Effectively Communicating to Multiple Generations in Law Enforcement
Files
Date
2019
Authors
Fonseca, Donny
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas (LEMIT)
Abstract
Description
There is a lot of concern among departments when it comes to Millennials and how different they seem to be when they are introduced to the law enforcement profession. Some of the concerns are their ability to understand simple directions or what everyone else believes to be simple and clearly stated. Today’s workforce has four generations. The research conducted was to support that Millennials are not causing issues in the law enforcement profession. The research provided is to support that existing members of law enforcement must adapt to the changes that Millennials bring to the workforce in order to reduce stress caused by miscommunication or ineffective communication.
The information obtained through research is to help everyone understand that communication styles based on culture, values and morals in the law enforcement profession is changing. Communication is a necessary tool in police work among other skills. Currently, the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement mandates certain training like family violence, crisis intervention, cultural diversity and many others. This training is necessary to help officers recognize an event that is critical to their investigation. Officers must be able to clearly articulate what they want another officer to understand, regardless of which generational group they belong in. Each officer has their own expectations in how they want to be communicated with as well as how they interpret information. With communication being a key in the profession, it should be mandated that officers receive training in effective communication within a multigenerational workforce.
Keywords
Conflict of generations, Intergenerational Communication