Term Paper on "Law Enforcement Management Time"

Term Paper 5 pages (1580 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Law enforcement is one of the professions with the greatest reputation for stress induction. Many factors contribute to this. The duties assigned to police officers for example do not only relate to criminals and their activities, but also to situations such as natural disasters and road accidents. Police officers are thus exposed to many situations that could lead to an unhealthy amount of stress. One of the factors playing a large role in the police force, its activities and its strategies for stress management, is time.

Time management is of primary importance in law enforcement. Law enforcement officers for example are obliged to work in shifts, as criminal activities, accidents, disasters and the like do not occur within a given time frame. Such shifts then have to be planned at management level, where certain factors of stress and family life issues should be part of the decision. Indeed, prolonged separation from family members and spouses have been shown by researchers to be a particular contributing factor to stress within law enforcement. Time management issues are therefore extremely important in managing levels of stress that could rise unacceptably (Hopson & Scally, 1993, p. 150).

Another factor that plays a large role both in time and stress management is the rapid advancement of technology, both in law enforcement and society at large. Law enforcement agencies have been obliged to keep pace with changing technology in order to fight an increasingly sophisticated criminal mind. Furthermore, policing has become much more accessible to the community at large in terms of communication and information. There are both advantages and disadvantages connected with this.

Technological improvement of communication systems for example enhances the effectiveness of law enforcement. The public is allowed more rapid and closer contact with the police department than ever before. Electronic and cell phone communication for example makes it possible to report, detect and fight crime much more rapidly than was previously the case. Inter-departmental crime prevention is also made much easier with elements such as e-mail and the Internet. Internet connections among police departments throughout the country can for example help to break crime networks across the country. Collaborative and community policing are also enhanced in this way.

Some disadvantages however include that much more needs to be done in much less time than was previously the case (Sewell, 2003). Technological advancement has also meant easier access to technology for criminals. This, conversely, has helped networks of criminals to become ever more sophisticated in their techniques of blending with the community. Indeed, crime networks could stretch even beyond the boundaries not only of states but also of countries. The police force therefore finds itself in a constant race against the innovative activities of increasingly sophisticated criminals. This constraining situation causes further stress, which can be dealt with through time management techniques.

From the above it is clear that time management has become of utmost importance in the police force. Effective time management techniques on the management level will serve to manage stress levels while raising the effectiveness of crime fighting. Errors are minimized when time is managed effectively. All issues within a department should be carefully considered when implementing time management techniques (Sewell, 2002).

It is not only interdepartmental issues that need to be considered in terms of time management, however. The police force has increasingly been responsible for keeping order in situations such as natural disasters, infrastructure problems and traffic congestion (Sewell, 2003). The increased workload caused by these increasing needs then further begs for effective time management techniques in order to better serve the community.

It is thus clear that in the law enforcement business, specific issues need to be addressed in terms of time management. Personal time management techniques should then be combined with departmental strategies in order to ensure the optimum level of time management within the department. It is therefore important that effective communication strategies be implemented in order to gain insight into the needs of police officers as well as the community.

The communication process then should be handled in such a way that officers will freely share with their superiors any personal time management problems. These can then be taken into account when implementing managerial time management strategies. The most important factor in time management is thus prioritization (Hopson & Scally, 1993, p. 44).

Through communication with subordinates, police chiefs can gain valuable insights into time management issues experienced individually by each police officer. These can include family and home issues, such as the birth of a child, or other stress inducing factors such as the death of a family member. These should then be prioritized in order of importance and/or stress levels (Mancini, 2003, p. 35).

It has been seen above that technological advances have made policing both much more effective and much more time efficient (Sewell, 2003). Through communication with the community then, departmental time management priorities can then be given in order of perceived importance by the community. As the workload of the police force increases, it is important to manage issues according to importance as perceived by the community. The issue of community policing plays an important part in time management.

Community policing is a phenomenon that has been implemented both as a result of better communication between the police department and the community, and of a perceived need for better time management within the police department. By collaborating with the community in policing issues, police officers have more time to devote to specific police matters while members of the community monitor and handle matters that are often time consuming for police officers (Toch & Grant, 1991, p. 80). A large amount of time is saved through community policing strategies such as neighborhood watches, crime reporting, and other programs within the community. Prioritizing here also plays an important role. Obviously, disaster aid during an environmental crisis takes priority over other, less urgent issues of policing.

Planning and strategizing are important aspects of prioritizing (Mancini, p. 20). Once again, optimum communication is important both within the police department and between the department and the community. The Internet here plays an important role. Communication for the purpose of planning and prioritizing can then be implemented via the Internet. Ideas can be gathered by electronic communication from the community and police officers. Each issue can then be discussed and assigned a value of importance. A final list can then be made in order of importance, which will result in a clear departmental view of issues of importance. This list can then be broken down for each officer, which will receive a personal list of priorities and duties. When time constraints do occur, each officer will be absolutely clear about which issues need to receive immediate attention (Mancini, 2003, p. 23).

The result of prioritizing and planning is a more effective police department, and a marked reduction in stress levels. It has been shown by research that officers who are unclear about their duties experience a rise in their stress levels (Hopson & Scally, 1993, p. 150). This lack of clarity may also lead to unnecessary time consumption. The time taken up clarifying duties may be better used on prioritized items such as investigative or patrol work.

Another important aspect of time management is goal setting. Once again, such goals have various aspects within the police department. Departmental goals should be complimented by personal goals (Mancini, 2003, p. 51). Through communication, each police officer then can raise ideas regarding both their personal goal set and goals they see as important for law enforcement strategies. Examples of such goals may be the prevention of crime through community policing, or intervention strategies to curb youth violence. The community once again can also be involved in the goal setting process, because crime related problems are most directly experienced… READ MORE

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