Finding Out That Morale Among Police Officers Is Poor

It is not easy to determine that the morale of police officers covering a certain jurisdiction may be affected. This is due to the observation that the general results such as low crime levels, prompt delivery of service, reports and arrests made may indicate performance above average rating but morale remains low (Guilfoyle, 2011). According to the author, the determination of the success of public official service delivery is very difficult. In order to obtain the relevant data to determine if the police officers in charge of a certain jurisdiction are competent enough, service quality analytical studies must take charge. Understanding the dynamics of human resources, management of employees is a factor of work and non-work functions. Conceptualization of public service being similar to the private sector enabled the consideration of issues tackled in the survey touching on working conditions. To this end, the following quickly assembled setup assisted in the study of the complications in the delivery of police work in a particular jurisdiction.

The snap survey involving ten randomly picked officers included collection of information regarding perceptions on improvement of the working environment. Respondents gave information on a few areas where most challenges affected the delivery of their work. Alternatively, respondents gave information on the interventions related to the work difficulties that would improve their work ratings. A different section of the survey collected optional information on difficulties in non-work life related issues that directly affect work. On the third element of the survey, public views obtained in the same period were compared with what the officers gave. Three observations emerged as contained in the hypothesis and recommendations below.

Hypothesis: police officers’ morale dips due to lack of resources, few officers and inefficient equipment. Evaluation process will be implemented by isolating a few affected officers and changing their working conditions to capture the proposed changes.

A unanimous opinion from the ten officers gave the indication that available resources for use in police work were inadequate. This affects the commitment invested in different assignments and a feeling that more resources would facilitate morale existed (Bramble, 2012). Only one of the officers had the opinion that resources are not enough an excuse for poor job attitude. The public held the opinion that the police need better resources and remuneration than they currently get.

Officers’ numbers during work greatly determine how teamwork establishes. Policing is a team related assignment and the respondents felt that their safety at work depended on the cover given by colleagues. Fears of mistakes as well as poor personal safety during discharge of services contribute to reduced morale to work in few numbers. The work handled is also difficult and additional personnel into the force would eliminate the challenge (Moore, 2010). Public opinion on this issue was divided with half agreeing with the police and half holding the opinion that there are enough police officers.

Obsolete equipment affects the morale of the police officers. A unanimous opinion observed that lack of appropriate equipment to deal with police duties reduces the desire to take up assignments. Better equipment would solve the need for motivation and commitment.

References

Bramble, L. (2012). “Unethical Behavior & Employee Morale,” Retrieved from: HYPERLINK “http://www.ehow.com/about_6466822_unethical-behavior-employee-morale.html” http://www.ehow.com/about_6466822_unethical-behavior-employee-morale.html

Guilfoyle, S. (2001). “Crime in Progress: The Impact of Targets on Police Service Delivery,” Retrieved from: HYPERLINK “http://inspguilfoyle.wordpress.com/crime-in-progress-the-impact-of-targets-on-police-service-delivery/” http://inspguilfoyle.wordpress.com/crime-in-progress-the-impact-of-targets-on-police-service-delivery/

Moore, J. (2010). “Low Morale among State Employees Boosts Fraud,” Retrieved from: HYPERLINK “http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/low-morale-among-state-employees-boosts-fraud-2018515.html” http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/low-morale-among-state-employees-boosts-fraud-2018515.html