Volunteering in Law Enforcement

Volunteers in Law Enforcement

Globally, law enforcement agencies are increasingly engaging the services of citizen out of the realization that they are valuable assets to the fulfillment of various goals. Individuals may volunteer willingly to give back to these agencies or to fulfill specific civic responsibilities. These actions end up being beneficial to the concerned agencies and staff, the volunteers, and the communities that they serve. Just like other organizations that face various difficulties in running their operations, volunteers usually experience strategic, financial, and personnel benefits. Different law enforcement agencies in the UK, UAE, and US have volunteer programs that have enabled them to save hiring costs, improve operational efficiency, and boost security and safety of the communities that they serve.

Benefits of Using Volunteers in Law Enforcement

It is a common occurrence in free societies around the world for community members to be involved actively in oversight of law enforcement activities. According to Dobrin (2017), a critical aspect of such oversight is citizens volunteering their services. Apart from the benefits to the policed communities and volunteers themselves, the agencies experience varied economic advantages, which can be determined by assessing the statistics of how volunteering has improved police agencies in different countries.

By 2014, it was estimated that about 9,000 volunteers were offering their time and services to different police departments across the UK. UNISON (2014) state that Kent Police engaged the largest number of volunteers at 850. Unfortunately, a majority of the police forces did not monitor the number of hours that they put in. Thames Valley and Surrey forces recorded the highest number of volunteer hours in 2014 at 70,459 and 32,000 hours respectively. Surrey and North Yorkshire registered the highest hours per volunteer at 266 and 156 hours. The costs of maintaining the volunteers varied across the forces due inconsistent costing templates. For example, Norfolk incurred £229,714 for 162 volunteers while Thames Valley incurred £76,816 for 536 volunteers. According to Matthew, Pepper, Cahalian, and Britton (2019), nationally, the volunteers program led to about 3.5 million hours of contributions every year with an estimated value of between £50 and £100 million. Callender, Cahalin, Cole, Hubbard, and Britton (2018) state that it is necessary for police leaders to recognize the importance of the volunteers to enhance strategic commitment to enhance the value of the program towards the delivery of law enforcement services. Therefore, there is no clear evidence of operational impacts, the volunteers have made considerable impacts regarding time and savings.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has always stressed the significance of volunteering and its economic and social benefits across the country, which has also extended to law enforcement. According to (UAE, 2019), the Abu Dhabi Police have an initiative called ‘We Are All Police that encourages citizens to undergo short training to become community police officers who volunteer to support regular officers. Salama (2018) states that the program was developed to promote communication and engagement with community members to enhance overall security. It began with 1,000 individuals from different professions such as lawyers, doctors, and university professors. The initiative has attracted widespread support with some meeting the financial liabilities of 7,800 inmates to enable them to enter the program. In 2018, there were about 34,000 police officers in Abu Dhabi, which implies a ratio of one officer per 81 people. The aim of the program is improving the ratio to one officer for every 58 people by 2021, which will be achieved by recruiting more regular and support officers. The effort has been successful in reducing the murder rate to the fourth lowest globally at 0.7 per 100,000 people. Besides, the UAE has the lowest robbery and sexual crime rates in the world. Its deaths due to traffic accidents declined from 13.5 per 100,000 in 2008 to 5 per 100,000 in 2018, and it anticipates to lower it further to 3 per 100,000 by 2021.

Most agencies in the United States have not maintained consistent records of volunteers. However, recent research put the number of sworn reserve or auxiliary volunteer officers and sheriff’s deputies across the country at 58,500 while the unsworn ones are approximately 19,000 to make a total of 77,500 volunteers (Dobrin, 2017b). Volunteers help police departments to meet the demand for their services without significant cost implications. For instance, in 2018, the El Paso County Sheriff benefited from the services of 440 volunteers who provided about 74,094 hours of services. The resultant financial benefit to the county was about $2,018,351 (El Paso County Sheriff's Office, 2019). They also have an impact on police operations. In 2018, volunteers in Pittsburg helped law enforcement officers to adopt and utilize better policing strategies such as focused deterrence, legitimacy policing, and problem-oriented policing that led to a decline in gun crime by over 25 percent from incidents reported in 2017 (Giglio, 2018). Such achievements have been replicated nationally.

Functions of Volunteers in Law Enforcement

The roles of volunteers in police departments in the United Kingdom include specialized or complementary duties. Home Office (2019) state that police support volunteers (PSVs) conduct duties that allow trained law enforcement officers to focus on critical operational duties. They include counter services and monitoring crime reports and incidents. Trained volunteers work as special constables who work alongside regular police officers. They are trained teachers, accountants, taxi drivers, and from many other professionals who work for at least four hours every week in the nearby police departments where they provide crucial links between law enforcement officers and community members. Therefore, volunteers can contribute to the police service in the UK in various ways.

The UAE has opened its police volunteer program to individuals who are ready to service the community. According to Government of Abu Dhabi (2019), they first undergo training covering the best policing standards in areas such as first aid, crises and disaster management, manning events, problem solving, public speaking, and dealing with diverse individuals. WAM (2018) states that the trainee volunteers can then take up roles in community policing, traffic, information technology, crises and disaster management, and security information.

In the United States, the culture of volunteering has been inculcated across various areas of society. According to Wolf, Holmes, & Jones (2016), different initiatives have encouraged citizens to volunteer their talents and time to government agencies including those in law enforcement. Koziol (2019) states that volunteers in the US mostly benefit law enforcement organizations with constrained hiring budgets. Ideally, they must fulfill certain eligibility requirements to enter the programs and sign agreements before starting their duties. Alexandria City Hall (2019) states that the most common responsibilities for police volunteers include data entry, copying reports, filing, translation, interpretation, finger-printing, record-keeping, and inventory control. However, sworn volunteers in the US usually handle traditional law enforcement duties. Consequently, based on the skills, volunteers handle support activities.

Conclusion

Police volunteer programs in the US, UK, and UAE have had different levels of effectiveness in supporting law enforcement agencies to achieve their objectives. The agencies have experienced financial and personnel benefits. The agencies allow specialized volunteers to conduct traditional law enforcement duties while others perform support tasks.

References

Alexandria City Hall. (2019, January 24). Volunteers. Retrieved from Alexandria City Hall: https://www.alexandriava.gov/police/info/default.aspx?id=9470

Callender, M., Cahalin, K., Cole, S. J., Hubbard, L., & Britton, I. (2018). Understanding the motivations, morale, and retention of special constables: findings from a national survey. Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, pay058.

Dobrin, A. (2017a). Voluntteer police: History, benefits, costs and current descriptions. Security Journal, 30(3), 717-733.

Dobrin, A. (2017b). State-level estimates of the number of volunteer police in the United States. International Journal of Police Science & Management, 19(2), 81-88.

El Paso County Sheriff's Office. (2019). Volunteer program. Retrieved from El Paso County Sheriff's Office: https://www.epcsheriffsoffice.com/sections-administrative-support-bureau/support-services-division/volunteer-program

Giglio, K. (2018, December 14). Helping police find better strategies to fight crime. Retrieved from RAND Corporation: https://www.rand.org/blog/articles/2018/12/helping-police-find-better-strategies-to-fight-crime.html

Government of Abu Dhabi. (2019). The program. Retrieved from We Are All Police: https://weareallpolice.adpolice.gov.ae/#!/program

Home Office. (2019). Volunteering in policing. Retrieved from Home Office: https://www.police.uk/volunteering/

Koziol, J. (2019). Police use of civilian volunteers. Retrieved from Police Chief Magazine: https://www.policechiefmagazine.org/police-use-civilian-volunteers/

Matthew, C., Pepper, M., Cahalian, K., & Britton, I. (2019). Exploring the police support volunteer experience: Findings from a national survey. Policing and Society, 29(4), 392-406.

Salama, S. (2018, April 17). UAE police forces to become community police. Retrieved from Gulf News: https://gulfnews.com/uae/government/uae-police-forces-to-become-community-police-1.2207110

UAE. (2019). Volunteering. Retrieved from UAE: https://www.government.ae/en/information-and-services/charity-and-humanitarian-work/volunteering

UNISON. (2014, October). 'Home guard' of police support volunteers to fill in for police cuts. Retrieved from UNISON: https://www.unison.org.uk/content/uploads/2014/11/TowebUNISON-report-on-Police-Support-Volunteers2.pdf

WAM. (2018, April 5). New members of ‘We Are All Police’ undergo training. Retrieved from Gulf News: https://gulfnews.com/uae/government/new-members-of-we-are-all-police-undergo-training-1.2200570

Wolf , R., Holmes, S. T., & Jones, C. (2016). Utilization and satisfaction of volunteer law enforcement officers in the office of the American sheriff: An exploratory nationwide study. Police Practice and Research, 17(5), 448-462.

Gender Equality Interest Groups Education

Gender Equality Interest Groups Education

The role that democracy plays in heightening the overall productivity state of a nation is crucial to progressive growth and development, both locally and globally. In the United States, for example, democracy is the written and unwritten way of life that allows citizens to co-exist peacefully and mutually. Conversely, this democracy can be subject to prejudice through the prevalence of discriminatory issues like gender inequality, racial segregation, sexism, and religious separation. When this happens, the citizens naturally drift into small isolated demographic groups and ethnic parties, an aspect that stifles the objectives of democracy in any nation. For this reason, several gender equality interest groups have been formed across the globe to enlighten the world about the merits of embracing fairness and moderation in all fields of life including and not limited to politics, education, healthcare as well as business. To a particular stretch, there is no doubt that these interest groups deserve the influence they receive because everyone has to be accepted for who they are, despite their gender identities. Most importantly, gender equality interest groups push for the elimination of gender stereotypes that undermine the prospects that democracy has to offer (Carlson, 2018). In this essay, the relevance of gender equality interest groups education on advancing democracy in the United States will be highlighted, explained, and illustrated with real-life examples.

Gender Equality Interest Groups Education Foster Gender Awareness in the World

For ages now, gender inequality has been a great source of concern in society more so, when it comes to matters of local and global socio-economic growth. Women have been on the receiving end for a while now, and sectors like employment and political involvement are making it worse. Despite all the informed, peer-reviewed, and straight forward gender equality strategies that have been raised, it is still evident that gender equality in the United States is still rife (Gutmann & Ben-Porath, 2014). Further reliable research proves that the recent intense involvement of women political empowerment in the quest for democracy is the single reasonable initiative set forth by the education from gender equality interest groups (Carothers, 2016).

Higher learning students and women representatives within the same circle are among the forefront supporters of women empowerment and their pro-activeness in several fields of life. As such, the Europeans Students’ Forum (AEGEE) formed a gender equality interest group to enlighten society about the benefits of gender equality on contributing significantly to the success of democracy not only in the United States but also in the rest of the world (Lai, 2016). One of the core goals of the group was to raise awareness about sexism from one country to the other (Lai, 2016). Additional research suggests that interest groups such as the AEGEE Gender Equality Interest Group can influence public opinion based on the type of arguments embedded in their initiatives (Bur, 2018). Through the use of the media, gender interest groups can create an education system that seeks not to mitigate the implications of gender equality but to share with the world the benefits of allowing women to participate in politics, educations, business, and other influential fields of life. This is a clear indication that gender equality groups have a positive impact on the prevalence of democracy from one country to the other.

Gender Equality Interest Groups Enhance Gender Identity in the United States

The education theories that gender identity groups offer not only to higher learning students in the United States but also to the rest of the world revolves around accepting who everyone is, regardless of their gender identity. In light of an individual’s biological gender, their choice, and the opinion of society regarding gender, associating gender identity with democracy is as relatable as it is with democratic values about fairness and equality ion all socio-economic and political platforms of life. In the professional and experienced opinions of Salahodjaev and Azam (2015), the disparity that exists between developed countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom and still developing nations is the level of intelligence on matters regarding gender equality and inequality. The source continues to explain that gender identity in still advancing countries is a significant economic barrier because of the limited adamant options in gender identities, as well as the existence of stereotypes (Salahodjaev & Azam, 2015). The value embedded in accepting individuals for the choice of gender orientation is written between the lines of democratic principles. An economy, or society for that matter, that has liberal-minded people is more productive than one whose citizens have no right to select their respective gender preferences.

Gender equality interest groups are naturally concerned with the democratic principle of creating a level playground for all stakeholders within society. These groups understand that advocacy in political, social, cultural, and economic bureaucracy furthers the adherence of gender equality concepts in major sectors of life (Nielsen & Moynihan, 2017). Equally vital, when pushing for democratic values within society, political discussions matter for the welfare of both men and women, on an identical measure (Stoker, 2016). The politics associated with gender identity differ in developed countries as opposed to developed countries because of the contrast in flexibility when adapting to changes. While developed nations quickly adjust to changes that promise good socio-economic and political progress, developed nations are still rigid with the old principles that limit economic prosperity (Salahodjaev & Azam, 2015).

Gender Equality Interest Groups Eliminate Gender Stereotypes

As long as gender inequality continues to prevail, stereotypes will never cease to sprout. These mentalities are worse in third world countries because they are deeply embedded within their ways of life from a cultural, religious, and social perspective. Evidence from peer-reviewed sources indicates that gender equality interest groups provide education to higher learning students and the rest of the world about the value of suppressing gender stereotypes in the world today (Lai, 2016). Subsequent evidence proves that gender stereotypes are far too spread to the extent of an individual not knowing that they no one, or are under one for the matter (Lai, 2016). For this and other democratic reasons, gender equality groups have combined efforts to share with the world what it takes to foster a free and fair society. Furthermore, Gutmann and Ben-Porath (2014) firmly believe that for a community to exhibit the highest standards of democratic values, the people need to conversant with democratic education. An aspect that gender equality interest groups aim to achieve is a situation where people will not be placed into boxes for certain gender stereotypes.

Conclusion

To this point in the study, it is without a doubt that the gender equality interest groups education plays a significant role in the adherence of democratic values in society. The part that an individual plays in facilitating or mitigating the prevalence of particular gender stereotypes are too substantial to be avoided. According to Zhao and Wry (2016), while there exist several types of inequalities in society, none of them are equal. This is broken down to meaning that gender inequality may be what it seems on top, but there is more to it than what meets the typical eye. Finally, anyone can promote an effective democratic society. All that you need to do is keep an open mind, be willing to learn and adapt to new changes that promise to deliver positive growth within you and your immediate society.

References

Carlson, D. (2018). Power/Knowledge/Pedagogy: The Meaning of Democratic Education in Unsettling Times. Routledge.

Carothers, T. (2016). Democracy support strategies: Leading with women’s political empowerment. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Retrieved from https://carnegieendowment.org/2016/09/14/democracy-support-strategies-leading-with-women-s-political-empowerment-pub-64534

Bur, A. (2018). How interest groups influence public opinion: Arguments matter more than sources. European Journal of Political Research. Retrieved from https://ejpr.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1475-6765.12298

Gutmann, A., & Ben‐Porath, S. (2014). Democratic education. The Encyclopedia of Political Thought, 863-875.

Lai, M. (2016). The Gender Equality Interest Group. European Bodies. Retrieved from https://www.zeus.aegee.org/magazine/2016/06/29/the-gender-equality-interest-group/

Nielsen, P. A., & Moynihan, D. P. (2017). How do politicians attribute bureaucratic responsibility for performance? Negativity bias and interest group advocacy. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 27(2), 269-283. Retrieved from https://academic.oup.com/jpart/article/27/2/269/2345717

Salahodjaev, R., & Azam, S. (2015). Intelligence and gender (in) equality: Empirical evidence from developing countries. Intelligence, 52, 97-103. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160289615001026

Stoker, G. (2016). Why Politics Matters: Making Democracy Work. Macmillan International Higher Education.

Zhao, E. Y., & Wry, T. (2016). Not all inequality is equal: Deconstructing the societal logic of patriarchy to understand microfinance lending to women. Academy of Management Journal, 59(6), 1994-2020.

Rayovac Corporation

Rayovac Corporation

Reasons for Remington Acquisition and Characterization of the Acquisition

            Rayovac acquired Remington to achieve product diversification. The company acquired all products offered by Remington in 2003 that include electric shavers, hot airbrushes, hairdryers, and curling irons (Anderson & Roberto, 2019). The acquired company was a low-cost producer, and its capital expenditure was about 1% of its revenues. The company outsourced production to mainland China such that the acquisition aimed at saving a considerable amount of money every year. Although Remington operations were limited to North America, Rayovac intended to exploit its already established global supply network to increase the acquired company's market internationally. At the time of acquisition, Rayovac was selling in more than a million stores in the US, while Remington had only 20,000 stores (Anderson & Roberto, 2019). Rayovac owners believed that they could establish the Remington brand name in the global market using their sales organization as well as their strong relationships with retailers on the ground. Other than achieving product diversification, Rayovac has a lower cost structure and increased market power globally. For instance, 19 out of the top 20 retailers internationally sold Rayovac's products after the acquisition. Additionally, the products were existing in more than a million stores in 120 countries (Anderson & Roberto, 2019). Further, the cost saved per year by the company rose above 3 % of the cost of sold goods.  

The acquisition can be characterized as a conglomerate. Both the Rayovac and Remington were in different industries, one offering batteries while the other personal care products correspondingly. Rayovac acquired Remington to broaden its range of products. The product offered by Remington, its brand positioning, as well as the customer line made it a logical diversification for Rayovac. The acquisition aimed at reducing costs and risks by operating different industries. Rayovac integrated Remington in its range of operations to achieve economies of scope. The integration involved closing several distributions and manufacturing facilities of Remington. Additionally, the two businesses combined their functional departments, and Rayovac absorbed Remington's global processes into its existing European and North American operations to establish international organization and infrastructure. For example, field sales, marketing, and sales management departments of the two companies were merged to form North American sales and marketing organization. Equally, research and development units were amalgamated into Rayovac's research department. Conversely, Rayovac reduced its plants and the number of suppliers. Consequently, operational costs and risks reduced significantly, and sales, as well as the global market share of the diversified products, increased considerably.  

Reasons for United Industries and Tetra Acquisitions

Rayovac acquired United Industries and Tetra to further the diversification of its products and enhance its competitiveness in the global market. Additionally, the company anticipated considerable growth in the pet supplies, insecticides, and lawn and garden care products. United Industries' market share for lawn products was approximately 24%, while that of insecticides 18 % with household insect control products retail sales in the US being about $1 billion in 2003(Anderson & Roberto, 2019). Rayovac anticipated sales increase as public awareness about insect-borne diseases is enhanced. Equally, the lawn and garden market division benefited from encouraging demographics as the population pursuing gardening was increasing considerably in then targeted Europe, Japan, and North America. The lawn and garden products sales were increasing at a rate of about 4 % annually. Nevertheless, insecticide and lawn and garden care sales were seasonal. Therefore, venturing into the pet supplies market was a strategy of reducing risks. Pet supplies in the US and Europe was about $8 billion and $4 billion correspondingly in 2004, with an annual growth of between 6% and 8 % (Anderson & Roberto, 2019). There were few significant competitors in the market operated by the United Industries, and Rayovac believed that they would have a competitive advantage after acquiring the company.

The integration of the United Industries in Rayovac was anticipated to lead to considerable cost savings. The savings were expected in the marketing and distribution since existed networks would facilitate cross-selling to customers in department stores. Additionally, purchasing, as well as the administration costs, would reduce after the acquisition. Rayovac planned to increase its revenues by expanding the distribution of the United Industries beyond North America using its global network. The CEO of the company, David A. Jones noted that the pet supplies market was growing faster but were highly fragmented (Anderson & Roberto, 2019). Therefore, the consolidation of the industry was necessary to meet global retailers' requirements. For that reason, Rayovac focused on acquiring and consolidating pet supplies companies such as Tetra holdings.

Interest in pet supplies and promising growth in the industry made Rayovac acquire Tetra holdings. The company wanted the major player in the pet supplies the global market. Rayovac's CEO noted that the combination of Tetra Holdings and United Pet Group would make the company the largest pet supplies manufacture in the world. Unlike the United Pet Group, the Tetra brand name was recognized globally in the pet supplies category at the time of acquisition. Consumers knew and trusted the brand, and that gave Rayovac easier entry into the global market. The acquisition and combination of the two pet supplies companies increased Rayovac's sales from international sources considerably.  

Reference

Anderson, R., & Roberto, M. (2019). Strategy Formulation Fall 2019 [Ebook]. Ivey Publishing.