Issue and Need for Change
Following the recent cases of police brutality and killing of people of color, the law enforcement system is facing police accountability and community relations issues. The demands for police accountability have increased recently following mass protests dumped “Black Lives Matter” after the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis by a police officer. The use of force by police has sparked interest in the manner police interact with citizens, especially the minority races.
There is a need to implement organizational changes in our law enforcement organization to mend the image of the police service and restore trust, as well as transparency in how our officers relate with the communities they serve. Policy changes would help ensure police accountability and improve outcomes resulting from police-citizen encounter, and reduce unnecessary stop-and-frisk and arrest incidents (Todak, & Gaub, 2019). Organizational changes would also bring to light the true account of each encounter between the police and the citizen and improve the cooperation and compliance of citizens during the interaction.
Preferred Change Process Strategy
The change strategy to help resolve the police accountability issue is the use of body-worn camera technology to document the police-citizen encounters. Citizens would be more compliant with orders when they notice that a camera is in use (Braga, & Apel, 2020). Body-worn cameras would help document each interaction, reduce citizen complaints, and mitigate police use of force. The body-worn camera policy would improve officer behavior when dealing with citizens, help collect quality evidence for use in the courts.
A study found that law enforcement administrators viewed body-worn cameras as important accountability tools for officers since they increase transparency. Other officers felt that the cameras would help deal with untruthful complaints. Videos from the body-worn cameras would help exonerate officers who are falsely accused of use of excessive force (Alpert, & McLean, 2018). However, it would be important for officers in the organization to activate their cameras when on patrol.
Handling of Resistance to Change
Implementing the body-worn camera technology in the organization would be met with resistance from officers. Officers might complain of personal privacy concerns, reluctance to respond to calls for service while using the camera, or physical comfort issues (Todak, & Gaub, 2019). officers might not want the public to gain access to the recordings of their encounters involving victims or those that contain private discussions. Unless the officers participate in the change process taking place in the organization to improve officer accountability, resistance would occur (Burke, 2014).
Further, officers might feel that wearing the body cameras might be employed to capture minor violations of policy. Officers might have concerns with trusting the department. The organization might expect the officers to embrace the technology, but if they do not get proper training on how to use the gadgets, then resistance would be bound to happen. Addressing the issue of resistance before the program is implemented would be crucial to its success.
Therefore, it would be crucial to work with the officers to involve them in the change process, which would make them feel that their voices are being heard and concerns considered. The organization’s administrators would, thus, target officers through involvement, communication, and training to improve their adoption of the technology (Todak, & Gaub, 2019). The training exercise would help change the officers’ attitudes, behaviors, and mindsets about body-worn cameras. Communication would allow for officer redress and feedback to improve the trust levels within the organization (Huff et al., 2018).
Key Barriers to Effective Communication
A barrier to effective communication is lack of a plan. An effective plan during the change process would be crucial in controlling the speed or fears produced by change implementation. If the law enforcement organization does not have a good plan on how to implement the body-worn camera technology, then communication would fail and would the whole change process (Todak, & Gaub, 2019). Another barrier would stem from lack of a leader to communicate the entire process of the change.
Leaders and administrators within the organization must convey the importance of the change which reflects the personal and visible commitment for the process (Hayes, 2021). They must send powerful messages to stakeholders detailing the seriousness of the organization towards the change process. Lack of transparency in the communication process would also provide a barrier to the communication of the change. Leaders and administrators must be transparent to all the law enforcement officers in the organization who are directly affected by the change and explain how it would impact them personally and professionally.
Methods Needed to Improve Communication
Effective communication is key to successful change implementation. Administrators should employ clear explanations about the need to implement the new policies. It is important to communicate expectations and needs for change to law enforcement officers. This should be followed by increasing participation in the decision-making process to encourage trust and improve the police officers’ openness to change (Hayes, 2021). The organization’s leaders and administrators would need to recruit employee ambassadors or influencers to communicate the change to officers.
The influencers and ambassadors would pass messages of the meaning of change to the officers and the impact on the job (Burke, 2014). This could entail using videos or officer testimonials to communicate the change and its benefits. Further, an open communication policy would allow the officers to air their dislikes, concerns, and acceptance of the change process. Open communication in workshops would provide the change leaders with feedback during the process. The media for communicating the change message would include the organization’s intranets, email, and face-to-face meetings.
Strategies to Assess the Changes
To assess the change, it is important for the law enforcement organization to know what to track and why when measuring the change. The organizational management strategies would include having a baseline, monitoring change outcomes, and getting internal feedback (Goetschel, & Peha, 2017). Baseline measurements would help measure the results of the change process accurately. The organization would track metrics, such as officer satisfaction with the new technology. Feedback from officers would provide a clear picture about whether the technology is achieving its intended purpose. As such, positive feedback is a better indication that the change process is going smoothly.
Influence of Trust, Conflict Resolution, and Negotiation on the Plan for Organizational Change
Trust is a crucial factor in the change process. Trust, conflict resolution, and negotiation would influence the change plan by sharing good information about the need for the body-camera technology to ensure police accountability (Hayes, 2021). Trust and conflict resolution would build credibility in the change process in addition to demonstrating commitment to the change initiative. Developing trust in administration through negotiation influence and transparency would help provide commitment to the proposed change.
Building trust would be a core component of the change as administrators engage officers in flushing out and solving issues before they turn to roadblocks (Burke, 2014). By ensuring that processes support officers the leaders would cultivate trust and resolve conflict that might derail the change process. Trust, conflict resolution, and negotiation would put officers’ interest first, ensure proactive and open communication, and include their ideas and comments to mitigate resistance. They would also create a sense of ownership of the change process.
References
Alpert, G. P., & McLean, K. (2018). Where is the goal line? A critical look at police body‐worn
camera programs. Criminology & Public Policy, 17(3), 679-688.
Braga, A., & Apel, R. (2020). Effects of police body-worn cameras on citizen compliance and
cooperation: Findings from a quasi-randomized controlled trial. Criminology & Public
Policy, 19(3), 855-882.
Burke, W. W. (2014). Organization change: Theory and practice (4th ed.). Los Angeles, CA:
Sage.
Goetschel, M., & Peha, J. (2017). Police perceptions of body-worn cameras. American Journal
of Criminal Justice, 42(4), 698-726.
Hayes, J. (2021). The theory and practice of change management. Bloomsbury Publishing.
Huff, J., Katz, C. M., & Webb, V. J. (2018). Understanding police officer resistance to body-worn cameras. Policing: An International Journal, 41(4), 482-495. https://doi.org/10.1108/PIJPSM-03-2018-0038
Todak, N., & Gaub, J. E. (2019). Predictors of police body-worn camera acceptance: digging deeper into officers’ perceptions. Policing: An International Journal, 43(2), 299-313. https://doi.org/10.1108/PIJPSM-06-2019-0085
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