Five steps are involved in the grievance process. To begin with, a member is expected to present his or her grievance to his or her immediate supervisor within five days since the event that gave rise to the occurrence of the grievance first took place. The notification given is supposed to be informal and should be made known verbally. The supervisor is expected to acknowledge the notice verbally as well. The second step involves writing in words any grievance that cannot be satisfactorily settled in the first step. This is done by the member who then takes the matter to the division commander. Once the answer has been received, the grievance is then taken to the division commander within five days. The division commander is then expected to decide the grievance within five working days.
If a grievance has not been satisfactorily settled in the second step, the member is expected to forward the grievance in writing to the Chief of police. The chief of police then makes his or her decision concerning the grievance within five days. The city manager takes the issue of grievance from the Chief of Police should he or she be unable to handle the issue within five days. The city manager responds in writing within ten working days. If the grievant is not satisfied with the decision made in the fourth step, the issue becomes subject to arbitration (Charles et al, 2012). An arbiter is selected as soon as possible in line with the rules of American Arbitration Association. The decision of the arbiter which is final and binding to both parties is made within fifteen days.
Police leaders can take several actions to limit the number of job actions by uniformed officers. They can assess the environment and decide on a course of action to be implemented. The management and the union should try as much as possible to take joint action. However, a union leadership should take caution not to rely too much on the management because this may lower its credibility. Negotiations should be allowed to meet the expectations of militant unions.
City officials should be capable of engaging in collective bargaining. Transmission of messages between police agencies and the union should be through formal and informal networks. This enables good labor relations to be retained through a timely and accurate sharing of information. Misinformation and lack of information should not be allowed to create barriers and build distance (Charles et al, 2012). A meeting with union leaders should be held from time to time to enhance the implementation of labor relations programs. This has the effect of allowing new networks to thrive.
A contingency plan should be put in place before the occurrence of any job action. For instance, a plan to protect the properties of non-strikers should be implemented before the occurrence of a strike. Joint action is separate police departments should be well coordinated. The minimum levels of supplies and personnel should be determined. The public reaction should be anticipated well in advance. Some of the things that the management should assess in an attempt to determine possibility of various job actions include the strengths, philosophies, capabilities and weaknesses of the union (Konrad, 2008). Moreover, a thorough knowledge of union’s financial resources would help determine the kind of actions that the union is likely to take. An overstatement of the union’s resources would be appropriate to help the management to be fully equipped.
The line-item budget is the basic system through which all other budget formats are based due to its excellence. In this kind of budget, every amount requested and appropriated is associated with a particular item which appears as a separate line in the budget. A line budget has several advantages. First of all, it utilizes a very simple format. It is easy to understand and prepare. Also, all class of items is controlled. It also gives a focus on controlling expenditures.
The line budget has its demerits. Once an item becomes a line in the budget, it remains there indefinitely. It also has got no specific measurable goals by which police can accomplish their tasks. It has no program structure. It does not take into account long-range planning.
A program budget defines the kind of services to be provided in each department. The police use a program budget as a planning tool to link expenditure for each program. It has three components namely a line item budget for control purposes, a program structure, and the attachment of goals to each program (Charles et al, 2012). This budget has a major advantage in helping police achieve broad goals. It is also an excellent management tool for police chiefs. It is also easy to explain to the general public. However, it requires so much work to be implemented. Finally, there is the performance budget which emphasizes results. Performance measurement indicators are used to measure results. However, what is mostly measured could be easy and not necessarily important.
References
Charles, R. S., Territo, L. & Taylor, W. R. (2012). Police Administration: Structures, Processes and Behavior, 8th Ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall Publishing Co. Pearson.
Konrad, W. (2008). Career Planning and Development. New York, NY: Arcade Publishing.