In this unit, we learned how effective communication is vital to criminal justice leadership. Now, consider the alternative. For this discussion, share a situation in which a lack of communication led to failures in leadership or failures in criminal justice workplace success. Identify the breakdown in communication and the result. Do you think the aftermath of the (correction or lesson learned) was sufficient? What would you do differently? You may base the situations on your own experience, what you have witnessed, or what you have heard or read (substantiated—not conjecture or rumor).
REPLY TO MY CLASSMATE’S POST. EXPLAINING WHY YOU AGREE WITH HIS POST TO THE ABOVE DISCUSSION (A MINIMUM OF 150 WORDS EACH)
CLASSMATE’S POST
Effective communication has been a constant theme in my career over the years. It’s difficult to select only one example in which the lack of communication resulted in a failure in a criminal justice workplace. I do have to clarify that almost every time this occurs there is corrected measures implemented which only betters the agency.
Working in the counter drug world the threat and or potential for violence had increased over the years. As the threats have changed so has the need for better safety equipment (body armor). The agency implemented changes to our body armor almost instantaneously to mitigate the potential damage if a person was shot. This capability rolled out so quickly that leadership, specifically in the managers world failed to communicate the issues encountered in the field to administrators. Working in a maritime environment it was made clear in the early stages that if an officer were to fall into the water, he or she would be severely compromised as the new body armor weighed 50+lbs. Anyone that was an average to a poor swimmer would almost certainly fail to maintain buoyancy. After a couple of incidents and almost casualties, first line supervisors and managers were coming up with solutions to mitigate while not communicating to administrators. All the time administrators were proudly discussing our new capabilities to those equal in other agencies. Eventually after many of the failed attempts to correct the issue leadership was made aware. The corrective action was immediate, which was to not wear the body armor until there were solutions implemented. All the after-action reports showed that not only did managers fail to communicate the issues, but administrators as well knew of the potential issues. The flow of communication was poor at best between all levels. There were numerous debriefs between all levels as to where the breakdown occurred and since this incident there are more conversations when new capabilities were introduced into the criminal justice workplace. In the end our officers wore a pouch which had a flotation device in a bag, which attached to their gun belt, so anytime the devices were submerged flotation devices were deployed providing positive to neutral buoyance.
The agency I was with during the time escaped potential injuries and or death of the employees. The positive note is that since this communication breakdown all the officers currently wear proper lifesaving equipment.
