Eventually, every organization faces staffing challenges. However, the difference lies in the manner a company reacts to staffing issues. Staffing issues can be internal, external, or both. In addition, the intensity levels of the issues may vary from company to company. Recently, the Virginia State Police suffered from several staffing issues. This paper will address the specific staffing concerns with the Virginia Police Department, the ineffectiveness of the situation illustrated in the article, and ways the police department could have done differently or prepared itself better.
The Virginia State Police has experienced a rise in staffing issues which include staffing shortages because of poor recruitment, an increase in retirements, poor salaries, and retention issues. However, these issues also occur in other counties around the country. Many local police officers execute their duties, along with the duties of the state police officers. Beyond the low salaries of police officers, the department lacks the proper equipment it needs to perform the jobs well. The lack of money, equipment, and resources has caused low employee morale, which resulted in many police officers quitting or retiring.
The article also discusses the challenges of attracting and recruiting police officers. Many police departments pay higher than the state police department, which tends to draw the police officers’ attention. Currently state police departments have to decide how to attract police
This paper will show four different police departments that are currently hiring or recruiting for police officers. There will be a summary on the research found on the process used to recruit police officers. It will also show their current hiring trends and what hiring practices they have that are successful or not successful. The paper will also go over the different methods departments use to train their new officers and their values.
In recent years, recruitment and retention of police officers has been a pain point for many departments across the nation. Odd and inflexible hours, uncompetitive pay, para-militaristic organizational structures, and a negative public perception have all worked to diminish the pool of applicants interested in careers in law enforcement. Add to the mix the sexist “brotherhood” police culture, emphasis on masculinity and aggression, and the nearly non-existent opportunities for advancement for women, and over half of the eligible workforce has been discouraged from even considering a career in law enforcement. In 2013, women comprised just over 57% of the labor force, but accounted for only 13% of sworn police officers (USDOL, 2013; Crooke, 2013). Not only are women sorely underrepresented in the field of law enforcement, but those who are employed experience discrimination at the hands of their supervisors and coworkers, and as a result, the attrition rate for women is often much higher than that of their male counterparts. Departments should pledge dedication to recruiting and retaining more female officers, as research indicates that not only do females perform just as well as males in patrol positions, but they also have a unique set of advantages to offer agencies when employed in law enforcement. In order to improve the recruitment and retention of females into policing roles, departments must determine the biggest deterrents for women who are considering the pursuit
The New Jersey State Police does not experience much turnover. However, within a twenty-five year career, a trooper’s attitude, and how that attitude relates to job satisfaction and output can be measured. While a trooper with 10-15 years experience may be distrustful of command staff, junior troopers (those with 1-5 years) are viewed as zealots. Junior troopers are productive and engaged in their field. A trooper’s job satisfaction can be measured by his/her’s perceived organizational support. Job satisfaction has a direct correlation to employee engagement and perceived organizational support.
An important part of the United States workforce is made up of police officers. The number of police officers employed has grown drastically over the past few years. However, although the number of police officers employed has increased, public scrutiny has as well. The police employment practices have affected the publics’ perception of the police because of the factors involved as well as the desire to seek employment in law enforcement. The paper below will describe some of the factors involved with race and ethnicity when seeking police careers.
Police departments across the country and their actions of their employees have been scrutinized a lot lately in the media. Not only the way their employees behave but the way they recruit potential employees. Police officers take an oath to protect the communities that they serve in and uphold the constitution no matter what race, gender or ethnicity. With that being said, police officers should also be made up of people of different genders, races, and ethnicities.
The profession of policing derives its effectiveness from its ability to attract and employ quality individuals who will strive to better their community. Therefore proper recruitment and selection of officers is incredibly important to a police organization. Some major needs to Missouri’s recruitment process will be addressed in the following paragraphs.
The article Attracting females and racial/ethnic minorities to law enforcement is about local law enforcement agencies and their efforts to engage women and ethnic/minorities into participating in law enforcement agencies applicant processes and also concerns the hiring patterns of law enforcement agencies and the abilities of these agencies to fill sworn positions with females and minority officers. The arrival of the 20th century brought with it a change in the policing environment from the spoils system of earlier days to a more inclusive environment for female and minority presence within officer ranks. Some of the problems that law enforcement agencies of the more recent times will have with attracting females and minorities into law enforcement agency careers comes from outside of the agencies, but the most important determining problems can come from within those agencies themselves such as fear of the race and gender discrimination from the likes of employers and co-workers that makes females and minorities reluctant to join law enforcement agencies. The more highly televised incidents of the police brutality such as the Rodney King beating, Abner Louima torturing, and other abuse of force incidents make it very important
This paper explores all the components that make up The Miami-Dade Police department. From the geographic location of Miami-Dade County to it 's citizens and police force. Using both sources straight from the Miami-Dade Police Department 's website and other non-departmental sources to explore the inner workings of the department from recruitment, to citizen-police interactions, all the way up to Internal Affairs and how complaints and misconduct are handled. Looking at the demographics of the county of Miami-Dade, recommendations will be made on what steps the agency needs to take to become an even better department for the citizens it serves.
Police Agencies in modern society are a part of the American fabric to serve and protect the American public. The United States currently have more than 15,000 police agencies, (Walker & Katz, 2011). Police Departments across the United States face similar critical issues policing. All police officers face dangers in the job of policing the dangers can emanate from internal and external origins. Police officers have continued to evolve to serve communities by finding better less than lethal alternatives to weapons used. In addition, police departments have continued to keep up with
Over the past few years, there has been a great divide in our society between that of law enforcement agencies and some local community’s members that have placed fault onto on the law enforcement community (Abegbile, 2017). We have seen from the local communities not just cries for change in our law enforcement community, but have also protested in cities across the United States. With demands for criminal justice reform being demanded by such of an outcry in our society, we must evaluate the issues that are at the forefront of these matters (Abegbile, 2017). Our law enforcement community has over the past few years had to assess its leadership, the use of force by law enforcement officers, and to improving public safety.
Line-level law enforcement officers, investigators supervisors, and police executives are more educated and sophisticated with technology in their arsenal to enhance job performance. Despite having better education, training, equipment, access to specialized resources, and information, law enforcement agencies struggle with sharing power with their workforce. The result of this failure to modernize leaves law enforcement officers going through the motions and working at less than maximum efficiency.
On Friday, December 2, 2016, I, Officer McDaniel #147, of Mansfield ISD Police Department, located at 1522 N Walnut Creek Dr, Mansfield, TX, was on a campus check at Della Icenhower Intermediate, located at 8100 Webb Ferrell Rd, Arlington, TX. While on a Campus Check, I made contact with Assistant Principal Brooks, Amber, B/F, DOB 8/26/1985.
Over the last several years, most police departments have been facing numerous financial challenges. The main reason is law enforcement agencies are expected to do more with less and the stagnant economy. The combination of these factors has been placing pressure on many departments to begin imposing budget cuts. Evidence of this can be seen with a survey that was conducted by the University of North Carolina. They found that 67% of police departments made some kind of budget cuts for 2011. The most severe reductions were occurring in large police departments such as Los Angeles, Atlanta and Detroit. (Delfem, 2011, pp. 199 - 205) This is illustrating one of the most pressing issues affecting a wide variety of police departments across the country. To fully understand what is happening requires: examining the situation, how they are able to interact with other agencies (i.e. state / federal) and recommending the way this relationship can be improved. Together, these elements will offer specific insights about how police departments can effectively address this problem.
When discussing leadership within the law enforcement profession is it vital to take the human factors into consideration. There are multiple human factors that the law enforcement leaders must take note of, such as, family issues, financial issues, stress, health, and morale. These human factors that play an important role for law enforcement in general can impact morale, officer safety and the public perception. When addressing the human factors, “Law enforcement leaders should challenge themselves and their employees to increase safety margins by focusing on human factors. By doing so, they will improve proactive communication at their level of influence and develop an organizational culture that values safety and wellness” (Bone, D., Normore,
Law enforcement officers put their lives on the line every time he or she puts on their uniform. For instance, it is quite emotional for the family of any law enforcement officer to see their loved one go to work and not know what their shift will entail. One way that a family could endure the emotions is to pray for their loved one who is in law enforcement. Whereas the officers’ job stress is at high levels so could their personal lives. Some studies in particular, show how family, friends, and the community treated by the officers could depend on the officers’ level of stress and how well positive adaptation occurs (Hille, 2009). Understanding that the law enforcement officers’ job is stressful enough, their home lives should not be. As of 2000, police officers were seven times more likely to commit suicide than other Americans. In addition, police officers had the third highest suicide rate among 130 U. S. occupations. According to the National Association of Police Chiefs, twice as many police officers took their own lives each year as have killed in the line of duty (“World of Criminal Justice, Gale Research,” 2002). This outcome stems from the outward show of how the officers deal with their job stress. For instance, some of the ways officers handle their stress could be drinking, physically abusing their wives or children, or acting carelessly on vacation or on a family outing. Although particular law enforcement officers put on the persona