SAMPLE ASSIGNMENTS FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ADMINISTRATION
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PRACTICUM #1: BIBLIOGRAPHIC ESSAY
This is a rather simple assignment that the library is ready to help you with. Use their list of resources (such as Who's Who and other reference books) to do a two page biographical essay about one of the founders of administrative thought that we covered in class or is mentioned in the history chapter of the textbook.

Since most of you know how to research and write a biographic essay, what follows are the most frequently researched individuals that students in the past have studied (from most popular to least popular):

PRACTICUM #2: Rearrange McGregor's survey
Listed below are the questions from a McGregor's Theory X/Y questionnaire. One of the reasons history has treated it badly is because the questions are too obvious. One can easily tell that the A responses indicate that managers think in terms of Theory X and the B responses indicate thinking in terms of Theory Y. Your job in this assignment is to redesign and rewrite the questionnaire, using your creativity, to put the words in common sense but still retaining their original meaning. For those of you familiar with research methods, I want your revised questionnaire to have validity and reliability, but I want you to also make it difficult for whoever takes the questionnaire to know whether the question represents Theory X or Theory Y. Turn in both the questionnaire and your scoring key.

 
1. A
B.		 Employees are naturally lazy; if given the chance, they prefer to do nothing.
Employees are naturally active; they set goals for themselves and enjoy striving.
2. A.
B.		 Employees work mostly for money and other fringe benefits in their paychecks.
Employess seek job satisfaction, pride, enjoyment, a sense of contribution , and challenge
3. A.
B.		 The main force keeping employees productive is fear of suspension or being fired.
Employees keep productive because they desire to achieve their personal goals
4. A.
B.		 Employees are naturally dependent upon leaders.
Employees aspire to independence, self-fulfillment, and responsibility
5. A.
B.		 Employees expect and depend on direction from above.
Employees close to the situation see and feel what is needed and are self-directing
6. A.
B.		 Employees need to be told, shown, and trained in proper methods of work.
Those who understand and care can devise and improve their own methods of doing the work.
7. A.
B.		 Supervisors who watch employees closely are needed to praise good work and reprimand errors.
Employees need to be respected as capable of assuming responsibility and self-correction.
8. A.
B.		 Employees have little concern beyond their immediate, material interests.
Employees seek meaning to their lives by identifying with just causes.
9. A.
B.		 Employees need specific "how" and "what" instructions; "why" and policy questions are not their business.
Employees need understanding; they need to grasp the meaning of what they are doing.
10. A.
B.		 Employees appreciate being treated with courtesy.
Employees crave genuine respect from their fellow workers.
11. A.
B.		 Employees are naturally compartmentalized; work and play are entirely separate functions.
Employees are integrated; work and play go hand-in-hand and make a better worker
12. A.
B.		 Employees resist change and new ideas and prefer the same old routine.
Workers tire of monotonous routines and enjoy new experiences and creative ideas.
13. A.
B.		 People need to be selected, trained, and fitted to pre-defined jobs.
Jobs must be designed, modified, and fitted to people.
14. A.
B.		 Personalities are formed by heredity and childhood; people essentially remain the same.
Employees constantly grow, learn, and increase their understanding and capability
15. A.
B.		 Employees need to be "inspired" by pep talks or pushed or driven.
Employees need to be released and encouraged and assisted.

PRACTICUM #3: ORGANIZATIONAL REDESIGN
The following URL is a copy of the Organization Chart for a typical mid-size police department (URL of mid-size police department organization chart). You will note that it has a small span of control of 4 (four captains under the chief, and probably four lieutenants under each captain in each of the important sections or bureaus). This span of control is best suited for a scientific management approach, but administrative theory also holds that spans this small tend to result in tall organizations with problems in lateral communication as well as placing the agency in poor position to leverage for change.

Your job is to redesign the organizational chart of this police department to improve lateral communication and position the agency for change and innovation. You may do this by following Fayolian theory which suggests that 6 is the proper span of control. You will need to create new divisions for the police department (captain positions) and create new sections or reposition existing sections into your new divisions as appropriate. Also, you should demonstrate an understanding of the gang-plank (or staffing) principle by drawing indirect connections off to the side of any sections in different divisions sharing the same secretarial or support services. In creating your new divisions, be sure to indicate which sections are primary line positions and which ones are secondary line positions.

PRACTICUM #4: Employee Stress Scenarios
Instructions: Choose two (2) out of five (5) scenarios to analyze by putting yourself in the situation. Then, write a one-page essay on what you think is the BEST solution. This would essentially be the same as answering the question "What should you do?" Note that some scenarios are followed by additional questions, so be sure to answer them too.

SCENARIO #1: THE FEMALE INTERNAL AFFAIRS OFFICER
You are a 28-year old female investigator in the internal affairs bureau who occasionally feels that other officers view you with contempt. You were assigned to Internal Affairs after about three years as a crime scene technician. You have about four years experience in police work. You have a Bachelor's degree in criminal justice from the local college. You are getting bored with performing background investigations on police applicants, and have requested more important assignments from your Lieutenant, who is a sexist.

Suddenly, one Friday morning at 3 A.M., you get a phone call at home from your Lieutenant. He says: "Listen, Judy, you awake, good. I've got that important assignment you've been requesting. A patrolman shot and killed an unarmed man a couple of hours ago. Get down to headquarters and get on it. The patrolman's name is Frank Schmidt."

Containing your excitement, you arrive at the station, finding officer Schmidt and his sergeant, Joe Banks, waiting for you. Schmidt is a young officer, in his early twenties. Banks is about 40 years old, chewing on a cigar and looking at you with some animosity. You introduce yourself, attempting to hide your nervousness.

Banks speaks up: "Look, the kid blew away this bastard right after an all-night convenience store was being robbed. The bastard made a sudden move, and the kid let him have it. The kid did all right, in my book".

You say, excuse me, but I need a statement from Officer Schmidt himself. You take Schmidt into a private office and he says: "I got this alarm call about 1:00 A.M., and as I approached, I dimmed my lights and coasted to the rear of the store. That's when I saw this guy come running out the back with a bag. I hollered for him to stop, but he turned real fast and looked like he was grabbing something inside his jacket, and that's when I shot him, three times I shot, and I guess I hit him all three times."

You say: "OK, did the man you shot rob the store?" And Schmidt says: "No, the store clerk said he was a frequent shoplifter, and he wanted us to catch him this time, so he turned on the alarm. The clerk's not supposed to do that unless it's an armed robbery".

You say: "OK, did the man you shot have a firearm or any other type of weapon on him?" And Schmidt says: "No, I didn't even find a pocket knife on him", and you begin to notice that Schmidt is perspiring and getting obviously upset.

After three hours of questioning and obtaining additional details, you excuse Schmidt and his sergeant. You know that according to department policy, Schmidt will be assigned to desk duty until this is cleared up. You review the circumstances and after a couple of days of holding off the media (who is calling for the prosecution of Officer Schmidt), you decide that the shooting was UNJUSTIFIED.

As you are typing up your report recommending DISMISSAL of officer Schmidt, Sergeant Banks comes into your office, still chewing what looks like the same cigar three days earlier, saying: "Well, what's it gonna be? What are you recommending?" You say: "I see it as an unjustified shooting. He should have made sure the man had a gun. I'm recommending dismissal".

Sergeant Banks becomes angry with you, calls you every name in the book, and storms out of your office. You begin to think that maybe you should be more lenient in your report. After all, the officer just did what he was trained to do, and you have doubts because you've never worked the street yourself.

QUESTIONS:
(1) What do you do? What is the right thing to recommend in this report?
(2) Why do you think your Lieutenant gave you this case?

SCENARIO #2: THE CUBAN-HATING SERGEANT
You are a rookie police officer with only three months experience, working the 4-12 shift in a Miami neighborhood with a large Cuban national population. You speak a little Spanish from the courses you took in college. Your field training officer is Sergeant West, a 29-year veteran who is one of those old-school cops with a high school education and can't speak anything other than broken English. He has one year left until retirement, and he is always talking about that. You notice, however, that Sergeant West is a little uncomfortable around people of other cultures. He has always worked the beach area for most of his career. Nevertheless, you are glad to be patrolling your beat, knowing that an experienced man like West in on patrol in the same area.

One night, you hear a radio call that Sergeant West is pulling somebody over for DUI, and the description of the suspect's car matches a known drug dealer in the area. A few minutes later, you hear Sergeant West yelling on his radio that he needs assistance. You arrive quickly, only being about six blocks away.

Upon arriving, you observe West hovering over two badly beaten Cuban men. He is holding his baton up over his head, threatening to strike the injured men again. You get out of your cruiser and help West put the men into the back of his cruiser.

"Damn Cubans", West says, "I told em to stop, but they kept coming at me, mumbling some Cuban gibberish. They both made sudden movements and I nailed the bastards".

You try to communicate with the Cubans, and find out that they were not drunk, but the driver had dropped a cigarette under the car seat, and that's why they were swerving. You also discover that Sergeant West took aggressive action as they were fumbling in their pockets for some ID and moved toward West to help clear the matter up.

The Cubans need medical attention, and you are wondering if maybe excessive force was used.

QUESTIONS:
(1) What do you do? Do you think excessive force was used? What do you say in your report? Do you think Sergeant West ought to be disciplined, punished, or referred for assistance?
(2) Do you think assigning Sergeant West to the Cuban neighborhood was an administrative mistake?

SCENARIO #3: FAMILY OR JOB?
It's 9:00 PM, and you're finally getting home from a long day's work in the burglary section of a detective division. You are a detective with seven years experience in police work, but you've only been a detective now for six months. Going into your house, you notice the pile of dishes in the sink. Suddenly, you remember your son's play tonite, and you forgot to call and inform your wife that you would be late. It's too late to go now. The play will be over by 9:30. You open a cold one, sit down in the easy chair, and relax, thinking about how you're going to apologize to your son.

Soon, you hear the family car coming into the driveway, and you go to the door to greet your wife and son. "Hi Daddy, how come you didn't go to my play", he says. You say, "Sorry, Billy, but this case I'm working on is really big. We've got thirty or so people on closed indictments already". You notice your wife isn't interested in hearing anything about the case.

"Honey, I'll make this up to you, as soon as this case is over, I promise", you say. Billy just walks upstairs to his room, saying "You always have to work late". Shortly after Billy has had time to fall asleep, your wife starts arguing with you. "You know, this is the last straw" she says. "We can't live like this anymore. I'm worried about Billy, and I'm sick of the way your work dominates our lives. It has come to the point that you're going to have to decide between your big important investigation or us. And that heavy drinking; it's gotta stop. I mean it this time. I'll take Billy and leave you. You decide. What's it gonna be, us or your job?"

QUESTIONS:
(1) What do you do? (Assume you cannot do anything about the fact you will work long hours)
(2) What sort of counseling, self-help, or stress program should the department have for you?

SCENARIO #4: THE BURNED-OUT LIEUTENANT
You are a young, college-educated police lieutenant in your twelvth year of police work. You are the "Accreditation Manager" for your department, and you are liked by your Police Chief. Accreditation for your Chief is an important thing. He has been promising the city council and the newspapers that yours will be the first of five departments in the state to receive accreditation. Rumor has it that the Chief plans to use this accomplishment to move-up to a Chief's job in a nearby, big city, and you know that Accreditation Managers always are looked upon as good replacements for vacant Police Chief positions.

Your problem is that you are burned out. You have been working on this accreditation thing now for over a year, and you are no further along than when you started. In fact, you think the department is going to hell in a handbasket. There seems to be an increase in disciplinary actions against employees, the crime statistics are looking worse, and morale is lower than ever. For example, one of the accreditation standards calls for an end to the rotating 10-days-on, 4-days-off cycle and the creation of a new 7-days-on, 3-days-off cycle, but most of the officers in the department feel the new shift rotation is a punitive order, and are resisting it with abuse of sick days. You are supposed to meet with the Chief in two weeks to discuss progress, but you also know you need to do something about the stress/morale problem in the department, and for your own stress.

QUESTIONS:
(1) What do you do? What will you do about the stress problems in yourself & the department?
(2) What kinds of stress or morale programs does the department need?

SCENARIO #5: THE SEXUALLY HARASSING LIEUTENANT
You are a 23-year old African-American female who has recently graduated from the police academy. As long as you can remember, you always wanted to be a police officer, despite voices of disapproval from your friends and family. You were hired under a one-year probationary period, and you have six months left to finish your probationary status. To date, your evaluations have been excellent, and you foresee no serious problems.

Your training officer is a middle-aged white male with some racial prejudices. He holds the rank of Lieutenant. He says to you: "You people have got it made these days. Being black and all, I mean. The department needs to hire minorities and you probably beat out a lot more qualified white guys. But, what the heck, you ain't so bad".

You acknowledge by shaking your head that you understand. You don't want to enter into any discussion of affirmative action, racism, or reverse discrimination, or any other topic that might make your training officer angry. But, you've got a knot in your stomach as you say quietly to yourself: "Yeah, I've got it made now".

A few weeks before your final evaluation is due, your training officer calls you in. "You wanted to see me" you ask. He says: "Yes, I've been looking over your performance ratings to see if we can catch any problems that haven't surfaced before we get to the end of your probationary period. I don't see anything serious, but I think we need to address a few items".

"You're a good person", he says, "well mannered, and you seem to have a future here", he states, while rising to close the office door behind you. "You know, if you play your cards right, you could go places in this department, maybe detective", he says, while placing his hands on your shoulders while standing behind your chair". "Well, I certainly do my best", you say.

"You know, I can pull a few strings for you to get things done, at least at work if not at home, if you know what I mean", he chuckles. "I'll be candid with you. I like you, and I think we can work something out here that will satisfy both our needs. We should get together tomorrow at my place and discuss your future in more detail and without interruptions. And, by the way, call me Jack".

"Yes sir, I mean...Jack", you stammer as you leave the office. Minutes later, you wonder what you've gotten yourself into. The policies and procedure manual states that all sexual harassment complaints are to be filed with the Chief, who just happens to be a close personal friend of this Lieutenant. You are wondering what to do.
QUESTIONS:
(1) What do you do? (Assume you cannot get out of meeting the Lieutenant at his home)
(2) What kind of sexual harassment policy does the department need?

Source: adapted and revised from Human Relations and Police Work (1997) by L. Miller & M. Braswell. Chicago: Waveland.

PRACTICUM #5: MORALE-BUILDING ASSIGNMENT
One of the things that can increase morale are well-designed bulletin boards. This assignment involves your working in groups (the entire class will be divided into two groups) to come up with ways to increase morale by redecorating some of the relatively unused bulletin boards that are easily found in the hallways of your academic institution.

Grading of the assignment will take place in two steps (that is, there are two grades for this assignment). First, your team will turn in a sheet of paper with all your names on it and drawings of what items, memos, brochures, or other material will go on  your bulletin board. Be sure you have a combination of aesthetics and functionality, colors, pictures, information, buy-ins, or whatever else you feel will increase morale. Pay close attention to item placement, measurement, and spacing. Remember to leave some room for passerbys to post their own stuff.

Second, after I have graded the sheets of paper, I will obtain from the school all the supplies you need to actually implement your written plans (or at least the doable parts). You're welcome to start collecting or creating the kinds of items you think should go on your board, but rest assured that I will make every effort to get you the items you request. Then, we will leave your finished projects up until the end of the semester, when I will measure the school's collective morale, and decide who's bulletin board had more of an influence in boosting morale.

Last updated: Sept. 29, 2006
Not an official webpage of APSU, copyright restrictions apply, see Megalinks in Criminal Justice
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