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NOPD Organizational Behavior

Decent Essays

The NOPD is a bureaucratic, quasi-military organization. The Department is complex, performing many tasks to carry out its mission. These tasks are handled by different divisions in the NOPD. The Department has a division of labor among its employees. The NOPD has a rank structure with duties delegated from top to bottom. The Department has a chain of command and information flows according to it. The NOPD has written rules and regulations. Anyone interested in joining the Department can choose from several career paths. Officers wear uniforms, have military-style designations, and are legally authorized to carry weapons, use force, and deprive individuals of their liberty. These characteristics complicate police work.
The DOJ’s investigation and findings report found systemic deficiencies that caused or contributed to the NOPD’s patterns and practices of unconstitutional conduct, including field supervision.
The Justice Department found that the NOPD had deficient field supervision policies. For example, policy allowed for too large a span of control that prevented adequate supervision. In management, a span of control of no more than 1:10 is generally accepted and 1:5 is recommended. However, an NOPD sergeant …show more content…

For example, there were failures in first-line supervision. There was a pattern of flawed arrest and use of force reports that had been approved by supervisors. Sometimes arrest reports appeared to have not been reviewed at all and use of force reports to have been written by the officers involved instead of supervisors. Some reports were signed days after the incidents or not at all. Supervisors did not always respond to the scene of a use of force incident or conduct investigations of uses of force. Daily Activity Reports were not accurately or consistently filled out and counseling and corrective action did not occur. Some supervisors did not ensure that officers stayed

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