Approach minor conflicts in the following preference order:

1. Approach someone privately and discreetly.
2. Use an informal arbitrator or facilitator.
3. Find a way to tactfully approach an issue in a hotwash or other semi-formal setting.
4. Escalate the matter within the chain-of-command.

It is the responsibility of officers and NCOs to help guide this process. That's one of the reasons you exist. In many ways, especially in a new organization, some conflict is helpful, because it is in resolving conflicts that we will find holes in our process and establish new procedure for the future.

Volunteers without formal management training may find the following Independent Study courses from EMI helpful:

• IS-240-A Leadership and Influence,
• IS-241-B Decision Making and Problem Solving, and
• IS-242-B Effective Communication.

All three provide college/CEU credit and will work toward a FEMA Professional Development Series certification.

Approach privately

In minor matters and personality conflicts, the first step should be to try to resolve the matter informally between you and them. If, for instance, another volunteer does something which bothers you or you are having difficulty working with someone, if you have a problem with the way a procedure is being handled or believe that something is unfair, approach them privately and discuss the matter. We have to strike a balance between being patient and not letting conflicts fester.

There will always be personality conflicts, people will always have strengths and weaknesses, minor annoying habits, things we like about them and things we do not. When we can ignore such things without compromising the Service, we should simply do so. On the opposite side, in an organization where many of us may participate for years, anything which has the potential to simmer and grow has to be dealt with as gently as possible before it has a chance to do so. Finding that balance is not always easy, but if done correctly, most issues can be resolved this way. The object is to bring something to the other's attention, listen to their side, and provide a chance for something to be changed without embarrassment on either side.

When you should not approach privately

Skip this first step in any of the following cases:

• The person's behavior makes you feel unsafe
• There is a danger to life or property
• On the field where an immediate solution is necessary: there is a time for discussion and a time for orders
• An outside agency, community complaint, or financial matter is at the center of the issue
• Criminal conduct is involved
• Otherwise in any situation where there is a legal responsibility to document what is going on

If the matter is between a superior and a subordinate, it may be wise to note that the discussion occurred and any resolution or change in policy which resulted. This creates a later baseline to go back to if the matter is not resolved and further action needs to be taken. It also demonstrates that you did not ignore a matter brought to your attention.

Email is a convenient tool for private conflict resolution if it is used appropriately.

• Email pros
  • Convenience, no meeting necessary
  • Creates record
• Email cons
  • Doesn't convey tone or body language, so causes miscommunication frequently and can inflate conflict
  • Email is easy to copy, forward, and quote out of context; inflates conflict and spreads information which should be confidential
  • With Blind Carbon-Copy, you don't know who else is part of a conversation
  • Because it leaves a record, you can get skewered later for brainstorming or informal proposals that weren't good ideas

Because of the potential for mis-communication, take care in writing an email. You may write a draft, let it sit for a little bit, come back later and re-read it before deciding to send it. If you can, have someone else you trust (e.g. your spouse) read through it; they won't bring the same assumptions and may spot parts that are unclear or which may ruffle feathers. If you use your superior in chain-of-command to read through it, it can be a way to get their feedback and let them know of a matter in a way where they do not have to take official notice (use with care).

Often the best approach is to have the meeting one-on-one and then use an email to document the decision (in formal terms, referred to as a Memorandum of Understanding or MOU).

From our discussion at the library today, my understanding is that we will implement the following:

1. All press releases will be approved by [X] and reviewed by at least one other person before submitting.
2. In order to avoid confusion, all ads for future events, no matter who writes them, will be submitted to the LC Record by [X].
3. If [X] is not available, call the Chief of Staff.

This technique allows the actual issue to be raised in a format which allows tone of voice and body language to come into play. What is documented is not the initial conflict (negative) but what is being done in the future (positive) and only the agreed alternatives need to be written, not ideas rejected along the way (unless it is specifically important to document why some option was rejected). It also gives the other party a chance to tell you if what they took away from the meeting is different from what you took away from it

Finding an arbitrator or facilitator

If the first step does not resolve the issue or it is not appropriate, the next step is to find one or more persons who can informally sit down with you and the person involved in the conflict. This can be a Chaplain or Chaplain's Assistant, for instance, or another volunteer who is neutral and impartial in the situation. The role of the facilitator is not to gang up on the other party but to help ensure that you are listening to each other, to bounce ideas off of, or to suggest alternatives neither of you have considered. The facilitator is also a witness that the situation is handled fairly. The facilitator can be a superior, but the superior has to keep in mind in that case that their role is not to judge (unless necessary) but to listen and prod the participants to come up with their own solutions. If neither side can or is willing to solve the problem, then the superior must impose one.

Lunch (coffee, whatever) is a good way to make the situation more friendly, less formal and let one side or the other save face.

Semi-formal settings such as a hotwash

A hotwash (informal debrief after an event where people brainstorm about what happened) can be a good way to de-fuse conflict if a comment is worded positively and not directed at a specific individual. Phrase constructively where you can by suggesting a change rather than harping on failure (e.g.: "Maybe we should schedule practice on vehicle caravans before the next deployment," rather than "So-and-so really screwed up the caravan thing and we had to make four u-turns.") The discussion tools in D4H for events, including the "lessons-learned" can be very useful for this as well.

Escalating within the chain of command

If none of the informal processes are working, the issue needs to be escalated within the chain of command: take the matter to your superior and let them sort it out. The superior should sit down with both parties to ensure that both sides are heard and that the resolution is fully understood. The Memorandum of Understanding technique or a formal order from the superior should be used to document the interaction and establish any new procedure needed. Many SOPs and SOGs will start their life in solving and documenting a problem.

Training and Exercise For Conflict Avoidance

The CERT Train-the-Trainer course emphasizes that trainers are the first line of defense in weeding out potential volunteers who do not have the appropriate mindset or who do not 'play well with others'. If a recruit is:

• losing their temper,
• letting ego get in the way, or
• exhibiting attention-seeking behavior

in a team-building project (remember the marshmallow and spaghetti towers?), skills demonstration, or exercise, it is a good clue that they should not be invited in or that, at the least, their application may be best delayed until we see them in more training circumstances or can check references. Disaster deployment will be more stressful than training, likely to make bad behaviors worse, and the last thing we need is a loose warhead with a gun smearing the name of our organization or of the Sheriff's Office. When considering whether to accept an applicant, we must always go back to the criteria on the enlistment/commission recommendation forms and in a particular, "attesting on my own honor to the same": when you recommend a candidate, your honor is on the line.

Auxiliary volunteers are considered to be members of the Sheriff's Office and are therefore subject to some of the same disciplinary procedures as reserve or full-time deputies. In general, the Sheriff may always elect to handle a disciplinary matter within the Sheriff's Office rather than within the Auxiliary, and this is particularly likely if either key staff officers are involved or enough key officers are witnesses to a matter that a fair disciplinary process within the Auxiliary is unlikely. In specific, however, there are two Sheriff's Office disciplinary procedures which will always apply to volunteers: immediate suspension for criminal charges and use-of-force review.

• The Sheriff may always elect to handle discipline within the Sheriff's Office and will likely do so if:
  • Key officers of the Auxiliary are directly involved
  • Enough key officers are involved as witnesses or as part of an investigation that an appropriate number of officers cannot be obtained for judge or jury on a court-martial within the Auxiliary.
  • The matter is sufficiently grave that public interest requires the Sheriff to handle the matter directly.
• The Sheriff's Office will always handle the following matters:
  • The Lawrence County Sheriff's Office has a policy that any member of the LCSO shall be suspended from duty when criminal charges are filed against them and shall remain suspended until the charges are dropped or the member is cleared. This policy applies to Auxiliary volunteers as well and may happen while other disciplinary processes are ongoing.
  • Use-of-Force reviews when an volunteer is involved in a physical altercation (on or off duty) and especially when deadly force is involved
  • When criminal charges result from actions taken on duty.

Use of Force Review

The Sheriff's Office has a policy requiring a Use-of-Force Review when a deputy is involved in the use of deadly force on or off duty. Auxiliary volunteers come under this policy and it does include the presentation of a weapon when it is not used (e.g. you draw your weapon and hold someone at gunpoint for the arrival of a peace officer). There is a less involved process for less-than-deadly force such as the use of pepper spray or stun gun. If the use-of-force is clear, such as dealing with an intruder in your home in the dead of night, the review process should be short and straight-forward. The public will associate any use of force by Auxiliary members with the Sheriff's Office, however, so the Sheriff always has a responsibility to look into the matter.

If you are involved in such a use-of-force, you should notify your superior in chain-of-command as soon as physically possible. If you are off duty, such as a defensive shooting, you should do the following:

• Notify the appropriate law enforcement if you have not already
• Notify the responding officer that you are a member of the Sheriff's Auxiliary, that you were off-duty, and that you will need to undergo a Use-Of-Force review
• Request that you be allowed to contact your superior or the Sheriff's Office or that the responding officer contact the LCSO and notify the Sheriff of the situation
• Request a copy of their report as soon as it is available and ensure that one is sent to the LCSA/LCSO
• Contact your attorney. We may be able to provide a list of attorneys who have stated that they would be willing to work with use-of-force incidents.

The responding officer may very well take the weapon involved in the incident for examination. You should be able to get a receipt. The LCSA/LCSO will attempt to send an officer as soon as possible to advise you on the review process and take your statement. You may also request the services of an Auxiliary Chaplain at any time. If you are only given the 'one phone call' contact your attorney if you have one and have them contact the LCSO. If you do not have an attorney, contact your superior in the LCSA or the Sheriff and inform them that you require an attorney.

Sheriff's Office in the LCSA disciplinary process

When the Sheriff takes a direct role in LCSA discipline, the LCSO may either handle the entire matter within the Sheriff's Office, or they may provide one or more deputies or attorneys as investigators, judge, or jury in the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) process described in the next section.

When a formal disciplinary process needs to be initiated for conduct in uniform or for prohibited off-duty conduct, the Auxiliary's process is based on the Uniform Code of Military Justice: the same rules used by the military and uniformed service branches. Missouri's version of the UCMJ is defined by Missouri Revised Statutes Chapter 40 (RsMO 40), "Military Justice", and is required for the Missouri National Guard (when not in Federal service) and Missouri State Guard. As we are required in our organization documents to be designed to operate within a State Guard structure when necessary, following Chapter 40 in our own operation makes our system compatible with the state process and prevents us from having to reinvent the wheel.

Because the UCMJ--- and even Missouri's simplified version--- is large, complex, and covers situations which we will in all likelihood never be faced with, we will define our own processes and exceptions to the UCMJ as we go, documenting them in our Volunteer Handbook, in our SOPs/SOGs, and in formal statements from previous cases. When there is a Sheriff's Office or Auxiliary policy on a matter, we follow it first, then go to Chapter 40 for matters where we do not have a defined process. This is the same way, for instance, that Robert's Rules of Order is used by organizations: our rules first, then fall back on Robert's Rules.

When a formal disciplinary matter occurs, there are some immediate responsibilities to handle as quickly as possible:

• Act to preserve any evidence which will bear on the matter (e.g. witnesses, documents, reports, electronic records) which may otherwise be lost or destroyed.
• Obtain a formal statement of the complaint from whoever is initiating it ("complainant" or "initiating party").
• Notify the defendant that a complaint has been initiated and advise them of their rights (see Article 31B Rights).
• Notify your immediate superior.
• Notify appropriate staff of a formal proceeding (Senior NCO for enlisted, Executive Officer for officers) or their superiors if they are the target of the complaint. They will determine if and when the matter needs to go further up the chain to the Commander or Sheriff's Office.