Case A: Pushing Paper can be Fun

A large city government was putting on a seminar for managers of various police departments throughout the city. During the seminar, one of the topics discussed was conducted by the Police Captain on how the police department can get police officers to do a better job in doing the paperwork such as writing the reports. The central focus of the discussion was as following:

All policy officers were well trained to perform street work. They enjoy working with the public - the action involved in crime prevention, and the apprehension of criminals. They also like helping people out at fire, accidents, and other emergencies.

However, Ive got a real problem with my policy officers. That is when they get back to the police station. They hate to do the paperwork such as writing reports, and because they dislike it, the job is frequently put off or done inadequately. This lack of attention hurts us later on when we get to court and it can make the difference in conviction. We need clear, factual reports. They must be highly detailed and unambiguous. As soon as one part of a report is shown to be inadequate or incorrect, the rest of the report is suspect. Poor reporting probably causes us to lose more cases in the court than any other factors.

I just dont know how to motivate them to do a better job. Were in a budget crunch and I have absolutely no financial rewards at my disposal. Its hard for me to make the job interesting and challenging because it isnt. Its boring, routine paperwork, and there isnt much you can do about it.

Finally, I cant say to them that their promotions will hinge on the excellence of their paperwork. They know its not true. All through their career it is the arrests and interventions that get noticed for promotions.

Some people have suggested a number of things, like using court conviction records as a performance criterion. However, we know thats not fair too many other things are involved. Bad paperwork increases the chance that you lose in court, but good paperwork doesnt necessarily mean youll win and be able to put the criminal in jail.

Source: Partially adapted from T.R. Mitchell and J. R. Larson, Jr., People in Organizations, 3^rd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1987.

Questions:

1. What performance problems that the Police Captain is trying to correct?

2. Other than financial rewards and promotion, what are TWO possible causes which might lead to unacceptable behavior and performance?

3. Besides punishment, what practical suggestions can you give to solve the problem of unacceptable behavior and performance?