Introduction to Criminal Justice
There are certain challenges in the field of criminal justice. It is considered dangerous: studies show injury rates of 284,6 nonfatal injuries per 10,000 criminal investigators (Witt, Bunn, and Slavova, 2019). Another challenge is connected with a lack of problem-solving skills. Although detective workloads decreased as crime dropped in the 1990s, investigators did not improve at solving cases (Eck and Rossmo, 2019). Finally, to this day, women in the field face discrimination and harassment (Rabe-Hemp and Miller, 2018). Therefore, three challenges are identified: workplace safety, investigative thinking, and treatment of women.
Nonetheless, there are certain developments in the field as well. Collaborations between the police and researchers have contributed to improvements in police effectiveness (Eck et al., 2019). Additionally, there are initiatives assisting investigators in gathering physical evidence and performing additional forensic tests (Eck et al., 2019). Moreover, successful women in criminal justice act as change agents in organizations, challenging dynamics of power (Rabe-Hemp et al., 2018). This comprises the three recent developments in the field of criminal justice.
It is worth noting that the leadership in the criminal justice field faces issues with employee engagement. Employees that are struggling with their workload, suffering injuries, and being mistreated have issues with going beyond their contractual obligations. In conclusion, issues with engagement correspond to the common challenges in the field and therefore include high injury rates, a lack of problem-solving skills, and the treatment of women.
Learning and Development Program
To combat these challenges, a Learning and Development strategy that includes three major trainings for criminal investigators is proposed. The strategy features safety training, problem-solving training, and anti-bias and diversity training. The estimated cost of the training would be 2% of the yearly salary budget. The goal of the strategy is to combine the trainings in a system that would hopefully help criminal investigators with their duties.
It is useful to define goals, outcomes and objectives, time to completion and measurements of effectiveness for the trainings. For the safety training, the goal is to introduce investigators to the basics of workplace safety. The objective is to overview workplace safety protocols and discuss their implementation cases. The outcome would be for investigators to become familiar with the safety protocols. The time to completion is expected to be 10 hours. The measurement of effectiveness would be the decrease in paid time off taken by investigators due to workplace injuries over a 6-month period.
Regarding the problem-solving training, its goal is to improve investigative thinking skills. The objective would be to take logical tests and tasks and discuss solutions. The outcome would be that investigators would become familiar with deductive, inductive, and abductive reasoning. The proposed time to completion is 25 hours. The measurement of effectiveness would be the increase in the crime solving rate over a yearly period.
Finally, the goal of the diversity training would be to acquaint investigators with workplace ethics. The objective is to discuss potential scenarios of workplace harassment and discrimination and complete interactive quizzes. The outcome would be investigators adopting the principles of diversity and creating an inclusive work environment. The expected time to completion is 10 hours. A measurement of effectiveness is improved female employee retention rate over a yearly period.
Employee Engagement
It seems worth discussing how issues of employee engagement in criminal justice can be solved. Based on the challenges described before, it seems important for leaders to focus on areas such as workplace diversity, workplace safety, and professional improvement. Moreover, by employing the proposed Learning and Development strategy, field leaders can showcase their dedication to improving workplace conditions and employee wellbeing. Therefore, this strategy is beneficial for combating employee engagement issues.
Conclusion
Overall, three major challenges in criminal justice have been discussed: workplace injuries, lack of problem-solving skills, and mistreatment of women. As part of the Learning and Development strategy, three major trainings have been pitched: workplace safety training, problem-solving training, and diversity training. Their goals, outcomes, objectives, and estimated cost have been stated. Moreover, focus areas regarding current employee engagement issues have been proposed.
References
Eck, J. E., & Rossmo, D. K. (2019). The new detective: Rethinking criminal investigations. Criminology & Public Policy, 18(3). Web.
Rabe-Hemp, C. E., & Miller, S. L. (2018). Special Issue: Women at Work in Criminal Justice Organizations. Feminist Criminology, 13(3), 231–236. Web.
Witt, W. S., Bunn, T. L., & Slavova, S. (2018). Workers compensation-reported injuries among security and law enforcement personnel in the private versus public sectors. Injury Epidemiology, 5(1). Web.