Police Administration

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Police Administration

• Peak, Chapter 4

\video projects\ocsd\erica hill.wmv
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Communicationin police organizations

• Formal communication
• Expected, sanctioned interactions
• Flow three ways
• Down, as policy, directives, supervision,evaluati
  on and training
• Laterally, between peers or units
• Up, as reports and verbal feedback
• Informal communication (grapevine)
• Not officially sanctioned
• Where policy meets the workplace
• Not always lateral
• Much informal communication between
  first-levelsupervisor and their subordinates

3
Formalcommunication

• Peak uses downward
• Job instruction
• Job rationale
• Relate tasks to organizational goals
• Practices and procedures
• Feedback
• Indoctrination
• Designed to motivate

4
Informalcommunication

• Peak uses Horizontal andthe grapevine
• Special roles
• Venting
• Share workplace knowledge not presented or poorly
  addressed in formal training
• More accurate gauge of employee feelings and
  attitudes than formal feedback
• Accuracy
• Can be a grist mill for rumors
• Not necessarily less accurate than formal
  communication

5
Barriers tocommunication

• Poor verbal or writing skills
• Rumours
• Too much information
• Insufficient time or opportunity to evaluate
  communication
• Stress and situational contingencies of policing
• Strained relationships
• Different points of view
• line vs. staff

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Why is good intra-organizational communication
important?

• Deliver accurate information
• Bond employees to organizational goals
• Personal styles Bernard Parksv. William
  Bratton
• How do their styles differ?
• What are the consequences?

Read Steve Lopezs column Parks Certainty is
his Best, Worst Trait, L.A. Times, 2/16/05
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Organizational structure

• Basic distinction between operationsand
  administration (Peak calls it services)
• Operations components that provideessential
  police functions
• Patrol, Detectives, Traffic, Juvenile
• Administration components that enable anagency
  to provide its essential functions
• Staff services Personnel, budgeting,internal
  affairs
• Support or technical services Training,
  laboratory,9-1-1 center, property and evidence,
  maintenance

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Structural issues

• Large agency (LAPD)
• Rising through the ranks takes many years
• Officer/Sergeant Detective III/
  Lieutenant/Captain/ Commander/Deputy
  Chief/Assistant Chief
• Each rank has several steps
• To become an executive one must avoid prolonged
  street-level assignments
• What are the consequences?
• Small agency
• Few promotional opportunities

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Police Chiefs

• Appointed position
• Under supervision of Mayor or CityManager
• Function makes oversight problematic
• Selection - California
• In California traditionally from within the State
• California POST does not require Police Chief
  complete a California academy there are testing
  and waiver options
• Two recent LAPD Chiefs Williams and Bratton
  are outsiders
• Other States more open to Chiefs from elsewhere
• Educational attainment (degrees) increasingly
  important

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Sheriffs

• Traditionally an elected,political (party)
  position
• Usually includes jail function
• Often includes coroner function
• Historically less professionally oriented than
  police chiefs
• Poorly educated
• Slow to modernize
• Sheriffs lack direct supervision
• Can be influenced through a Countys budget
  process
• Wide authority to select and appoint subordinates

Heres what can happen
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Ex-Lawman Jaramillo Faces Six Felony Counts,
Pleads Not Guilty
Los Angeles Times, 9/30/04

George Jaramillo, former Orange County Assistant
Sheriff, was charged with multiple felonies for
misusing Deputies, Sheriffs patrol cars and a
Sheriffs helicopter for private gain. While
employed as a consultant for CHG Safety
Technologies Jaramillo helped promote a car
immobilizing device by staging severaldemonstrati
ons for the SheriffsDepartment and other
lawenforcement agencies. Jaramillo was fired by
his friend,Orange County Sheriff Mike Caronain
April 2004. This took place onlydays after
Carona supposedly firstlearned that Jaramillo
was being paid by CHG. According to Carona, he
previously warned Jaramillo about a potential
conflict of interest should he accept a position
with CHG. Carona said that his former close
friend never brought up the matter again.
George Jaramillo Ex-Garden Grove cop, left under
a cloud and was then hired by his friend Mike
Carona to be his number two man
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and the beat goes on. . .
Sheriff's Charity Group ProbedA federal grand
jury subpoena seeks records from the Mike Carona
Foundation.
In connection with an investigation by the
Internal Revenue Service, a Federal Grand Jury
issued a subpoena for all financial records held
by a non-profit charity established by Orange
County Sheriff Mike Carona shortly after his
election. According to the Los Angeles Times,
the foundation supposedly raised only 22,000
between 1999, the year Carona took office, and
2000. But in 2001 it allegedly raised 625,050,
giving 15,000 to the Hispanic Education
Endowment Fund. In 2002 it reportedly raised
100,000, gave away 199,800 and declared an
ending balance of 484,159. Stated benefactors
in 2002 include the Hispanic endowment fund, the
O.C. Rescue Mission and others. The California
Fair Political Practices Commission is
investigating allegedly illegal contributions
made to Carona in 2002. Evidence suggests that a
business associate of Caronas ex-assistant,
George Jaramillo, laundered a 200,000
contribution to Carona by pretending that it came
from multiple donors.
Los Angeles Times, October 5, 2004
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O.C. Sheriff Made Donors HisDeputies
Los Angeles Times, 5/26/05
O.C. Sheriff Mike Caronas grant of police powers
to86 friends, relatives and campaign supporters
wasrevoked by the State Commission on Peace
OfficersStandards and Training, which ruled that
they wereeither unqualified, untrained or had
not passed necessary background checks. Those
who got badges and guns included an assortment of
doctors, lawyers and businessmen who hosted
fundraisers and contributed funds to Coronas
campaign. Several others were friends and
relatives of the person who established the
reserve program, former Assistant Sheriff Don
Haidl, whose son was recently convicted of
rape. Despite an official finding that these
reserve deputies lacked necessary training,
Sheriff Carona will try to get them reinstated in
a forthcoming hearing.
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Campaign charges filed against Sheriffs Captain

• On 9/6/05 the California Attorney Generalfiled
  16 misdemeanor counts against CaptainChristine
  Murray for illegally solicitingdonations for
  Sheriff Caronas re-electioncampaign from her
  OCSD colleagues. Statelaw prohibits employees of
  local or StateGovernment from asking other
  employees tomake political contributions.
• Cpt. Murrays attorney said she was innocent and
  called the charges an attempt to smear Carona and
  hinder his re-election. A Sheriffs spokesperson
  said that Cpt. Murray has an exemplary record
  with this department and we look forward to
  resolving this matter.Paraphrased from the
  Orange County Register, 9/7/05

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Ex-Officer Indicted for Bribery,Obstruction of
Justice L.A. Times, 7/25/05
Superseding earlier charges, George Jaramillo
wasindicted by the Orange County Grand Jury on
four countsof bribery, one count of obstruction
of justice and twomisdemeanor counts of conflict
of interest for acceptingmoney from
CHG. Jaramillos sister-in-law, Erica Hill, who
wassupposedly given a job with CHG as part of
the deal, was not indicted.
In November 2005 Erica Hill charged thatshe had
sex with Jaramillo as a teen-ager.She also said
that she had sex with SheriffCarona four times
in exchange for hispromise to make her husband a
deputy.Her allegations were revealed in
November2005 when her Grand Jury testimony
wasreleased. Both Hill and Carona asked
theCalifornia Attorney General to investigate.
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Police executives

• Obtain necessary resources
• Reconcile competing interests
• Community groups
• Political leaders
• Private businesses
• Police unions
• Etc. etc. etc.
• Assure quality services
• Controlling policing is very difficult (oversight
  v. supervision)
• Must remain bonded to all levels of the
  organization

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The myth ofCompstat

• Computerized pin-map
• Shift resourcescontemporaneously with changesin
  local crime trends
• Short-term fluctuations can be deceiving
• Unrealistic without extensive personnel resources
• Claimed effects highly questionable
• Reductions all across the City of New York much
  more likely an effect of external social and
  economic factors
• Application to identify up and coming leaders
  can distort the promotional process
• Tremendous pressures on subordinates
• Is one selecting the most competent, or yes-men
  and women?

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Police middle managers

• In charge of larger organizational units
• Geographical operational divisions
• Administrative components
• Normally supervise employees who are themselves
  supervisors
• Distance from the actual work can promote
  ignorance
• Of the workplace environment
• Of how the job is actually performed
• Of the qualities and reputations of field
  employees
• Everyday tasks may be relatively trivial
• General obligation may be very important
• BUT - nature of policing impairs a middle
  managers ability to influence outcomes

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Police line (first-level)supervisors

• Caught between management and the field
• Officer demands
• Management expectations
• Limited ability to select or influencesubordinate
  s
• Quality of raw material
• Supervision is really oversight
• Depends on truth-telling
• Depends on voluntary compliance
• Exercising control problematic
• Discipline can threaten bond with employees
• Managers may not back up potentially expensive or
  controversial personnel decisions