Police Administrator Decisions, Essay Example

It is imperative for a department administrator’s to take immediate action to quill misinformation, control the media coverage, maintain morale with police officers, and make the chief look informed and proactive to the public.  A meeting with the chief and other key staff is a first priority. However, gathering pertinent and accurate information for assessment of public reaction is requisite for deciding action items.

Situational Assessment

This administrator will gather pertinent information from officer reports, preliminary reports from internal affairs, a personal observation of the scene of the accident, and other pertinent information to discuss with the Chief. The information gathered will also involve a preliminary assessment of the community reaction to the incident. This Information can be acquired through the administrator’s personal contacts with community leaders such as ministers, community organizers, and business owners. An accurate report will be written prior to a meeting with the Chief and his key staff. This meeting should take place no later than twelve (12) hours following the incident.

Public response by the chief

Within twenty-four (24) hours after the incident the administrator will set up a press conference for the chief. The chief is advised to first offer public condolences to the family. He is also advised to avoid making excuses for the department or the officer involved in the incident. The officer involved in the incident is taking an administrative leave until the internal affairs report has been released, at which time a decision will be made. He will explain the facts he has been able to gather so far and explain that an assessment is taking place to determine the course of action that would serve the community best. He should explain that an assessment committee is being formed which includes representatives from the police department, city ombudsman, city attorney, EMS, civilian, lay police officer, city planning, dispatch, and internal affairs.  A public blog has been set up to follow daily progress of this committee and the name of the blog is the last name of the child that was killed in the incident.  www.bowerreport.blogspot.com. The chief is advised not to offer information that is not confirmed and take no action or make any promises that have not been reviewed by the department advisors.

Committee Assignment

The committee is assigned with the task of investigating the current depart policy on police pursuits. The committee will look at other department policies and current research on the subject to determine the course of action.

The committee is expected to make recommendations based on accurate information, rather than feelings and opinions.  It is a common belief by police officers that if people know a no pursuit policy is in place two problems will occur. First, people who are involved in something they want to hide from the officer will run. Second, felons who have committed prior crimes will run. This is a common belief, but there is no research to show that it is or is not the case. It is proposed that an officer pursuit is a violation of people’s fourth amendment right. The court of appeals upheld a pursuit policy by the Nashville-Davidson County Police Department following a police pursuit and accident of a 13 year old boy. The defense claimed that the boy’s fourth amendment right was violated by the pursuing officer. “The policy provides, at most, that officers may pursue, that is, follow, suspects. The policy of following traffic offenders who refuse to obey an officer’s directive to pull t the side of the road does not infringe on the right of life.” (Pipes & Pape 2001 p. 18)

Further investigation will indicate that deaths involving police pursuits not only a public danger, but also a danger to the officer. In 2004 there were 154 line of duty deaths for police officers. The two primary causes of death were 57% officer involved shooting and 51% motor vehicle incident (Thompson, 2005).

Regardless of the pursuit policy the committee will issue a recommendation to the Chief that more attention and time will be directed to training officers on vehicle pursuit tactics, policies and liability. Officers will know when and when not to pursue. This training will be similar to firearm training in that the officer learns not only how to shoot, but when to shoot. Similarly, officers will be trained not only how to pursue, but when to pursue. (Thompson, 2005, p. 5) These recommendations are a positive movement toward better policing in the community. The administrator agrees with improvements in department training and a more positive image of the department with the community.

References

Carpenter, M. & Fulton, R. (2010) Law enforcement management – what works and what doesn’t. Washington, DC: Looseleaf Law Publications, Inc.

Hill, J. (2002) High-speed police pursuits. Law enforcement bulletin. Vol.71, Iss. 7 p. 14-18.

Hoffmann, G. & Mazerolle, P. (2005) Police pursuits in queensland: research review and reform. Policing vol. 28, Iss. 3 p. 530-545.

Pipes, C. & Pape, D. (2001) Police pursuits and civil liability. Law enforcement bulletin. Vol 70, Iss. 7 p. 16-22.

Thompson, J. (2005) Police pursuits: Are no pursuit policies the answer? Retrieved on 5/5/2010 from http://www.cji.edu/papers/Police%20Pursuits.pdf