Research Methods in Criminal Justice - Essay Example

Section/# Precinct Commanders and Culpability With regards to the practice of reprimanding precinct commanders forthe actions of their officers, this author is in partial disagreement with such a practice. It appears as if this is an overly simplistic way to view the world and the actions taken by law enforcement personnel on a daily basis. Doubtless each and every department should be held accountable for their actions and the actions of their staff; however, individual personal responsibility should be extolled above that of the commander’s overall responsibility.

Although it is beyond question that making the commander ultimately responsible will serve to ensure that the commander himself/herself is extremely careful as to the fact that all regulations and protocol are followed down to the smallest detail, this also has a weakening effect on the level of change that the commander is able to institute as he/she is perennially concerned with the fact that he/she might be held responsible for one of the employees in their charge (Maxfield, 2011). In the way that the text described, the commander’s efficiency in handling the daily task load he/she is responsible for would likely be decreased by the paranoia that such a policy would necessarily instill.

A better manner of responsibility would include a healthy balance of the two. A situation in which the commander has to report for any wrongdoings of his/her officers concurrent with a high level of personal responsibility being instituted for the offending officer would likely be a far superior model. As such, it is the recommendation of this author that the proposed model be balanced in a way that both support ultimate responsibility of management while emphasizing traits of personal responsibility of the offending officer.

ReferenceMaxfield, M. (2011). Research methods for criminal justice and criminology. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Thomson Learning.