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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 efficients
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.
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 efficients
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.
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Organizational
Stress
Stress
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