Departmental Philosophy:

As the Chief Executive Officer of the Morrow Police Department I am responsible for the goals and the results of this organization.  I take this commission very seriously and desire to perform my obligations to the highest degree of achievement.  I am also tasked with setting the vision and tempo of our department and its officers.  With that duty in mind, you will see several maxims displayed throughout our buildings: “Disciplined Thought, Disciplined People, Disciplined Action”, “Do it, Do it Right, Do it Right Now” and “Perform or Perish”.  The first two are self explanatory and the third embodies the complexity of our mission.  It embraces the seriousness of what we as law enforcement officers do and risk every day, it reminds us how important a part we play on the City of Morrow Team and it reinforces the reality that if we don’t perform our jobs to the highest mark possible the viability of our area wanes and so does our effectiveness.

 With these momentous tasks in mind and with the visionary leadership of our City Fathers and our City Manager we have determined that a businesslike approach to our city’s challenges is communally desirable in all city departments.  This mindset is the cornerstone of our philosophies at the Morrow Police Department.  I have derived and implemented a number of actionable points and goals from the book “Good to Great” by Jim Collins.  City Manager John Lampl has taken this blueprint seriously enough to make the book mandatory reading for all city employees.  The essence of the theory encapsulates the notion that an organization may be “good” but in order to make the leap to “great” it must identify the right people and put them in the right places in the organization, it must be willing to challenge the things it does and look for the best practices to accomplish these goals and it must always be forward looking and flexible.  The Morrow Police Department intends to be GREAT.    

Another book that I proliferate and train my staff on is “212° – The Extra Degree” by S.L. Parker. The principle in this book is simply that water is warm at 211° but boils at 212° thus creating energy.  That energy generated by just a degree more in effort is powerful enough to drive a ship or a train.  If we as individuals, teams and organizations can strive on a daily basis to produce that extra effort we can accomplish wonders.  By discipline we can make this a mindset and a habit thereby producing the best results possible for our citizens by our law enforcement professionals. 

While we incorporate a vast number of management philosophies in order to create an extreme paradigm shift, these two are the most transparent in our modus operandi.   I regularly caution applicants that this is not your typical law enforcement agency.  We are not satisfied with the status quo.  Productivity, Creativity and Accountability Leadership are our measuring sticks.  It is my desire “To acquire and retain the right people, those who are productively neurotic, those who are self-motivated and self-disciplined, those who wake up every day, compulsively driven to do the best they can because it is simply part of their DNA.”.  This desire is turned into action thru our weekly Compstat Meetings where we measure incidents, accidents, leave and discipline. We identify crime trends, develop tactics to respond and assign resources to that end.  We believe the citizens of Morrow deserve that commitment.

Jeffery C. Baker, Chief of Police