                       ON TROUBLED WATERS:
             PROMOTION AND ADVANCEMENT IN THE 1990s

                               By

                       Ira Grossman, Ph.D.
                       Police Psychologist
                       (Private Practice)
                      San Diego, California

                               and

                       Jack Doherty, J.D.
                            Sergeant
                   Inspection and Control Unit
            San Diego, California, Police Department


     From the end of World War II to the mid-1970s, America
experienced extensive corporate and governmental growth. The
country expanded in unprecedented ways, providing opportunities
for promotion in most employment arenas, both to well-qualified
and minimally qualified individuals.

     The country's need for managers eventually outstripped its
supply, resulting in situations where many individuals were
promoted to levels beyond their capabilities. By the 1980s,
Yuppies--young, upwardly mobile professionals--epitomized
aggressive young workers running in the fast lane of advancement.
While the image of the Yuppies was being popularized, however,
the reality in America was that the standard of living and the
opportunities for promotion were declining.

     The illusion of increasing wealth was due, in part, to
increasing national credit and debt, as well as an increase in
the number of two-career families. In the past 2 decades, the
number of women contributing to the family income in order to
maintain the lifestyle of their parents has grown steadily.

IMPACT ON LAW ENFORCEMENT

     Within the law enforcement community, parallel trends have
been observed. Only a few years ago, the opportunity for
promotion and for selection to specialty assignments was high.
From the time recruits entered the police academy, they expected
to receive rapid promotions, as well as assignments to coveted
specialty positions, such as SWAT, detectives, and motorcycle
squads. These expectations became part of the belief system of
young officers.

     However, in the mid-1980s, growth in law enforcement
agencies began to stagnate. As with corporate America, the bulge
in middle-management law enforcement positions was recognized as
a drain on increasingly scarce financial revenues. The terms
"flattening" and "downsizing" crept into the vocabulary of many
law enforcement administrators who were forced to reduce the size
of their departments.

     An example of this phenomenon occurred in the San Diego
Police Department, which began to flatten its ranks in 1992. Two
upper-level management job classifications (commander and deputy
chief) were eliminated from the organizational structure. In
addition, 15 other management positions (2 captains and 13
lieutenants) were cut from the budget.

     Reductions similar to those noted above produce serious
repercussions for the current generation of officers. These
officers are less likely to benefit from promotions, despite
their well-established beliefs equating promotions with their
value to the agency and to their own sense of professional
competence. Even to those officers who are able to gain
perspective about the demographic and economic reasons governing
the stagnation of growth and mobility, the emotional impact
remains devastating.

     Unfortunately, the lack of upward mobility is frequently not
viewed as a matter of circumstance in society. To the contrary,
it is almost universally perceived as personal failure, a
betrayal of a system that has reneged on its promises, or both.

     To make matters worse, the impact of not being promoted
within the law enforcement community is literally "worn on the
sleeve." The paramilitary structure of law enforcement, with
stripes and bars on uniforms denoting rank, makes officers keenly
aware, on a daily basis, of their lack of promotion.

     Sadly, the opportunity for law enforcement officers to
advance will be reduced through the early part of the next
century. Those currently in positions of management are
relatively young. Combined with the difficult economy and current
population demographics, it is unlikely that many current
managers will leave their positions for outside opportunities or
be promoted to higher positions of authority within the
department. The effect of this situation on other officers is
profound, particularly because their expectations for promotion
have not, as yet, been altered.

IMPACT ON PERSONNEL

     Young police officers often revel in the exhilarating
environment of patrol work for the first 2 years of their
careers. During this time, they are financially well-rewarded in
comparison to others with similar educational backgrounds and
experience. Moreover, they are charged with enormous
responsibility and authority at the outset of their young
careers. Calls are answered with the knowledge and hope that
life-saving or crime-stopping activity may occur.

     After this initial period, however, young officers begin to
search for new ways to be challenged and to recapture the thrill
of the job. As soon as a department allows, most seek specialty
assignments or promotion. They believe that their hard work and
mastery of police skills will launch their careers in new   
directions.

     Failure for these young officers to advance begins a pattern
of repeated attempts at promotion or applications for specialty
assignments, followed by disappointment. Departmental managers
exacerbate the problem by continuing to encourage officers to
apply for career-enhancing positions. When they still are not
selected, supervisors often advise them to become more qualified
candidates through hard work and additional education.

     The positive side of this predicament is that officers are
forced to work harder to make themselves more marketable in the
workplace. This has become evident in the soaring educational
levels of patrol officers. Advanced degrees are now common at
supervisory and management levels. On the down side, higher
education has become so common that it no longer guarantees
promotion. Simply said, current economic conditions reduce the
number of opportunities for promotion, no matter how qualified
the individual.

     That law enforcement executives have not yet heard an outcry
from the ranks of peace officers should not come as a surprise.
Officers are trained to handle any physical or emotional crisis
without being personally affected. (1)

     However, the calm will not last forever. Repeated attempts
at promotion and the cumulative effects of failure in this
endeavor will lead to a host of personal and departmental ills.
For example, individual officers are likely to begin displaying
psychological dysfunction as a result of shame, guilt, anger, and
a sense of being betrayed. Family dysfunction can also be
expected.

     Burnout or stress disability are likely endpoints for some
of these officers. From an organizational perspective,
administrators should anticipate poor morale, lack of creativity,
and lack of commitment to management goals.

THE LAW ENFORCEMENT RESPONSE

     Unfortunately, the law enforcement community was not quick
to respond to its limited promotional capability. When it did
respond, it created specialty positions for the sole purpose of
providing advancement opportunities to officers. In fact, there
has been an explosion of new specialties, including bicycle
squads, K-9 and gang units, and interagency task forces. One
major law enforcement agency now has 60 specialty assignments. As
one police chief observed, "Specialties are multiplying like
rabbits." (2)

     While specialty programs can be extremely valuable, agencies
are coming to realize that these programs have limits. All such
programs draw resources from the core work of the agency and
sometimes survive more on their popularity than on an objective
assessment of their worth. This means that agencies that
previously had the luxury of holding out promotional and special
assignment opportunities to young officers as a means to 
encourage excellent performance will have to develop other
mechanisms for rewards.

POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS

     How, then, should law enforcement agencies proceed?  First,
administrators should level with their officers. Using an
organizational chart, they should indicate how many job openings,
whether through retirements or the creation of new positions, the
agency can expect in the next 5 to 10 years. Police
administrators should then calculate officers' probabilities of
advancement through promotion and describe precisely what
factors, such as additional education and prior experience, will
impact the possibility of promotion.

     Second, agencies should be prepared not only to use but also
to expand existing psychological services. Dealing with
unrealistic expectations and disappointments falls squarely in
the discipline of psychology. Psychologists can help younger
officers to adjust their expectation levels and to redefine
success for officers already affected by this difficult
situation. Law enforcement executives should consult with police
psychologists to develop agency-wide programs and policies to
alter old and ill-fated beliefs about measures of success.

     Third, agencies can experiment with new ways to acknowledge  
officers and provide them with a sense of growth and
accomplishment. This is especially important in paramilitary
organizations, such as law enforcement, where officers typically
have little control over their futures and little say in how
their agencies are run. In paramilitary agencies, when ample
opportunity for promotion exists, officers' sense of ownership
stems from the possibility of being promoted to a position where
their ideas and goals might be implemented. Fewer prospects for
promotion, however, are likely to breed a cadre of officers who
feel alienated within their own departments.

     One way to alleviate these feelings of alienation is to
create programs that allow officers at all levels to participate
in the decisionmaking, growth, development, and operation of
their agencies. This, in turn, produces a sense of ownership,
loyalty, and commitment to the agency. It gives officers more
authority, more autonomy, and a greater influence in the
communities they serve.

POSSIBLE PROGRAMS

     There are several programs that positively influence
officers'self-worth in this era of declining promotional
opportunities. These programs include community-based policing,
problem-oriented policing (POP), self-managing work teams,
progressive salary schedules, officer-selected assignments,
take-home patrol cars, and career counseling.

Community-Based Policing

     Community-based policing involves police officers working in
partnership with the community and other governmental agencies to 
reduce crime and improve community safety. Agencies using this  
approach have found officers gain tremendous satisfaction from
this type of interaction with community members.

     This should come as no surprise to those involved in law     
enforcement. Individuals are often drawn to law enforcement
careers because of their desire to interact with various kinds of
people. In community-based policing, officers have the
opportunity to interact with citizens who both appreciate and
value their efforts. Recognition for their efforts and successes
is realized directly.

Problem-Oriented Policing

     Problem-oriented policing--often used in conjunction with    
other community-based approaches--allows officers to focus on
identified community problems and to use a variety of resources
to reach solutions. By using POP strategies, patrol officers can
become managers and facilitators of community action. They can
develop and use a range of skills infrequently employed in
conventional police situations.

     The POP approach appeals to another personality trait
frequently seen in peace officers--solving problems efficiently
and witnessing firsthand the results of their efforts. Police
officers value the opportunity to use skills and personal
attributes that are congruent with their personality styles.
Ongoing challenges and opportunities to solve problems serve as
energizers and provide a sense of challenge and accomplishment to
officers. Levels of personal satisfaction, which is so critical
to job satisfaction, are high in these situations.

Self-Managing Work Teams

     The concept of self-managing work teams acknowledges
officers as professionals capable of managing their own work.
"Over the shoulder" supervision is reduced in this type of work
environment, with supervisors more often acting as coaches and
advisors rather than as evaluators and disciplinarians. It gives
officers much more latitude in their daily work tasks.

Progressive Salary Schedules

     In most law enforcement agencies, patrol officers hit their
top pay level after 3 to 5 years. The only way to increase their
salaries is to be promoted.

     Progressive salary schedules acknowledge that highly capable
workers are not intrinsically worth less than supervisors. Salary
ranges overlap, allowing the pay of certain employees to equal or
exceed the pay of some supervisors.

Officer-Selected Assignments

     In traditional police settings, calls for service are
assigned first by urgency, then by order of receipt. In larger
communities, this often results in officers continually
responding to radio calls throughout the jurisdiction, rather
than spending time on their beats.

     An officer-selected assignment program allows officers with
computerized dispatching and display terminals in their patrol
vehicles to select the radio calls to which they would like to
respond. While urgent calls can still be dispatched, the ability
of officers to choose their non-urgent assignments enhances their
sense of control over work and allows them to continue
strengthening their ties with the citizens living in their beat
areas.

Take-Home Patrol Cars

     Patrol vehicles are notorious for getting hard use and poor
treatment. However, agencies that allow officers to take patrol
cars home see a remarkable transformation. Because officers take
great pride in the vehicles, the vehicles are cleaner and better
maintained.

     Cars represent a status symbol for officers. Allowing patrol
officers with more than 5 years' field experience to take the
vehicles home results in an immediate upswing in employee morale.

Career Counseling

     Career counseling is designed to help officers focus
realistically on their careers. Recruits should receive
information about the counseling program at the police academy,
and they should have a one-on-one session with a career counselor
after they complete field training. All subsequent visits should
be voluntary.

     Career counseling programs help officers to understand
better their abilities and opportunities, as well as what steps
they might take to move their careers in a positive direction.
These programs are also helpful in developing a talent inventory
for the agency. Most important, career counseling programs can
send a message to the officers that they are valued as unique
individuals, not just as bodies that walk a beat or answer radio
calls.

CONCLUSION

     It is incumbent upon law enforcement executives and others
who influence both short-and long-term organizational goals to
recognize the growing frustration of officers in terms of their
inability to be recognized through the promotional process for
their skills and hard work. Furthermore, it is critical that law
enforcement administrators value the professionalism of their
officers. In this context, pride, sense of growth, and feelings
of achievement are factors that must be considered.

     Officers must not perceive that only promotions equate to
success. Rather, they should equate success with meeting
challenges, continuing to learn their craft, and making positive
contributions to their departments, communities, and families.
These values, when fostered by the organization, promote
satisfied officers and a sense of well-being in the workforce.


ENDNOTES

     (1)  F. Stillman, "The Invisible Victims: Myths and
Realities," Psychological Services for Law Enforcement
(Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of
Investigation, 1986), 143-146.

     (2)  N. Stamper, Organizational Audit and Agenda for Reform
(San Diego, California: San Diego Police Department, 1991).
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