Scope Trials Personality Conflicts, Communication Lapses Part Of Growing Pains At Policing Stations

Community-oriented policing in the Spokane Valley is experiencing growing pains.

Officers at two Valley SCOPE Sheriff’s Community Oriented Policing Effort - stations have recently stepped down from their positions amid grumbling from volunteers.

SCOPE East Valley recently gave President Denise Foster and vice president Cathy Fietek a petition and a letter asking for their resignations.

Both resigned at a meeting two weeks ago. Secretary Edie Nemri also stepped down in protest.

Barb Smith quit her position as SCOPE University president in April, only months after she was elected. Smith cited differences with other officers and volunteers as her reason for leaving.

Members of both stations insist the problems are unique to each station, calling them “personality conflicts.” The program itself and the Sheriff’s Department are not to blame, they said.

“In the long run, the problem with SCOPE East Valley is a lack of communication,” said Foster, the former EV president.

However, Sheriff’s Department officials admit growing pains and personality conflicts are common throughout the Valley stations.

“There’s one at every station,” said Terry Carver, who manages the SCOPE program for the Sheriff’s Department.

SCOPE volunteers and sheriff’s officials alike hope the problems have been caught early enough so that performance will not suffer in the long run.

While SCOPE has grown to include more than 400 volunteers and eight neighborhood stations, the initial wave of excitement generated when the program started nearly two years ago has slipped.

Several volunteers are no longer active. Others struggle to settle into their roles.

“You have a lot of people who haven’t learned to work as a team,” Carver said.

Volunteers also offered a variety of reasons for the recent unrest. Some say clashes between old and new leadership are dividing volunteers.

Others point to what they say is a lack of communication between program leaders and the rank and file.

Still others blame the trouble on volunteers who are reluctant to adhere to the Sheriff’s Department chain-of-command rules. In a couple of instances, volunteers wanted to take their concerns straight to Sheriff John Goldman.

But relying on the Sheriff’s Department to mediate disputes is not what the program is about, sheriff’s officials said. The program was designed to encourage problem-solving at the neighborhood level.

“They have to learn to solve their own problems,” Carver said.

Widespread grumbling by volunteers got so loud two months ago that Carver tried to ease tensions with an article in the March edition of the SCOPE newsletter.

“Our organization, like any other, is experiencing some growing pains,” Carver wrote.

A dispute board was formed two weeks ago to handle grievances from SCOPE volunteers.

The eight-member board is made up of presidents from all of the stations and is designed to solve problems at the station level.

The new board has yet to be tested, but Carver is optimistic it will foster a feeling of ownership of the SCOPE program among volunteers.

“Hopefully that will solve the problems,” he said, adding that sheriff’s officials are willing to offer mediation and other conflict resolution help if they are needed.

Carver also has been the subject of some hard feelings.

“I’ve heard that some volunteers feel I’m trying to distance myself from the rest of the group and care little about what goes on at the core of this program,” Carver wrote in the newsletter. “If some of you feel this way, I am truly sorry.”

Disagreement has not boiled over into bickering everywhere. SCOPE West Valley has avoided any large disputes, said volunteer Bob Burke.

However, Burke recognizes that anytime a wide range of personalities mixes the potential for conflict is real.

“You know that when dealing with volunteers, you’re apt to get all kinds,” Burke said. “You have to be prepared to deal with them.”

Several volunteers said problems SCOPE stations are experiencing can be traced to numbers, blaming a lack of volunteers support for causing the tension.

SCOPE University officials said their volunteer base is growing, but many do not actively participate.

At East Valley, volunteers simply hope to attract more members.

Meanwhile, everyone seems to agree communication between existing members has to improve.

“Talking behind one’s back about something they have done wrong or in a manner you don’t approve of gives them no opportunity to rectify the situation and makes us all as a group look and feel bad,” Carver wrote in the newsletter.

When SCOPE East Valley officers were presented with the petition that included 15 signatures, they said it was the first they had heard of the problem.

“I’m to the point where it’s not worth it,” Fietek said. “I don’t want the constant battle every month.”

Volunteers at SCOPE University hope the troubles that plagued their neighborhood station have passed.

“I think it was a personality thing more than anything,” said volunteer Tom Larson. “You’re going to have those things with volunteers.”

Fred Chindahl, a member of the SCOPE University board, said he is confident the station is moving forward.

Still, time will be needed to heal the wounds opened by the bickering.

“It’s a shame because it’s a good program - a good concept,” said Nemri, former EV secretary. “But it’s only as good as the people in it.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo