NCJ Number
143239
Date Published
1993
Length
172 pages
Annotation
The work environment of police officers, particularly in communities affected by illegal drugs and violence, has become increasingly stressful, and some of this stress can be minimized by training police officers in grievance procedures and labor and community dispute resolution.
Abstract
Many incidents described in the book involve conflicts that require a mature understanding of human nature and the use of sophisticated judgment. The cases raise questions with respect to how labor dispute awards affect the work environment of police officers, how disputes can be avoided, whether higher standards should be imposed on police officers than on other public employees, whether police officers should be disciplined for breaking the law, and how police officers who misbehave should be punished. The author notes that many police departments are unionized; police officers who belong to unions are protected by a collective bargaining contract that protects their working rights. Grievance procedures give union members the right to file a grievance when they believe their contract has been violated, and management must respond to the grievance. Grievance arbitration is an extension of collective bargaining in which a victory by either party in arbitration can be negotiated away or recaptured at the bargaining table. With respect to their work in communities and neighborhoods, police officers are authorized to use coercive force and must make relatively quick decisions. Although mediation can be used as a short-term intervention process to encourage cooperative working relationships between police officers and the people they serve, police officers sometimes view mediation as too time-consuming. Mediators must establish a negotiating climate and deal with substantive matters. In contrast, police officers traditionally prefer swift intervention rather than mediation, and traditional police work has not been oriented toward consensual processes. Nonetheless, mediation tends to reduce conflict, improve the social climate in a neighborhood, and encourage people to verbalize their disagreements. Most police departments encourage better communication between management and employees, and police training in arbitration and mediation skills can help to resolve all types of disputes. The author discusses the autocratic nature of police departments, police work with dangerous equipment, sex and race discrimination, police officer drug involvement, police department policy violations, collective bargaining and interest arbitration, and police dispute resolution. An appendix contains labor arbitration rules. 16 references