CRMJ512 Midterm

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American Public University *

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512

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Management

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Jan 9, 2024

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docx

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Question 1 (25 points) Explain the role of a fusion center in the day-to-day operations of a large metropolitan police agency. Do you think that fusion centers would be very helpful to smaller agencies as well? Why or why not? Fusion centers are government facilities that are created and run by the state governments in order to compile multiple streams of information and use that information to protect United States citizens from natural and manmade disasters and attacks (O’Neil et. al., 2008). In the environment of a large city, where there would be a metropolitan police agency, a fusion center is a useful tool for the police to be able to monitor the activities that could affect the city in a much more efficient manner than if they were to try and sort through information being gathered piece by piece by different sections or departments of the agency. This is especially important when there are threats that need immediate response such as terrorist attacks, large accidents, or events like mass shootings. The collection of the information allows for the police to receive as many details as possible that allow them to get to the location with the forces and precautions necessary for the situation as quickly as possible. The use of fusion centers does not come without their flaws and there are definitely those who do have their skepticism about having too much reliance on agencies that are in control of so much of the American citizens’ information, especially when these agencies choose to use the information that is collected in questionable ways, as was brought up in 2020 when leaked documents were exposed from a Maine fusion center (Ohm, 2022). Aside from the concerns regarding the compilation of information and whether it violates citizens’ rights, there are concerns about the role of technology in place of the old-fashioned use of human interactions to gain insight about the ongoings of the public. This is where I find there would be an issue with fusion centers being helpful, specifically to smaller police agencies. Smaller agencies are usually smaller because they are located in smaller populated areas. Smaller populations are generally known to have communities where the citizens have some sort of relationship with most everyone so those relationships are more likely to be reliable and trusted than an algorithm created within technology that cannot be replicated (Taylor & Russel, 2012). That being said, I do think that there are advantages that benefit smaller agencies as well, particularly when it comes to missing person cases or natural disasters. Having the access to the flow of information coming through one facility could be lifesaving if done properly. Overall, the concept of the fusion centers could make a tremendous difference in the future of law enforcement. As they stand now, without a set standard of how they should be structured and operated, the facilities seem to be falling short of their potential while also causing more concerns over the effects the facilities have on the citizens in the United States due to the amount of information collected. So instead of lightening the burden on the police force by making information easily accessible for quick and efficient response, it opens the can of

worms on constitutional rights and if the information can even be used by law enforcement legally. Ohm, R. (2022). Lawmakers critical of first report out of Maine police fusion center. Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News. O’Neil, S., Masse, T., & Rollins, J. (2008). Information and intelligence (including terrorism) fusion centers. Nova Science Publishers. Taylor, R. W., & Russell, A. L. (2012). The failure of police “fusion” centers and the concept of a national intelligence sharing plan. Police Practice & Research, 13(2), 184–200. https://doi.org/10.1080/15614263.2011.581448 Question 2 (25 points) As a police chief using Hertzberg's Motivation-Hygiene Theory, what types of motivators would you use to improve officers' productivity? As an employer, you have to know and understand what is going to drive your employees to come into work everyday and do the best work that they can accomplish. That is where Fredrick Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene Theory comes into play. Herzberg came up with a theory that separates different factors of the workplace into the categories – Motivation Factors and Hygiene Factors – to differentiate which influences would cause employees to become satisfied or dissatisfied with their positions. According to this theory the hygiene factors would be made up of things that could have a negative influence on the overall attitude of the employee such as salary and environment and the motivational factors would be the positive things like incentives and recognition (World of Work Project, 2021). Keeping all of the information regarding the different factors in the back of my mind, there would be a few policies that I would implement as a police chief. First, I would ensure that the facility that my officers were coming to work in every day was clean and organized with equipment that was respectable. My officers would know that they are first and foremost human beings and that they will be treated as such. In today’s day in age, many prospective employees are concerned about how seriously they will be taken as people rather than just another worker in an agency (Bhatt et. al., 2022) and will either not take a position or not stay in a position that they have already filled if they do not feel that they are being treated as people rather than ants in a line. I would do what I could to ensure that my officers were being paid, at minimum, in accordance with what their value is as an officer rather than a general government starting pay, with experience and extra strengths factoring in where they may. A major concern within law enforcement is the constant stress that officers are under. The constant stress from work rolls into stress at home, especially if work interferes with time with family, and it causes the officer to become burnt out (Calecas, 2019). I would implement a budget specific to ensuring that the

department was capable of hiring and maintaining enough staff to allow my officers to have the time that they needed to in order to have time away from work when necessary. That way my officers would have the opportunity to rest, rejuvenate, have time with their families, and be much more effective on my force when they returned. Finally, I would make sure that there was not stagnation within my agency. There are always ways to incorporate a little bit of fun into the workplace while keeping it professional. Having activities every so often and recognizing the hard work of my officers, even in unofficial ways can go a long way to brighten the lives and increase productivity of the department. Ultimately, the goal is balance. Balance between professionalism and knowing that we are all people trying to make a living in a profession with a goal to help our communities by enforcing the law. Bhatt, N., Chitranshi, J., & Mehta, M. (2022). Testing Herzberg’s two factor theory on millennials. Cardiometry, 22, 231–236. https://doi.org/10.18137/cardiometry.2022.22.231236 Calecas, K. jon-D. (2019). Job Satisfaction, Employee Engagement, and Turnover Intention in Federal Employment. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing. World of Work Project. (2021, July 21). Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory of Motivation: A Simple Summary. The World of Work Project. https://worldofwork.io/2019/02/herzbergs-two-factor-theory-of-motivation/ Question 3 (25 points) If you were a police administrator, what do you believe would be a reasonable span of management? In other words, how many subordinates do you believe you could effectively supervise and why? I think that the level of police administrator would play a large role in what a reasonable span of management would be considered but for the purpose of this essay question, I am going to answer in respect to a police administrator in charge of a smaller local law enforcement agency. As a police administrator of a department, I think that a reasonable span of personnel would be roughly 20 officers. I think that it is important to be able to manage enough personnel to have an effective and efficient workforce but also a small enough number of people so as to not become overwhelmed by the amount of information and activity that has to be kept track of. An example of a department of this size would be the Holly Ridge Police Department which has about 11 members of staff to include officers. The role of the police administrator is important because all of the information that comes through the agency gets run through the administrator at some point or another. Responsibilities that come hand in hand with the information police administrators are offered are endless and include internal affairs from assigning tasks to officers to public appearances to stave off conflicts between the

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