Editor’s Note: This week’s PoliceOne First Person essay is from PoliceOne MemberShawn Hill of the Santa Barbara (Calif.) Police Department. Hill writes that a Field Training Officer will be granted power and authority over a police trainee, and that those authorities will come in the form of Legitimate Power, Reward Power, Expert Power, and in some ways, Coercive Power. The final, and maybe most important, he says, is Referent Power. In PoliceOne “First Person” essays, our Members and Columnists candidly share their own unique view of the world. This is a platform from which individual officers can share their own personal insights on issues confronting cops today, as well as opinions, observations, and advice on living life behind the thin blue line. If you want to share your own perspective with other P1 Members, simply send us an e-mail with your story.
By Shawn Hill
Police1 Member
In understanding police management theory, it is necessary to define several different types of power when considering authorities possessed by supervisors and managers. Social psychologists John French and Bertram Raven provide us with descriptions of five power typologies which are often used for a basis of these definitions.
French and Raven defined the five basis of power as Legitimate, Coercive, Reward, Expert, and Referent.
All of these sources of authority can be seen in a microcosm in your department’s FTO program.
1.) Legitimate Power
This is generally seen in the department in the form of rank. An example would be the rank structure: Officers answer to Sergeants. Sergeants to Lieutenants, and so on. The Field Training Officer possesses Legitimate Power over his or her trainee. New officers in training follow day-to-day orders of FTOs.
The Legitimate Power the FTO has over the trainee ensures that the officer can protect the trainee, the department, and the citizens, while the new officer is training “on the job” ensuring that all laws, policies, and rights are followed.
2.) Coercive Power
This is often thought of when an Officer knows he or she will be disciplined if they do not comply with the supervisor’s wishes.
It can be argued that the FTO has coercive power over the trainee. In an FTO program, the trainee knows they might receive negative evaluations if they do not follow orders and meet expectations of the FTO. This could result in extension of the trainee’s phase, or in more severe cases, termination, if the trainee does not successfully pass the FTO program.
3.) Reward Power
This will generally equate to the number of resources a manager has at their discretion. These resources coupled with the capacity to disseminate the reward create a position capable of Reward Power. An example of Reward Power would be a Police Chief rewarding the employee of the month with a choice parking space at the department.
The FTO can also use Reward Power to motivate their trainee. A positive evaluation on the trainee’s Daily Observation Report would be an example of reward power. Another example might be, at the end of a shift, the FTO might decide to assist the trainee in completing a last minute traffic collision report.
The FTO would be rewarding the Officer in training by reducing their workload because the new Officer had performed well the entire shift.
4.) Expert Power
This is present when others in the organization recognize and acknowledge an employee’s expertise in a certain area. In general, FTOs will automatically possess some amount of Expert Power over their trainee. The trainee understands that the FTO designation is a result of the department acknowledging that the FTO has some expertise in being a patrol officer, or “street cop.”
The FTO will also be answering potentially dozens of questions a day from the trainee, further enhancing the FTOs Expert Power over the trainee.
5.) Referent Power
This is the final, and perhaps one of the most important of French and Raven’s Powers, as it relates to the Field Training Officer. Referent Power, according to French and Raven, is derived from personal qualities. It is the charisma a person has that makes another want to follow.
In law enforcement, Referent Power is often attributed to people who seem to intrinsically posses the values at the core of law enforcement ethics. People who possess Referent Power in Law Enforcement are often times described as honorable, fair, ethical, hardworking, and whose expectations are mimicked by their own efforts.
In combination with Legitimate, Coercive, Reward, and Expert Power, Referent Power can substantially increase your influence and effectiveness over a new Police Officer.
Attaining Referent Power is easier said than done. Legitimate power is bestowed upon you with your position, as is the authority of Reward Power, and Coercive Power. An individual who has the motivation and is given the opportunity can generally attain Expert Power. However, the people within your agency must bestow Referent Power upon you.
When addressing the subject of Referent Power, Lieutenant Bill Marazita, of the Santa Barbara Police Department, states:
Referent Power is the one power that begins from within someone, rather than a power that is granted to someone or learned. Since it embodies the core values of law enforcement, such as integrity, it is hopefully a power that all of us in law enforcement possess when we are hired.
Field Training Officers are entrusted with shaping new officers within the culture of their department. An FTO’s action must consistently demonstrate characteristics that strengthen their Referent Power within the department.
People in supervisory positions within law enforcement, who have Referent Power within their organization, are often seen by their subordinates and peers as fair, and willing to do anything they ask of their subordinates.
FTOs need to conduct themselves in the same manner in order to attain Referent Power, and create a training environment in which the new police officers want to emulate the FTO’s behavior, as opposed to completing tasks solely based on the FTOs legitimate power.
In The Compstat Paradigm: Management Accountability In Policing, Business, and The Public Sector, author Vincent Henry writes:
Referent Power derives from the personal qualities of the person who wields it. We are motivated to do something for such an individual simply because we respect and like him or her as a person. In police organizations, referent power is closely tied to the organizational culture-respect and admiration typically equate with police experience and with the extent to which an individual shows respect for other officers as well as for the police culture’s value system.
Conclusion
Field Training Officers are selected because the department sees characteristics in the FTO that closely match those with which the department desires to sustain in its culture.
By demonstrating these characteristics as an FTO, new officers are far more likely to want to emulate the behaviors of the FTOs that the department wants to sustain and promote, and therefore will allow the new Officers to be successful within the department.
About the Author
Shawn Hill studied English and Literature at Old Dominion University. He has served 14 years in Law Enforcement beginning with the Norfolk Police Department in Virginia, and is currently with the Santa Barbara Police Department in California. His assignments have included Patrol, Tactical Patrol Force, Special Investigations Detective, Narcotics Detective, and he is currently a Field Training Officer and SWAT Sniper. Shawn is California POST certified to teach Bicycle Patrol, FBI certified to teach Firearms and is an Instructor for the California District Attorneys Association.
References
Henry, Vincent E. The Compstat Paradigm: Management Accountability In Policing, Business And The Public Sector. Looseleaf Law Publications, Inc, 2011.Print
French, J.R.P., & Raven, B. (1959). The Bases of Social Power. In D. Cartwright & A. Zander (Eds.), Group dynamics. New York: Harper & Row.
