The Mooresville Police Department is about to get a makeover.
Ron Campurciani spent his first month as interim police chief observing and evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of the MPD and has determined that the department would best benefit from a “flat” (as opposed to its current “tall”) organizational structure.
The current structure at the department – laid out like a pyramid, with a chief on top – is frequently used in large, complex organizations, including police departments and the military. But a “flat” organizational structure – which MPD will soon become – flattens the pyramid, putting more emphasis on spreading out decision-making authority, explained Campurciani.
On Monday, the town board approved the creation of three assistant chief positions that, once filled, will replace the current positions of deputy chief and two majors. If current Deputy Chief Gerald Childress and Majors Eric Henderson and Ron Chilton wish to pursue one of the assistant chief positions, they will need to apply like anyone else who may be interested.
Internal applications are being accepted through July 25. Campurciani said he expects the hiring process to be complete by mid-August.
“I wouldn’t change (the structure) here if decisions were being made, but stuff was moving up the chain of command, and decisions weren’t being made – good or bad,” he said. “This place isn’t big enough for a tall hierarchy. It slows down communication. Having an extra layer before the chief’s position here creates a bottleneck, and things just don’t get done. And not everything has to get done, but the point is that nothing was getting done.”
Conversely, flat organizational structures empower lower-ranking officials by giving them more decision-making authority. One downside: it increases the leadership positions’ responsibilities. “People’s workloads will increase, including mine,” Campurciani said.
Currently, only three employees – the deputy chief and two majors – report to the chief. The new structure will have seven employees reporting to him, including the three assistant chiefs. “Right now, some people who should be directly reporting to me are going through three people before getting to me,” Campurciani said. “It’s ineffective, and it slows down communication.”
“By flattening out and decentralizing decision-making, you’re passing it down to the lower levels – sergeants and corporals,” he added. “And that helps them because now, when they are looking to be promoted, they will at least have some sense of making decisions that they otherwise wouldn’t have.
“It’s positive for everyone.”
One of the highest priorities in a flat organizational structure is ensuring that leadership roles are filled with ethical people who are good at decision-making and will not micromanage their direct reports, Campurciani said. “They should also be people who are well-respected by the other officers because they have to lead people. If we have micromanagers in those positions, we will be back in the same position again: the bottleneck. There are way too many decisions to make that wouldn’t be made in a timely manner.”
The goal of fostering and supporting employee independence and autonomy, Campurciani said, is to grow trust and confidence in employees who want to advance their careers. Creating qualified candidates for internal promotions is one of the interim chief’s primary goals. “Then you don’t have to go outside (for promotions),” Campurciani said. “Instead, you’re putting people in positions that will easily be able to take over the police department when a police chief leaves.”
7 thoughts on “Big changes coming for MPD”
Mooresville needs a major change in command to effectively run a tight ship, as recent events have left its police department disgruntled and frustrated. Looking forward, the ideal would be to treat all staff in a consistent manner to ensure the foundation remains strong.
Gerri, I think you are correct. However, I would challenge that by asking if just the Command Staff is changed, will that force the entire change necessary? What about other department heads who have been proves to violate policy but still are employed and still conducting themselves in the same manner? What about the Chief not being able to effectuate changes he knows need to happen? He cannot even terminate his own secretary if he wants to. I am not sure people understand just how tied his hands really are. His hands being tied certainly stop his from making changes, some significant, that would address matters of discrimination, corruption, cover ups, lies, inappropriate conduct, retaliation, the block in information that should go to Chief but does not, and so on. I would love your and everyone’s thoughts!! True open discussion from citizens in this Town is really critical and needs to happen.
LOL … Sorry for the length. I type 80 words a minute so I can type all my thoughts as they come. LOL
Best news ever.
These major changes are necessary. What exactly will they all entail? They all seem to depend on the results of the US iSS investigation.
Hearing that the investigation results are in hand. I am confident many are anxiously awaiting a public statement and disclosure of the results. There still seem to be many questions people are asking – did the ISS investigation solely focus on Chief Williams and Captain Call? If the complaint initiated included allegations of a “hostile work environment,” does that not include the entire PD environment? Shouldn’t it? One person is not responsible for a hostile environment. Many spoke up about numerous situations. Are those situations also part of the investigation? Cutting of the head of who some perceive is the head of the snake, AKA the Chief, will not fix a thing when matters are across the entire department and include Town Departments.
People are questioning whether or not ISS can make recommendations. Can they or are they only responsible for doing the FACT finding, putting it in a comprehensive report, and turning the same over to “The Town.” Seems there are also questions what “The Town” actually entails! Does that mean the Mayor, the Town Manager, the Board, HR, all of them, only certain people, included the Chief? Who exactly has the final say about handling of the investigation results? I am simply posing questions that have come my way and been discussed. I think it is of critical value to educate the community as to the exact process and decision making authority.
THERE IS A “TOWN HALL MEETING” OR PUBLIC MEETING BEING HELD BY NAACP THURSDAY EVENING AT 7 PM AT REIDS MEMORIAL UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH LOCATED AT 336 N. BROAD ST., MOORESVILLE. THERE WILL BE A GREAT DEAL OF INFORMATION BEING SHARED AT THIS MEETING. I BELIEVE EVERY CITIZEN IN MOORESVILLE SHOULD MAKE IT A POINT TO ATTEND. IF YOU WANT A SAY IN HOW YOUR TOWN IS MANGED, HAVE A VOICE IN SUCH IMPORTANT MATTERS AS THE POLICE DEPARTMENT, THEN YOU NEED TO BE THERE!
Mooresville has a lot of good cops but also a lot of bad hires. From Carl Robbins to Damon Willians has been horrible. Both of them have ruined what was a good department, also dirty politicians behind the scenes.