Steelhead_Police_Department_Policy_Statement

Steelhead Police Department Policy Statement Steelhead Police Department Policy Statement Kaplan University CJ 444-01 Managing Criminal Justice Organizations Unit 3 Essay Professor: Patrick McDonald Jody Price 11/27/12 Introduction Officers of the Steelhead Police force raise many concerns about the soft body armor policy. Each of these concerns is valid and need to be addressed. The Steelhead Police force needs to comply with the union contract when enacting a new policy and procedure on soft body armor. It is helpful for the police organization to obtain officers input when enacting a new policy. The officers that supply input can help to set up the policy and procedure on wearing the soft body armor. Setting up new policy and procedure is hard on both management and the officers but with a little compromise it can be worked out. Organizational Theories The structural contingency theory that law enforcement uses alters there structure to adapt to their rational and technical environments ( (Davis, 2012). By altering their structure and adapting they are able to improve their organization efficiency and effectiveness. Police agencies must adapt properly to be more efficient and effective in the area they are policing. An agency fails to adapt it will become inefficient and ineffective. The area in which the agency is working can be constantly changing. In turn that means that the agency must have the capability to change with the ever changing area. There are agencies that have very little change and due to the stability of the area need to not change as often. The organization institutional theory changes in response to the institutional environment (Maguire, 2003). They do not change due to their rational or technical environment. The institutional environment is composed of powerful external individuals such as politicians, media, and police agencies. These people create expectations on how police agencies should be structured and how they should behave. The police agencies in turn try to meet the expectations. Institutional environment can influence the development of formal structure in organizations (Maguire, 2003). Organizations will adapt and adopt the structural form even when it does not improve efficiency. Arguments The arguments of the policy of mandating officers to wear vest while on duty can and are as such. The complaints or arguments would consist of restrictiveness, being a heat related issue during the hotter days, or just being a mandatory thing and not able to have the ability to have discretion on when the vest is worn and not worn. Unionized Officers could use that it is a collective bargaining issue and has to be approved within union contract negotiations. Other arguments are personal medical issues that prevent the use of vests, the officers that have been with the department for years that have never used vests for everyday patrol. There are numerous other arguments about the use of vests. Solutions There are many good arguments on not using the vests. But, to every argument there is an answer to. The main solution to this issue within the Steelhead Police Department is to have numerous officers input. With this the officers come up with the guidelines for the policy that one sets. It also must go along with the standards of the NIJ Standard 0101.04 (National Institute of Justice) ( (National Institute of Justice, 2005). This standard was incorporated by the US Department of Justice. The standard is what the minimal requirements of the vest made. The solution to the other arguments is to work with the unionized officers on a policy that is complete and workable so the officers are willing to comply with the policy. Conclusion There are many arguments that can be raised when enacting new policies and procedures on wearing soft body armor. Each officer has their own complaints when it comes to wearing the body armor. When enacting a new policy the police organization needs to comply with unionized officers’ contract. When policy does not follow the union contract there could be many problems for the police organization. There are some solutions to setting up new policies and procedures. When setting up new policies for police organizations, one should obtain officers input on the new policies and procedures. With having officers input they then help to set up the new policy and procedure on the soft body armor. Setting up new policy and procedures is hard on both management and officers but with a little compromise it can be worked out. Reference Davis, R. and Kania R. (2012). Managing Criminal Justice Organizations: A Intoduction to Theory and Practice. Waltham, MA: Anderson Publishing. Maguire, E. (2003). Organizational Structure in America Policing Agecies- Content, Complexity and Control. Albany,NY: State of University of New York. National Institute of Justice. (2005, September 26). US Department of Justice. Retrieved November 26, 2012, from http://www.oip.usdoi.gov/bypbasi/docs/08_18_05BodyArmor_int_regts.doc