Introduction
The police play a critical role in maintaining order and safety and creating an enabling environment for economic activities. The critical role can be maintained by empowering the police department to investigate, detect and prevent crimes before they happen. Wokefield Police department is responsible for enforcing the law in Memphis, TN, and its jurisprudence spans twenty-two square miles. The police department has 196 officers who must be empowered to deliver efficient law enforcement to enhance regional security. Juvenile crime indicates moral decadence in society and a lack of upbringing. Carjacking is expected in the region due to poor performance in the police department courtesy of poor equipment and technology use. Further, law enforcement officers’ productivity is low and must be improved. Boosting employee morale and working closely with society is the key to enhancing law enforcement in Memphis, TN.
Analysis of the Problem
The criminal justice issue and recurring trends affecting the productivity of the police department include the lowering morale levels of the officer and the increased carjacking cases by juvenile offenders. The police officer satisfaction rate is an internal issue that must be analyzed to determine the best ways of motivating the officers. On the other hand, the increased carjacking by the juvenile offender is an external issue that is affected by the relationship between the police force and outsiders. The police must, however, understand the motivation toward criminal behavior to understand how to overcome challenges.
Recurring Trends and Patterns
The police department has experienced repeated trends in carjacking by juvenile offenders, and the police officers cannot arrest them. Several cases are reported in various parts but eventually lead to the police losing their morale and believing their efforts are insufficient to serve the organization’s challenges. Juvenile offenders are constantly revamping their strategies and outsmarting police officers. The locality has lost confidence in the police department and requires additional strategies to overcome the security challenge.
External Contributing Factors
The external factors that affect the police department include the relationship between the police force and the general public. When people have a negative attitude towards the police due to factors such as police brutality and discrimination, data collection can be almost impossible. The poor relationship between the police department and the general public creates animosity, consequently lowering the police’s ability to interact with and collect information from the general public.
Internal Contributing Factors
The internal contributing factors that lead to poor performance by the police force include less motivation. As employee morale lowers in any organization, radical changes and intrinsic motivation must be developed to overcome the challenges. Lack of adequate equipment is a risk factor that jeopardizes the police work in the discourse. For example, the need for an efficient speed car and technology to track carjackers affects police performance. Further, the offenders are motivated because the police department lacks the basic tools to overcome their challenges.
The root Cause of the Issue
The root cause of the police failure is the lack of adequate equipment to curb the carjacking challenge. When the police department procures adequate machinery and technological tools to contact the offenders, the recurrent social ills will be eradicated. Further, a lack of motivation among the staff leads to a challenge in implementing law enforcement in the long run. The police department must therefore use strategies to ensure that the police are motivated for performance to be achieved.
Literature Review
Law enforcement agencies must understand the motivation behind the crimes to set up a proper mechanism to curb them. The rational choice theory of criminology states that criminals participate in their heinous activities because they weigh the risks and know they can get away with the offences. A person chooses to commit a crime after analyzing the rewards and the risks involved in the operation (Kahn & Martin, 2020). In places where the police department is empowered with efficient staff, criminals may choose to avoid crimes because the risks are higher. However, in places where inefficient police officers and poor structures exist, criminals will be sure to get away with their crimes and therefore choose to cause havoc.
The theory explains the challenges affecting the Wakefield police department since increased crime indicates a failure in the police department. As children choose to hijack cars in the region, it is a clue that road patrol is ineffective. Further, the police force must also be less motivated and not in a position to control crime. Equipment failure or shortage is also exhibited in the city. The police department has a 41.5 million budget, with 15 million and 20 million allocated for benefits and compensations (Cheng, 2020, p. 17). The internal challenges include a need for more funds for new vehicles, training staff, and working with the community. A lieutenant plays a strategic role in the police department and is critical in solving the city’s challenges. Increasing surveillance, technology use, and community awareness is the antidote to enhancing law enforcement.
Law enforcement agencies must create a positive relationship with the people they protect to dispense their duties effectively. Criminals live in society, and investigations can be easy if civilians cooperate and give accurate information to law enforcement agencies. The task force formed by President Barrack Obama in 2014 to determine the best ways of community policing developed six pillars for increasing the relationship between the people and law enforcement agencies (Kahn & Martin, 2020). The six pillars serve as the basis for the proposed changes in the Wokefield police department to increase safety. Notably, most of the external strategies require little or no budget. When the police share a positive relationship with society, cooperation increases, simplifying data collection procedures.
Throughout the ages, police officer motivation has been cited as one of the challenges affecting productivity in the department. As a result of demotivation, the officers either fail to put in more effort or eventually lead to jeopardy in law enforcement. There are five prongs that a lieutenant can use to increase employee morale and motivation to make the police officers more motivated. Recognition, education, restructuring, communication, and fairness are essential to improve officer motivation for a better outcome in the department.
Possible Solutions to the Problem
The decreasing security situation in Memphis, TN, can be resolved through two main approaches. The first approach is to revolutionize the police station to make it friendly and invest in staff motivation. Further, introducing educational levels and other forms of intrinsic motivation will likely increase the likelihood of success in the discourse. Motivating staff will likely improve productivity because a motivated officer becomes creative and more focused on achieving the goal. The second probable solution is to deal with external factors to ensure a positive relationship between the police and civilians. Increasing positive relationships is likely to offer the police officer useful information.
Methodology
The selected methodology was qualitative research, collecting information from experienced people. A questionnaire will be prepared for a survey to determine the causes of increased theft cases in a society with an active police department. The survey is designed to offer an opportunity for police officers and members of the general public to determine the best solution for the challenges affecting the police station. The result is then analyzed to determine the solution and the implementation procedure.
Summary of Main Findings
The research showed that a two-pronged strategy must be applied for better organizational outcomes. The internal issues affecting the organization are understaffing, overworking the available officers, and lack of knowledge and special training to serve the purpose. Further, technology and equipment must be present for the police officers to deliver their mandate effectively. On the other hand, the people working in an organization must be granted flexible work arrangements to improve their culture. The external factors affecting the police department include poor relationships.
Conclusion on the Most Appropriate Approach
The best solution to tackle the issue in the police department is improving the relationship between the police and the outside while motivating the police to increase their productivity. For example, increasing motivation makes police work smarter in enforcing law and order. The holistic approach ensures both internal and external communications are strengthened, therefore collecting accurate information about the carjackers. Both internal and external issues must be tackled to improve police productivity.
Proposed Solution Internal and External Issues
The solution for effective law enforcement in Memphis, TN, can be achieved by implementing a two-pronged strategy. The external strategy is to develop community policing to involve civilians in police operations and training. When parents are involved in teaching morals to their children, the crime rate reduces. The internal prong involves staff motivation and empowering them with the right technology and training to overcome the challenges (Imam, 2022). Further, job satisfaction must be enhanced by always collecting employee feedback. Both internal and external issues contribute to the general outcome of the police force and must be prefaced with evidence-based research for the accurate implementation of policies.
External Issues
Building Legitimacy and Trust
Explanation
The public always confers legitimacy and credibility to institutions that act under the set procedure. One of the causes of drift between the police and the people is the police brutality observed in some regions. Whenever brutality is stopped, and the police interact with the people positively, more intelligence reports will be collected, and relationships will be improved. The police must therefore ensure a positive relationship with the people and increase feedback points for civilians to air their concerns for action (Kahn & Martin, 2020). Further, reducing police brutality is critical to developing positive societal relationships. The Wokefield police department will agree with neighbourhood associations to participate in tournaments and sports to increase the relationships. Once legitimacy has been built, the police will get more information, reducing the crime rate. Further, police involvement in the associations allows them to understand and solve the community’s needs (Imam, 2022). For example, all driving schools in the town will be allocated a traffic police officer to ensure all drivers comply with traffic rules.
Overall Goals of the Plan
The main goal of increasing police legitimacy is improve professionalism in the police force and ensure that they can collect data accurately. The police training makes them social workers of the last resort and can help the community overcome the challenges affecting them. Participating in community meetings and teaching parents the best ways of raising their children to avoid crime and be responsible citizens. As the society improves its relationship to be better placed, it increases efficiency in the law efficiency.
Resource Required to Overcome the Challenge
The relationship between the police force and the community do not need fixed resources. However, it takes planning Community meetings such as adult education programs and weekly security meetings can serve as platforms for sensitizing the public to cooperate with the police force (Yu, 2022). The proposal to increase police involvement in community activities does not require a huge budget and can be implemented immediately for effectiveness. As the police fulfil their roles as special social workers, societal confidence in the police force increases. Consequently, the animosity reduces, and the corporation increases.
Potential Challenges and Expected Change in Organizational Culture
The potential challenges of overcoming the police and civilian barrier include negative perceptions. Previous cases of police brutality may jeopardize their relationship with the law enforcement agencies. However, after a successful completion, it will lead to a change in the organizational culture and help improve the transparency and sharing of information with the public. As the police collects more information from the public, it becomes easy to unveil criminals and their motives.
Policy and Oversight
Policy oversight ensures that the police force performs its role in line with the dictates of the law. The external operations conducted by the police can be made friendlier to society. The police lieutenant, in line with the society leaders, can formulate a local police oversight committee to look into the conduct of police officers in the community (Yu, 2022). As the community feels in charge of sighting the police, they will cooperate more in improving the working relationships. The police will therefore be required to put on their official badges showing their full names and numbers at all times so that any case of police misconduct can be reported to a given number to increase their efficiency. Community involvement and religious leadership are critical to direct all forces to the area needing security, as the local authorities have adequate information on crime. When the community is involved in the crime reviews and educated on the importance of peace and tranquillity, they will cooperate and give more information in the discourse.
As the neighborhoods disproportionately affected by crime are allowed to participate in the daily activities of the police force, the external challenges affecting the police department may be eradicated. Community engagement has a ripple effect by enforcing cooperation, and the increased carjacking cases will be eradicated as the culprits will not have hiding areas (Imam, 2022). In the present condition where a rift exists between the police and a community, it is almost impossible for a civilian to willingly offer information to the police because of the fear of being harassed. Lowering the rift is the antidote to improving cooperation between the police and civilians.
Social Media and Technology
Technological advancement has made communication and delivery of feedback easy and effective. When the police department has an effective social media platform where people can channel their grievances, it could help them increase and build their relationship with the police. The Wokefield police department plans to hire a social media officer to undergo police training and then be in charge of the department’s social media personnel for interacting with the community via the social media platform. Whenever social media pages are responsive, information and feedback will be efficiently delivered to the people and security will be enhanced in the long term (Yu, 2022). Adopting the technological feedback delivery channels helps align the police operations to the people’s expectations in the long run. The success of the social media platform can also be achieved when professionalism is ensured at all times. The communication platforms help civilians to be in touch with the police department and air their grievances and get directions on what is needed.
Internal Issues
Education and Training
Police training and education are crucial motivators as they instil values and techniques that are important for the police force. Memphis, TN, needs an established police academy to intake and train officers. The proposal is to initiate a police academy at the local level to ensure that the officers are trained on the fundamental issues affecting their personal life. Although police academies require considerable resources to be initiated, a customized police department for the city may be a prerequisite for a more prominent academy to be developed (Wolfe et al., 2022). The first step to ensure adequate training is to partner with organizations that oversee the police and share the objectives of intrinsic motivation with them. Once the trainers are at the police department, a new department will be formulated to deal with training, research, and development to determine the needs of the police officers and organize training to solve the policy challenges.
A training needs analysis is a process conducted to determine the exact needs before the actual training commences. The police department must conduct a training needs analysis of the one hundred and ninety-six officers to determine the main challenges affecting their daily activities. Since internal conflict and relationship issues in the police department affect the overall performance and motivation, understanding the needs makes it easy for the training to be customized to meet the police needs. As police officers undergo continuous training on factors affecting security in the region and the contemporary world, they are more likely to operate from an informed point of view hence increasing performance.
Police training plays a critical part in performance and efficiency. The USA Supreme Court declared that if police officers do not get the proper training, they will be affected in the long run (White et al., 2022). The customized training will therefore train the police officers on the best attitudes to maintain and the ones to disregard. Whenever police officers learn how to manage stress and personal relationships, their performance increases eventually (Wolfe et al., 2022). Training the police on their position in their society and how important their role is makes them more motivated. Police in the region are demotivated because they are overwhelmed with work. Still, when the training explains their importance in society, they must give their best effort. The training makes them proud of their jobs and improves their sense of importance in society. As people realize their importance in their place of work, they will put their best effort into improving outcomes.
Police attitudes and habits are improved through practical training and constant evaluation. As the police undergo the training, they can understand the community better and increase their operations in the discourse. When the police get training, the evolving nature of society is analyzed, and the expected changes are understood (Morrow et al., 2021). The increase in juvenile crime rate is part of the training offered in the customized police academies. Therefore, training officers on what to expect from society and how to behave before them is essential. Sexual, racial, and gendered slurs are critical components of the training, making people understand the people they serve. A clear understanding of the people will make advising the external efforts of improving the relationship with society easier. Police training exposes them to the culture and traditions of the people, making them act according to the people’s ways, and their relationship with society improves (Pryce & Chenane, 2021). It is imperative to note that the police academies not only offer tactical skills to the forces but also allow them to understand d the society they operate.
Consequently, their feelings of self-importance will make them work better and be more motivated. Emotional intelligence is a critical lesson during the training to make the police officers understand their surroundings (Oberfield, 2019). Empathy and viewing crime from different viewpoints help them perform better in the discourse. The challenges facing the police department can be understood through emotional intelligence and therefore help them solve their differences, handle their stress and deliver better justice to people.
Restructuring of the Police Department
As innovations emerge, change is the only constant in the contemporary world. One reason the police fail to catch car hijackers in the town is poor infrastructure and the technological capacity to cope with the criminals. The young people in the region are motivated by the fact that the police force in the region lacks basic facilities. Consequently, the offenders are likely to go scot-free in their escapades as the police have no equipment to catch up with them. The reforms to improve performance in the police department is to institute different specialized department and procure equipment to help overcome the challenge in the region.
Police communication and coordination are crucial to combat crime and enforcing law and order. In the cases of high carjacking crimes, as reported in the region, the only way to overcome it is to ensure that all the 196 officers in the region are connected through communication technology media. The integrated communication department improves the command centre operations, and all officers share crucial data. The restructuring to form a communication department and a strengthened command centre helps the officers interconnect and share information on everything happening in the region for follow-up operations (Pryce & Chenane, 2021). The police department can also invest in buying technology devices that help track stolen cars and determine their exact location. Incorporating the technology department will enable the police department to understand all the happenings at all times. Further, investing in speed cars will make it easier to track down the high car hackers and arrest them for facing the rule of law.
Increasing cooperation can be achieved by restructuring the police department to have all officers work together. The 196 officers will be subdivided into the departments held accountable for negligence. For example, the patrol, traffic, and general enforcement officers must be on each other’s contact list to help coordinate following up with criminals in the community whenever they attack (Wolfe et al., 2022). Since the challenge is understanding and overworking by the police force, increasing collaboration helps them to perform better in the discourse. For example, as more than the number of police posted in the traffic department may be needed to follow up on a theft case, they are encouraged to cooperate with another department. The lieutenant will supervise the number of officers in any given task for proper reassignment and redeployment to areas of need.
The efficiency of the police department is directly proportional to the investigative capacity of the station. The challenges facing the Wakefield police department can be solved by restructuring and revolutionizing the investigation department. A robust investigative department helps detect criminals before they commit a crime and ensures that the people live in peace and tranquillity. Specialized tools must be installed in the investigation sub-departments, such as face detection, iris, facial, and fingerprint recognition, to ensure that all people’s data are stored to quickly detect the suspect (Donner & Olson, 2020). It is imperative to note that the technologies need constant adjustment for efficient functioning (Jackson et al., 2022). The department will therefore offer special training to the officers working in the department to ensure they are always up to date. An effective investigative department with the correct technology usage will improve operations in the long run. The sub-department will ensure that the police department has correct and accurate data about the youths, and it will be easy to maintain peace and tranquillity in Memphis, TN.
Wokefield police department needs more staff, making it operate with fewer officers. As a result of the understaffing, the officers undergo numerous stress, jeopardizing their efficiency. The restructuring process will include a guidance and counselling department to follow up on the officer’s mental health issues affecting their day-to-day activities. Empowering the guidance and counselling department makes the police department safe for mental health and offers the officers a listening ear for the challenges affecting them (Oberfield, 2019). Once they are advised on the best way to overcome the challenge, their efficiency will increase. Memphis, TN, will be safer and enjoy tranquillity if the stress levels in the police department are eliminated. Therefore, the restructuring process will install an important sub-department to ensure all the officers are peaceful enough to deliver. Further, the department will give the officers hope in life and increase their sense of importance, making them lead better lives and be responsive in their different roles.
Increasing Police Motivation
Increasing police motivation may be complex, but it must be done to achieve efficiency in the long run. The police morale is affected either by their unmet needs or by being overworked. In the Wokefield police department, overworking and lack of belonging affect their ability to perform daily norms. The officers handling crime can sometimes be given internal assignments to break the monotony of fighting crime. People in the police department must be encouraged to work on various assignments to give them a sense of belonging and boost their morale.
According to Abraham Maslow’s theory of needs, human beings have various needs that must be met. The police department has different people in different categories of Maslow’s level of need. Satisfaction is attained if all the needs are satisfied according to a person’s level. The lieutenant will ensure that all the police officers live in humane and decent housing by renovating the available few and renting new ones to the police officers with their families. When police officers are entitled to basic needs such as food, shelter, and clothing, the officers will be motivated and work towards improving the outcomes (Pryce & Chenane, 2021). As police officers are entitled to their basic needs, their stress levels will lower, and their productivity at work will be increased in due cause.
Recognition is an essential factor of motivation which ensures that people have increased self-esteem and need to achieve more. The police department can introduce different awards as intrinsic and extrinsic motivations to increase operations. For example, recognizing the best-performing staff and issuing monetary value to the motivation helps other officers work harder towards achieving the goal (Rahman & Shanjabin, 2022). Further, involving the officers in daily decision-making helps motivate them, as the staff will know they are valued. Whenever police officers feel respected for their actions and involvement in the decision, the sense of belonging will make them work more diligently. Consequently, the motivation increases their productivity, and the ability to combat crime increases.
The motivation and other processes of increasing the police morale in the department may also be considered the issues that affect the officer’s morale. When favouritism or partiality is observed, more officers will be less motivated and perform dismally in the discourse (Cheng, 2020). Fairness and an internal audit process must be developed with the input of all officers to ensure that all officers have an equal chance to offer ideas and implement them in the office. One of the main reasons for declining performance in the police department includes favouritism, discrimination, and negative internal politics are critical factors that influence performance (Jackson et al., 2022). The antidote to the changing needs and demands is to have an internal change of organizational culture to incorporate fairness in all the activities performed by the police. As the officers are subjected to fair treatment at their places of work, their morale will improve, and they will be efficient in restoring peace and order in the region.
Offering Opportunities for Officers to Advance Their Career
Employee turnover is caused partly by the employee’s desire to advance their knowledge and soar to more extraordinary academic achievement. Some police officers quit their jobs, and others are less motivated because it needs to facilitate people’s growth and development into consideration. However, when the police department offers chances for officers to advance their careers and get promoted to higher offices within the police department will motivate them to work hard. Setting aside finances to fund officers’ scholarships and other paid study leave is critical in motivating and making the employees happy (Cheng, 2020). The lieutenant must therefore budget funds for scholarships to allow officers in the region to advance their careers. The benefits will make the employees happy and attract top talents in the police force. The increased employment further helps the police department to overcome the challenges of understaffing and making officers more productive.
The Wokefield police department proposes internal structures that help officers increase their levels of work and make it easier for them to achieve the stated targets quickly. For example, when police officers are made aware of the leadership structures, and the factors required for promotion, they will work hard to climb the levels of leadership. When officers are keen to attain a higher rank in the forces, their probability of increasing efforts and performance will be affected. As officers move towards leadership roles, they become self-motivated, and the end product has a well-established police department (Rahman & Shanjabin, 2022). A self-motivated police officer is more performing compared to officers that are not motivated. The lieutenant will record all the achievements, such as reporting time, accountability in the line of duty, and responsiveness for overall awards at the end of the year. Whenever the officers work hard towards recognition and awards at the end of the year, they may work harder to prove themselves. In proving their capabilities, the public will be served with dignity, and the theft cases will be impacted.
Conclusion
The Wokefield police department has a law enforcement mandate in Memphis, TN. The region has experienced an upsurge in juvenile offenders, especially in the carjacking. Further, the police have lost their morale due to understaffing and fewer tools to deal with the challenges. The internal changes that need to be affected must have the ability to increase police motivation, make them more productive, and help them deliver their mandate. Since the failure to lower the number of car theft cases is partly attributed to the motivation and equipment, investing in technology and restructuring the police force will improve the operations. Further, external changes must be improved to advance the relationship between the police force and the outside world. Whenever the internal structures are set to motivate the police force and their relationship with the community is improved, police officer performance will improve. Consequently, a positive outcome in the law enforcement mandate will be achieved.
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