Gratuities to Police Officers - Essay Example

In the instant case, as the Chief of Police, it becomes my primary responsibility to uphold the above principles and set an example to my colleagues and subordinates. However, the owner of the restaurant has been operating in the city for the past 15 years and the free meals he offers to the police officers are a token of his appreciation for the efficient services they render and not a favor that the officers extract. In addition, he is also a personal friend of the mayor, my boss. Thus, it appears that the restaurant owner has been offering gratuities to the officers with the tacit knowledge of the mayor.

Under the present circumstances, where police corruption has become a threat to nations across the globe, as a responsible officer, I cannot tolerate the acceptance of gratuities in any form, especially when the criminal justice system is planning and implementing various policies for the prevention of corruption. Therefore, I will very politely refuse the offer of the restaurant owner. In addition, I will also request he not extend any such favor anymore to the officers of my department. I will also explain the situation to the mayor and apprise him of the policies that our department has on such issues.

On the other hand, I understand that my decision may hurt the bona fide intention of this man, and, hence, I will agree to accept some contribution from him for any facility or utility for the public visiting the police stations for any service such as building a rest room. However, before committing anything, I will discuss the issue in detail with my boss, the mayor. Thus, a liberal citizen’s contribution to the services we offer will ultimately revert to the benefit of the other citizens in the community.

The National Incident Management System (NIMS) provides the “national framework” for managing and supporting operations during any emergency, based on standardized incident management strategies (Emergency Operations Plan, 2013, p.8). The Incident Command System (ICS) is a standard command and control system as stipulated by NIMS for the “response at the scene of incident” (Local and Tribal NIMS Integration, n.d., p.8). An emergency Operations Plan (EOP), on the other hand, is a guide that contains the relevant guidelines to be followed “before, during, and after” an incident or emergency (Emergency Operations Plan, 2013, p.5). The Emergency Operations Center (EOC) serves as the “focal point” for managing information, making decisions, and providing support as well as “resource distribution” during emergencies (p.5).

Thus, it transpires that the NIMS, ICS, EOP, and EOC are the major components for the management of various operations during an emergency. NIMS prescribes a uniform standard and all the other components that work together during any major incident. While EOP is the set of policies to be formulated locally to counter any emergency, these will be based on the standards that NIMS prescribes, and the EOC and ICS execute the policies and procedures that the NIMS stipulate. Therefore, it can be construed that the activities of all these components are interrelated and mutually complementary to one another. These ingredients can be perceived as the essential parts of a single system, which has been instituted to respond to as well as manage various activities during an emergency. They, also work in alliance with various forces such as the military, police, fire services, etc for responding to national emergencies including natural calamities, terrorist attacks, or other major incidents that threaten the lives of citizens.