Discipline is more than punishment
To the editor:
After reading a local daily newspaper’s July 7 Editorial titled “Quick action on bad cops good policy,” I was motivated to respond on the current Lee County Sheriff’s comment of, “I believe what reassures the public is swift and sure discipline.” It reminded me of the old west adage, “We’ll give them a fair trial and then hang them.” That is a simple but telling statement that conveys the naive message that punishment is always the answer.
An important duty of a police executive is asset management – including human resources. Think about it for a moment. When an officer/deputy is hired, there is a substantial initial investment involving endless hours of training and other critical things that add up to thousands of taxpayer dollars. Short of a criminal act or a heinous violation of policy, it isn’t good sense to throw away that person if the behavior can be corrected.
If a law enforcement agency has a high number of discipline problems and/or a high number of terminations, wouldn’t that lead you to conclude there is a potential problem within the agency? Common sense says the problem is at the supervision or command level. It’s generally accurate that the true problem lies two or three ranks higher than from where the issue is stemming.
My suggestion is that instead of looking at the obvious negative behavior and reaching a snap (swift) decision on cause is to look at the department, it’s hiring practices, supervision, promotion, and discipline policies. Among other things, there should be a clearly written fair policy and due process for those accused of policy violations. Discipline should never be about personalities and “swiftness;” it should be fair and appropriate.
Discipline is more than punishment. There is positive and negative discipline. Negative discipline is the easiest way out…”You did this, your guilty and this is what you get.” Time off, reduction in rank, or termination are punishments. Some call this “swift and sure discipline” and do it because they have absolute power. This also tends to allow the person with such absolute power to have a group of insiders whom they protect from discipline. This eventually leads to high instances of negative “swift” discipline, demotions, and terminations. That is not good for the agency or the taxpayers and negatively impacts public perception and faith.”
Lee Bushong
Lehigh Acres