15 Signs Your Workplace Is Dysfunctional

15 Signs Your Workplace Is Dysfunctional
By Albert J. Bernstein PhD, author "Am I the Only Sane One Working Here? 101 Solutions for Surviving Office Insanity"

Does your job drive you crazy? Do you sometimes wonder if you are the only sane person in working there? Is your workplace dysfunctional, or is it you? Here's how to find out.

Based on more than 30 years of experience as psychologist and business consultant, I've put together a checklist of 15 diagnostic signs of a psychologically dysfunctional business. Is it the job, or is it you?

Sign No. 1: Conspicuously posted vision or value statements are filled with vague but important-sounding words like "excellence" and "quality."
These words are seldom defined and the concepts they allude to are never measured.

Sign No. 2: Bringing up a problem is considered as evidence of a personality defect rather than as an observation of reality. In a dysfunctional company, what it looks like is not only more important than what it is, it is what it is. If you don't believe that, you are the problem. A surprising amount of information is classified. Dysfunctional companies have more state secrets than the CIA. Anything that might embarrass the boss turns out to be a national security issue.

Sign No. 3: If by chance there are problems, the usual solution is a motivational seminar.
Attitude is everything, especially in places where facts are embarrassing or inconvenient. In a dysfunctional family, there's an elephant -- usually a drunken abusive parent -- in the parlor, but no one ever mentions him. To appear sane, you have to pretend that the elephant is invisible, and that drives you crazy. Businesses are full of invisible elephants, too. Usually they are things that might cause difficulties for people with enough clout to prevent their discussion. The emperor may be naked, but if you have a good attitude, you won't mention it.

Sign No. 4: Double messages are delivered with a straight face.
Quality and quantity are both job one. You can do it both cheaper and better, just don't ask how. If you're motivated enough, you should know already.

Sign No. 5: History is regularly edited to make executive decisions more correct, and correct decisions more executive than they actually were.
Those huge salaries require some justification.

Sign No. 6: People are discouraged from putting things in writing.
What is written, especially financial records, is purposely confusing. You can never tell when you might need a little deniability.

Sign No. 7: Directions are ambiguous and often vaguely threatening.
Before you respond to a vague threat, remember this: Virtually every corporate scandal begins with someone saying, "Do it; I don't care how." That person is seldom the one who gets indicted.

Sign No. 8: Internal competition is encouraged and rewarded.
The word "teamwork" may be batted around like a softball at a company picnic, but in a dysfunctional company, the star players are the only ones who get recognition and big bucks.

Sign No. 9: Decisions are made at the highest level possible.
Regardless of what it is, you have to check with your boss before doing it. She also has to check with her boss.

Sign No. 10: Delegating means telling somebody to do something, not giving them the power to do it. According to Webster's Dictionary, you delegate authority, not tasks. In dysfunctional companies, you may have responsibility, but the authority lives in the office upstairs.

Sign No. 11: Management approaches from the latest best-seller are regularly misunderstood to mean what we're doing already is right on the mark. "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People," "Good to Great" and "Who Moved My Cheese?" all seem to boil down to, "quit griping and do more with less."

Sign No. 12: Resources are tightly controlled.
Your department may need upgraded software, but there's been a spending freeze since 2006. Cost control is entry-level management, but in a dysfunctional company, anything more sophisticated is considered too touchy-feely. Whatever you propose, the first question you will be asked is if it can be done cheaper.

Sign No. 13: You are expected to feel lucky to have a job and know you could lose it if you don't toe the line. Dysfunctional companies maintain control using the threat of punishment. Most will maintain that they also use positive rewards ... like your paycheck. A few people are actually fired, but most of those who go are driven to quit.

Sign No. 14: Rules are enforced based on who you are rather than what you do.
In a dysfunctional company, there are clearly insiders and outsiders and everyone knows who belongs in each group. Accountability has different meanings depending on which group you're in.

Sign No. 15: The company fails the Dilbert Test.
Dysfunctional organizations have no sense of humor. People who post unflattering cartoons risk joining the ranks of the disappeared. When an organization loses the ability to laugh at itself, it is headed for big trouble. If you'd get in trouble for printing this article and posting it on the bulletin board at work, maybe it's time to look for another job before this one drives you crazy.


Albert J. Bernstein, Ph.D., is the author of the best-sellers "Dinosaur Brains" and "Emotional Vampires." His newest book is "Am I the Only Sane One Working Here? 101 Solutions for Surviving Office Insanity." For more information on how to stay sane at work, visit Dr. Al's Web site, www.albernstein.com.

Labor Attorneys In Maryland...

In response to a readers inquiry we are posting these attorneys listed on lawyers.com. This listing is for attorneys for employment law in Maryland including OSHA, Human Resources, Wrongful Termination, American for Disabilities Act, FMLA, and other....

http://www.lawyers.com/Labor-and-Employment/Maryland/All-Cities/law-firms.html?rs=1&N=1183&nbm=1&Ne=60&ac=m12

If considering legal action against any department bear in mind a class action law suit, with several staff members, is more effective than a solitary person filing suit for several reasons. First it lends more credibility that there is a problem (whatever that problem is), second legal fees are lessened because of the more people involved, third (if kept to several persons) they payout may be greater, fourth departments are more willing to settle to avoid bad publicity of a suit from it's own personnel indicating a serious problem to the media. Just a suggestion from the Crapper.

SPD Lt. Elmer Davis Reportedly Resigned

Reportedly, SPD Lt. Elmer Davis resigned today. Lt. Davis was reportedly under internal investigation for over 200 plus offenses against policy and procedure ranging from sleeping on duty, loafing, and numerous other offenses. This is the second resignation due to this investigation. Another officer resigned several months ago and one was demoted. There is no word if Lt. Davis plans on applying for another law enforcement position. However the question remains if they had over 200 charges against Lt. Davis, why did it take them so long to file these internal charges? Why did they not correct the problem after the 1st and 2nd offenses of so-called policy violations? How much time and money was dedicated on the surveillance of these officers by either CID or electronic means? How much did the taxpayers have to fork out on this investigation and why weren't these offenses dealt with early on in order to correct supposed issues prior to them escalating to a level which required their either resignation or demotion?

Two other officers within the department, both with distinguished careers, also were demoted and eventually one resigned, who will be missed. We wish these personnel luck as there is life after SPD.

-The WicBury Crapper Board

Shotgun anyone? Anyone have a rifle??

Well. well. ... well. well. Yet another attempted armed robbery yesterday of the PNC bank in the Twilly shopping center. Which begs the question, if the police get a call for an armed bank robbery in progress, are they going to be prepared to battle it out with the suspects? No. Probably not. That's the sad truth. Do you think that it won't happen on the shore? It will. It's a matter of time. In the LA bank robbery police had previously lobbied for rifles but their requests were denied by police administration.

Most cops aren't issued shotguns or rifles. But yet these are weapons readily available for public use. Any idiot can walk into Gander Mountain and buy a shotgun or rifle the same day and go to a bank. Instantly the police are out gunned by an ordinary citizen.

Some local departments won't allow officers to carry their own shotguns, let alone departmental issued shotguns. The theory being this crazyness is that a shotgun bursts pellets out in all directions and therefore innocent people could be injured or killed by "spray fire". The truth is that police tactical shotgun load provides an extremely tight grouping at even 20 yards, let alone a tactical slug. Moreover, a rifle round packs a lot of punch with increased accuracy.

The second argument by departments is that ammo must be interchangeable. So that in a fire fight, another officer can pick up the ammo of a downed officer and utilize it in their weapon. Well 12 gauge shotgun loads virtually work in all 12 guide shotguns. If there is a money problem with providing these weapons departments can publish a policy saying that individual officers can provide their own shotguns or rifles but restrict the make and model.

The last question is why departments don't allow backup weapons in this area. A majority of police officers are killed in the line of duty by their own weapons. There have been multiple cases where a police officer, initially disarmed by a suspect, was able to shoot the suspect utilizing a backup weapon. Most departments allow off-duty carry of smaller weapons under the same caliber and make however don't allow these weapons to be carried as backup weapons while on duty. There is no reason for this. The weapon can't be used as a "throw down" piece because it's registered to the individual police officer since the weapon must be purchased by the officer. As long as there is a published policy advising the qualification process, make and model allowed, and secure carry method of the backup weapon, there is no reason why it should not be allowed.

Departments, do the right thing to protect your personnel and the citizens in this high gun and crime area. Don't wait until after a tragedy strikes. Deploy rifles and shotguns to patrol officers, now.

Don't try and scare your crapper...your crapper overflow, fair warning.

The WicBury Crapper has grown in it's leadership, readers, influence, and rapid ability to augment the outcome of political elections. We also have a rapidly increasing audience of non-police officers. Yes, we know we are still crappy and hey, it's okay with us. We know we're not important. However, we are growing, quickly. Don't try to scare us or intimidate us. It won't work... no matter what happens. We are here to protect and serve, line cops. We will go to all lengths to succeed in our mission even above our own personal risk. Because we're stupid like that. What we do is protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. If required, we will even get the ACLU on board. Even though they are a pain in the crapper, we've already talked to them and they won't pass up the opportunity for a landmark case.

Having said that, for the most part, we have left individual administrators alone and don't plan on targeting them or individual agencies. We do not limit our readers for commenting on those topics however. We will not publish or will delete negative comments about line officers.

But, if backed into a corner there are more ways then one to solve this problem:

1) Blogcasts, embedded video commentary on crap

2) Media coverage, we can alert media to this site to cover us, which we have not done

3) Publishing articles targeting specific departmental flaws

4) Public access television time, via submitted video on disk, disguised of course

5) Want negative press? We got you covered. Don't mess with the crapper. Don't mess with the crapper's readers. We are here to serve and protect our readers and line officers.

Don't make us overflow, spewing green crap all over the place. Now, Start taking care of personnel that you have alienated or are on your poop list or whom you just don't notice day to day because they come in and do their jobs without kissing ass (directed to all agencies) and we'll start flushing better....

How Turnover Affects Citizen Safety in Salisbury

The Salisbury City Police Department has been struggling with officer turnover for a long period of time. In fact, one person at the department estimated that there were over 50 police officers turned over (have left) within ten years.

Currently, as Mayor Jim Ireton indicated, the police department hired several new officers who are currently in the police academy for training. However, these officers will require eight months of training prior to being turned out onto the road. Six months of police academy training is required to obtain MPTC certification and another two months of training mandated by the police department as field training. So where are all the police going?

For the past several years the Salisbury City Police has seen an excessive amount of turnover of it's certified police employees. Some employees that have left cite the low pay (lower than some other area agencies), high stress work environment, and amount of calls for service handled per shift. For instance, a city police officer may respond to 20 calls for service in a shift while their county and state counterparts only respond to five or six and get paid more.

But, this doesn't mean that officers of other agencies receive any better treatment by administration. It is just a softer blow when cushioned by a fatter paycheck.

However, the Salisbury City Police Department did not always have a high turnover rate. In fact, ten to fifteen years ago it was the premier police agency to work for. So what happened?

The low pay and change in administration caused a high turnover rate which still exists today. When a police officer is lost to another agency the police department loses an officer with an amount of experience that is not easily replaced. When very few experienced police officer remain with a department the citizens suffer because they receive a different level of policing than experienced officers are able to provide. If the police department loses an employee then the police department must hire, perform a background check, and train that officer for eight months of time. That means that during those eight months the officer is essentially not able to handle any calls for service. Additionally, the costs estimated with the training approach over $30,000.00 when including the salary paid to the officer.

The math is easy. It is much easier to keep your employees happy through pay and better treatment that to turnover employees and have to pay them for training that they then take elsewhere with their experience.

Corruption Breeds In Unaccountablility

Are your administrators corrupt?

Possibly, but lets take a look at what corruption means. Corruption can mean everything from taking money inappropreatly as bribes to "do as I say but not as I do" or taking advantage of positions because of a total lack of accountablility. Thats where we come in.

Say what you want about blogs and media, and we freely admit we are just another crappy blog, but blogs do have increasing infulance on matters of significance. Case in point, it is probably a good bet that the previous mayor of Salisbury did not bid for reelection due to the efforts of Joe Albero, either good or bad. Joe's blog had an effect on a political outcome. This crappy blog is designed, by our own admission, to rally peon patrol personnel into a higher sense of camaraderie and belonging and to resist increasing inane administrative pressures on them. Police work in general is a tough job. Cops work rotating shifts which leads to a completely screwed up sleep schedule, have to deal with assholes on the street, deal with the threat of serious physical injury or death on every call or traffic stop, and then on top of all of that, have to deal with a crazy amount of e-mails, memos, transfers, reassignments, shuffling of personnel, and other administrative tactics to suppress a perceived challenge to their span of power and control.

Corruption Breeds in Unaccountablity

As we discussed in previous articles many administrators engage in activites that their subordinates would recieve repremands for. This in and of itself is corrupt behavoir because it teaches administrative personnel that they are not held accountable for thier own rules. Further, it grows decent umongst the ranks like a cancer that eats away at the organization as a hole. When people are not accountable for what they do they become more corrupt. Corruption is not just defined as the taking of money or etc. It is a moral standpoint and outlook. That is where we come in. We patrol the areas that are unmonitorable and unenforceable by most higher echalon administration because they tend to look the other way when their subordinates, lower escholn administrators, get away with violations of policy or practice personal abuses of agency time. So keeping in line with this topic, this week we pose the following questions:

1. Ever notice how some administrators use special assignments as overtime opportunities? Administrators already get paid much more money than line personnel. Why do they get to work overtime assignments when utilizing line personnel would be substantially cheaper to the overtime budget?


2. Why do some administrators feel they have to suppress personnel constantly?


3. Why do some administrators only take care of personal friends, political allies, or ass kissers but never the hard working peons.


4. Do your administrators support you in your efforts?


5. Do your administrators support you in efforts to enhance public safety?
   
6. Why are people shuffled around routinely?


7. Why do some administrators lack true personnel skills? Have these administrators been schooled on how to interact with subordinates? How many classes have they taken on personnel management and Total Quality Management?


8. Why do some administrators only feel comfortable berating others?


9. Why is the schedule so hard to keep straight?


10. Why is there a lack of personnel allocated where needed for public safety?


11. Why do certain people get newer cars or equipment while peons constantly get crapper cars and no equipment?


12. Why do certain people get recruited for overtime opportunities that are not publicized to all personnel or peons?
    
13. Why won't they just leave us alone?
    
14. Why do certain people get training while others are ignored or end up with lousy training.


15. Why are some peoples requests for leave more readily approved than others?

Again this corruption breeds because it continues unchecked. If you know of situations occurring within your agency we encourage you to voice your opinion to not allow this type of behavior to continue unchecked. Your voice = Power. Voice has the ability to change the continuing unethical behaviors in agency administration. This is because it is an embarrassment when made public, such as in this setting. The more people view this blog, the more line cops view this blog and come together on issues, the more span of unethical control and abusive tactics weaken. Get pissed off. Attend your local union meetings. Gain power from oppression. The first amendment was designed to allow citizens to voice their opinion about government. Get the attitude: Screw with us unusually, we screw with you politically.

Origin - "Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely

This arose as a quotation by John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton, first Baron Acton (1834–1902). The historian and moralist, who was otherwise known simply as Lord Acton, expressed this opinion in a letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton in 1887:

"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men."

Another English politician with no shortage of names - William Pitt, the Elder, The Earl of Chatham and British Prime Minister from 1766 to 1778, is sometimes wrongly attributed as the source. He did say something similar, in a speech to the UK House of Lords in 1770:
"Unlimited power is apt to corrupt the minds of those who possess it"

Rank Has It's Privileges??

Does rank have privileges?

Sure it does. People who earn rank, supposedly, have gone through some type of trial by fire in order to obtain that rank (i.e. oral interview boards, written tests, performance reviews, etc). Ranked personnel have the ability to have a greater latitude in what they do because, simply, they are not supervised by as many people as a peon. Peons may have five or six or more supervisors over them such as a Cpl, Sgt, Lt, Capt, Major, and Chief. The higher one climbs in rank also, supposedly, the greater the responsibility. The responsibility of the supervisors troops, their welfare, and moral, rests on the supervisors shoulders. So to some degree they should enjoy some perks.

As we discussed before, moral is a very important part of any organization. If moral of troops is poor, their performance will be equally as poor. It's a proven fact. That's why they say that an army travels on it's belly. Because well fed troops are happier. Feeding personnel or personnel consuming food together brings about a sense of society and personal interaction and it also generates a low level of dopamine, which is why people who are depressed may eat to excess. Nevertheless, supervisors do enjoy a level of privileges because they have a greater latitude to do what they want. In fact higher echelon supervisors make the rules, so they also have the ability to bend them. However, this creates great animosity between ranks because personnel feel that if their supervisors don't have to abide by regulations then regulations don't apply to them either.

It is important that supervisors lead by example. Very important. Supervisors that generally lead by example are respected by peons rather than those that do what they want and the rules don't apply to them yet they are writing up personnel for regulations that they ignore. Leading by example will earn supervisors respect instead of gaining respect from fear and intimidation of employees. Again, a counter productive situation. Look around where you work. Do people tend to follow the supervisors they respect or fear?

Some common traits of a bad supervisor are they don't stand up for their subordinates, use threats and intimidation in order to achieve action from personnel, "do as I say not as I do", loafing, uninterested in personal problems of subordinates, aligned solely with administration (yes men), and lying to personnel in order to justify a decision. What are your thoughts?

Write-Ups & Micromanagers?

Does poor administration micromanage personnel?

As we all know your enjoyment at work can be directly linked to administration or supervision. They can make it much more difficult to do your job effectively or make it much easier to do your job effectively. Some of the negative aspects of poor supervision and administration is micromanagement. Micromanagement can lead to officer call outs, excessively poor work performance, passive resistant attitudes, poor health effects, personal life issues, and even officer suicides. Many departments, as noted in our previous articles, use micromanagement as a tactic to "keep officers in check" which for the most part is not necessary. Is it good to write up an employee for being late two minutes? Does this accomplish anything beneficial? Is it beneficial to write up employees for not filling out forms properly, when they are legitimate mistakes? Are they micromanaging because it makes them feel good or to impress higher echelon administration for their own benefit at others personal and psychological expense?

Sometimes the more administration micromanages employees, employees fight back by not performing (i.e. passive resistance). There are multiple studies that confirm this shown below...

http://www.softpanorama.org/Social/Toxic_managers/micromanagers.shtml

By Robert Hare: The psychopath is one of the most fascinating and distressing problems of human experience.

"Control freak" is one of those terms for which the meaning is starting to get distorted

68% of employees with a female boss consider her to be a control freak.
57% of employees with a male boss consider him to be a control freak.
"control freak is one who has an obsessive need to exert control over people and situations:

A grown man who hasn't learned to control his temper.
A man given to explosive overkill outbursts.
A man who lies publicly when his lies are easily checked.
A man who is extremely paranoid.
A man who threatens those who disagree with him.
Ironically, targets of abusive bosses tend to be high achievers, perfectionists and workaholics. Often bully bosses try to mask their own insecurities by striking out.

Do you think that micro managers do your agency improvement or harm?

Crime Press Release Meeting

The heads of the Wicomico County law enforcement agencies had a press meeting about the increase in crime in the county recently. Mostly they blamed the increase on the poor economy and other issues. In attendance was SPD (CID), SUPD, Delmar PD, Fruitland PD, MSP, and of course Sheriff Lewis (WCSD). Crime of course is a very serious problem and we here at the Crapper have been publishing daily articles on how to solve crime problems.

Again, we have all the answers! Annnnnyways, so they indicated that they anticipated a spike or increase in crime due to the poor economy about a year and a half ago. However, staffing levels for patrol in most of these departments is dangerously low. Some of these departments only have two or three people working the road per shift. Low staffing and shortages mean increased response times, very poor officer safety, limited or no ability to establish a perimeter directly after a violent crime, no K-9 available on the road, and other serious issues. Although, budget cuts are a problem with all agencies, agencies should prioritize the safety of their citizens and officers in place of toys, equipment, and flashy stuff for appearance. Agencies should cut back on things like, for instance, landscaping, custom carpeting, new offices, comfy chairs and other expenditures designed to solely enhance the image of the agency. It does nothing for the safety of the residents or the police officer's ability to respond and control crime in an exponentially increasing crime ridden area. Funnel the money into better tactical training, weapons training, better equipment for road officers, more positions, or even long guns! "We've got calls stacking! Your time to clear?!"

Part-Time Cops?

Having retired police officers back on the street is a great idea however, most jurisdictions have a hiring freeze right now...even for part-time police officers. WCSD currently has openings posted for a full-time lateral deputy and part-time court deputies. We think that hiring a part-timer for patrol divisions would enhance the functionality of the agencies and vastly reduce overtime expenditures due to low staffing issues. It also depends on how long the officer has been retired because they loose their ability to re obtain their Maryland Police Training Certification after a period of time. The officer would also have to re qualify with an agency issued weapon, essentially making him a "full time" police officer again, even though he would be providing services on a part-time basis.

See e-mail below...

"An idea whose time, I think, has come. There are countless tens if not hundreds of thousands of retired police officers in this country. Probably hundreds living in Wicomico County alone. Many of the retired officers have permits issued by the state to carry concealed handguns. I am one such retired officer. When you talk about retired officers, you're not talking about ancient humans. Because of the vast improvements in police pensions, especially in major urban centers, police officers can and do retire as early as 41 years old after 20 years of service. I personally retired at 44. These individuals bring a wealth of experience to the table. However, many retired officers aren't interested in working in law enforcement full-time. Many are, however, interested in working in law enforcement on a contractual basis. The jurisdictions win because they get the services of a trained police veteran and they don't have to offer benefits such as health insurance and pension benefits, and the retired officer wins because he's doing something he's been trained and has done his entire adult life, and he has the opportunity to use all that expertise and experience to make some extra money. In the meantime, the bad guys really have to be concerned that someone like me isn't pumping gas or buying a soda when they think it would be a great time to pull a robbery"

MSP require 100 Stops?

100 Tickets per month per trooper?

MSP's unoffical rule at the Salisbury Barrick is now 100 stops per month per trooper. We thought quotas were illegal? Making troopers turn in a 100 stops per month is tatimount to a quota. We understand that they can issue warnings or citations however, it's still a quota no matter how you slice it.If traffic safety is their immedate concern then shouldn't have administration kept the troops writing accident reports within their jurisdiction of the Salisbury Barrick? If MSP is not running calls for service as much and not writing accident reports, are they going to be a traffic only barrick? We know that the Sheriff's Office and the Maryland State Police line officers work well together. It would be a shame to see MSP Salisbury turn into a traffic only barrick like others in Maryland. If MSP's administration thinks that 100 stops is a good idea then maybe they can spare some Troopers and cut them back to 50 stops and reassign them to gang, robbery, and drug interdiction around Salisbury! But, that makes no money for the state :( The primary concern of any and all police agencies should be fighting crime while traffic enforcement, although imporant for public safety, comes second.

My police department is broken!

From our "exhaustive research" we have found that there are very serious problems with most police agencies on the eastern shore of Maryland a.k.a. armpit of Maryland. In general, here are a list of systemic problems with most agencies. We poop on you. You know who you are.

1. Administrative importance. More emphasis is placed on administration, political gain, and control than on actual Law Enforcement efforts. You would be amazed at how much actual time is spend within agencies trying to figure out what employees, specifically patrol, are doing, what they are thinking, identifying who's bucking the system, and how to keep them on a leash, and exacting personal payback for perceived wrongs that administration thinks employees are doing (i.e. pushing back or questioning them). Political grandstanding also has serious issues. What do you think?

2. Brown nosers, hookups, & favorites. Brown nosers move up quickly, get nicer vehicles, get advanced notice of overtime assignments, get better assignments, and are generally taken care of internally. If you are not in the click the you are shit outta luck. This is especially true through most of the "larger" organizations on the shore. The funny thing is is that administration doesn't really realize the full impact of brown nosers. While you could have two employees, one a brown noser and one not, the brown noser will always be taken care of over the regular poor slob. So the poor slob is doing his share of the work but never gets a share of the pie. This has a seriously negative effect on agency moral. Brown nosers only help themselves. Generally, they are only truly interested in their advancement or special treatment so while the ass kissing makes administration feel all warm and squishy that a peon is kissing their asses, it does nothing for the administration themselves or the agency. So a symbiotic relationship exists where the ass kisser gets ahead and the administration has their ego inflated. But, little else gets accomplished except for pissing off beat cops who are overlooked in the work that they do. Brown nosers we poop on you. Who's brown nosing in your agency?

3. Wasted money. God how much money is wasted on totally useless crap and bad decisions. Literally thousands and thousands of dollars is wasted each year on the dumbest stuff you could imagine that have absolutely no value whatsoever in making the area or the agency services safer for the community. We would like to hear how your agency has wasted tax payers funds?

4. Lack of training. Some agencies provide the proper amount of in service training and offer to send their personnel to all types of schools. Although some training out of state is expensive, the training at the police academy is about $12.00 per person. So there is really no excuse not to send people to more training. In some agencies training is also used as a method of control by sending only people they want to send to police instructors school for instance. There is no excuse for providing only minimal training to personnel. Remember, you can attend training without agency approval if you take leave and request to attend through the police academy. Agencies by law can not govern what you do in your off-duty time unless it conflicts with an off-duty employment policy, which you have to be compensated for, its in LEOBOR. Do you have training issues at your dept?

5. Scare tactics and intimidation.
Poor agency administration use scare tactics and intimidation in order to keep their subordinates "under the thumb" of the agency. These tactics include bogus write ups, bogus internals, memo after memo after memo, scathing e-mails, and transfers. Does your agency use scare tactics and intimidation?

6. Separation of personnel. Many agencies separate personnel in order to interfere with their cohesion. Some agencies transfer people on a routine basis (which makes no sense). If people work well together, leave them alone. Some agencies also place a large and vast separation between administration and peons. Do your administrators attend roll call or work the road routinely and make arrests? Does your agency use separation?

7. Crap rolls downhill. A lot of administrative personnel make their problems everyone else's problems because they either don't know how to effectively deal with it or are just lazy to deal with the issues. Does crap roll right over you at your agency?

8. Do as I say, not as I do. It is the sole job of administration to make the agency run more effectively. That's it. Many administrators forget they were once cops also and constantly break their own rules that they put into place. Many supervisors and administrators break regulations all the time because they do not lead by example. However if a line officer commits the same offense, it's hell to pay. Does this happen at your agency?

9. Administrative assistants more important than road officers. Ever notice how people that work administratively in the agency are tighter with admin than peons? Can they never do anything wrong? Are they supported by administration much more then peons even though their job is to lubricate road operations (such as dispatchers, records, property custodians, or even Secretaries)?

10. Internal Drama. Does your agency have a lot of internal drama? Who's screwing who, who is backstabbing who, who's breaking up with who, who doesn't do their share, cops talking behind each others backs, talks talking smack about other agencies they work with directly?

11. Lack of resources. Does your department issue you everything you need to succeed? Do you find that your equipment is lacking? Do you have the proper equipment to respond to serious calls where life may be in jeopardy (weapons, hostage negotiators, translators, etc), Are your cars falling apart? Do you have a lack of manpower on the road? All serious problems that can and do affect the safety of the citizenry. Personnel and resources should be placed where they will be the most effective. If you have not enough personnel in a road division but you are top heavy in administration or CID or wherever than those people should be reassigned back to the road. Resources also have to be placed effectively in the same manner. An administrator who never leaves the office has no use for a rifle. Are resources poorly used in your agency?

12. To little to late. A high turnover rate can be for several reasons such as pay, call for service volume, benefits, personnel conflicts, moral and other. However, many agencies turn over rates and moral problems are because administration does not do what they can to fix problems. Many agencies only provide a band aid solution to problems, if address them at all. Many agencies routinely ignore e-mails or written requests from peons but require that you get back with them ASAP! What about your agency?

13. Moral. Some agencies have a very serious moral problem. Moral is one of the most important aspects of a patrol division because it tends to galvanize patrol into being productive rather than counter productive or passive resistive. Passive resistant behavior happens when patrol personnel get so upset with their agency or administration that they fail to produce to their potential. Although it is not an organized effort many personnel become so upset that their production becomes almost flat line for stats. This is no good for either the agency, it's personnel, or the safety of citizens. Many administrators find that their personnel are being "bitchy" or complainers however, that is a poor way to look at a very serious problem that can lead to call outs, quitting, or even officer suicides. It is a tough job all around but it is that much worse when you have to deal with internal agency politics or other complete bull crap. What about your agency?

14. Politics. Being too political can lead to massive internal problems. You can't please all of the people, all of the time. Things should not be done for political reasons or to score points with the general public. While it is very important to keep the public happy with their police force, mainly because they support the police department with tax dollars, it is also equally important to serve the law in a manner that is effective, a deterrent, and generates results. Politics can massively interfere with that if your agency is more worried about glad handing people rather than enforcing laws.

15. Crazy decisions. Does your department make decisions that make you scratch your head in amazement that some fool made these decisions? Do they never provide an explanation why a crazy decision was made? Why would a department take an aggressive officer and place them in a non aggressive position? Why would and agency give a new vehicle to an officer that is barely seen or does no effective work? Why would an agency buy $5000.00 in new equipment to replace functional equipment or unneeded equipment? What about your agency, any crazy decisions?