Communications Issue—

Police Morale Problems Under Review

By Andrew Gorosko

A criminal justice professor told Police Commission members this week that improving communications among rank-and-file police officers, the police chief, and the Police Commission is the best way to address low morale among the rank-and-file police membership.

James E. McCabe, PhD, an assistant professor in the criminal justice department at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, met with the Police Commission members on September 4. Dr McCabe served in the New York City Police Department for 21 years, retiring at the rank of inspector.

A dozen town police officers attended the Police Commission session.

Earlier this year, Dr McCabe released a study on the working conditions and dissatisfaction experienced by rank-and-file police officers. Dr McCabe performed the free study at the request of the Police Commission.

The study included questionnaires and discussion groups at which police officers described their concerns about their work environment.

Dr McCabe told Police Commission members that the police department has an “outstanding group of men and women who are looking to do a good job.” Consequently, their views should be considered in formulating the police department’s employee job performance evaluation system, he said.

Creating a dialogue between the rank-and-file officers and the command staff would be a good step toward improving morale, he said. The command staff is the police chief, the captain, and three lieutenants.

Police Commission member Joel Faxon asked Dr McCabe what should be changed to improve the operations of the police department.

Dr McCabe stressed the importance of improving communications among the Police Commission, Police Chief Michael Kehoe, and the police officers. The police department has 45 sworn members. Any improvement in communications would be “positive,” Dr McCabe said.

Police Commission member Andrew Sachs asked why police morale has suffered.

Job-related dissatisfaction among police officers is not unique to Newtown, Dr McCabe said, adding that worker dissatisfaction arises for a variety of reasons.

Mr Faxon asked whether the police department’s policy that requires that individual police officers stop at least two motorists each eight-hour work shift is a sound policy.

Dr McCabe recommended that the two-stop policy be eliminated, terming such an approach “arbitrary.” He suggested instead that there be discussion among police department members on comprehensive measures to improve local traffic safety.

Police Commission Chairman Paul Mangiafico observed, “I was somewhat surprised by the degree of dissatisfaction” among town police officers. Mr Mangiafico asked why the department’s command staff did not participate in the study on working conditions.

The command staff simply opted not to participate, Dr McCabe said.

“The level of distrust was a little disconcerting,” Dr McCabe said of the rank-and-file members’ attitudes about the command staff, terming the degree of mistrust “abnormal.”

“This in an improvement opportunity,” Dr McCabe said of the study’s results.

All organizations can improve their operations, Mr Mangiafico said.

“You should be commended for taking this step,” Dr McCabe said of the Police Commission’s pursuing a formal study of working conditions at the police department.

“You’ve done a wonderful job. You report is very thorough,” Mr Mangiafico said, adding he hopes that progress will be made in addressing the issues causing the low morale.

Police Union President Scott Ruszczyk said the police union hopes to contact Dr McCabe in the future to discuss the status of the police morale issue.

At the police department, 43 sworn officers are covered by the terms of a labor contract between the Newtown Police Union, Local #3153, Council #15, AFSCME, AFL-CIO, and the town.

The McCabe study, which was disclosed last spring, found police are working in an environment of low morale fueled by a high level of employee dissatisfaction.

Police Commission discussions on the desirability of conducting such a study began in April 2010, when union officials described the police department problems posed by low employee morale.

Conclusions

According to the conclusions listed in the report, it appears that local police officers are eager to provide superior service to the people of Newtown.

“Responding officers take pride in their jobs, want input into [police] department operations, and believe their work is significant and important to the community. Newtown residents enjoy a high quality of life and low crime and disorder. Undoubtedly, the contributions of the Newtown [police department] and its high quality workforce contribute to this environment,” the report states.

“On the negative side, there appears to be a substantial amount of dissatisfaction in the workplace. It was troubling to see the lack of information reported on the [written] surveys. This is a clear sign of problems associated with trust and fear. On one hand, responding officers want to be involved in the organization, and on the other, [they] fear providing information that might lead to their identity,” it states.

The written survey sought anonymous responses to questions.

“Focus group participants report dissatisfaction with the communication, supervision, and leadership within the department … Clearly, there are problems within the organization and these problems are contributing to employee dissatisfaction,” it adds.

“It must be reiterated that this research was employee-centered. About half of the department participated in the focus groups and only 34 of the sworn officers completed the survey. It is impossible to discern the views of the nonparticipants, and their views may be starkly different from the actual respondents,” the report states.

The report repeatedly notes that the police department’s command staff, or higher ranking officers, did not provide comments for the document.

“Before any process aimed at restoring trust can be put in place, the people responsible for the leadership and management of the organization must first recognize the seriousness of this issue and explore ways of dealing with it,” according to the report.

Recommendations

Dr McCabe recommends that the Police Commission oversee a process intended to repair a perceived lack of trust and lack of organizational support between the police command staff and the rank-and-file officers of the department.

“The command staff of the Newtown [police department] needs to reenergize their leadership roles in the organization. Leadership means motivating, building relationships, and understanding the people that you are charged with leading. From a police perspective, it cannot be done from behind a desk working Monday to Friday during regular business hours, writing and distributing memos,” it adds.

“Leadership is a ‘people’ business and the leaders of the Newtown [police department] need to reengage the workforce … The Newtown [department] should invest in the leadership development of all its sworn officers, from the entry-level officer in field training right up to the chief of police,” according to the McCabe report.

Of the report, Chief Kehoe has said, “It’s good advice. I think it’s great advice. We’ll look at ways to accomplish that. We’ve got work to do here.”

Chief Kehoe said that police officials would translate the various advice provided in the report into “action plans” for implementation.