Police Chief and Economic Downturn



Police Chief and Economic Downturn

The Scenario

Being a police chief of an organization that employs 115 sworn officers of various ranks as well as a civilian staff of 20 personnel, I have been informed by the City Council that I need to reduce my sworn staff by five officers and civilian staff by ten officers mainly because of the current economic situation. Moreover, I am not being provided with any funds for new programs and equipment. This paper will develop a plan to implement this reduction in staff and also focus on its impact upon the organization.

Developing a Plan to Implement Staff Reduction

Making a plan for implementation for staff reduction is a complex task (Richard & Richards, 2011 Pp. 125-150). The most important thing will be to plan my workforce focusing on their functions. Since my organization employees sworn officers of various ranks, their duties and activities differ. Same is the case with the civilian staff. I will identify the most important roles and skills that I need to have in the force that I intend to retain. Moreover, I will have to focus the future needs of my unit as well. After analyzing the critical skills needed in future, I will assess my officers and civilian staff accordingly.

The next important thing is to consider the past performance of all the employees. Officers and civilian staff who have been performing well and going beyond their performance benchmarks must be considered to retain (Anne, James 1998 Pp.150-175). I will have to manage the reduction in staff in a manner that the limited availability of funds and the reduced staff do not impact the performance of my organization. Employees who have been performing consistently low must not be preferred to retain over those who are the best performers (Sam, 2010 Pp. 150-160).

The most important thing in relation with the reduction of staff is to assess its impact on the working of organization. In order to evaluate the least significant duties that some officers and civilians are performing, I will conduct a survey without letting the employees know about the probable reduction in staff. This survey will assure me with the roles of the officers and civilian staff, without whom the organization can be run fairly well (Cary, Alankrita & James 2012 Pp. 225-250. Functional analysis forms will also be useful in this regard. Another thing that I need to consider would be the mitigation of risk (Anne, James 1998 Pp.150-175). I must ensure that my decision of staff reduction must not be based upon any personal biasness or prejudices that lead towards discrimination. If the suspended employees became successful in proving my discriminatory practice later in courts, I will be in great trouble.

Once I have decided upon the employees whom I want to retain on the basis of their performance and their relevance for the organization, I will have to communicate my decision to the staff in a manner that no one feels offensive and ...