Directions: Answer in about a full page double-spaced. Read case and answer question What requisites of sound disciplinary policy may Jones not understand that may be leading to the officers’ appeals?
Making Enemies Fast: The “ Misunderstood” Disciplinarian Sgt. Jerold Jones does not understand why his officers appeal all of his disciplinary recommen-dations. He takes matters of discipline seriously; it commonly takes him three to four weeks to in-vestigate minor matters— three to four times longer than other supervisors. Jones believes that by doing so, he shows great concern for his offi-cers and, in fact, does not even question the offi-cers about their behavior until the investigation is nearly complete and he has interviewed everyone involved in the matter. Jones decides to speak to his officers about the matter. He is surprised when they tell him that they do not trust him. Indeed, they fail to understand why so much time is needed for him to investigate the minor incidents. They believe that he is being secretive and is always looking for ways to find fault with their perform-ance. Jones argues that his recommendations are consistent with those of other sergeants and pro-vides some examples of similar cases that were handled by various supervisors. Apparently un-convinced by Jones’s argument, the next day an officer appeals one of Jones’s disciplinary recom-mendations concerning a minor traffic accident.
