First-Line Supervision: The Role of the Sergeant Part One
| Author | Cathy Currie |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X8806100404 |
| Date | 01 October 1988 |
| Published date | 01 October 1988 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
DR
CATHY
CURRIE
Formerly
a/the
Centre/or Police Studies, University
of
Strathclyde, now
a/the
Institute a/Criminology, Victoria. University a/Wellington,
New
Zealand.
FIRST-LINE SUPERVISION:
THE ROLE OF THE SERGEANT
PART ONE
This article forms part
of
an ESRC Report, "A Study
of
Divisional Police
Management", based on two years observational study of management
within a Scottish force.
There was a total of 4 7 sergeantson division in theforce. They were
distributed throughout the force area as follows:
"Z"
Division
IPortland sub-division: 8sergeants
2 Falton sub-division: 7sergeants
3Limewold sub-division: 5sergeants
"Y"
Division
1Bereton sub-division: IS sergeants
2Kirkwell sub-division: 12 sergeants
This distribution shows that first-line supervision is more centralised in
"y"
Division:
Before examining the sergeants' perceptions
of
their role and any
similarities in those perceptions, it is interesting to note the differences
percei vedby sergeants inrelation to policing,based solely on the sergeant's
geographical location within the force area.
Due to the size of the force area, it is no surprise that the sergeants
working in the outlying areas felt a sense of isolation from the rest
of
the
force. The problem
of
distance away.from force headquarters in Portland
meant that the officers in the outlying sections of the force had little face
to face contact with force personnel out with their own sub-division on a
regular basis. The only time an officer from these sections would have to
travel to divisional headquarters would be:
1 To lock up a prisoner
2 To attend court
3 For the repair of vehicles or equipment
312 October 1988
4 To deliver urgent mail/documents/ productions,etc.
5 To be counselled
6 At the specific request of a
'boss'.
In some sections, such occasions arrived infrequently. As a result, there
was a sense of geographical isolation in these areas - isolation from the rest
of the force and even the rest of the division; isolation from the 'bosses'
and therefore the policymakers. Such was the feeling of isolation among
these sergeants that they described being made to feel like 'country
cousins' on their rare visits to divisional headquarters. As one sergeant
described it:
"I hate going into divisional headquarters. They think I should
have heather growing out of my ears ." I come in to divisional
headquartersas little as possible. I try to stay away -
don't
write that
down!"
This sense of geographical isolation from the rest of the force was very
apparent. During the research in Limewold sub-division, lots of stories
were recounted again and again about officers from
"Y"
Division having
to consultmaps to find out how to get to small towns in the north. One oft-
cited tale was of a controller at headquarters in Portland who asked a
Limewold constable to "nip into Portland" to pick up something and was
stunned when told that at that time of the year it would take the constable
at least an hour to get there and an hour back! Several incidents occurred
during the research period in Limewoldsub-division which illustrated this
sense of isolation, one will serve as an example. During a back shift with
asergeant in an outlying section station, the sergeant required to go into
headquarters to have some equipment repaired and order some new items.
For the sergeantit was arare visit. A verbal exchangebetween the sergeant
and a senior officer, however, served to reinforce the sergeant'sbeliefthat
they worked in isolation to the rest of the division:
3p.m.•HQ: Aseniorofficercame in to tell the sergeant about a road
traffic accident
ac
, that he 'Shouldbe heading out there. The
sergeant told him that it wasn't his concern since was not
covered by his section!
The problems for the police in the outlying sections, the sergeants felt,
were misunderstood at headquarters. Mountain Rescue, for example, was
an important function coordinated within Limewold sub-division, yet,
according to the sergeants, few of the Portland 'bosses' ever "took an
interest" or "turned out" at a rescue to see how the team were doing.
The responsibility for co-ordinating mountain rescue within the
October 1988 313
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