgeting. Each category of an expense is shown on a separate line and the amount for that line is entered on the right side of the budget document.
Line-item budget
A government administration organized in departments, divisions, or bureaus staffed by non elected employees.
Bureaucracy
Details the costs of specific programs and activities in police departments, such as investigations or traffic control. Objectives are outlined, then tied directly to dollar amounts with summaries of the levels of service that can be provided at various levels of funding.
Performance budget
Refers to the hierarchy of ranks in an organization. Orders come down the ranks and feedback go up the ranks.
Chain of Command
Provides organizational structure, direction, and goals through which people work in order to accomplish the department’s objectives.
Command
Established in emergency situations to serve as a base of operations, or staging area, for personnel and equipment. It may be located in an office building, apartment, patrol vehicle, or SWAT truck, and it is used for planning, organizing, directing, and communicating. It should be near but not exposed to the emergency situation. Used in hostage situations, barricaded persons, public demonstrations and civil disorder.
Command Post
Encompasses the intrinsic qualities of a leader. Factors such as military bearing, self-discipline, a neat appearance, integrity, honesty and poise. These qualities influence a manage’s ability to create a vision that others will adopt and to instill in officers willingness to follow.
Command Presence
The transfer of information, attitudes and understanding between individuals and groups.
Communication
Provides officers with the information they need to perform their jobs. Most information in a police organization moves down through the ranks in either written or face to face form.
Downward communication
Provides organizational structure and consists of standard operating procedures, orders, correspondence, and other written messages that communicate the “official policy” of a police department.
Formal communication
Takes place between people at the same organizational levels, such as between two Captains or two Detectives, and is used to coordinate people and equipment for task accomplishment.
Horizontal communication
Develops when formal channels of communication don’t exist or fail to meet the needs of officers. Consists of “grapevines” or “rumor mills” which distort or filter messages.
Informal communication
The flow of information from the lower levels of the organization to the top. Without it, police administrators would not have the information needed to plan or makes decisions.
Upward communication
Leading people toward organizational objective through communication and the modeling of proper behavior. Managers make observations of subordinates and complete inspections and review records and reports to achieve this goal.
Controlling
Providing unity or action and preventing duplication of effort and resources through the orderly arrangement of group effort.
Coordinating
Turning over or entrusting one’s work (and the formal authority to do it) to another while remaining responsible for it’s completion.
Delegation of Authority
The day to day guiding, coaching, counseling, and influencing of people toward organizational task accomplishment while prioritizing, scheduling and monitoring expenditures and the quality of work.
Directing
Used by a manager to accomplish organizational objectives by coaching, training, instructing and correcting subordinates to improve their job performance.
Discipline
Involves punishment for poor job performance or misconduct. Managers should privately tell subordinates exactly what is lacking in job performance or behavior up to an expectable level, and what consequences will occur if performance or behavior do not reach the acceptable level. Managers should be fair, consistent, and impartial and should conduct frequent inspections so failures can be corrected promptly.
Negative discipline
Is not punishment; it is the teaching, counseling, and instructing of subordinates in order to encourage them to improve work work performance.
Positive discipline
Describes a disciplinary process with progressively stronger measures for repeated offense. A usual progression consists of counseling, verbal reprimand, written reprimand, suspension, and termination. Severe misconduct requires an acceleration of the process.
Progressive discipline
Learning something through exploration, reading, observing, and original thinking.
Discovery
In reference to communication, this is the changing or blurring of information as it is communicated to more than one person sequentially.
Distortion
Involves the grouping of organizational functions and job tasks and functions to improve efficiency and effectiveness.
Division of Work
A comparison of a subordinates job performance with clearly defined standards of acceptable job performance.
Evaluating
Officially rating an officer’s performance against pre established criteria using a range of scores on a standardized form
Formal evaluation
A mechanism used by a manager to evaluate and document officer performance on a day to day basis. It provides the foundation for disciplining, delegating, controlling, and formally evaluating subordinates.
Informal evaluation
Also known as management by exception. Relates to the phrase completed staff work. Work should be performed at the lowest level possible in a police department. Managers should not act on routine matters that can be handled at a lower level. Their time and expertise should be reserved for matters, and exceptions, that can be handled only at their level.
Exception principle
A response to communication that involves some degree of evaluation. In the verbal communication process, it is a combination of facial expressions, gestures, and other body language that indicates whether understanding has or has not taken place.
Feedback
In reference to communication, it is the manipulation of information so it is perceived to be positive by the person receiving it.
Filtering
A future state or condition that, if achieved, contributes to the fulfillment of an organization’s mission.
Goal
A formal communication of an employee’s perception that a job-related factor is unfair, improper, or inequitable.
Grievance
A systematic review of departmental procedures, systems, methods of operation, equipment, and employees’ performance in order to improve efficiency, effectiveness, and productivity.
Inspection
