In the distinction criteria of this assignment I am going to be comparing the different public services and evaluating them by saying why discipline is needed and why it is so important within the public services, I will be backing my work up by showing evidence from real life case studies
Discipline is very important for anyone who is part of the Uniformed Public Services. Discipline is put in place to maintain order and to make sure that everyone works to the best of their abilities. All the services are organised in a similar way with a clear rank structure and clearly defined roles and responsibilities, which all rely on discipline to work effectively.
One of the services that need to be disciplined is the Paramedic’s service they need to be well disciplined because they have important roles where they need to be saving peoples lives. The Paramedics also work with other services such as the police and fire service which all play important roles. One of the most important factors with being a Paramedic is time keeping, they should make sure that they are always on time and do not miss any important briefs as this will keep everyone updated on what is going to be happening on that specific day and exactly what is expected from the Paramedics. Some employees that work within the Paramedic service are the directors of operations who work with the machines and equipment making sure that they run properly. These workers are higher up than the regular Paramedics so they need to have a higher level of discipline; they need to understand exactly what needs to be done.
Another service is the police service, it is very important to have discipline in the police service such as following orders correctly, being on time and punctual etc. Without having discipline things will start to fall apart, orders will not be followed correctly and it will create an impact on yourself and others. Some positions and roles in the police may be different, like the armed forces different ranks may have a different level of discipline. The police service that is out on patrol may need more discipline than other ranks in the police service as they will be serving the community and public continuously. The police should always set a good example to the public showing that they are working productively and are reducing crime in the community making the public feel safe. An example of how the police services do their job properly “Norfolk Police Officer Up For Bravery Award” this officer put his life at risk by trying to do his job correctly. Paul Ridgway the Chairman of Norfolk Police Federation said “We are extremely pleased that Martin has been chosen to be nominated for an award for the bravery he showed during this particularly different and significant incident”. This is effective as all the other police officers will look up to Martin and will want to do something as brilliant he has done.
Fire service personnel, regardless of rank have a duty to protect life and property from fire and other hazards. Other duties include carrying out risk assessments, enforcing fire legislation and educating the community. The fire fighters duties include attending emergency incidents, dealing with fires, flooding, chemical spillages, terrorist incidents and checking water hydrants. All members will need to be disciplined correctly to carry out every aspect of being a fire fighter.
I think that all public services should have a high level of discipline with the crime rate rising more and more each year the services need to work to the best of their abilities and need to be able with every scenario quickly and efficiently. As you can see each service have a different level of discipline with the police service being highly disciplined and the ambulance service not taking discipline as seriously. As an article says “We need to return to the basics where discipline is at the core of what we are doing. Over the years, the image of the police has been tainted by some within the force who have failed to carry themselves with dignity, but what I say is that we can’t enforce the laws of this land if we are not disciplined.” this shows how police discipline needs to be taken seriously. Every service has a different way of applying discipline, for example the police service do a drill, marching builds a sense of discipline, team work and a sense of pride in appearance. Training programmes stop you thinking like a civilian and start you thinking properly like the police force should and the drill is an important part of that helping to break down certain barriers. This is important as the police are always out on patrol and need to be discipline more than the paramedic and fire service.
All methods of discipline are effective. Some methods are more effective than others which means the levels of discipline are different throughout the services. For example discipline is stricter in the armed forced because they have weapons and other dangerous equipment, if they do something wrong it can affect the whole team not just an individual, it can be serious like life threatening. The ambulance services are not as strict as armed forces this is cause army are in conflict in war.
