Answer All Questions Under the Captain Edith Strong Case Study

Review the Captain Edith Strong case study in Ch. 6 of Organizational Behavior and Management in Law Enforcement.

Write a 700- to 1,050-word paper that answers all the case study questions that follow.

Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines.

Captain Strong is the commander of a Field Operations Division in the 
City of Rogerville that has a population of 101,603, and the community 
covers 65.4 square miles. Captain Strong has worked her way up 
through the ranks achieving the position of captain after 18 years of 
service. She is the first woman to hold this high of a position in the 
department. Prior to this she served as Lieutenant of Administrative 
Services. The preponderance of her service has been in patrol, where 
she served as a sergeant and then a watch commander. 
Within the department, 65 percent of the officers are white, 
and the next largest ethnic group is Hispanic, at 27 percent. Seven 
percent of the force is women. Based on tradition and operational 
policy, the department has a definitive chain of command and is 
keyed to job specialization. Patrol officers are assigned to a specific 
beat and respond to calls, conduct preliminary investigations (when 
minor crimes are involved), and engage in preventive patrol when 
time allows. The Bureau of Criminal Investigations conducts all 
other investigations. Job descriptions are definitive, and everyone 
follows them religiously. Deviation from a job description results in 
immediate supervisory action that usually calls for being written up. 
The Division handles 62 percent of the police department’s 
measurable workload and has 58 percent of the manpower. 
Within the Division, there is a lieutenant who serves as an 
adjutant, three lieutenants who serve as watch commanders, a 
traffic sergeant who supervises six officers, a sergeant who 
supervises the Neighborhood Police unit that has a complement 
of 10 officers, three school resource officers, and 71 patrol 
officers. Officers in the specialized assignment have higher 
morale and seem well satisfied with their assignments. They have 
an opportunity to interact with each other and create meaningful 
and satisfying relationships. Almost all patrol officers feel that 
their workload is excessive and complain that all they do is go 
from one incident to the next and spend an inordinate amount of 
time creating police reports. In fact, they feel that they are unable 
to complete their preliminary investigations and in many 
instances have to cut corners in order to complete a shift. Except 
for backup in certain cases, they never get to interact with fellow 
officers apart from coming and going to roll-call sessions. Every 
patrol officer in the department works solo, and departmental 
police prohibits more than two officer eating meals or taking 
coffee breaks at the same time in the same restaurant. 
The dehumanizing aspect of an excessive workload has 
taken its toll on the personnel assigned to the patrol division. 
A survey conducted by a member of the chief’s staff indicates that 
patrol officers feel in the following ways:

1. The job is viewed as dissatisfying.

2. Morale is low.

3. Response time is long.

4. The number of citizen-initiated complaints is up.

5. More officers are filing disability claims.

6. Employee turnover is exceeding projections.

The situation has become critical and imperils the division’s ability to function efficiently, effectively, and productively and has to be dealt with as soon as possible. The solution is to design a program that meets the needs of both the department and the employees.

What philosophical approach do you believe Captain Strong

should take in carrying out this project? What specific

motivational strategies would you recommend that she consider?

Would E.R.G. theory be applicable in this instance.? Why or why

not? Give several concrete examples. Would job enlargement or

job enrichment be applicable in this case? Explain.

Do not try and use in-text citations to fill word count.

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