Police Supervision and Management: In an Era of Community Policing - Hardcover

Peak, Kenneth J.; Gaines, Larry K.; Glensor, Ronald W.

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9780130394729: Police Supervision and Management: In an Era of Community Policing

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0130394726 ISBN 13: 9780130394729

Publisher: Pearson College Div, 2003

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Collectively possessing more than 100 years of practical (administrative, managerial, supervisory) and academic experience, the authors of this book give its chapters a “real-world” flavor not often found in other volumes. They provide readers with a comprehensive look at the challenging roles of police supervisors and managers; exciting and up-to-date coverage of issues, trends, and tactics; and focus on timely topics such as terrorism and policing in the community policing era. A four-part presentation contains expanded discussions of relevant and timely topics—e.g., community policing and problem solving, ethics, patrol, critical incidents and disasters, organizational behavior, and administrative theory. For individuals working in the police field, use in law enforcement agencies, training academies, and in preparing for promotional examinations.

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From the Back Cover:

The authors bring more than 100 years of practical (including administrative, managerial, and supervisory) and academic police experience to this textbook; therefore, the chapters contain a "real world" flavor. A uniquely comprehensive view is provided of police supervision and management, and chapters also discuss such topics as critical incidents, tactical operations, patrol problems, officers' rights and discipline, community policing and problem solving, ethical issues and liability, and training and. evaluation. From beginning to end, the book provides an inside view of what are certainly difficult and challenging roles.

A comparatively large number of textbooks on police management and administration have been written over the past several decades, addressing the roles and responsibilities of chiefs of police or sheriffs. This text, however, focuses on first-line supervisors and middle managers and is grounded on the assumption that the reader is an undergraduate, possibly even a graduate, student or a neophyte practitioner, possessing but a fundamental knowledge of police organizations and operations. It is intended to help those persons learn more about the field of policing, as well as help those practitioners who are preparing for promotion, and new and experienced supervisors who are seeking to improve their skills. It will help to lay the foundation for the reader's future study and experience.

This text also assumes that a practical police supervision perspective is often lost in many administrative texts; therefore, while necessarily delving into some theory, this text is intended to focus on the practical aspects of a supervisor's or manager's job.

Those of us who have held a job or position, unless self-employed, have had a supervisor to whom we reported. That individual probably had a hand in showing us how to do our work and certainly was responsible for making sure that we did it properly. Even persons who have not yet entered the working world have experienced supervision in school, in sports, in the Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts, or in other nonwork settings. Supervision is a crucial element of any organized activity and is present in all organizations.

Our supervisors often reported to their supervisors, or managers. The managers coordinated and supervised the efforts of the lower-level supervisors as well as ensuring that the unit functioned as higher-level administrators envisioned. Supervisors and managers are the keys to quality work in any organization.

This book specifically concerns police supervision and management. In order to address these topics thoroughly and to provide as much useful information as possible, we must maintain a dual approach by looking at supervision and management broadly, while also focusing narrowly on these areas in police organizations. All supervisors and managers, whether in police departments, construction, or business firms, share similar concerns and duties. They manage people and activities.

It is also true that each and every organization is unique. Police departments in particular are different from most other organizations, for the simple reason that police work is different from most other vocations and occupations. Police officers have the unique authority to arrest people and investigate their activities. Also, police departments are not all made from the same mold. The New York City Police Department and the Chicago Police Department, the two largest departments in the United States, are different from the Las Vegas Police Department or the Nashville Police Department. Although all of these departments have the same or similar responsibilities, substantial variation within the police profession itself makes the job of police supervisors or managers unique and challenging. In addition, the police supervisors' and managers' jobs have recently been made even more specialized as a result of the implementation of community policing. Community policing has placed many new responsibilities on the police sergeant and manager.

During the course of a workday, police supervisors and managers directly oversee several employees in the performance of their activities and may even supervise a life-threatening situation or a critical incident or disaster. While a supervisor may not have ultimate command and control over critical incidents or disasters, he or she is often the first responder at the scene; his or her actions and directions to subordinates will be vital in determining the eventual success of the police in dealing with the problem. Managers are called to the scenes of major critical incidents to supervise groups of officers and to coordinate actions with other police units or agencies, such as the fire department or emergency medical services. Supervisors and managers essentially ensure that police operations unfold as planned.

KEY TERMS

Although the terms administration, management, and supervision are often used synonymously, it should be noted that each is a unique concept that occasionally overlaps with the others. Administration encompasses both management and supervision. Administration is a process whereby a group of people are organized and directed toward achievement of the group's objective. The exact nature of the organization will vary among the different types and sizes of agencies, but the general principles used and the form of administration are often similar. Administration focuses on the overall organization and its mission and its relationship with other organizations and groups external to it. Administrators are often concerned with the department's direction and its policies and with ensuring that the department has the resources to fulfill its community's expectations. Police administrators generally include the chief, assistant chiefs, and high-ranking staff who support the chief in administering the department.

Management, which is also a part of administration, is most closely associated with the day-to-day operations of the various elements within the organization. For example, most police departments have a variety of operational units such as patrol, criminal investigation, traffic, gang enforcement, domestic violence, or community relations. The Los Angeles Police Department, the third largest police department in the country, has more than 200 specialized units. Each of these units is run by someone who is most aptly described as a manager. In most cases, these managers are captains or lieutenants. These managers ensure that their units fulfill their departmental mission and work closely with other units to ensure that conflict or problems do not develop. They also attend to planning, budgeting, and human resource or personnel needs to ensure that the unit is adequately prepared to carry out its responsibilities.

Supervision involves the direction of officers and civilians in their day-today activities, often on a one-to-one basis. Supervisors ensure that subordinate officers adhere to departmental policies, complete tasks correctly and on a timely basis, and interact with the public in a professional manner. Supervisors often observe their subordinates completing assignments and sometimes take charge of situations, especially when a deployment of a large number of officers is needed. They also work closely with managers to ensure that officers' activities are consistent with the unit's mission and objectives.

In the police organization, the first-line supervisor is usually a sergeant. We say first-line because sergeants are responsible for supervising those officers who are engaged in providing basic police services. Captains and lieutenants (called middle managers) also supervise, but they supervise persons who are also supervisors, and are more concerned with a unit's activities rather than with an individual officer's activities. In actuality, all ranking personnel from the chief to the sergeant supervise, but this text is concerned with supervision by sergeants and mid-level managers.

Finally, the terms police officer, law enforcement officer, and peace officer are also generally interchangeable. The primary difference is that peace officer refers to anyone who has arrest authority and usually includes correctional officers, probation officers, parole officers, and persons with special police powers. Correctional officers have specific police powers in their correctional facility workplace, and investigators of welfare or Medicaid fraud have limited peace officer powers. In this text, we are primarily concerned with police officers, who include municipal or rural officers; deputy sheriffs; highway patrol; troopers; state police; and others holding local, state, or federal law enforcement officer status. For the purpose of this text, the term police officer will generally be used to refer to all the positions noted.

ORGANIZATION OF THE BOOK

The 14 chapters of this book are organized to provide the reader with an understanding of the key elements of police supervision and management from both the theoretical and applied perspectives. To understand the challenges of police supervision and management, we must first place it within the "big picture" of a police organization. Thus, Part One, "The Supervisor in a Police Organization," introduces the concepts of supervision and management, the roles and responsibilities of supervisors and middle managers, leadership and motivation, and effective communication and negotiation in an organization.

Part Two examines the supervision of human resources. This section addresses training, evaluation, stress and wellness, ethics and liability, and subordinates' rights and discipline. It essentially provides information on the "people" in the police organization. Somewhere between 75 and 90 percent of a police department's budget is for personnel. It is therefore important for the supervisor and manager to learn how to manage this important resource. These chapters elaborate how the police department via the supervisor and manager work with people, motivate them, and ensure that the department's mission is achieved.

Part Three, "Supervising the Work of Police," contains information that is more applied in nature and reviews supervisors and managers at work, both on and off the street. It addresses what they need to know concerning officer deployment and scheduling, patrol and special operations, tactical operations and critical incidents, and community oriented policing and problem solving (COPPS). COPPS is now policing's primary paradigm and, as seen in Chapter 13, has had a profound impact on h...

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