Principles for Public Safety Employment

employee’s attorney. Sanctions may include reasonable expenses including attorney’s fees incurred by the public safety department.

Section 4 I MPOSITION OF D ISCIPLINE Virtually all public safety employers are organized and run under a para-military or quasi military model, i.e., they are organized by rank and use chain of command to ensure effective operations. Because public safety employers have a special need to ensure policies, procedures and orders are strictly followed, an effective disciplinary system is essential to the orderly and efficient operation of a public safety department. Public safety employees, like other public employees who have achieved “permanent” status under an agency’s rules, may only be disciplined upon a showing of “good” or “just” cause. Expressed another way, permanent peace officers and firefighters may be disciplined only when they engage in conduct which “harm[s] the public service.” 203 An understanding of the parameters of when public safety employees can be disciplined, and when they cannot, is therefore essential to an effective discipline system. A. G ROUNDS FOR D ISCIPLINE Most public safety departments have rules which list the grounds for discipline of permanent employees. These rules are commonly found in an agency’s Personnel Rules, Department Manual, Memorandum of Understanding or Municipal Code. Before disciplining an employee, management should review all applicable rules and policies to determine whether discipline is appropriate, and if so, what type of discipline is appropriate.

1. C HECKLIST OF S OURCES FOR D ISCIPLINARY G ROUNDS  Job descriptions  Municipal Code provisions  Personnel Rules  Department Manual  Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)  Workplace Violence Policy  Drug and Alcohol Policy  Harassment/Discrimination Policy  Information Technology Police  Written orders  Prior Personnel Evaluations

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