The first-line supervisor in the police patrol unit is critical to the successful operation of the whole police agency. The police sergeant is actually more important than the chief of police, that is if he does his job properly. Unfortunately, too many supervisors are not doing their best or don't really know how to do so. First-line supervision involves much more than making assignments, reviewing police reports, checking to see that officers are not goofing off, and chewing ass when they do.
A case in point is a letter writen by an irate mother which appeared in The Citizen, a local weekly newspaper in the Houston area. The editor entitled the letter: "Officer's rudeness uncalled for." Now before going any further, I want to make it clear that this letter represents only the version of the aggrieved motorist, and does not present the offending officer's side. Here are some exerpts from the letter.
".......... I was not speeding and I wasn't breaking the law, but to my suprise he stopped behind me. He came to my car, my window is broken since Hurricane Ike, opening the car door. He rudely asked me if I had seen the stop sign behind me. I responded: 'yes sir, and did stop.' He accused me of not even coming close to stopping. He immediately threatened me with towing my van if I continued arguing. I felt very uncomfortable and intimidated with his behavior toward me and my young son.
I remained silent. He kept on going on and on about neighbors complaining of people speeding, said I was calling him a liar because I did not agree with his charges, and last he said that if I had a problem, I could take it to a judge. ..........I was only able to make one comment. The officer turned my one comment into this big argument. ..........Could it have been that the officer was having a bad day ..........? ..........Finally, it could have been that he was trying to meet his quota of tickets for that day and he was irritated by that. .........."
She ended her letter with, "Note: A formal complaint for an investigation has been filed with the Houston police internal affairs against the unprofessionlism and rudeness of the officer."
Was the incident as bad as she described it? Possibly, but probaly not. However, something untoward happend during this traffic stop to make her file an official complaint with the Houston Police Department and to write a letter to the editor of The Citizen.
Could the officer have had a bad day? That is a very good question. Police officers do have their bad days. Could the officer have had an argument with his wife before leaving home for work? Did the officer get his ass chewed out for not writing enough traffic tickets? There are any number of other reasons why an officer could be having a bad day. And that is where the first-line supervisor comes in. He should never contrtibute to an officer's bad mood by chewing his ass out at the beginning of a shift - that should wait until the end of the shift.
Most important of all, a sergeant must be extremely familiar with his subordinate officers. That familiarity leads him to recognize any mood swings among his charges. An officer who is in a bad mood is trouble waiting to happen on the street. It may lead to a bad traffic stop like the one the letter writer complained about. Or it could lead to an unneccessary and dangerous physical altercation during an arrest. The bad traffic stop is a public relations nightmare. The physical altercation could be deadly.
So what is the first-line supervisor to do? When he recognizes that one of his officers is troubled, he should not let him on the streets because it is human nature to take one's frustrations out on others. Put him behind a desk or even send him home. Can't do that because there is a shortage of officers? Bullshit! The trouble that an officer in a bad mood can cause his agency and the community is far worse than any shortage of personnel. And when the shit hits the fan, he'll end up suspended or fired, in the hospital or dead, and the resulting publicity could be detrimental to the whole department.
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