Assignment: Composing an Electronic Memo

I had to create a solution to a fake scenario in this assignment. There is a trigger warning that this does talk about sexual harassment. I also do not support officers who engage in these behaviors and only had this memo play out this way for the benefit of the assignment to show the proper management that would work out of the three options. I firmly believe that any individual caught driving drunk or engaging in sexual harassment should face the consequences of their actions.

Date: January 15, 2023

To: Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office Sheriff

From: Ella Dorman

RE: Alcohol use while on duty and sexual harassment

Priority: Urgent

Santa Fe, New Mexico Sheriff’s Office Sheriff,

It has been brought to my attention that several officers are operating your cruisers while under the influence of alcohol. This has resulted in their cruisers causing public damage and misconduct out in the field. I have received several complaints from our community about inappropriate behaviors from our officers, such as sexual harassment and slurring words during interactions with your officers. The stakeholders in this situation are investors, employees, local governments, and the community we serve. Although these officers make up a small fraction of our department, your whole department will be feeling the repercussions of their actions if you do not act swiftly (Fernando, 2022.)

According to our standard operating procedures (SOP), our employees are prohibited from the consumption of alcoholic beverages while they are on duty. While it states that an officer in plain clothes while on duty is allowed to consume alcoholic beverages with the consent of their commanding officer (provided it is necessary for the mission), I have been informed that this was not the case in these situations. Our SOP also states that these officers are prohibited from attending work while under the influence. Each deputy must assess their suitability for duty in an emergency if they have ingested alcohol. A supervisor will be contacted and requested to affirm or disagree, as necessary, with the deputy’s analysis of the situation. Suppose a deputy declares or is informed by a supervisor that they cannot perform their duties during an emergency recall. In that case, they shall not be subject to any negative consequences (Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office, 2022.)

Their behaviors go against the SOP, which has created an ethical issue within our department and community. These actions have discredited our department and our officers. Several community members have expressed that the sexual misconduct has caused them not to want to engage with our officers and will avoid them at all costs. The other officers have also expressed that they do not want to be partnered with these officers because they are putting their lives at risk, as well as the lives of those within the community. Safety is always a top priority, and it is never acceptable to ignore the possibility of injury. All employees, including those without supervisory responsibilities, have an obligation to act if someone is intoxicated and working in a position where he or she could harm oneself or others (Dye, 2023.)

In the future, our officers must engage in these behaviors off the clock and not in their uniforms. They also need to control their behaviors while engaging in these activities because while they are not on the clock, they are the face of the department, and their actions reflect how we conduct our department. However, sexual harassment is never acceptable and should cease immediately. When approaching our officers, I recommend that you focus on your conflict management by using a location with minimal distractions that feels relaxed so that you and your officer can work one on one to find the underlying issues that the officer is dealing with that are leading to their drinking on the job as well as explain the dangers they have put others in and the fear they have instilled in the community with the sexual comments. This meeting needs to be done verbally to summarize the conflict at hand, followed by a probationary signed agreement between the department and these officers.

Our officers might comprehend the complaint and how the incident has impacted the community or agency if we summarize the conflict verbally. This could help start a productive dialogue that results in a solution (Herrity, 2021.) During this time, it is encouraged to encourage our officers to use “I” statements when explaining why they are engaging in the behavior and how they feel about the situation. When managing this conflict, encouraging open communication helps our officers feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and worries. Reaching a mutually beneficial agreement might be facilitated by allowing our officers to speak during the dialogue or soliciting their opinion (Herrity, 2021.) It is essential that you meet with our officers rather than email them about this pressing matter.

According to the lawyers in the case, they found that the officers were engaging in illegal activity. They concluded that the officers engaged in sexual harassment based on a dash camera the victim had running in her car. According to 10 U.S. Code § 1561, the officers had conducted unwelcome sexual advances and repeated offensive comments and gestures (Cornell Law School, 2023) toward three women and two openly gay men. They have also concluded that the officers were drinking under the influence based on the alcohol content in their bloodstream upon arriving at the hospital after several accidents they had caused. Their blood alcohol concentration (BAC) was at 0.08%, which, based on New Mexico laws, these officers should have their driver’s license revoked (Hanson, 2022.)

Since this is the first offense, the officers are facing fines. The fines they face are the BAC fee, which is sixty-five dollars, and up to five hundred dollars (Hanson, 2022). Since this has resulted in minor community destruction, they will be subject to community service and be on leave until the costs of those damages are worked off. Since the women and men who were sexually harassed are not pressing charges, they have asked that your department provide sexual harassment training through the AJ Novick Group, Inc. This will help mitigate future liabilities for sexual harassment (AJ Novick Group, Inc., 2023.)

Should these violations continue to occur, there will be immediate sanctions on our department which will result in the firing of the officers as well as the chain of command should he/she not make every attempt to train our officers in sexual harassment awareness and how to avoid these situations in the future. Should the officers in question return from their leave and continue to engage in these behaviors, they can expect immediate termination. For this situation, I am focusing on the collaborative approach to create a win-win situation for the department and the officers in question. They keep their jobs, whereas the department shows the community they are taking this problem seriously. Concentrating their arguments on issues rather than persons helps the officers, department, and community develop a long-lasting, trust-based relationship (Allen and Sawhney, 2023.)

I am using this strategy because the bond between the department and the community is the main focus. These issues caused a lot of strain between the two, and we need to show the community that we are taking every action possible to right our officers’ wrongs. Other strategies that I did not choose are accommodating or compromising. I did not select the accommodating strategy because this does not focus on long-term relationships, and I did not select the compromising strategy because this shows that I am only trying to find a solution and not solving the issue at hand (Allen and Sawhney, 2023.) As the administrator, I will ensure that the officers complete their community service by requiring a copy of the signed community service log and that they meet the required sexual harassment training to ensure that this ethical dilemma does not continue within our department. If they do not comply, they will be immediately terminated to secure the bond between the community and our department is mended.