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As a police officer, organizational stress is going to be one of your biggest
challenges. Of all organizations, of any type, one would think a police
department would come in at the top of the organizational quality scale.
Because policing is such an important function within society, police
departments should operate as well developed and efficient organizations.
While some will be well functioning, you'll learn that many others just
make it up as they go along.
While a dysfunctional private enterprise will simply go out of business, a
similarly inefficient police department can go on operating for years; until,
scandal and corruption reaches a sufficiently intolerable level. Even at
this point, changes are often cosmetic and ineffective, but the police
department will keep chugging along.
Welcome to government. Your best, and most effective, defense against
(dis)organizational stress will be your own self-sufficiency. Your
acquisition of knowledge, and the abilities you develop to apply that
knowledge will prevent the organization's dysfunction from being
transferred to you. You may be frequently ridiculed for operating on the
higher level; however, that ridicule is only a defense others use to justify
their own acceptance of the status quo.
Much is made about comradery among police officers. While you will, and
should, develop strong bonds with other police officers, you'll soon learn
that those bonds weaken considerably, or are simply non-existent, at the
highest levels of the police department. In a dysfunctional police
department, no one is safe from violations of rules or laws the department
normally condones or even encourages.
Many police officers suffer enormous amounts of stress when they find
themselves in the wrong place, at the wrong time, doing business as usual
only to learn that "as usual" is suddenly no longer acceptable. Even more
frustrating and stressful is the realization that they've been singled out
while the "as usual" continues.
It's really pretty simple. Police Departments are so high profile. They're
one of society's most important laboratories for the application of political
correctness to just about any social issue or condition you can imagine.
Rules, regulations, and even laws are flexible as long as that flexibility is
exercised in the pursuit of political correctness.
When a police department is dysfunctional, the fault will always be that of
the community's political leadership. The selection of a police chief is all
important. The politician(s) responsible for that selection will determine
from the outset what direction the police department will take. If the
police chief is chosen on the basis of true professionalism, and he or she is
insulated from the ever changing whims of politics, the police department
can operate on a basis of true organization and continuity. However, if the
chief is just another of the political elites, organization and continuity will
be sacrificed.
As a police officer, you could find yourself working in a police department
headed for the bottom with no end in sight. The first way you can relieve
yourself of that stress is to realize that everything is cyclical, and that
change will occur. Of course, you could be talking about years, but change
will come. The second way to deal with the stress is to not let yourself
become part of the downward spiral. Your positive responses amid
negative circumstances will benefit you as well as others working with
you. That's the nice and simple thing about police work. You can easily
recognize right from wrong as long as you're not bogged down in the fog of
political correctness.
In the dysfunctional police department, a group of potential scapegoats is
an indispensable resource. Unfortunately, that group of police officers is
always well staffed, because most people will follow the path set by the
organization. You can easily avoid the "luck of the draw" by not becoming
part of that group. Over time, your independence, based solidly in your
knowledge of the job, will insulate you from any peer pressure, or even
supervisory pressure, to act in any way you know to be wrong or
questionable. Now…you may ask, "Wouldn't that make me an outcast?"
Just the opposite. You'll be free of the pressure, because those who would
apply the pressure simply realize that you're not susceptible to the herd
mentality. Even in the midst of chaos and confusion, you'll find yourself
leading a relatively stress free existence.
challenges. Of all organizations, of any type, one would think a police
department would come in at the top of the organizational quality scale.
Because policing is such an important function within society, police
departments should operate as well developed and efficient organizations.
While some will be well functioning, you'll learn that many others just
make it up as they go along.
While a dysfunctional private enterprise will simply go out of business, a
similarly inefficient police department can go on operating for years; until,
scandal and corruption reaches a sufficiently intolerable level. Even at
this point, changes are often cosmetic and ineffective, but the police
department will keep chugging along.
Welcome to government. Your best, and most effective, defense against
(dis)organizational stress will be your own self-sufficiency. Your
acquisition of knowledge, and the abilities you develop to apply that
knowledge will prevent the organization's dysfunction from being
transferred to you. You may be frequently ridiculed for operating on the
higher level; however, that ridicule is only a defense others use to justify
their own acceptance of the status quo.
Much is made about comradery among police officers. While you will, and
should, develop strong bonds with other police officers, you'll soon learn
that those bonds weaken considerably, or are simply non-existent, at the
highest levels of the police department. In a dysfunctional police
department, no one is safe from violations of rules or laws the department
normally condones or even encourages.
Many police officers suffer enormous amounts of stress when they find
themselves in the wrong place, at the wrong time, doing business as usual
only to learn that "as usual" is suddenly no longer acceptable. Even more
frustrating and stressful is the realization that they've been singled out
while the "as usual" continues.
It's really pretty simple. Police Departments are so high profile. They're
one of society's most important laboratories for the application of political
correctness to just about any social issue or condition you can imagine.
Rules, regulations, and even laws are flexible as long as that flexibility is
exercised in the pursuit of political correctness.
When a police department is dysfunctional, the fault will always be that of
the community's political leadership. The selection of a police chief is all
important. The politician(s) responsible for that selection will determine
from the outset what direction the police department will take. If the
police chief is chosen on the basis of true professionalism, and he or she is
insulated from the ever changing whims of politics, the police department
can operate on a basis of true organization and continuity. However, if the
chief is just another of the political elites, organization and continuity will
be sacrificed.
As a police officer, you could find yourself working in a police department
headed for the bottom with no end in sight. The first way you can relieve
yourself of that stress is to realize that everything is cyclical, and that
change will occur. Of course, you could be talking about years, but change
will come. The second way to deal with the stress is to not let yourself
become part of the downward spiral. Your positive responses amid
negative circumstances will benefit you as well as others working with
you. That's the nice and simple thing about police work. You can easily
recognize right from wrong as long as you're not bogged down in the fog of
political correctness.
In the dysfunctional police department, a group of potential scapegoats is
an indispensable resource. Unfortunately, that group of police officers is
always well staffed, because most people will follow the path set by the
organization. You can easily avoid the "luck of the draw" by not becoming
part of that group. Over time, your independence, based solidly in your
knowledge of the job, will insulate you from any peer pressure, or even
supervisory pressure, to act in any way you know to be wrong or
questionable. Now…you may ask, "Wouldn't that make me an outcast?"
Just the opposite. You'll be free of the pressure, because those who would
apply the pressure simply realize that you're not susceptible to the herd
mentality. Even in the midst of chaos and confusion, you'll find yourself
leading a relatively stress free existence.
Organizational
Stress
Stress
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