1.

Types of Police Policies

A. According to origin, policies are classified as:

1. Originated Policy
- This type of policy comes from top management level and is intended to
set up guidelines in the operation of the police organization.

2. Appealed Policy
- This type of policy is born when problems arise at the lower levels of
the organization and the man in charge does not know how to meet the
problem. He then appeals to his superiors for guidelines and for guidance.

3. Imposed Policy
- This type of policy comes from the government in the forms of laws,
administrative orders, and rules and procedures or contract specifications.

B. According to their subject matter, policies may be classified into:

1. General Statement of Principles - policies stated in broad terms, such as

statement of objectives, philosophy and creed. Others stress in general terms
management traits, such as fairness in dealing with officers, understanding
and humane treatment of the work force.

2. Specific Rules - cover specific situations. They are more direct and are less
flexible. They are more rigid in nature.

2. Dissemination of Policies

To be effective, personnel policies must be understood by all concerned including

the managers and supervisors who are to interpret and implement them to the
employees who will be affected by the policies. Various means are used by
communicate personnel policies to employees. The most common are police
handbooks, manuals, publications, memoranda, and circulars, bulletin boards, meetings
and conferences.

1. Police Handbooks - These handbooks are distributed to all personnel, and

contain among other things, information about the benefits and services that
the organization grants to its officers, the organization’s history, its
organizational structure, its officers, and other information useful to the
officers in understanding their relationship with the organization.

2. Police Manual - A policy manual covering all police personnel policies and
procedures, if made available to managers and supervisors, will be a great
help in their decision-making and employees relationship.

3. Memoranda and Circulars - Memoranda and circulars are another common

means of communicating police policies to all officers. They can be issued
fast and they provide the greatest assurance of reaching every employee.
They are built in means by which every member of the organization is
reached.

4. Bulletin Boards - Organizational policies, rules and regulations, and

activities may be typed out of mimeographed and the posted on bulletin
boards. If strategically located and well managed, bulletin boards are an
 effective medium for transmitting newly issued policies, rules and regulations
to police officers.

5. Meetings or Conferences - Meeting or conferences are often held to inform

officers about new policies, their objectives and implementation. One
advantage of this type of policy dissemination is that it gives the officers the
opportunity to ask questions and request clarification on vague and doubtful
points. It is effective to smaller departments, as they accommodate small
groups and allow the scheduling of meeting at very convenient hours.

6. Police Publications - Communication has gained such importance to and

attention by management in recent years. To meet the needs of
communicating with officers, police organizations have been spending
amount of money on publications, internal or external.