City of Littleton
OEC Police Department Management Study

Leadership & Organizational Climate
Portions of pages 33 – 35 | August, 2006
The format was changed to make the quoted sections easier to read.

According to the information gathered by OEC, the organizational climate is not healthy. There is widespread distrust and fear of the top leadership of the organization. Employees indicated they have lost confidence, trust and respect of their top leaders.

While OEC heard many examples of incidents and decisions that led to this belief, it was not within OEC’s scope of work to conduct an investigation of them. Accordingly, OEC makes no independent determination of the accuracy of any of the examples cited.

Whether the examples are accurate, exaggerated or misperceived, this is the number one issue confronting the Department.

The rank and file stated there are other significant issues that require resolution, which are reported elsewhere in this report, but they indicate that the leadership and organizational climate issues should be addressed first.

OEC reported this to the Chief, the project manager Assistant City Manager, and to the City Manager in early May.

As a result, OEC’s scope of work was modified and OEC was asked to clarify the issue, and determine if there was a willingness on the part of the organization to participate in a problem solving approach.

OEC completed that work and a full oral report was delivered to the City Manager, the Chief of Police, and to the Assistant City Manager in June.
Essentially OEC reported that there is a conditional willingness in the organization at all levels to address organizational and operational issues using a problem solving approach with a strategic management design.

However, they stated the primary issue of the loss of confidence, trust and respect is not appropriate in that forum. Other issues discussed elsewhere are for the most part candidates for problem solving using a strategic management approach.

Confidence, trust, and respect are fragile commodities that are easy to lose,
and difficult to gain

While it has not been unusual to hear about organizational climate and leadership concerns expressed during other OEC police service studies, the perception of Littleton police employees is a much higher level of dissatisfaction than generally seen.

Confidence, trust, and respect are fragile commodities that are easy to lose, and difficult to gain – especially in the police environment where employees at all ranks count on their leaders for support, discipline, backing, fairness, praise and value.

As a side note, one of the most surprising things is that initiatives, policies and procedures implemented by the Chief and the Department which were intended to increase fairness and quality decision making, and produce a smoothly run, coordinated and contemporary organization are not having the intended impact. In some cases, the perceptions are just the opposite.

There is widespread distrust and fear of the top leadership of the organization.

As an example, the Department has a heavily structured disciplinary process that clearly spells out punishment and requires posting of the outcome of internal investigations and any discipline imposed.

The Chief intended to make the process fair, unbiased, predictable, and consistent. However, a surprising majority of Littleton employees still see the disciplinary process as unfair, biased, inconsistent and onerous.

Another example is the CALEA process. The Chief and Commanders intended this accreditation process to be a mechanism to improve the Department.
Many of the Department employees view it as a tremendous drain on resources citing that it took the Department several years to complete what others do in a year or two, and that it continues today to be a substantial drain on resources. They also contend that in the end it has had few desirable benefits. Some stated that “the only thing CALEA did for us is to take things away”.

As a last example, many senior Department employees believe other police professionals viewed the Littleton Police Department of a decade ago as “the premier Department of the Front Range”.

Employees no longer have this positive self image, and believe other law enforcement professionals no longer hold them in high esteem.

One would think that an agency which has gone out of its way to implement what is generally considered in the business, very modern approaches such as CALEA accreditation, a Community Outreach unit and Traffic unit, as well as a number of best practices procedures and policies would be viewed by its members with pride and by others as a Department worthy of emulation.

The dynamic created by the loss of confidence, trust and respect may very well be responsible for the vast majority of its members viewing the Department in less than favorable light. If the issue of confidence, trust and respect can be resolved, the organization as a whole will improve its view of itself.

Leaders in the organization may be able to regain some the ground they have lost in the eyes of their employees, but it certainly will require a new business model and an absolute commitment.

If the issue of confidence, trust and respect can be resolved, the organization as a whole will improve its view of itself.

Continuing to lead the organization using the style and approaches of the past will not produce new results, and will only further exacerbate an already tumultuous condition.

Perhaps starting with team building and then instituting a “strategic management” approach as described in the next section might be beneficial.
However, OEC must point out that employees may see it as “too little to late.”

To read the entire Police Management Study:
www.littletongov.org/police/files/MgmtStudy2006.pdf