The Role and Function of Sergeants, Questionnaire Example

Introduction

The disparity in roles and functions of the sergeants with those of upper and middle managers is exhibited by the nature of the duties handled by the individuals in each of these functions. The middle managers are charged with the administrative duties of the police the offices in the police stations. The middle manager or top managers in the policing system play the important role of offering effective leadership that ensures implementation of policies.

The sergeants in most policing systems are the charged with the duties of ensuring effective patrol systems. The sergeant supervises the activities of the junior police officers below him or her. Peter (2010)compares the organization chain of command to that of the policing system and posits that the sergeant is the like the tactical manager at the operational level that ensures that the decisions made the leaders who are in this are represented by the middle managers are effectively put into action. The police officers in the lower cadre reports to the sergeant all the issues that they face when carrying their duties, the sergeant then report such issues to the top or middle managers.

In most policing systems especially the developed countries such United States, the sergeant acts as the immediate deputy of the middle manager. He or she communicates the directives of the middle manager to the junior police officers. The sergeant may also act on behalf of the middle manager in case of his or her absence. The sergeant links the junior police with the middle managers. In every station the number of sergeants may depend on the duties that are handled by different police officers. Different functions in a station may have different sergeants but under one middle manager. In a police station there may be sergeants responsible for internal affairs, detective operations, training and recruitment. These functions may be assigned to one or more middle managers depending on the volume of activities associated with each function (Adang, 2009).

Middle managers in most police stations are charged with responsibility of enacting priorities for operations and supervise the activities of the sergeants. The middle managers also coordinate with other departments to ensure that all the policing activities are carried out effectively without any disruptions. The sergeant on the other hand is responsible for scheduling of daily work routines to the police officers. The sergeant also works together with the top managers to assign special duties to the police officers. The sergeant prepares the shift and work routines for the police officers in the station (Adang, 2009).

The middle manager in his or her leadership capacity has to prepare the budget and ensure proper allocation of resources to the various departments within the police units. The manager may sometimes work with the sergeant to handle very crimes that are very complicated. The sergeant responds to the media inquires and informing the public where necessary. The sergeant also works with the junior police to review and evaluate criminal records and design proper early warning techniques to address various problems that the officers may face when carrying out their duties (Ferguson 2009).

References

Adang, O.M.J. (2009). On ‘From police science to the science of policing’. The best police in the world: learning at all cost…. In: Project group on a European Approach to Police Sciences, eds., Police science perspectives: towards a European approach. Extended Expert Report. Verlag für Polizeiwissenschaft, Frankfurt

Ferguson, P. (2009). Quality of Service: Delivering QoS on the Internet and in Corporate Networks, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.,. ISBN 0-471-24358-2.

Peter A. (2010), Middle Managers, Institute of Public Administration of Canada, p. 191, ISBN 9780920715024