Question
Unit 3 Assignment: Dealing with the Economic Downturn
The recent changes in the economic situation impact all governmental organizations, including Criminal Justice agencies. In this assignment you will apply organizational planning, theories of human motivation, proper ethical management decision making, and compliance with applicable law while utilizing sound management practices that maintain operational capabilities within the following scenario.
You are the Chief of a police organization that employees 115 sworn officers of various rank as well as a civilian staff of 20 personnel. The City Council has informed you that due to the economic situation you must reduce your sworn staff by 5 officers and one-half (10) of your civilian staff must also face layoffs. In addition to the layoffs you will have no funds for new programs and equipment. Also one of the civilian staff members is married to your sister. In keeping with your Police Department’s Mission Statement, you must maintain a focus on community policing while maintaining and improving the community by ensuring public safety.
Develop a 1,050–1,400 word plan to implement these cuts in personnel, programs, and equipment and explain how the organization will deal with the impact of these cuts.
Include the following in your plan:
Identify your plan to prioritize staffing within your Patrol Division by providing appropriate coverage with a reduced staff in keeping with your department mission statement.
Prioritize job functions and then explain how you will determine which staff members will be laid off. Justify your argument based on best management principles.
Identify the ethical issues you will be confronted with involving the selection of personnel who will be cut. Consider the following:
What internal or external influences may be presented in the process?
What means will you use to maintain fairness during the process as well as in work distribution and assignments of those who are retained?
Address how the public will react to these changes and how might their opinion impact decisions and reputation of the department.
Identify at least two management methods required to maintain employee motivation, organizational communications, and insure public safety.
Dealing with an Economic Downtown
Question 1
Identify your plan to prioritize staffing within your Patrol Division by providing appropriate coverage with a reduced staff in keeping with your department mission statement?
As the chief of the police organization, there is need to ensure that I prioritize staffing within the Patrol Division by providing necessary coverage with a fraction of the staff in order to fulfill the department’s mission. In order to prioritize staffing within the Patrol Division and considering the reduction in staff, there is need to employ leaner and more efficient processes. One way of doing this is to engage the community with an aim of identifying the critical areas of concern. Engaging the community will entail a detailed process of involving the community in the organization’s planning process (Wilson, 2010). Community consultation will enable the department to identify and concentrate operations in issues of greatest concern among the community members. For instance, the community can assist the organization to establish areas with high insecurity levels that require deployment of the Patrol Division, rather than patrolling the entire area.
Another plan of prioritizing staffing entails using the modern technology to improve the efficiency of the few patrol officers. Crime prediction technologies has become commonplace in most police departments. Application of predictive modeling is the future of community policing. It primarily entails the use of computer models and complex algorithms to predict crime. Such applications can help the organization concentrate on localized areas where crime is likely to occur. This will improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the few patrol officers. Another plan involves innovating through developing collaborations with various experts in the field of crime. Consulting various experts in the field of crime prevention will enable the organization to identify new and proactive ways of dealing with crime (Wilson, 2010). For instance instead of concentrating enforcement efforts in a community lavished by prostitution and drug trade, the organization may find new ways of dealing with the situation by engaging the community leaders to identify drug lords and kingpins involved.
Related: The Budgeting Dilemma
Prioritize job functions and then explain how you will determine which staff members will be laid off. Justify your argument based on best management principles?
It is important to prioritize job functions with regard to impeding job cuts. Job functions that will receive highest priority include crime analysis, scenes of crime investigations, police intelligence gathering, fingerprint operations, detention activities, and community support operations. Areas of low priority include human resources, communications, command and dispatch roles, and police lawyers. In determining the staff members to face the layoff, the multiple criteria ranking method will be applied. This method weights several employee factors separately and then considers the final score for each employee (Truxillo, Bauer, & Erdogan, 2015). Employees will earn points depending on length of tenure, their education level, attendance history, their skills, abilities, and knowledge, and their eligibility for promotions in that order. This means that length of tenure will give each employee the highest score. This method is suitable since it will enable the organization retain the most productive employees who have been of greatest service to the organization (Truxillo, Bauer, & Erdogan, 2015). The method is also the fairest considering all other methods since it offers little room for discriminatory tendencies by the senior officers.
Identify the ethical issues you will be confronted with involving the selection of personnel who will be cut?
A number of ethical issues will emerge in the selection of personnel to face the redundancy. One of the ethical issues relates to the need to protect the vulnerable employees such as those with chronic conditions such as diabetes, single parents, and those from minority groups. Another possible ethical issue relates the need to protect family members such as the officer who is married to my sister. On firing him, the repercussions may be severe and may lead to sibling conflict. Thus, it is possible for one to establish a selection criteria in favor of the civilian staff member married to my sister. Another ethical issue relates to letting go off productive members who I would be sure they might be able to find jobs, in contrast to keeping unproductive workers who are unlikely to find employment elsewhere. Another ethical issue regards family responsibilities. It may be difficult to determine whether to fire those who are not married or those with families.
Related: Understanding the Purpose of Research
What internal or external influences may be presented in the process?
There could be internal and external influences with regard to the selection process. One of the internal influences may be pressure from high-ranking officers to retain particular officers or civilian staff members. This may create issues since it may be difficult to follow the multiple ranking criteria in selecting members to face the job cut. Another internal influence will be pressure from the workers, both officers and civilian members, who may even offer bribes and rewards. Some section of workers (such as those who with short tenures) may agitate for a different selection criteria that is more inclusive. This may lead to divisions on the best selection strategy to be applied. External influences include pressure from employee labor organizations that may advocate for different selection process or even terms and conditions for leaving employment.
What means will you use to maintain fairness during the process as well as in work distribution and assignments of those who are retained?
To maintain fairness during the process, I will engage employees fully in the entire exercise. As such, the selection method will be the one agreed upon by majority of the employees, and the most fair of all the selection processes. In line with this, the selection process will entirely determine the employees that face the job cuts and those that will remain. It will also be important to establish a management team that will ensure that there is fairness as well as consistency involving the layoff decisions. The management team will make it difficult for employees to interfere with the process through coercion or through other influences. The management team will also be responsible for planning a work distribution schedule for those retained. This will ensure the fairness of then process and reduce the likelihood of personal influence, either from internal or external sources.
Address how the public will react to these changes and how might their opinion impact decisions and reputation of the department?
The public may react negatively to the decisions made by the department. The public may feel insecure on learning that the police organization plans to reduce the number of officers. Public safety is put at great risk when the number of police officers serving a particular area is reduced. The public may develop a negative reputation of the department. This may occur especially when some of the workers fired are part of the local community. Resentment may build among those fired, their relatives, and friends against the department. The public may also feel that the department is unable to address the problems in the community effectively.
Identify at least two management methods required to maintain employee motivation, organizational communications, and insure public safety?
An important management method to keep employees motivated is to keep communicate to them often. Keeping communication lines open is critical since it helps eliminate any doubts the employees may be having relating to job security or the organization in general. For instance, question-and-answer sessions can help clear issues or areas of concern among employees. Another method the management can use is to ensure training of employees (Lauby, 2005). Training and development can greatly improve the officers’ skills in serving the community better. In addition, training is one of the key factors in ensuring employee motivation.
References
Lauby, S. J. (2005). Motivating employees. Alexandria, Va: ASTD Press.
Truxillo, D. M., Bauer, T. N., & Erdogan, B. (2015). Psychology and work: perspectives on industrial and organization psychology. United Kingdom, UK: Routledge.
Wilson, C. (2010). Improving Services at Small- and Medium-Sized Police Agencies during a Recession. The Police Chief Magazine.
Related: Demonstrate how the Bill of Rights is applied in major criminal justice cases
