The Importance of Effective First-Line Supervision in Law Enforcement Agencies

The U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, has just released a publication entitled "Supervision and Intervention Within Early Intervention Systems - A Guide for Law Enforcement Chief Executives." Early Intervention Systems (EIS) are a means for chief law enforcement officers to prepare first-line supervisors to identify subordinate's problem behavior and correct it, sometimes even before the behavior manifests itself. The publication is available in two parts here and here.

How important can EIS be? Maybe if the King County Sheriff's Office had placed more emphasis on it, the department wouldn't be faced with Conduct Unbecoming.