Everest University Week One
Sadie Powell Individual Work
Explain what "Unity of Command" is and why it is important in law enforcement.
Unity of Command is really another phrase for “Chain of Command” and its purpose or design is for officers, members, and or employees to report to one officer above them i.e. report to a ranking officer that is higher than those above their current rank. This is used in not only law enforcement but the military as well. What it does is it really simplifies management by assigning or appointing a number of officers a superior they would have to report to. For instance the chain of command goes as follows; the policeman and woman report to their corporals and sergeants who then would take the information given to them and report to their own superior officers which would be their captain. Then it would keep going until it reaches the top wherever that may be. Usually jumping the chain of command is frowned upon and can also hurt someone’s career, meaning a policeman cannot go straight to the captain without consulting their sergeant first. Keeping the Chain intact helps the flow of information smooth and manageable.
Discuss how authority and responsibility play into this.
The purpose of the Chain of Command is that it is designed to keep high rank officers out of personal matters that can be handled by someone on the lower levels of the chain of command. The officers at the top of the Chain of Command would have the higher authority and responsibility and they delegate the mundane tasks and other minor matters to the lower ranking officer, in order of the higher ranking officer to work on more important matters. This is applied in the military, police and other law enforcement agencies. It makes logical sense and frees up the senior officers at the top of the chain to attend to more responsible tasks and situations.