Officers, Authority, and Chain-Of-Command

While the CLA-I course is required for all volunteers, this level is required for all commissioned officers. Let's start by defining "officer". Dictionary.com yields the following (selected definitions only):

1. a person who holds a position of rank or authority in the army, navy, air force, or any similar organization especially one who holds a commission.

4. a person appointed or elected to some position of responsibility or authority in the government, a corporation, a society, etc.

​Note the use of the word 'commission'. What is a commission?

3. ​authority granted for a particular action or function.
4. a document granting such authority.

​An officer in the Auxiliary is a volunteer who holds a 'commission'. This is more than a nice piece of paper signed by the Sheriff that you can frame: a commission grants authority for a particular action or function, and according to definition four of 'officer', this involves responsibility. An enlisted volunteer is 'enlisted' to assist the Sheriff carry out his responsibilities. An officer is commissioned to exercise authority and hold responsibility for the Sheriff. In other words, an officer is a leader within the realm of the tasks delegated to us by the Sheriff and a leader expected to be held accountable in turn to his or her superiors (the Sheriff, the County government, the people who elected that goverenment).
Under our system of government, an officer is a proxy for authority held by the people themselves. The people, as a nebulous collective, cannot exercise authority effectively; someone has to actually be on the spot to make the decisions that get things done. The people elect government, the government creates law and policies, and officers are appointed to support those laws and polices within the limits of their delegated authority. Officers, as needed, enlist additional assistance to discharge their office.
In order to be an effective officer, there are five things, therefore, that are crucial to know:

• Source: What is the source of the delegated authority?
• Responsibilities: What responsibilities constitute the office to be carried out?
• Limits: What are the limits of your and your superior's authority?
• Chain-Of-Command: What is the chain-of-command to determine who is in charge at any particular point in time?
• Accountability: Through what mechanisms will you be held accountable to the people whose authority you have been entrusted with?

This section of the training will answer these five questions.