As the newly-hired chief of police in a mid-sized Midwestern city that experiences a lot of crime and murder, I have a task of utilizing limited resources to guarantee safety. The budget allocated to the city is strained forcing the police to experience budgetary constraints for several years. The self-esteem of the police has been affected by the current situation that also involves lack of pay rise for the past three years. Previous chiefs failed to provide the required leadership as well as management. Apparently, some of the best officers are planning to tender their resignation. Also the department of communication is appalling and distrustful of the new administration. Therefore, I have developed this action plan to help address the issue of effective leadership, officers morale, general working conditions and organizational communication.
Effective leadership and management
As a chief of police, I plan to provide the required leadership that has been absent for over three years. There is need to restore the trust that has been eroded over the years. As a leader, it is paramount to respond to all challenges that officers face while on duty. In case some of the challenges are beyond the control of a chief of police, it will be required that the chief presents the issues to relevant bodies.
As a manager, it will be my role to ensure that all officers comply with the existing laws governing the police service (Criminal Justice Organizations: Administration and Management). A rational approach will be approached by the enforcement of the rules with the aim of restoring the morale and faith of police officers. Since the role of budgeting falls within the mandate of a manager, as chief of police, I will revise the current budget to ensure that it serves its purpose in sustain security processes. I will ensure that the officers under my watch do things right using the right resources that will be supplied to meet the demand. As a leader, I will take the initiative to question the previous processes that contributed to the low morale of police officers. Focusing on long-term strategic planning will be critical for the success of the police in the Midwestern city. This includes scrutinizing the efficiency of current opportunities to change the culture of the officers.
All internal processes including the communication processes will be scrutinized and evaluated to establish the challenges and opportunities. The efficiency of internal processes is mandatory in the police service to enable officers to carry out their duties and mandate. I will respond to situational factors within the first thirty days as chief of police in the region.
Officers morale
The motivation of personnel involves intervening two main areas, which are psychological and organizational perspectives. The psychological intervention involves the examination of the states of mind of individual police officers to establish why they have low morale. This will also include evaluation of the value systems that can trigger positive attitude and motivation among the police officers. One of the factors that have already proven to be reducing the morale of employees is the lack of salary increment. Within the first two months in office, remuneration will be revised to ensure that the police officers are paid according to the law. It is important for the police officers to have justice before they can have the morale of the officers. This may not be the only value system recognized by every police officers, and it is important to understand the varied opinions of every employee.
The organizational intervention will involve the exploration of behaviors that lower the morale of the police officers. It is evident that remuneration is one of the factors, but there could be other underlying factors at the organizational level that lower the morale of officers. Feedback from this evaluation will provide information of the major intervention points that need to be addressed.
As a leader and a manager, it is important to recognize that motivation of employees entails constant interaction with the officers. Communication will involve both group meeting and a one-on-one meeting with every police officer. The values that will be upheld during the interaction include honesty and transparency. Confidential information will be protected to ensure that the confidence of every employee is maintained.
Organizational communication
In administration and management of police department, a typical communication process is made up of five steps. These steps include encoding, transmitting, medium, receiving and decoding. There are also nine barriers of communication that need to be addressed to ensure that the communication process is streamlined. Police have to be advised to get rid of pre-convinced ideas that relate previous management to the current management. Police officers should be reminded of their roles that include validation of credibility of any information. It will also be important to organize training section in which police officers will be trained on various aspects that include; filling the communication gap between individual officers and management; improving communication skills to be applied in both vertical and horizontal channel and; taking the initiative in the management of the organizational climate. Police officers will be educated and advised according to on implementing chains of commands during communication. The management will provide an opportunity for police to air out their views thrice every week in a meeting that will be chaired by the chief of police. In addition the Chief of police will ask the police officers to elect a confidant who will also be their spokesperson on sensitive issues. The main goal is to ensure that both work-related and personal issues do not affect the policing roles of an officer.
General working conditions
In the first month in office, I will take the initiative to evaluate the general working conditions of the police officers. Police officers require having adequate resources such as guns to fight resources. Aspects such as mobility of the officers, vehicles availability and fuel will be evaluated to establish if they are adequate to facilitate the movement of police officers. Quick responses will require the availability of such resources. The first month in office will also involve evaluation of the office resources such as books and computers and other resources to facilitate record keeping. Records are very critical for all police stations in the city. The county government, local organizations that include religious organizations will be invited to provide opinions and support where necessary. Relationships with other agencies and organizations will be revisited in an attempt to introduce community policing. Establishment of trust with the community will help enhance the working conditions of all employees.
Conclusion
One of the major intervention points within the first month in office is to improve the working conditions of police officers and elevate their morale. I plan to introduce an open communication system that will facilitate movement of critical information to enhance the working environment. One of the major intervention points will be to revisit and correct the remunerations of each police officer.
References
Criminal Justice Organizations: Administration and Management.
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