
A) Please explain the four types of supervisors described by Engel; and B) clarify the
most common job tasks for: a) Sergeants; b) Lieutenants; and c) Captains
A) The first type of supervisor described by Engel is the traditional supervisor. These supervisors
are effectively law enforcement and task oriented. They expect a high level of traffic stops, arrests,
etc to be made by their subordinates. They also put a heavy emphasis on paperwork. They tend to
focus more on the punishment side of management, rather than the reward side. Traditional
supervisors also tend to have motivation issues when it comes to their officers.
The second type of supervisor described by Engel is the innovative supervisor. These types of
supervisors are direct opposites of traditional supervisors, and are often closely associated with
community policing. Unlike the prior type of supervisor, innovative supervisors do not put a large
emphasis on measurable activities such as traffic stops and arrests, but more focus on building
relationships with the community and with their subordinates. They tend to coach their officers,
rather than order or demand from them. This type of supervisor may have issues when it comes to
officers who neglect community relations, or those who may be task oriented and would be better
suited for a traditional supervisor.
The third type of supervisor described by Engel is the supportive supervisor. These supervisors
share a similarity with innovative supervisors, as they focus more on building strong relationships
with their subordinates. Supportive supervisors often act as a “buffer” between upper management
and regular officers, as their main goal is to shield their subordinates from unfair and cruel
management practices. These supervisors manage their officers by inspiring them, and building
strong teams while at work. The issue with supportive supervisors is that they tend to neglect
departmental responsibilities and goals, while focusing more on making sure that their officers see
them in a positive light.
The last type of supervisor described by Engel is the active supervisor. These supervisors are very
involved in field work, and are often police officers that have earned stripes or rank. When in the
field with their subordinates, active supervisors tend to take charge in situations, rather than
supervising them. This can lead to positive relationships with their officers, and they are seen as
hardworking and strong. However, this can also block their subordinates from growing their skills
and developing in the field.
B) The most common job tasks for sergeants are as follows; supervising their officers, relaying
information from higher management to their subordinates, making sure that all orders (special
and general) are followed, observing their officers performing duties such as answering phone
calls, looking over departmental reports and approving them, listening when subordinates relay
any problems that they have, answering calls for backup, notifying other supervisors about ongoing
issues, provides direct supervision for high risk situations, and informs subordinates about policies
within the department.
The most common job tasks for lieutenants are as follows; helping supervise and assisting the unit
activities, executing the tasks of a police officer, ensuring all policies (departmental and
governmental) are followed within the unit, preparing the duty roster, reviewing the work of
subordinates, responding to calls in the field that require a commanding officer, performing roll
call, preparing and reviewing reports, coordinating the duties of subordinates when it comes to
important and large investigations, meeting with supervisors about unit activities, maintaining time
sheets, notifying upper management about important phone calls, answering any inquires, and
serving as bureau commander or captain when the actual individual is absent.
The most common job tasks for captains are as follows; issuing and reviewing assignments for all
units and subordinates within the designated section, looking over all incoming reports and written
complaints, preparing routine reports, reviewing the final configuration of assignments, making
sure that all orders (general and special) are followed, monitoring statistics related to crime and
other activities, assessing the work of all units and subordinates within the designated section,
maintaining sector facilities, reviewing concerns and issues with subordinates, attending staff
meetings, maintaining working contacts, responding to any inquires from other sections within the
division, reviewing and approving any overtime in the section, evaluating performance of the
unit/section by monitoring performance, and responding to complaints made against subordinates.
Based on personal experience, I believe that the four types of supervisors that Engel described
were very accurate, and all supervisors that I have ever had have fallen into at least one of those
categories. I, personally, think that a good supervisor would be a mix of traditional, active,
supportive, and innovative. I don’t believe that one type of supervisor is better than any other. I
think it all depends on what type of supervisor the agency/organization needs at that time. I also
was unaware that captains, lieutenants, and sergeants had so many responsibilities. I was aware
that they had very important tasks while on the job, but I didn’t think that there were so many.

Explain in detail the following crime control and policing strategies:
A. COPPS
COPPS stands for “community oriented policing and problem solving”. The concept represents a
dramatic shift from traditional policing methods. It is a dynamic philosophy that encourages police
to solve issues that affect the quality of life, are criminal, or increase the fear of criminal activity.
It also encourages police to solve community issues. The concept of COPPS includes identifying,
analyzing, and addressing any and all community issues at their source. COPPS has a large focus
on collaborative problem solving, which will improve the overall quality of policing.
B. CPTED
CPTED stands for “crime prevention through environmental design”. It involves using the
environment to reduce fear and the frequency of crime, while also improving the quality of life
within the community. CPTED has three main principles. The first is “natural access control”. This
principle uses gates, fences, doors, shrubs, or any natural blocker to discourage a possible offender
from selecting that particular target. The next principle is “natural surveillance”, which includes
placing landscaping, windows, or lighting in proper areas so that individuals may observe possible
intruders and report them to the police if necessary. The last principle is “territorial reinforcement”.
This includes using things such as porches, landscaping, sidewalks, etc to distinguish between
public and private properties, and to discourage possible offenders from selecting this target
through a show of “ownership” over the property.
C. COMPSTAT
COMPSTAT is a relatively new crime management tool that is used primarily in the problemsolving process. It is known as a “strategic control system” and it was created for police agencies
to collect the feedback and information from the public about crime and quality of life issues.
Delorenzi, Shane, and Amendola summarize COMPSTAT as follows: “collect, analyze, and map
crime data and other essential police performance measures on a regular basis, and hold police
managers accountable for their performance as measured by these data” (Delorenzi, Shane, and
Amendola, 2006). There are 5 main elements to COMPSTAT; specific objectives, accurate and
timely intelligence, effective tactics, rapid deployment of personnel and resources, and relentless
follow-up and assessment.
Like the types of supervisors, I don’t think that just one crime control and policing strategy should
be used more than the others. I think that COPPS, CPTED, and COMPSTAT are all very important
in their own way, and each method has its own strengths and weaknesses. I believe that for a police
organization to run smoothly and gather enough information to do their jobs efficiently, all three
types of crime control and policing strategies should be used. However, for me, CPTED has the
most important aspects woven into it. The three main principles, natural access control, natural
surveillance, and territorial reinforcement, seem very important when it comes to preventing crime,
while COPPS and COMPSTAT have factors that help record and document crime after it happens.

Outline the types of training that are commonly observed within police organizations;
and B) define and explain the potential benefits of “problem-based learning” (PBL).
A) Overall, police organizations have two important aspects of training for new recruits; technical
and discretionary. Technical training refers to teaching the new officers about the policies and laws
that are important for doing the job. Discretionary training refers to teaching the new officers how
to appropriately apply these policies and laws to the job, and also to teach them about the
consequences that can occur when the policies and laws are not properly implemented. Beyond
those two very important aspects of training new recruits, there are five main types of training that
recruits must participate in.
The first is basic or academy training. These academies usually vary from 3 to 6 months in length,
and the curriculum is usually mandated by the board of Peace Officers Standards and Training
(POST), which is the state statute. Academies across the country have a median number of 720
curriculum hours offered. The most important skills learned within the academy curriculum with
the highest number of hours are as follows; firearm skills (median of 60 hours), physical fitness
(50 hours), investigations (45 hours), self-defense (44 hours), procedures (40 hours), emergency
vehicle operations (36 hours), and basic first aid/CPR (24 hours). The atmosphere within these
academies can vary from paramilitary to collegiate, depending on the academy itself. Lastly, these
academies can serve to teach a single agency's recruits, or multiple agency’s recruits within a
certain region. The next type of training, after the recruit has completed the academy, is a fieldtraining officer (FTO) program. This training program mainly focuses on corrections, mentoring,
closer monitoring of progress, and evaluation of the new recruits. The ideal FTO program takes
about 52 hours, but most police organizations have shortened the curriculum down to 14 weeks.
The next type of training is roll-call training. This typically occurs at the beginning of each tour of
duty, and takes about 15 to 30 minutes. During this time at the beginning of each shift, a supervisor
will give out assignments for the day, and distribute any important information pertaining to any
specific assignments. This is also a great time to give officers up-to-date training, and meet any
required annual training requirements. The next type of training is in-service training. Many states
require at least 40 hours a year of extra training for officers, to make sure that all important
knowledge to complete the job is up to date within the officer’s minds. The topics covered during
this training are usually the most important for the job, including things like driving, defensive
tactics, weapons qualifications, any updates in the legal aspect, etc. This training is used to help
officers maintain their police officer certifications.
B) The fifth type of training is problem-based learning (PBL). This is a learning process that uses
participation within teams, critical thinking, and problem solving to bring real world situations into
the curriculum that new recruits are learning. PBL was most commonly used in the education and
medical fields curriculums, but many have noticed that it works very well in policing as well. The
possible benefits of problem-based learning are that it allows new recruits to have a hands-on
approach to solving real-world problems, which will make it easier for them to properly solve
problems in the field. This can also improve the officer’s reaction time to issues they may face on
the job, as they may have already solved this problem in a hands-on fashion during their PBL
program.
This was the topic that I knew the most about prior to reading about it. However, I did not have
any in-depth knowledge about what each of the training methods entailed. Personally, I think that
all five of the training methods are highly important for a police officer to do their job correctly
and efficiently. But, PBL is the one that helps officers when it comes to real-world scenarios.
Intertwining a hands-on approach to training scenarios and then connecting that to the real-world
probably helps most new recruits when it comes to actually handling those specified situations out
on the field.

Explain what variables and methods a police agency can use to measure
organizational productivity and effectiveness; and B) outline the need for employee
performance appraisal and list the common errors that have been observed when it
is used.
A) Productivity measurement refers to the measurement of the quality of work from the officers
within a specific department, with the resource usage taken into consideration. When measuring
productivity, there are four main concerns; efficiency, effectiveness, equity, and accountability.
Efficiency refers to how quickly an officer completes a task, with the minimum required resources
used. Essentially, it means how well an officer does their job, while costing the agency the least
amount of money. Effectiveness refers to how well an officer completes their given tasks,
regardless of the cost and resources used. To effectively calculate the effectiveness of an officer,
a clear set of goals and achievement strategies for these goals must be identified. Equity refers to
making sure that officers are hearing and responding to the concerns of all groups within a
community equally, and not favoring the concerns of one group over the others. This concern can
very quickly become a political standpoint, if one group comes forward with concerns about the
equality of the distribution of police services. The last concern is accountability, and this refers to
making sure that resources available to officers are being used for the proper purposes, and are not
being used inappropriately. Supervisors within police organizations must be sure that their officers
are meeting public standards, and are doing their jobs appropriately and using all resources
accordingly.
There are four main methods that police organizations can use to measure and improve police
productivity. These four methods are strategic planning, citizen surveys, crime analysis
(CompStat), and performance appraisal. Strategic planning refers to basically planning and
mapping out what the police organization should be doing during a specific time period.
Operational activities within the organization will be planned out based on anticipated
contingencies and issues that may arise. Using strategic planning, supervisors and higher
management can evaluate which officers are achieving these anticipated goals and which need to
work harder to meet them. The next method is citizen surveys, which refers to surveys that civilians
can fill out pertaining to identifying problems within a specific area and being able to focus police
efforts to neighborhoods that need it the most. The information that citizen surveys can provide is
as follows; “fear of crime, perceptions of crime problems, perceptions of disorder in the area,
citizen satisfaction with police service and performance, and citizen satisfaction with other related
governmental services”. These surveys also serve as an accountability measure for police, as they
show whether or not the general public is happy with the services that the police are offering and
completing. This provides a measure of how well the police are doing their job, and if the
organizational productivity and effectiveness needs to be scrutinized further. The third method is
crime analysis (CompStat). This refers to statistics that can be used to measure and analyze crime,
keep track of any overtime that officers complete, document citizen complaints, keep track of
building maintenance, and even record how quickly a police vehicle returned to the streets after
being repaired or serviced. CompStat has four principles that can help with organizational
productivity management and improvement; “timely and accurate intelligence, rapid deployment,
effective tactics, and relentless follow-up and assessment”. This can help measure police
effectiveness and productivity because it provides a place for citizens to file complaints against
behavior that does not fit into police standards, and it provides a detailed map of crime around the
region, which can show if officers are being proactive and effective.
B) The last method of measuring organizational productivity and effectiveness is performance
appraisals. This generally refers to observing how well an officer does their job and is following
the procedures and regulations associated with the job, and reporting that feedback back to both
higher management and the employee themselves. There is a need for performance appraisals, as
effective ones can report important information such as organizational and individual fallbacks,
and many other important aspects to measuring how well officers are doing their jobs. There are
eight main organizational purposes that performance appraisals serve; formalized feedback to
employees, recruitment and selection, training, field-training officer (FTO) evaluations, horizontal
job changes, promotions, compensation management, and discipline.
There are three main problems that police organizations may face when conducting performance
appraisals. The first is defining rating criteria. Deciding what the rating criteria shall be is
important because unclear rating criteria can lead to confusion, frustration, and misconstrued data.
The next problem is choosing the best rating format for the performance appraisal. Each rating
format has its own strengths and weaknesses, but the correct one must be chosen based on what
the proposed aspect being measured is and what the performance standards are. The last problem
is creating appropriate behavioral anchor ratings. This will provide the rater with more in-depth
information about the performance standards, which will in-turn lead to more accurate rating
information.
There are also five common rater errors that can occur during performance appraisals. The first is
the halo effect. This occurs when the supervisor rates the subordinate the same way, high or low,
for all categories based on one single category. The supervisor allows what the subordinate is doing
good or bad in, to cloud their judgment about all other categories of the rating. The next error is
the recency problem. This refers to when a recent event, positive or negative, that involved the
officer being rated clouds the judgment of the supervisor that is doing the rating, and they rate the
officer based primarily on that one instance. The next error is rater bias, which refers to when a
supervisor allows their own personal feelings, values, and prejudices to dictate how they rate a
specific subordinate. This error is the most difficult to overcome, as it has to do with personal bias
on the supervisors part. The fourth common error is constant error problems. This refers to when
a rater is too strict, or too lenient. This may affect the rating of the organization as a whole, as they
could have very high ratings or very low ratings. The last common rater error is unclear standards.
This refers to when the standards for supervisors to rate their subordinates is unclear, so one
supervisor may rate an officer one way, while another supervisor may rate the officer another way.
I, personally, don't think that any one type of measurement for organizational productivity and
effectiveness is the best way. They all seem to have their own strengths and weaknesses which
could increase or decrease the effectiveness of the measurement itself. Overall, I think the most
important aspect to measuring anything within a police department is to have very clear rating
standards for each of the supervisors doing the rating, and to make sure that the raters are thinking
logically while performing the measurement, and not thinking with their biases.