Mobilization of Effort - Sergeants, Patrol Officers, and Productivity in American Police Departments

• NCJ Number: 86527
• Author(s): J V Maanen
• Date Published: 1982
• Length: 30 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of the Navy
• Sale Source: National Technical Information Service
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS. Paper given at a symposium on Social and Organization Factors in Industrial, Governmental, and Military Psychology at the Annual Meetings of the American Psychological Association, Los Angeles, California, August 25, 1981

Annotation

Participant-observation data indicate that to the extent police sergeants are given greater monitoring capacity over subordinate officers, more official say in discipline, and additional favors to dispense, a sergeant's sense of the productivity of subordinate officers increases.

Abstract

The social meanings and uses for the term productivity within police agencies are flexible, varied, and patterned by the social organization of police work. Examining what productivity means to those in the organization involves examining what certain groups within the organization do and then noting the standards they apply to such activities in assessing their effectiveness. An examination of what productivity means to police sergeants when viewing their subordinate officers reveals an emphasis on (1) responding to radio calls with reasonable dispatch and courtesy, (2) covering assigned beats between calls with commitment and attention to the observed crimes or needs for service, (3) possessing the right mental attitude toward the police function, and (4) acting so as not to offend higher police officials and influential citizens. One way sergeants influence the productivity of their officers is through behavioral licensing, which involves sergeants determining acceptable and unacceptable behavior by providing positive, negative, or indifferent response to the various officer behaviors. The motivational power of sergeants is also greatly dependent upon their willingness and ability to back up their officers and shield them from disciplining by higher officials. Sergeants also serve productivity through the use of a battery of small favors issued or withheld in accordance with officer performance. Where an officer works, with whom, when, and on what assignments are all greatly determined by the sergeant and can be used as rewards or punishments for officers. Forty-three references and 17 notes are provided.