NCJ Number
186512
Journal
Police Chief Volume: 67 Issue: 12 Dated: December 2000 Pages: 19-24
Editor(s)
Charles E. Higginbotham
Date Published
December 2000
Length
6 pages
Annotation
In law enforcement agencies throughout the United States, it is not hard to find disgruntled employees who were once highly motivated and productive individuals, and these employees spend more time trying to undermine administrative direction and supervision than doing the jobs they are supposed to do.
Abstract
First-line and higher-level police supervisors may not be prepared to deal with disgruntled employees and the problems they create and may spend an inordinate amount of time trying to supervise and hold the employees accountable. Moreover, police supervisors have identified obstacles that stand in the way of disciplinary actions--lack of administrative support, arbitrators and other review boards, inadequate documentation, civil service unions and labor organizations, time-consuming disciplinary procedures, fear of reprisal, and insufficient training on how and when to discipline employees. Despite obstacles, police supervisors must hold people accountable and mid-level and executive-level managers must support first-line police supervisors who are willing to address inappropriate performance and behavior. The development of an effective operational plan to deal with disgruntled employees and procedures to follow when confronting these employees are considered. The importance of good documentation is emphasized, especially since lack of documentation is one of the major reasons courts and less formal adjudicators have overturned disciplinary actions.