List the ways communication broke down between the woman and the police officers.

What Would You Do?
What Would You Do?

A woman executive at a shopping center discovered a minor theft of company property from her company car. The car had been parked outside a police office where several traffic officers took breaks between shifts. The office was not accessible to the public but had an identification sign on the locked door.

The woman knocked on the door and asked the sergeant who opened it who was responsible for watching the parking area. She also commented on the officers she could see sitting inside the room and suggested they were not doing their jobs. The officers in the room stopped talking with each other and turned their attention to the conversation at the office door. The sergeant and the woman never got around to discussing the missing item. Instead he responded to her comments with questions. “What do you mean by that?” “What are you trying to say?” She left to tell her supervisor, refusing to file a police report.

She soon returned, however, and encountered another officer just outside the office. Their conversation, later characterized as “heated” by witnesses, centered on the woman’s suggestion that the officers should do more to prevent theft in the parking lot. She implied they were lazy and shirked their responsibilities.

At this point the woman asked to file a police report, and the officer asked her to enter the police office with him to do so. They entered the office, but when the officer suggested they enter a private office away from the hubbub of the break area, she refused to do so. She later said the officer intimidated her by slamming drawers, moving quickly, and ordering her into the room. She feared being alone with him.

The officer’s perception of the incident was entirely different. He commented that the woman had a “chip on her shoulder” and an “attitude.” She was demanding, and dealing with her was “impossible.” After refusing to enter the office to file the report, the woman sat down on a chair in the break area. She was told to either go into the other room and file the report or to leave. When she refused to do either, she was escorted from the office and left outside the locked doors. The woman filed a complaint against the police department. With better communication, this problem and thousands like it could be avoided.

Question: List the ways communication broke down between the woman and the police officers. How did the actions of the woman and the officers further poor communication?

Understanding the principles of effective communication, how could this situation have been handled differently by the sergeant who first spoke with the woman? As the police chief who received the woman’s complaint, what would you recommend to your officers regarding communicating with the public in situations such as these?
A woman executive at a What Would You Do?

A woman executive at a shopping center discovered a minor theft of company property from her company car. The car had been parked outside a police office where several traffic officers took breaks between shifts. The office was not accessible to the public but had an identification sign on the locked door.

The woman knocked on the door and asked the sergeant who opened it who was responsible for watching the parking area. She also commented on the officers she could see sitting inside the room and suggested they were not doing their jobs. The officers in the room stopped talking with each other and turned their attention to the conversation at the office door. The sergeant and the woman never got around to discussing the missing item. Instead he responded to her comments with questions. “What do you mean by that?” “What are you trying to say?” She left to tell her supervisor, refusing to file a police report.

She soon returned, however, and encountered another officer just outside the office. Their conversation, later characterized as “heated” by witnesses, centered on the woman’s suggestion that the officers should do more to prevent theft in the parking lot. She implied they were lazy and shirked their responsibilities.

At this point the woman asked to file a police report, and the officer asked her to enter the police office with him to do so. They entered the office, but when the officer suggested they enter a private office away from the hubbub of the break area, she refused to do so. She later said the officer intimidated her by slamming drawers, moving quickly, and ordering her into the room. She feared being alone with him.

The officer’s perception of the incident was entirely different. He commented that the woman had a “chip on her shoulder” and an “attitude.” She was demanding, and dealing with her was “impossible.” After refusing to enter the office to file the report, the woman sat down on a chair in the break area. She was told to either go into the other room and file the report or to leave. When she refused to do either, she was escorted from the office and left outside the locked doors. The woman filed a complaint against the police department. With better communication, this problem and thousands like it could be avoided.

Question: List the ways communication broke down between the woman and the police officers. How did the actions of the woman and the officers further poor communication?

Understanding the principles of effective communication, how could this situation have been handled differently by the sergeant who first spoke with the woman? As the police chief who received the woman’s complaint, what would you recommend to your officers regarding communicating with the public in situations such as these? center discovered a minor theft of company property from her company car. The car had been parked outside a police office where several traffic officers took breaks between shifts. The office was not accessible to the public but had an identification sign on the locked door.

The woman knocked on the door and asked the sergeant who opened it who was responsible for watching the parking area. She also commented on the officers she could see sitting inside the room and suggested they were not doing their jobs. The officers in the room stopped talking with each other and turned their attention to the conversation at the office door. The sergeant and the woman never got around to discussing the missing item. Instead he responded to her comments with questions. “What do you mean by that?” “What are you trying to say?” She left to tell her supervisor, refusing to file a police report.

She soon returned, however, and encountered another officer just outside the office. Their conversation, later characterized as “heated” by witnesses, centered on the woman’s suggestion that the officers should do more to prevent theft in the parking lot. She implied they were lazy and shirked their responsibilities.

At this point the woman asked to file a police report, and the officer asked her to enter the police office with him to do so. They entered the office, but when the officer suggested they enter a private office away from the hubbub of the break area, she refused to do so. She later said the officer intimidated her by slamming drawers, moving quickly, and ordering her into the room. She feared being alone with him.

The officer’s perception of the incident was entirely different. He commented that the woman had a “chip on her shoulder” and an “attitude.” She was demanding, and dealing with her was “impossible.” After refusing to enter the office to file the report, the woman sat down on a chair in the break area. She was told to either go into the other room and file the report or to leave. When she refused to do either, she was escorted from the office and left outside the locked doors. The woman filed a complaint against the police department. With better communication, this problem and thousands like it could be avoided.

Question: List the ways communication broke down between the woman and the police officers. How did the actions of the woman and the officers further poor communication?

Understanding the principles of effective communication, how could this situation have been handled differently by the sergeant who first spoke with the woman? As the police chief who received the woman’s complaint, what would you recommend to your officers regarding communicating with the public in situations such as these?

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