THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, March 16, 1995 TAG: 9503160443
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LARRY W. BROWN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 59 lines
Two police groups have written to the City Council and to civic leagues to rebut claims that the department's morale survey was merely a pre-budget maneuver.
The Fraternal Order of Police and the International Brotherhood of Police Officers recently made public a four-page letter, dated March 2, stating that the results from the survey have been misinterpreted.
The survey's results, released last month, stated that Police Chief Melvin C. High was out of touch with his officers and has lost their support. The City Council responded by affirming its support of High.
In the letter, FOP members said the city's endorsement of High was not totally unexpected.
``The responses reported . . . amount to nothing more than contrived damage control on the part of the chief of police and City Council. Rather than admit that major problems exist, city government has attempted to turn the tables on us by labeling us malcontents and character assassins.''
The City Council released a statement in response to the survey. It said the timing of the morale report by the FOP and the police union coincided with budget deliberations in which pay and benefits for city employees are decided.
The letter also stated that department morale problems have been illustrated by officers taking excessive sick leave, complaints against officers, a high number of grievances and overtime lawsuits filed by officers.
The survey was not designed to make High a scapegoat because only five of 94 questions dealt specifically with him, the letter said.
``The chief is culpable not only by virtue of his position, but more importantly, by the fact that he has chosen to ignore the problems that have been brought to his attention since assuming command 18 months ago,'' the letter said.
High previously said he practices ``participative management'' that allows for complaints within the department to be handled effectively. This style, the letter said, results only in more committees.
The letter also stated:
``Countless manhours are spent meeting, debating, reporting, and making recommendations, resulting in issues being left on desks of members of the senior staff for months without being resolved.
``Many policies and regulations are enforced when convenient, or not at all. Within the department, it is widely held that the only things consistent are the inconsistencies.''
FOP President Benjamin Rogerson, who signed the letter, said the union and the FOP wanted to respond to the city's reaction to the survey results and to tell the truth to civic leagues. He said the union is meeting with Mayor Paul Fraim and with High.
``Any time you have employees that have low morale . . . I think you can't function at peak effectiveness and productiveness, and that could have a negative impact on operations,'' Rogerson said. by CNB