When it comes to disciplinary actions used in a law enforcement organization, there are often four different types. Those four types consist of oral reprimand, written reprimand, suspension, and termination. I will describe each of these different levels of discipline starting at the least severe and ending with the most severe.
Beginning with an oral/verbal reprimand. A verbal reprimand is most commonly the least intrusive level of action a department can take. Though there are many options available, verbal reprimand is the first step. In this step an agency will warn the employee about his or her deficiency(s). The agency identifies possible ways to improve the deficiency and serves as a formal notice to the officer that reputation of the behavior will result in the next level of disciplinary action. An example of this would be an officer who arrives late to shift or is unprepared for a shift. The shift supervisor in this instance, assuming this is not a reoccurring incident, would give the officer a verbal reprimand stating the expectations of the department and shift supervisor. If this issue persists then the next step of discipline may be necessary.…show more content… A written reprimand is documented by writing a description of the incident and what rule(s) were violated. Following the same guidelines, continuation of the violation could result in stiffer disciplinary action. An example of this written reprimand could be an officer who drives his or her take-home patrol car while he or she is off duty for personal reasons. This is a clear violation of the guidelines of utilizing take-home patrol cars. In the reprimand it would state the violation and if the violation continues, what the next measure of discipline would