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<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT><FONT size=4>Dan, et al,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>I not sure your assessment that retention problems in the MPD
is because "Moscow is boring" [to police officers] is entirely correct.
Further, such a viewpoint may give a hint to part of the reasons for the
union/officer dissatisfaction issue.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>It takes many different qualities and much training to produce
an effective Law enforcement officer (LEO). The need for
excitement (which is not the same as the need to "catch bad guys" as there are
LEOs who are sometimes the "bad guys") is a useful quality to keep interest in a
law enforcement job. But two points: </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>1. A LEO can have too much need for
excitement which can lead to some bad decisions and also to neglecting other
important parts of their job.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>2. The need for excitement is not a
have/have not quality but one with a quasi-continuum</FONT><FONT size=4> of
values. This amount of quality in an individual needs to be balanced with
a lot of other qualities depending on the area in which the LEO
operates. <FONT size=4> Successful LEOs in high-crime areas need more of
this quality than those in lower crime areas. [Further, crime prevention
and detection is not the only job of LEOs; there are many other services they
provide.]</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Please have a little patience while I give an
example:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>When I lived in Boundary County, there was an outstanding ISP
officer who worked that area. Almost all of his citations (he
gave out many, many) and arrests resulted in either forfeited bail or a
conviction. He seldom gave warnings. He played no favorites.
(It was frequently said that he would ticket his own mother.) Once he
interdicted a suspect offender, a citation or an arrest occurred. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Officer Hicks had an interesting point of view
(paraphrased): <FONT color=#0000ff>"I see every situation no matter how
serious or how trivial as a personal challenge. I try to figure out (and
execute) a way to bring every situation calling for enforcement to a completely
successful conclusion consistent with the law and the goals and policies of the
ISP. This keeps the job satisfying and keeps it from being
boring."</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>When someone applies to be a LEO, she/he should understand
that it is not all cops and robbers. Very little of it is. A lot of
it is unexciting. Some of it is quite unpleasant. In my opinion, it
is a matter and a sign of personal integrity if a person holding any job does
what is required regardless of its excitement/pleasure value (except those
things required that might be illegal or unethical.) Hence, a prospective
LEO should ask themselves whether they are willing to do the <STRONG><FONT
color=#ff0000>all</FONT></STRONG> aspects of the job they are applying
for in a workman like way. If they are not, perhaps another vocation
or an application in another area should be pursued if their personal integrity
is important to them.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>There are positive signs that for at least some MPD officers,
this workman attitude is present. The Public Records items in the
<EM>Daily News </EM>point to increased DUI enforcement. [Good for the
MPD!!!!!] This is not always a pleasant or exciting task. To
gain a conviction, procedures must be laboriously and carefully followed.
To be successful in bringing a successful conclusion to a DUI interdiction,
careful, time-consuming, attention to detail is necessary. However,
officers with attitudes similar to that of Hicks above will not find such work
boring, but satisfying.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Likewise, when looking a candidates for the MPD, it is
important for the hirer to determine as nearly as possible how much a need for
excitement a candidate has, how it might interfere with other needed qualities,
and if the combination of qualities found in the applicant would give a high
probability of their being a successful, <FONT
color=#0000ff><STRONG>long-term</STRONG></FONT> officer for the
MPD.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>If officers are leaving the MPD because they are bored and
long for more action, this is a problem with the hiring practices among other
things.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>There is plenty to do for a conscientious,
proud-of-their-workman-like-attitude LEO in Moscow. When driving in Moscow
in the late evening, apparently impaired (some very impaired) drivers are
generally observable. Hardly a day goes by when in a short period of
time I don't see several drivers running stop signs. It is not
unusual for people to run red lights (To observe: just stand at Washington
and Third or at Sixth and Jackson for a few minutes.) The list could go on
and on. Boring work? Not for a LEO with the right qualities and
attitude for the job.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Will a union help?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>As a consultant in southern California for many years, some of
my jobs included helping companies avoid unionization. In short, this is
not done by clever, devious tricks and legal maneuvers. It is done by
providing a better working environment, better pay and benefits, and more
flexibility to the employees than having an union would provide, and without the
union dues and other problems that union membership creates for
employees.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>A union can seriously impair management by making effective
discipline difficult, by making it difficult to enforce standards and rates of
performance, by making job assignment/duties less flexible, and by creating a
Them/Us wall of suspicion and hostility between workers and management which
further hampers both the workers and the company from achieving their various
goals. A well managed non-union company has good rapport and effective
two-way communication between labor and management and a shared motivation
to achieve that which as far as possible promotes the welfare and goals of
both the workers and the company. In the 1970s these concepts were called
"quality of working life."</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>It would have been nice if the city had fostered this kind of
quality of working life practice with the LEOs of the MPD. <FONT
color=#ff0000>They did <STRONG><FONT size=6>not</FONT>,</STRONG> especially the
previous mayor and city council.</FONT> One of the most astounding things
I heard was the chief's statement when the union issue first surfaced that he
had no idea that such a move prompted by officer dissatisfaction was at
hand. What a horrible, horrible disconnect. In a private
company a quick termination would likely have occurred and a new manager
found. [The present city manager also shares in this
culpability.]</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>The MPD officers, finding the city unresponsive to their
concerns and unable/unwilling to communicate them to their chief, looked for
other alternatives. Unionization was the alternative they chose. If
a content, effective workforce is a goal, then part of achieving such is to
listen to the concerns of the workforce. If they are not listened to, then
performance problems and turnover will result. The reasoning of the MPD
officers shows that they think the only way left to bring genuine attention to
their concerns is by having union representation.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>In my opinion, the MPD officers should continue to consider
unionization as a solution to their problems. <FONT color=#0000ff>They
should continue to do this unless they see a strong good-faith effort by the
city council, mayor, and city management to listen to and to attempt to address
their concerns. The MPD officers are also entitled to a chief and a city
manager capable of communicating effectively with them, bringing their concerns
forward, and fostering resolution of them.</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>An effective, fair, well trained, well disciplined police
force is an essential ingredient for a community. <STRONG><FONT
color=#0000ff> If the city is now willing be a quality of working life employer
to the MPD and to genuinely hear and to attempt to resolve the concerns of the
MPD officers, this would be the best solution for
all.</FONT></STRONG> Else, the officers of the MPD are entitled to find
alternative ways to bring their voices out. Unionization is the simplest
way for them (but not necessarily the best overall solution for themselves or
the community).</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>I hope that heads and hearts have not hardened so much that
further negotiation and communication is not possible. I certainly see the
officers' point of view. What is difficult to accept is the lack of
professional staff leadership and the reticence of some city elected officials
to meet and to attempt to solve the underlying problems perceived by MPD
officers without bringing in an interloper.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV><FONT size=4>
<DIV><BR>Wayne A. Fox<BR>1009 Karen Lane<BR>PO Box 9421<BR>Moscow, ID
83843</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>(208) 882-7975<BR><A
href="mailto:waf@moscow.com">waf@moscow.com</A><BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>----- Original Message -----
<DIV>From: "Dan Carscallen" <<A
href="mailto:areaman@moscow.com">areaman@moscow.com</A>></DIV>
<DIV>To: "'Vision 2020'" <<A
href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">vision2020@moscow.com</A>></DIV>
<DIV>Sent: Thursday, May 25, 2006 6:59 AM</DIV>
<DIV>Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Union Support Not a Conflict</DIV></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>> Tom says:<BR>> " The most important goal in
maintaining an efficient and proficient<BR>> organization, be it public or
private, is RETENTION. "<BR>> <BR>> Okay, I'm gonna go out on a limb here
and say it takes a different breed<BR>> of cat to be a cop. <BR>>
<BR>> I'm going to go further out on that limb and say that maybe wages
aren't<BR>> the main factor in why the City of Moscow has a hard time keeping
cops<BR>> around. I will dangle out there a little more and say a union
probably<BR>> isn't going to keep them around any better.<BR>> <BR>>
I'm just gonna throw this out there. I believe one of the biggest<BR>>
reasons we can't keep a "veteran" force here in Moscow goes back to that<BR>>
"different breed of cat" that is a cop:<BR>> <BR>> Moscow is
boring.<BR>> <BR>> Now I don't mean Moscow is boring in the way the rest
of us think. We<BR>> have a fairly eclectic mix of things always going
on in this town, from<BR>> Jazz Festival to Renaissance Fair to Rendezvous in
the Park to purt near<BR>> every City Council meeting. I mean Moscow is
boring for a cop. There<BR>> just ain't much action. Yeah, we
have our occasional murder, but we<BR>> sure as hell aren't Detroit or
Washington D.C. Heck, we aren't even<BR>> Wenatchee or Kennewick.
We're Moscow, and other than maybe getting to<BR>> put the hammer down on a
few DUI's on the weekends or the occasional<BR>> "White male riding a bicycle
north bound on Main St. The male is wearing<BR>> a cowboy hat and a g
string." (yes, it's true --<BR>> <A
href="http://tinyurl.com/mhk5m">http://tinyurl.com/mhk5m</A><FONT size=4><FONT
size=3>, report #05-M3918), there's not a heckuva lot<BR>> going on during
the rest of the week, and I'm sure these guys get pretty<BR>> bored.<BR>>
<BR>> I'm thinking that most people who become cops want to be cops
because<BR>> there's a chance for some ACTION. There just ain't much
action goin' on<BR>> 'round these parts. For the rest of the citizenry,
that's okay! I like<BR>> it like that. And I'm sure if you ask
them, our police force would say<BR>> that it's nice that Moscow is
relatively mellow. But deep down inside,<BR>> there's that little voice
saying "GIMME SOMETHING TO DO!!!"<BR>> <BR>> I don't see how a police
union is going to help that situation.<BR>> <BR>> DC<BR>> <BR>>
P.S. From what I gather, a union might not even be the be-all
end-all<BR>> solution that is needed. Maybe just opening up lines of
communication<BR>> directly between the police force and the City Council
(rather than them<BR>> having to go through the chief or whoever) is the
proper course of<BR>> action.<BR></FONT>> <BR></FONT></BODY></HTML>