Police Officers Should Work Hard To Enhance Police-Community Programs
Laws & Rules
There are some laws, rules, and sayings that will explain why police officers should work hard to enhance police-community programs. First, according to Davis’s Dictum, community problems that go away by themselves come back by themselves (Dickson, 1980). Hence, in order to effectively manage crime, the root causes of crime need to be addressed. Second, according to Wolf’s Law, a police officer does not get a second chance to make a first impression. Thus, police officers should always put forth their best efforts. Third, Winston’s Second Rule of Success states that a police department’s greatest assets are the local residents, who provide valuable resources. Indeed, social peace depends on the assistance provided by residents. …show more content…
Fourth, according to the Woolsey-Swanson Rule of Problems, individuals would rather live with problems that they cannot solve than solutions they cannot understand. Therefore, officers need to effectively communicate with the public. One way to do this is for the police departments to represent the community members that they serve (e.g., same % sex and race). Finally, Vietinghoff’s Precept indicates that the managers who control the police forms control the program, which impacts the police department culture. In short, officer performance reviews are dictated by upper management via forms. Thus, upper management can endorse the behaviors that promote good police-community relations by using forms that assess officer performance based on police-community efforts instead of using forms that assess officer performance based on quotas.
There are some laws, rules, and sayings that will explain why some police officers resist police-community programs.
First, according to the Upward-Mobility Rule, police officers should not work so hard that they are irreplaceable (Dickson, 1980). If the officers cannot be replaced, they will not be promoted. Second, according to Rutherford’s Rule, the less the officers know, the less work they will have to do. By investigating the community’s concerns, the police department may be opening a can of worms. Third, according to Toomey’s Rule, it is easy to make decisions on matters in which the officers have no responsibility. If the officers have high stakes in the community, they may not be able to make the tough decisions. Fourth, according to Vaughan’s Rule of Corporate Life, the lower an officer is on the organizational chart, the more work that officer will have to do. Although police management may make a lot of promises to the community, it is the officers who will get stuck with all of the work. Fifth, according to Weiner’s Wisdom, indecision is the key component to flexibility. Thus, if a police-community program is implemented and it is less than optimal, the department may be too invested and too committed to change its position. Finally, according to Rigsbee’s Principle of Management, the brightest and best employees will be the first officers to leave the department when given the opportunity. In other words, if officers demonstrate superior skills in serving the public, other departments may seek to hire them and, if the officers leave the department, the department will lose much money that was invested in the officers’
training.
There are some laws, rules, and sayings that will explain why police officers should work hard to enhance police-community programs. First, according to Davis’s Dictum, community problems that go away by themselves come back by themselves (Dickson, 1980). Hence, in order to effectively manage crime, the root causes of crime need to be addressed. Second, according to Wolf’s Law, a police officer does not get a second chance to make a first impression. Thus, police officers should always put forth their best efforts. Third, Winston’s Second Rule of Success states that a police department’s greatest assets are the local residents, who provide valuable resources. Indeed, social peace depends on the assistance provided by residents. …show more content…
Fourth, according to the Woolsey-Swanson Rule of Problems, individuals would rather live with problems that they cannot solve than solutions they cannot understand. Therefore, officers need to effectively communicate with the public. One way to do this is for the police departments to represent the community members that they serve (e.g., same % sex and race). Finally, Vietinghoff’s Precept indicates that the managers who control the police forms control the program, which impacts the police department culture. In short, officer performance reviews are dictated by upper management via forms. Thus, upper management can endorse the behaviors that promote good police-community relations by using forms that assess officer performance based on police-community efforts instead of using forms that assess officer performance based on quotas.
There are some laws, rules, and sayings that will explain why some police officers resist police-community programs.
First, according to the Upward-Mobility Rule, police officers should not work so hard that they are irreplaceable (Dickson, 1980). If the officers cannot be replaced, they will not be promoted. Second, according to Rutherford’s Rule, the less the officers know, the less work they will have to do. By investigating the community’s concerns, the police department may be opening a can of worms. Third, according to Toomey’s Rule, it is easy to make decisions on matters in which the officers have no responsibility. If the officers have high stakes in the community, they may not be able to make the tough decisions. Fourth, according to Vaughan’s Rule of Corporate Life, the lower an officer is on the organizational chart, the more work that officer will have to do. Although police management may make a lot of promises to the community, it is the officers who will get stuck with all of the work. Fifth, according to Weiner’s Wisdom, indecision is the key component to flexibility. Thus, if a police-community program is implemented and it is less than optimal, the department may be too invested and too committed to change its position. Finally, according to Rigsbee’s Principle of Management, the brightest and best employees will be the first officers to leave the department when given the opportunity. In other words, if officers demonstrate superior skills in serving the public, other departments may seek to hire them and, if the officers leave the department, the department will lose much money that was invested in the officers’
training.