4: Hiring Process, Entry, and Contracting With the Organization

From the first hiring interview, the city manager expressed interest in making substantial transformational change in the police department. He was very open about the challenges that the new police chief would face, and transparently discussed historical issues the department had struggled with. We discussed my interest in conducting organizational research as I continued my doctoral studies that were focusing on exploring the importance of transformational change in the department, in the public sector, and policing as a whole. The hiring process began with a structured interview that involved several directors in the city, including the city manager, assistant city manager, human resources director, fire chief, and the outgoing chief of police. The second interview was with the city manager, assistant city manager, and the human resources director. The second interview was more of a conversation between all participants about the organizational change process as it might look for the police department. They outlined their concerns about the police department, which included past misconduct allegations, toxic leadership on one shift in the department, union concerns, trust issues with the leadership in the department, and concerns about internal and external communication. They indicated that employees had reported a culture of “haves and have-nots” within the department with the haves being liked by the administration and the have-nots being disliked. The culture also included a strong divide between the “upstairs” and “downstairs,” with the command staff and support services officers being on the second floor of the department.