I have to vent!

[Lupey]

Just got home from work and boy am I BULLS@#T! We have this peice of paper that is called a member development. It can either be a good piece of paper or a bad one. Well I got a bad one today. It will stay in my personnel (SP?) file for 6 months and then removed.

My dept is busy enough that we have 2 sections. One handles all the calls and gets all the information before putting it in the CAD system. Then it goes over to dispatch who sends out the calls.

Well I have been going rounds with our IT division. They are our Information Technology Dept and are responsible for all the computers, telephones and other electrical equipment in the building. Well they have become power hungry and have gone above and beyond the call of duty. They read pretty much everyones email and monitor everything done on the computers and the internet (I got written up in the past for looking at www.danielfaulkner.com as not being police related) Check out the site and tell me if it's not police related. Now I know about the privacy thing on the computer and emails but reading MOST of the emails. They took all the forms we use and switched them to read access only for us in communications. They are the only ones that can change fonts, line spacing, etc. It isn't that bad untill you type a memo and have it change fonts halfway thru because Info Tech screwed the form up. Then you can't do anything to fix it because you don't have the proper authority to make changes to the forms.

Since I have learned how much they make (excess of 50k a year) and how much free time they have to monitor us in communications, I expect a problem fixed ASAP. A 911 phone rattles it better be fixed by the end of the shift. The computers are acting "buggy" they will be fixed ASAP!

So Info Tech & I have gone rounds. So, one of the Info Tech guys calls on my shift because he locked his keys in his car. My depts policy is we only do it if there is a small child locked in the car. Since he is an employee I put the call into the computer. In the notes I put HAHA. To me it is funny as heck that he locked his keys in his car.

So this guy spends God only knows how many hours searching thru all the calls I have taken (hundreds since than) and gives me a bad page in my record for the next 6 months because of my HAHA comment on the call. So now I have a unsatisfactory letter in my records that states "on such an such date said member made Improper and unprofessional statements in the CAD screen"

I can understand why the turn around is so bad at my dept. Majority of it has nothing to do with the stress of the job. It is the office bulls@#t that people cant stand.

Well I have ranted enough. Sorry for the long rant but I am really in an uproar about this.

Thanks for letting me vent!

[MrJim911]

Makes me feel glad we don't have an IT department. :p LOL

[KYEMT325]

Well, next time follow department policy, and don't send anyone to help him out, tell him to call a locksmith or freeze to death, that's what I would do.

Our IT person (we have one person who does all of that) goes nuts because we downloaded realplayer on our computers so that we could listen to 911 calls on 911audio.com. So, he decides that he's taking away administrator rights on the computer to everyone but himself. So now, we put out a memo that if anyone gets locked out of the computer, they are to call him 24/7 and he WILL come into work and fix the problem or he will be written up. Considering we explained his "hissy fit" to the Chief and she supported our side "that it was good for training purposes and he had no business acting like a child", it worked out good for us, cause now we have the BEST version of realplayer on the computer and he STILL has to come in and fix any problems and we told him we don't want the administrator rights back :-)

[ladymoonlite]

Oh I feel like such a DRAGONLADY saying this, but I have to tell you I'd have had to have done something disciplinary in this case myself. The notes of a ticket are a part of a permanent record. I know it's funny that he locked his keys in his car, but saying what FEELS good will often get you into trouble!

I've had to discipline people for saying what they wanted to, but knew they shouldn't, over the air, in a comment or in a CAD message. I've often been told that the violator KNEW in advance that they would be disciplined and weighed the consequences, deciding they'd take the warning just to enjoy the moment of pleasure they got out of it. If you only do it once a year (our records are purged annually), it's never going to be more than a warning anyway, and if you're willing to do that, so be it.

Yours is called a "Member Development," ours is a "WEAL" - Weekly Employee Appraisal Log - entry. But either way, it's just to say "you shouldn't have done that, don't do it again" for documentation and training purposes. If the behavior doesn't repeat itself, it'll disappear. Don't sweat it! :mad:

[Lupey]

OHHH but the behavoir will continue! Screw them if they can't take a joke. Maybe I should write the same person up for a call I took from him. He called I answered the phone and he stated I want to report a crime. I knew it was him and asked what type he stated your ugly. Well thats a perm record to and last I checked it is acting unprofessional thus against our Op Procedures. Maybe I should also write the same person up that violates Op Procedures by running an illegal betting pool those football squares. No I don't sweat the small stuff. If you want to write me up for some stupid little BS thing, then go ahead. Just remember it when my turns comes!

[kels]

I sent you a PM.

[ladymoonlite]

Wow, I'm stunned. Are these all adults? Yeah, I'd have written him up for his violations too. I'm hear I'm known as the Dragonlady, but at least I'm CONSISTENTLY a Dragonlady!

[stein810]

All i can say is that i am with you brother. at the precinct i work at in detroit pd the morale has been low for quite some time. lately the supervisors think that the shift i work on is full of babies and has decided along with all the other sgt's that our morale wasnt low enough. so they continue to pick at everyone and write officers up... neg acr's etc... so needles to say for quite sometime i could really give 2 hoots. it seems like these supervisors have nothin else to do but make the job harder and nit pick at everything and everyone. definitly a morale booster, especially when it has been at its all time lowest!





Originally posted by Lupey
Just got home from work and boy am I BULLS@#T! We have this peice of paper that is called a member development. It can either be a good piece of paper or a bad one. Well I got a bad one today. It will stay in my personnel (SP?) file for 6 months and then removed.

My dept is busy enough that we have 2 sections. One handles all the calls and gets all the information before putting it in the CAD system. Then it goes over to dispatch who sends out the calls.

Well I have been going rounds with our IT division. They are our Information Technology Dept and are responsible for all the computers, telephones and other electrical equipment in the building. Well they have become power hungry and have gone above and beyond the call of duty. They read pretty much everyones email and monitor everything done on the computers and the internet (I got written up in the past for looking at www.danielfaulkner.com as not being police related) Check out the site and tell me if it's not police related. Now I know about the privacy thing on the computer and emails but reading MOST of the emails. They took all the forms we use and switched them to read access only for us in communications. They are the only ones that can change fonts, line spacing, etc. It isn't that bad untill you type a memo and have it change fonts halfway thru because Info Tech screwed the form up. Then you can't do anything to fix it because you don't have the proper authority to make changes to the forms.

Since I have learned how much they make (excess of 50k a year) and how much free time they have to monitor us in communications, I expect a problem fixed ASAP. A 911 phone rattles it better be fixed by the end of the shift. The computers are acting "buggy" they will be fixed ASAP!

So Info Tech & I have gone rounds. So, one of the Info Tech guys calls on my shift because he locked his keys in his car. My depts policy is we only do it if there is a small child locked in the car. Since he is an employee I put the call into the computer. In the notes I put HAHA. To me it is funny as heck that he locked his keys in his car.

So this guy spends God only knows how many hours searching thru all the calls I have taken (hundreds since than) and gives me a bad page in my record for the next 6 months because of my HAHA comment on the call. So now I have a unsatisfactory letter in my records that states "on such an such date said member made Improper and unprofessional statements in the CAD screen"

I can understand why the turn around is so bad at my dept. Majority of it has nothing to do with the stress of the job. It is the office bulls@#t that people cant stand.

Well I have ranted enough. Sorry for the long rant but I am really in an uproar about this.

Thanks for letting me vent!

[ladymoonlite]

Okay, you bring up a good point, stein810 - MORALE! What does everyone think really improves morale?

Managers are attending classes every day that all the money in the world won't keep employees - what will?

Incentives? What kind? and based on what behavior?

"Atta-boys"? Same questions...

One of our employees was recently given an award by our FD for a job well done on an EMD call. Rather than her co-workers saying, "Gee, nice job, you did good!" I heard them saying, "What did SHE do that I don't do every day?" (not to her face, of course). So can you say that awards help morale? They helped HERS, of course, but seemed to have knocked everyone elses DOWN!! :(

What SHOULD we be doing?

[MrJim911]

Money keeps me pretty settled, :D but it's a good and true point anyway. I think pay is an issue in MANY departments nationwide because there is such a difference in salaries.

Awards are a good idea as long as they are not handed out like candy on a weekly basis. An award for an EMD call? Did she deliver a breech baby or save the mayor with CPR? ;) EMD is used daily and the call would have to be pretty extraordinary for an award in my opinion.

I've gotten letters of appreciation before for doing an "outstanding" job that were for certain calls. But I've never gotten a "award".

I think good benefits, good equipment and open communication when it comes to making policy helps reduce stress which is key to keeping morale high. Just a good overall work environment helps.

[Basilbob]

Morale is only going to be as good as the person will allow it. You could give pay raises and incentives to some people every week, and they would still be unhappy. Some people just will not change their behavior or morale, no matter what is done for them.

I believe if you treat the person with respect and praise them for their work that is done, then you have the start for good morale in the deparment. Without these items, all other methods are useless. Before I came to my current position I was in a leadership role. I always tried to keep the room in a upbeat standings. I would do little things here and there to help keep things operating smoothly. I would sometimes even pick the tab up for lunch or a mid shift snack on the fly. My shift always seemed, to myself atleast, to run efficient and with little complaints from the officers or each other.

Being in a leadership role, sometimes you get caught up in the "Supervisor" aspect. When this happens you forget what it was like when you where the Rookie. This is a important thing that can not be lost or forgotten. It comes back to the golden rule "Treat others as you would like to be treated yourself." The thing that I have found that causes the biggest problems, is the perception of favortism. This is something no one can control but the individual with the issue.

As far as the original post on this board. Sounds like you have a severe communication problem between your center and your IT department. This by the way is not uncommon. You want this, they don't think you do. When people not experienced with our job and how we do it, JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND. The command staff needs to be a aware of this. Arrainge for them to shadow you one day. They may even have a idea to improve what you are doing. And you may provide them with some insite on how they handle the systems.

The comment may not have been the best thing to do, But I agree that a witten write up in your personal file is a little much. I probally would not have written anybody up. It would have been more like, "Listen Beaver, you know you should have not done that. Don't doing it again." Then I would have reminded the IT guy of the departments policy, and that he needs to relax. Then erased the comment from the system.

Everybody does things different, someplace a common medium needs to be found.

[MrJim911]

I agree with you to a certain extent Basil. I think there is a difference between morale and attitude. I think your first sentence should read more along the lines of attitudes will be what people make them. I think people will have a better attitude if the morale in the department is high. But at the same time morale will be better if attitudes are positive. One affects the other. But because of certain "environmental" conditions at work it may be hard for someone to keep a positive attitude regardless of how much effort they put into it. I read a quote once and it's stuck with me for many years.

"Attitudes are contagious, is yours worth catching?"

I ask myself that often...

What you do for your shift is great and no doubt improves attitude and morale. And luckily people at my agency do similar things. Taking turns paying for meals, etc... Hopefully actions, attitudes and ideas :idea: like that will become more widspread in PSAPS.

[ladymoonlite]

I think what we all need to realize is that not disciplining someone is just as bad, if not worse, for morale than too much discipline. You have the favoritism issue that Basilbob talked about, as well as the domino effect (if he can get away with that, I can get away with this, and so on and so on). How many of us have said in the past "I can't believe she got away with that!"

On the other hand, I find what my people appreciate the most is that their disciplinary actions are kept confidential. If anyone else knows that they were talked to about an issue, it's because they shared it, NOT because I did. In an issue involving more than one employee, the only thing I will tell the other employee is that "it's been handled."