Criminal Justice - Communication Communication Thesis

In that regard, unofficial policies are communicated informally and reinforced by peer pressure as well as various negative consequences ranging from social ostracism to outright harassment and intimidation by threat or innuendo referencing the importance of solidarity among fellow officers who are responsible for each other's safety on the job.

Improving the Effectiveness of Communications within Police Departments:

One of the problems identified within police agencies is the purposeful withholding of information by superior officers as a means of ensuring (or increasing) their perceived value within the organization (Schaffer 2008). Countering this tendency effectively requires a two-pronged approach that includes (1) establishing objective criteria for advancement based on the performance and improvement rate of supervisees, and (2) conducting inventories of the degree to which supervisors disclose relevant information to all recipients whose performance may be affected negatively by withholding information for selfish purposes.

Eliminating the established dynamic represented by the typical police culture of unofficial "supervision" and "retraining" of junior officers by veterans in a manner that contradicts agency policies or objectives is, admittedly, more difficult. In many respects, this is problematic because involving administration in issues or conflicts among officers violates one of the most prevalent elements of police culture (Grubb & Hemby 2003).

Therefore, doing so requires a full commitment throughout upper management to establish communication channels for individual officers to voice their specific concerns along with official acknowledgment of the problem. Improving effectiveness of communications within police departments likely requires increased openness to input from junior officers via officially recognized communication channels in conjunction with administrative policies specifically addressing the impropriety of unofficial "training" of junior officers by veterans with respect to unauthorized procedures. Incorporating elements of private sector policies for including junior personnel as recipients of disseminated information may also be helpful because it would de-emphasize the need for unofficial propagation of information among officers and thereby reduce the need for gossip, rumor, and innuendo in police agencies.

Finally, it would eliminate the communication failures attributable to information "hoarding" for the purposes of personal career advancement in ways that are detrimental to the achievement of agency objectives as well as the maintenance of positive morale among officers.

References

Grubb, R., Hemby, V. (2003) Effective Communication for Criminal Justice Professionals. New York: Little, Brown & Co.

Linsky, M., Heifetz, R. (2002). Leadership on the Line. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.

Schafer, J. (2008). Effective Police Leadership: Experiences and Perspectives of Law Enforcement…