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Empowerment and Delegation

This assignment has two parts. In part 1, you will review scenarios and answer questions related to
empowerment for each person. In part 2, you will answer questions about empowerment and delegation.

Part 1: Scenarios
Read each scenario and answer the question that follow in at least 90 words in preparation for part 2.

Nancy Walters
Nancy is an administrative assistant in a prosecutor’s office. For most of her two years with the office, she
has served as a receptionist and a file clerk. She has been attending paralegal school for the past six
months. Noted for her satisfactory performance, especially as a multitasker, she has made an effort to
learn about the duties of other staff positions. Nancy has approached you, the chief prosecutor, about
wanting to take on other responsibilities she believes would provide her with more job satisfaction. She
specifically requests to help the assistant prosecutors put their case files together. Nancy believes she
can do this when there is little activity at the receptionist’s desk.

 Would you empower Nancy to take on additional responsibilities? Why? Yes, I would empower
Nancy to take on additional responsibilities. The reason for my answer is because she is
trained to do her job fully. Nancy has been taking classes for paralegal in which she is
qualified to take on other responsibilities such as helping assistant prosecutors with their
case files. Her multitasking skills let me know that she can handle the tasks at hand with no
problems. As the chief prosecutor, she seems to be very trustworthy and I believe that her
commitment would be genuine in addition to effective overall.

Richard Smyth
Some of the supervisors at the police department believe Richard has an “attitude problem.” He
constantly complains; however, sometimes he has legitimate points. He has been with the agency eight
years and does his job, but can’t keep his mouth in check. His superiors remember when he was very
active and performed at a very high level. He always comments negatively when one of the “young guns”
is promoted or receives a commendation for excellent work. A supervisor suggests to you, the patrol
division commander, that perhaps Richard needs a significant project or responsibility to pursue. The
supervisor argues Richard has the talent and experience to do just about anything. Perhaps showing a
little trust in him and focusing his energy away from criticizing others would help reduce his negativity.

 Would you empower Richard? Why? If yes, how would you identify an enterprise for him to
pursue? I am not a 100% sure with Richard’s attitude when it comes to other employees and
the fact that he always complains about every detail. For this reason, I would not empower
Richard Smith with an important project or responsibility to pursue. I believe that he is
trained and know the job because of how the bosses talk about his performance level when
he started, but because he has an attitude problem and is negative about a lot of things,
this leads me to think he is untrustworthy. As the patrol division commander, if I feel that
he is untrustworthy, then that means that I questions his commitment overall. And for that
reason, I don’t understand his values as an employee in general.

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Angie O’Reilly
Angie has been a patrol officer for three years. She has a strong desire to be a detective. While her only
formal training has been completion of the recruit academy, she has shown a willingness to follow up on
details for the investigative division. Her legwork in her free time on patrol has helped detectives who did
not have time to go out in the field. Currently, there are no open positions in the investigative division.

 Is there a way to empower Angie to take on more investigative responsibility? Yes, I believe there
is a way to empower Angie to take on more investigative responsibility. Since Angie is
passionate about being a detective and has took time out to help other detectives with their
duties, I would encourage her to keep doing her routine. I would let her know that she is
doing a great job and encourage her to be patient until there are open positions in the
investigative division. By praising her determination, she will be inspired to absorb and
grow, rather than to simply stay focused on the one or two things that come easy to her.

Steve Morris
You are the new police chief on a small college campus. Steve is the assistant police chief. You have four
sergeants, each supervising a patrol team of four officers. Most of the officers have college degrees. The
department is busy during the fall, less so in the spring, and very quiet during semester breaks and the
summer. You realize Steve is overloaded with administrative responsibilities. He creates work schedules,
reviews officer reports, hires and monitors student workers, maintains the property and evidence room,
keeps the log of incidents on campus for review by the media and the public, liaises with all the
fraternities and sororities, and conducts training. You need him to work on a comprehensive overhaul of
the campus parking plan, but he doesn’t seem to have the time.

 Is there a way empowerment and delegation can rectify this situation? Yes, there is a way
empowerment and delegation could solve this problem. Supervisors have responsibilities
that they must perform, but their main duty is to be effective in making sure that staff is
performing the tasks given to them to achieve for the association overall. In this scenario, I
would take some of Steve’s easier duties and give them to the officers that I feel are
capable of performing, so that he will have time to focus on the campus parking plan. For
example, reviewing officer reports, maintaining the property and evidence room are jobs
that these officers can perform. As the police chief, I would train and offer guidance for
these selected officers to be successful overall.

Part 2: Empowerment and Delegation in Criminal

Justice
Write a 700- to 1,400-word paper in which you discuss the following:
 Explain the process of empowerment and delegation in criminal justice organizations. Include the
role of trust related to delegation and empowerment.
 Analyze the implications of empowerment and delegation in a criminal justice organization. In what
ways does the organization benefit?
 Discuss whether employees in the scenarios are ready for empowerment. Incorporate your
responses to each scenario from part 1.

Include at least four peer-reviewed references.

Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines.

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Submit your assignment.

The process of empowerment and delegation in criminal justice organizations

The implication of empowerment implies an individual, group or an organization has the

self-motivation and desire to accomplish whatever they desire. The thought of having the power

to decide, and how to improve a situation or transaction will only promote self-confidence and

pride in what a person can accomplish. Implying empowerment not only promotes the idea of

improvement but directly leads to it. It enables in decision making, promotes a strong belief in

integrity, and empowers others to take risk (it does not mean taking a risk is foolish), and it gives

those most affected an input in the final outcome (Whisenand & Ferguson, 2005).

Delegating in an organization is a common practice that is used to teach and empower

subordinates in their jobs. Subordinates learn how to take on more responsibility and

accountability. This process works well in the criminal justice system as well as any other such

as the military. According to Whisenand & Ferguson, 2005, “Proper delegation frees up the

police organization to work faster and with less traditional hierarchy, and delegation is required

now more than ever to meet the challenges of managing police work successfully.” Delegation

does not relieve leaders of the responsibility of the job getting done. This is why it is sometimes

hard for leaders to delegate responsibility to subordinates. But, without this process a police

organization limits its full potential, and its future leaders through delegation. It takes a lot of

moral courage from leaders and a young officer to delegate and take on the responsibility,

respectively, effective delegation is two-way: responsibility given, responsibility received

(Whisenand & Ferguson, 2005). The beneficiaries of delegation are the leaders and mangers, the

staff, the organization, and the community (Whisenand & Ferguson, 2005).

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Role of Trust

In our personal lives, we often lose trust in a friend or perhaps even a loved one when

caught in a lie, or they do something wrong. In our workplace, this trust is much easier to lose,

and personnel issues are one of the primary areas where workplace relationships falter. William

Shakespeare once said, “Love all, trust few, and do wrong to none”. When we trust someone, we

have a valued interest in his or her person, or actions as a person. In the workplace, as a

supervisor, or leader, when a subordinate does wrong, not only do we lose trust in them, but also

disciplinary actions need to take place against them. It is in these moments that good leaders

instill good qualities in their people by providing feedback, explaining the wrongdoing, and how

to fix the issue at hand. When a subordinate truly feels they have let their boss down, he or she

will strive to earn that trust back and rise above the err in their ways.

Supervisors that deal with personnel issues are all too well versed in the difficulty in

choosing an appropriate disciplinary action and doling it out to their people. For example, in an

engine, an appropriate example would be the valves needing adjustment in order for the motor to

run perfectly. If the valves constantly need adjusting, you will no longer trust your engine to run

properly, or be reliable. At times, in a team setting, trust is lost when a subordinate does wrong.

“If there is not trust, it affects the entire organization, morale goes down, efficiency becomes an

issue, and quality of work can decline” (Peak, 2013). What needs to be done to earn the trust

back will be dependent on the individual supervisor, and the actions of the subordinate. There are

supervisors out there that will never trust a subordinate once they do wrong, of course being

dependent on the severity of wrong-doing. Trust and personnel issues do not mix. As a

subordinate, you cannot be trusted if you are constantly having personnel issues. From a

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leadership perspective, you are more likely to trust a subordinate that never has personnel issues.

Trust and empowerment go hand in hand in the workplace, and this relationship between the two

is dependent on the team dynamic and leadership style of the upper hierarchy.

The implications of empowerment and delegation in a criminal justice organization

Law enforcement officers are among some of the few individuals that have a direct

impact on a person’s life. While performing their duties, an officer can use discretion and decide

how or what is going to happen. The same thing goes for the supervisors and managers who

oversee those officers. “Empowering someone involves the opening of external command-and-

controls to include a person’s internal locus of control. Employees with an external locus tend to

see daily events as dictated by external circumstances and choices. Alternatively, those of an

inner locus harbor the belief that their actions have a direct effect on their outcomes.”

(Whisenand & McCain, 2014). Officers need to be able to feel that they can make their decisions

while performing everyday tasks. A department cannot spend a large amount of time

micromanaging its officers. Officers have the knowledge to work their way through situations

and problems. The department can set requirements for certain tasks and situations, but not every

situation will be the same. One officer may decide to do things differently than the next officer.

Empowering officers to use their knowledge and training to deal with certain situations allows

flexibility within a department. “Empowerment is enabling decision-making in others. Since

empowerment is cutting-edge stuff today, most police managers and supervisors are prone to cheer

its magic. In actual practice, however, they are fearful of really opening up and sharing their

decision-making authority” (Whisenand & McCain, 2014).

Are employees in the scenarios ready for empowerment

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“The four ingredients “powering” empowerment are: participation; delegation;

capitalization; and trust” (Whisenand & McCain, 2014). In scenario 1, Nancy Walters is ready

for empowerment. She is very qualified to do her job and as a bonus have been taking classes for

paralegal. In return, this gives her the qualifications needed to be able to aid the assistant

prosecutors overall. Because Nancy is efficient in doing more than one task at a time, this shows

that she will have no issues and not be overloaded with job duties. Since Nancy is trustworthy, it

is only right to empower her. In scenario 2, I chose not to empower Richard because he doesn’t

seem like he can be trusted. He complains about things and his bosses acknowledges that there

has been a decline in his performance over the years. He seems as if he is focused more on others

and lacking commitment. Instead of empowering him, I would micromanage him until I see

improvement. In scenario 3, Angie is ready for empowerment. She has already taken the

initiative to perform duties that are not hers because she has a passion to become a detective

someday. Because she is committed, I believe this is the main reason to empower her. In

scenario 4, I believe Steve is ready for empowerment because he doesn’t really need supervision

oversight. He seems to work independently, which in return gives the police chief the ability to

train other staff. As a result, this can help him feel reliable and accountable in achieving the tasks

in hand in a successful manner.

Conclusion

In conclusion, empowerment is the act of conferring legality or sanction or formal

warrant. When dealing with empowerment one has to deal with delegation and the four ways to

delegate are stewardship, gofer, dump, and micromanagement. Delegation is something one has

to work at; one is not born with it. Trust is a quality that people must earn from one another.

Trust is hard to earn, and ever so easy to lose. For this reason, delegation and empowerment must

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be utilized as a main tool when leading your staff. “It is a powerful way of diversifying a

person’s role, whilst keeping them fresh and motivated” ("Delegation and Empowerment: One of

the Key Factors to Individual and Team Growth", n.d.).

References

Delegation and Empowerment: One of the Key Factors to Individual and Team Growth.

Retrieved from https://www.educational-business-articles.com/delegation-and-

empowerment/

Peak, K. J. (2013). Justice Administration Police, Courts, and Corrections Management

(7th ed.). Pearson.

Whisenand, P., & Ferguson, R. (2005). The managing of police organizations (6th ed.).

Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall.

Whisenand, P., & McCain, J. (2014). Managing police organizations (8th ed.). Boston:

Pearson.

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