Personal Relationships Within Organizations

¶ … supervisors being close friends with their subordinates in law enforcement. If you were the head of a criminal justice organization, would you allow close personal relationships or attempt to persuade your supervisors refrain from being close with their subordinates? Explain your answer. Law enforcement is an extremely stressful profession. Many officers experience marital problems and other difficulties; must suffer the indignities of long hours and personal risk to their safety; and deal with horrific crimes and examples of humanity on a daily basis.

Without some form of stress release in the form of humor and friendship the weighty responsibilities can be unbearable and result in mental health issues. "Enduring stress for a long period of time can lead to anxiety, depression or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD is a psychological condition marked by an inability to be intimate, inability to sleep, increased nightmares, increased feelings of guilt and reliving the event" (Causes of officer stress and fatigue, 2014, NIJ). The bonds of friendship between supervisors and subordinates can and must help relieve these tensions.

Supervisors can act as role models for subordinates to behave ethically and balance the demands of work and personal obligations. Mentorship is extremely important in all organizations and denying employees the benefits that can be accrued from these types of social bonds would seem counter-productive. On the other hand, there is a great deal of criticism of what has been called the 'blue wall of silence' or the insularity fostered by overly close personal relationships in the field of law enforcement.

Police corruption, violence, and other unethical practices (such as discrimination in hiring) may be ignored because of the belief that police officers must protect one another against criminals, the media, and occasionally against a hostile public.

A recent study of the Chicago police force found "the real problem is that an embarrassingly large number of police officers violate citizens' rights, engage in corruption and commit crimes while escaping detection and avoiding discipline or prosecution for many years….enabled by a 'blue code of silence' entrenched in a department culture where officers avoid reporting crimes and misconduct by their colleagues" (Flood 2013).

Although all police are naturally sympathetic to one another, the report concluded that intense personal relationships can be even more apt to foster a culture of looking the other way in regards to abuses. This notion of the dangers of insularity can be applied to all criminal justice agencies, not just police forces. Workers have a strong, positive sense of solidarity which can also have negative effects in the form of overlooking abuses and incompetence. Still, attempting to thwart friendships would seem to be counter-productive.

Instead, the intention should be to foster the right types of relationships between supervisors and subordinates which are close but which are based upon strong ethical standards of behavior. The first step is ensuring that superiors understand and enforce the agency's ethical code and communicate it to all personnel. This uses the close relationships and.