"Perception" Experiments

Shamelessly stolen from an unmentioned website:

• Off Topic: Regarding the Exempts Friday nights on the street.
  
  I have seen many exempts "on the street" on Friday and Saturday nights. They usually will attend roll call and head out somewhere else. As a suggestion, why not have the exempts not only attend roll call, but actually fill in as the Watch Commander for the tour from preparation prior to roll call through the end of tour. This would serve many purposes, including:
  
  - Give them 1st hand knowledge and feedback of the effects of their policies and procedures and the implementation thereof
  - Allow them to prepare a watch for roll call and observe the condition of their troops, equipment, and vehicles
  - Make them more accessible to the troops and possibly build a better rapport (not just some figurehead they see once in a blue moon or the proverbial "man behind the curtain")
  - Afford them the opportunity to remain current with all legal decisions and procedures relating to the processing of persons under department control
  - Assist in letting Watch Commanders either take time off or give them the chance to perform critical field duties
  - Keep them current on various crime or personnel issues within the district
  - Great experience both in their perceived and real expectations and performance of the job
  - This follows the theory of 360 degree evaluations you spoke highly of previously and is similar to the D2A familiarity training (without the training wheels)
  
  FOR SOME OF THE DIFFICULTIES FACED:
  - They will be able to see and become familiar with the myriad places where training must be approved (and see if they can find a schedule)
  - They will see how many different times/places a Watch Commander must log in per tour (wasted time)
  
  AND IF YOU REALLY WANT TO HAVE FUN:
  - Let them report for work and then be told they must report to another district 10 miles away

Any of these or all of these would make most exempts weepy wrecks by the end of the tour. It might also make them less likely to come up with extra BS to saddle the districts with or less likely to implement sweeping change without appreciating what it is to work under these conditions.