Discipline as an integral part of effective police supervision

Discipline as an integral part of effective police supervision Introduction The police department, as faction of the judiciary and law enforcer, cannot be allowed to be tainted with traces of indiscipline. It is a ridicule and an outright insult to the judicial system in its totality. The duty to ensure that unbecoming behavior and unacceptable professional conduct does not gain ground in the police force is bestowed on the police supervisor.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Discipline as an integral part of effective police supervision specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More For the effective role of supervisor to be fully realized, the individual supervisor cannot overlook the importance of a disciplined force. Without discipline, the supervisor will have failed as an individual and failed the whole institution as well. This essay looks into the maintenance of discipline among the police as an integral part of effective police supervision. Fostering discipline in the police force Supe rvisors as disciplinarians The ability to maintain discipline among the subordinates is one way of measuring the suitability of a supervisor for the role. The sergeant is the most important party in the police force, and his position the most challenging one. â€Å"It is the sergeant†¦who plays the pivotal role and, in large measure determines whether the police department will face unfair labor practice charges, costly arbitrations, lengthy litigation, and more union activism,† (More Miller 2007, P.314). The police are the point of connection between law enforcers and the society. They have been given discretion to deal with matters concerning the public such as determining when to arrest a suspect or when to shoot. â€Å"The powers that police hold and exercise†¦if improperly used, reduce public confidence in police, decrease respect for the law, and increase fear amongst a community, thus destabilizing it,† (Office of Police Integrity 2007, P. 18). When a supervisor sleeps on his work as the disciplinarian organ of the institution the result is; â€Å"lower quality of service provided by a given department and undermine the integrity of the entire profession,† (More Miller 2007, P. 316). Further, â€Å"poor supervision and the lack of effective disciplinary mechanisms allow ‘loose cannons’ who are in positions of power to abuse that power,† (More Miller 2007, P. 317). Being the one who has the most contact with the subordinates, he can use that advantageous position to create a police force whose professional standards are not tainted with unethical issues. The discipline could be constructive or punitive. Constructive refers to disciplinary measures geared to create internal discipline of an officer while punitive comes way after the employee has been found to have committed an indiscretion and is intended to make him not repeat the act, and should only be used when all other alternatives are depleted.A dvertising Looking for essay on political sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Good disciplinary measures Sergeants, when they notice indiscipline, should not wait until the situation gets out of hand. They should take corrective measures with immediate effect. â€Å"Failure to act promptly and decisively tends to perpetuate the problem and sets the stage for more debilitating interpersonal conflict,† (More Miller 2007, P. 301). It makes other subordinates believe that the disciplinary measure laid down by the organization are merely for formalism purposes and are not really applicable. Further, they show that the supervisor is in control and has the authority over the subordinates yielding respect from them. The disciplining should also be firm and fair and must be seen to be applied indiscriminately and equitably. â€Å"A great sergeant establishes a sense of equity. This doe’s not mean people are always treated equally, just always fairly,† (Werder, 1996). They should not be in violation of any written law or accepted rules of procedure and the subordinate must be able to understand his reasons of being disciplined. The root of the indiscipline and motive of performing the act must be established through enough evidence and the errant subordinate must be given a chance to be heard and explain his case. Further, other less serious disciplinarian measures such as formal reprimands or arbitration should be tried out before the supervisor can jump to the more serious ones such as demotion or discharge. The measure adopted should be reasonable and not excessive taking into consideration the circumstances of the particular case. The disciplinary measure should be less bureaucratic and filled with many formalities. A research currently conducted showed that â€Å"amongst the significant defects with the current discipline system, are the numerous, inconsistent, excessive ly formal and slow review and appeal processes available,† (Office of Police Integrity 2007, P. 14) The employees should be properly informed of the unacceptable form of behavior to avoid a situation where the employee was unaware of the existence of the offence in the first place. â€Å"Once, the subordinate knows the rules he knows what to expect in case of failure to follow the disciplinary code,† (Shimansky 2006).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Discipline as an integral part of effective police supervision specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The discipline measures adopted must have just two objectives i.e., to act as a future deterrence both to the deviant subordinate and to the others or to change the specific individual and ensure he is reformed. Any other objective of the supervisor such as to muster control of the subordinate or to settle some old scores, will be inappropriate and an abuse of pow er. The supervisor must at all time guard himself against making an emotional decision on discipline matters. They must remain in total control of the situation without having to be accommodative of subordinate’s improper behavior. As much as supervisors are mandated to maintain discipline, they should not take to themselves the habit of nosing around the private business of the subordinates. All their actions should be confined to circumstances within the formal business of the organization. What the subordinate does outside the employment circle should be a no go zone for the supervisor. The most effective manner of maintaining discipline is by outlining some procedures and principles, uniform to the whole organization, that every individual has to adhere to. The rules must also prescribe the right punitive measures to be undertaken in case of the subordinates defying such rules. This makes the system a lot more formal and will yield respect from subjects. It will also ensu re uniformity and avoid situations where the subordinate feels unfairly handled. They must, accordingly be communicated to all the subjects in a manner to obtain acceptance from them. Rules which are not generally accepted by the subjects often result into a situation of chaos and unresolved conflicts. Positive discipline These are measures taken by the supervisor long before any indiscipline has been detected. they are more of preventive measures as opposed to curative. They are aimed at securing the officers loyalty to the principles and procedures and get them to adhere to such policies willingly, without being sanctioned. The subordinates are driven by â€Å"the human tendency to do what needs to be done, to do what is right in a given situation, and to voluntarily comply with the reasonable standards of performance and conduct that apply to all members of the workforce,† (More Miller 2007,P. 291).Advertising Looking for essay on political sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The supervisor has the duty of ensuring that create this kind of dedication from the subordinates. They develop self-discipline where the subordinate decide to give their all to the better performance of the whole institution for which they work for. Here, the supervisor simply acts as role model to be emulated. They take a personal decision to motivate the subordinates through recognition and rewards. They create an environmental that is necessary for the growth of such a self-driven employee. A supervisor who has acquired skills and expertise to achieve this is a quality staff to the institution. Conclusion Discipline in the police force is one of the most important things and the topic should be handled with care. Lack of discipline in the force means that the indiscipline is extended to the society in general since a person who is undisciplined himself cannot function to the right standards. But as much as we delve in punitive discipline institutions should realize that the most important discipline is the positive discipline. When subordinates are internally disciplined, the effects will be long lasting as opposed to corrective discipline which is administered after some malpractice has already happened. Police supervisors should seek to adopt methods of according positive discipline if they want to be effective in the role in the long run. References More, H and Miller, L. (2007). Effective Police Supervision: Coaching, Counseling and mentoring, 5th Ed, Chapter 11-13, copyright Mathew Bender and Company, Inc, a member of the LexisNexis Group Office of Police Integrity. (2007). A fair and Effective Victoria Police Discipline System, Victorian Government Printer, session 2006-2007, P.P No. 3 Shimansky.B. (2006). Discipline as an integral Part of Effective Supervision, retrieved from web. Werder, E.J. (1996). The Great Sergeant! Personal Qualities of a Great Sergeant, National Executive Institute Associates, Major Cities Chief’s Association and Major County Sheriff’s Association.

Darwin and Evolution Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Darwin and Evolution - Assignment Example Prior to Darwin, though some naturalists had speculated about modification of species, they failed to explain why and how species change. They also believed that evolution began with the special creation of only a fixed number of species. Partly influenced by Thomas Malthus' essay on the Principle of Population and stimulated by a letter from Alfred Russel Wallace, in 1859 Charles Darwin discussed in detail the evolution of species through natural selection in his famous work titled On the Origin of Species, which totally revolutionized the previous concepts of evolutionary biology. Natural selection refers to a process in which species compete and struggle for their survival according to the limited resources and conditions of their natural environment with different adaptive abilities. As individuals in a population are not same due to difference in inherited characteristics, nature only selects those individuals that are best suited to the environmental conditions, and thus rest o f the population dies over time. As all the offspring in a population acquire characteristics from their ancestors, produced more than nature can support and have different reproductive characteristics, only those organisms will survive that are better adapted to the living conditions. This means that organisms with higher reproduction ability will remain due to higher probability of their descendants to survive, and other will eventually become extinct due to less survival rate of their offspring with the passage of time. Since environmental conditions are different from place to place, there will be variation in characteristics of species at different locations. Darwin concluded that populations extending over large areas or through migration might have been isolated resulting in variation of their characteristics according to varying environments. Over long periods of time, they may have diverged or evolved into separate species different from each other. For instance, Darwin fou nd that finches he observed on the Galapagos Islands were similar to one another than they were to finches of the mainland. He also noticed that some varieties were only existent on the archipelago islands. So, he proposed that all species might have descended from a common ancestor and increase in number of species occurred through evolutionary natural selection over time rather than special creation. Question Two Darwin and other naturalists believed that variations among individuals of a species were due to mixing of traits from both male and the female. He was not aware of the heredity mechanism and different traits were regarded to be the result of blending of characteristics through generations over time. However, the concept of blending inheritance failed to describe the survival of variety as they descended through generations with time. It also failed to describe the maintenance of specific characteristics in varieties and that how new species would emerge through blending. It was 1866, when Gregor Mendel published his experimental findings on garden peas. To experiment with pure seeds, he selected a self pollinating plant. He experimented with garden peas that were different from each other in many characteristics such as their flowers were either red or white, had green or yellow seeds, and tall or dwarf. After cross-breeding generations having different characteristics, he observed that descendants from each cross possessed characteristics of only one of the parents and blending did not happen. Mendel concluded that instead of blending of certain fluids, heredity from parents was passed on to offspring through independent discrete units, particles or factoren, which were later termed as genes. The characteristic that appeared in a descendant after cross breeding was termed

Information Managment Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Information Managment - Case Study Example However, these retailing powerhouses have weaker market presence in areas where Pamida is located thus creating a competitive, first entrant and first mover advantage for the company. (Porter, 1985) ShopKo has implemented a systems application called Markdown Optimizer in order to deal with pricing of a product according to season, store location, local tastes and past demand. The software analyzes historical pricing plus sales data in order to control and price product leftovers of individual stores. Pamida overhauled its inventory management systems in order to address product shortage from its different stores. It has implemented a full service distribution system in three warehouse locations. Initially, the company experienced setbacks and low earnings caused by the implementation of the new distribution system. This was due to a inappropriate allocation of resources where Pamida focused on new technology infrastructures and new merchandising software without modernizing their back-door operations. The warehouse management system was old, inflexible and outdated. The functionalities and features of the software were not anymore aligned to the new business strategy and it cannot cope up with the growth of the company's demand. The company normalized its distribution operations when it has utilized and employed a better and flexible distribution system software. Results and Business Benefits The ShopKo operations have benefited a lot from the new application. The Markdown Optimizer increased the gross margin and decreased its payroll costs from the previous year. Importantly, it has dramatically decreased the percentage of unsold goods at the end of each season. With these benefits, the net profit of ShopKo has increased. On the other hand, Pamida performed well by maintaining a high in-stock availability of merchandise through effective warehousing, efficient distribution and modernized information systems. At the end of 2001, Pamida has turned around its operational setbacks and implemented a functional full service distribution system.. They had become successful such that the company has decided to consolidate its distribution at two centers instead of three to further save on costs. Key Learnings Information systems strategies should be aligned with the business strategy of a company. It must not focus on modernization of infrastructures alone. It is important for IS to give value to the company and compliment the business goals. As part of strategic management, information system's role in the decision making process has become very important in the organization. It functions both as support and driver of corporate strategies.(Pearlson, 2001) An effective information system needs a valuable and useful symbiosis with the rest of the management structures in an organization.(Turban et al, 1999) Case 2: What Happened to Kmart Background Kmart was the largest discount chain in the retail industry. It was established in 1962 and has expanded to 63 stores at the end of 1963 through their introduction of discount stores.

Fiction as History Essay Example for Free

Fiction as History Essay He was known as â€Å"Gabo† to the people living in Colombia and to those who knew him by his reputation. He was not only a short-story writer, a novelist and a screenwriter by profession for he was also a journalist—these were only among the many things which gave him the honor as among the famous writers of Latin America and one of the most significant 20th century authors. At the age of 65, Gabriel Garcia Marquez was given the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1982: the product of the combination of an early life largely influenced by his grandfather and a life lived through the ways and means of journalism after quitting law school (Williams, p. 135). Gabo is considered to be a pioneering author in the Latin American â€Å"Boom† during the 1960s, stemming from the fame he achieved through his masterpiece One Hundred Years of Solitude and his indispensable presence and role in Latin American literature (Maurya, p. 54). One Hundred Years of Solitude has been significantly understood by critics and literary scholars as a history of Gabo’s rendition of the circumstances during the strike that happened back in 1928 in Colombia (Posada-Carbo, p. 401). That magnus opus of Gabo is said to scrutinize the Colombian regime’s repressive nature as well as the strike itself which claimed the lives of many workers. Throughout the course of his career, the literary style known as â€Å"magical realism† has been largely attributed to Gabo as he was the one who popularized the literary technique of using magical events and elements so as to give real experiences the fitting explanations (Hinds and Raymond, p. 897). Gabo is also said to have been an influential writer not only for his fellow Latin Americans but also for fresh authors and budding writers from other nations. For Gabo, reality is a very significant theme and ingredient in his writings, especially evident in his works â€Å"In Evil Hour,† â€Å"Big Mama’s Funeral† and â€Å"Nobody Writes to the Colonel† (Aizenberg, p. 1239). These three works of Gabo reflect the kind of Columbian society where he lived inasmuch as they also reflect the reality of life in the nation. The theme of reality is the foundation for the rational structure of the books of Gabo, although European readers may tend to be less aware of the reality that Gabo wants to send across and tend to be more inclined to interpret his works as testimonies to his magical realist craft. The first few years in the career of Gabo Marquez saw a struggling journalist in him. He was literally a travelling journalist simply because he was always on the move, transferring from town to town across Latin America and Europe. At one point, he worked for El Espectador back in 1955 as a correspondent reporting from Rome and Paris. Although the newspaper was shut down by the dictator Rojas Pinilla which took away his position as a journalist, Gabo nevertheless was able to pick up on where he was left and continued his writing career in Mexico City. In the City, he did not only work as a journalist; he also worked as a screen writer and as a publicist before moving back to Barcelona during the 1970s. Although Gabo was a well-travelled writer, it can be said that he never fails to at least think about his hometown and reflect it on what he has written. Evidence to this is his constant use of the town â€Å"Macondo† in his many stories which reminds the readers of the town of Aracataca where Gabo was born and lived his childhood days (Molen, p. 4). This was true right from the time when Gabo began writing to the time when he was able to considerably attain success in the literary limelight. Nonetheless, the time when Gabo began writing was a significant event for the literary scene in Hispanic American societies because the literature in those regions was characterized either by realist-modernist or super-regionalism during the middle part of the twentieth century. Those were the times when Latin American writers were busy either writing as a modernist or as a realist—both having the tendencies to categorize themselves as ‘regional’ writers or writers who either depict or mask reality in their respective places. Maurya Vibha further suggests that there is an apparent â€Å"absent history in the Third World conditions of Latin America† and a â€Å"link between postcolonial fiction and a desire to think historically† in the works of Gabo (p. 54). If Vibha is indeed right, then there is strong reason to believe that what Gabo did in his works is to provide that link and, in the end, to capture the significance of those ‘third world conditions’ into a piece of literature which depicts the stark reality in Latin American societies. Apparently, the works of Gabo, if not the course of his life, present the struggles faced by Latin Americans in their own territory as well as in others. In effect, it can be said that Gabo’s ‘magical realism’ is indeed a combination of the depiction of the social realities that the author saw in his lifetime and of the literary magic that he used in depicting those realities. Although European readers may get the impression that the literature of Gabo is ‘magic’ in itself, it should not be the case that the substance of his works be confined to that magic alone for it transcends the barriers of that magic by portraying reality at its highs and lows. Works Cited Aizenberg, Edna. Historical Subversion and Violence of Representation in Garcia Marquez and Ouologuem. PMLA 107. 5 (1992): 1239. Hinds, Elizabeth Jane, and Raymond Leslie Williams. Interview with Gabriel Garcia Marquez. PMLA 104. 5 (1989): 897. Maurya, Vibha. Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Social Scientist 11.1 (1983): 54. Molen, Patricia Hart. Potency Vs Incontinence In The Autumn of the Patriarch Of Gabriel Garcia Marquezpotency Vs Incontinence In The Autumn of the Patriarch Of Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Rocky Mountain Review of Language and Literature 33. 1 (1979): 4. Posada-Carbo, Eduardo. Fiction as History: The Bananeras and Gabriel Garcia Marquezs One Hundred Years of Solitude. Journal of Latin American Studies 30. 2 (1998): 401. Williams, Raymond Leslie. The Visual Arts, the Poetization of Space and Writing: An Interview with Gabriel Garcia Marquez. PMLA 104. 2 (1989): 135.

Stocking the Online Community :: Internet Web Cyberspace Essays

Stocking the Online Community I must have a net worth of one million dollars by the time I'm forty. Sounds like a plan to me. Retirement, living the good life. My plan would be to go to school full?time, quit the job, and move into the country. (Not necessarily in that order) The Ad's I see have to be working for someone. The internet and stock trading were meant for each other. More and more people are getting on the band wagon so get on early. "But these hot High?tech stocks and you can't miss," followed by, "The next five winning I.P.O.'s free, just log onto www...." Sure there is some risk involved but people are making a ton of money and I want my share. Show me where to buy. I have some cash put aside I can risk it, I'm young. I can go online find a couple reputable communities, put out the feelers and take the plunge. The help will be free, I'll just give them my email address and they can send me junk mail. It's not hard to delete it. I will have to do some research to find someone to purchase stocks thro ugh that does not charge too much. In addition, I'll need a source for researching which stocks to buy. One or two emergent stocks, buy and sell at the right time and I'm on my way to early retirement. The operation I buy the stocks from will need to have a low price for trades and a low starting balance. It must be quick and easy to trade stocks and I will need quick confirmation to know how much money I've made. Not through the web but in a magazine article I found a rating of six online trading companies they are Scottrade, E?Trade, Suretrade, Smith Barney, Charles Schwab and DLJ Direct. The two most important things to me are the cost of a trade and the amount and quality of access to research. Scottrade has the lowest trade price of $5.95 and Smith Barney with the highest at $24.95. The research is especially good with Smith Barney and Charles Schwab slightly below in quality is Suretrade. Another thing I learned is that most of these companies require a minimum balance to start, E?Trade wants $1000 while Smith Barney starts with $2000. While Suretrade requires no minimum and Scottrade requires only $200. Stocking the Online Community :: Internet Web Cyberspace Essays Stocking the Online Community I must have a net worth of one million dollars by the time I'm forty. Sounds like a plan to me. Retirement, living the good life. My plan would be to go to school full?time, quit the job, and move into the country. (Not necessarily in that order) The Ad's I see have to be working for someone. The internet and stock trading were meant for each other. More and more people are getting on the band wagon so get on early. "But these hot High?tech stocks and you can't miss," followed by, "The next five winning I.P.O.'s free, just log onto www...." Sure there is some risk involved but people are making a ton of money and I want my share. Show me where to buy. I have some cash put aside I can risk it, I'm young. I can go online find a couple reputable communities, put out the feelers and take the plunge. The help will be free, I'll just give them my email address and they can send me junk mail. It's not hard to delete it. I will have to do some research to find someone to purchase stocks thro ugh that does not charge too much. In addition, I'll need a source for researching which stocks to buy. One or two emergent stocks, buy and sell at the right time and I'm on my way to early retirement. The operation I buy the stocks from will need to have a low price for trades and a low starting balance. It must be quick and easy to trade stocks and I will need quick confirmation to know how much money I've made. Not through the web but in a magazine article I found a rating of six online trading companies they are Scottrade, E?Trade, Suretrade, Smith Barney, Charles Schwab and DLJ Direct. The two most important things to me are the cost of a trade and the amount and quality of access to research. Scottrade has the lowest trade price of $5.95 and Smith Barney with the highest at $24.95. The research is especially good with Smith Barney and Charles Schwab slightly below in quality is Suretrade. Another thing I learned is that most of these companies require a minimum balance to start, E?Trade wants $1000 while Smith Barney starts with $2000. While Suretrade requires no minimum and Scottrade requires only $200.

The Teacher as a Hero

The teacher as a hero LESSONS PLANNED from the teacher's pen (The Philippine Star) Updated October 01, 2009 T here are heroes and heroes, national and local. Some of them are born, others are made. Many are still living while many others have long been gone. It is to the latter that monuments and museums were built to keep alive their memory in our hearts and mind. Public buildings, parks and plazas, streets and a few provinces have been named after them. Important dates and events are usually marked red in the calendar to remind us of their birth or death anniversary. During the celebration of these events, program speakers take turns extolling to high heavens whatever good they had done for the country. Sad enough the hero who is apparently taken for granted and therefore unsung is the poor teacher. Not having a pedigreed name, she has no influence, no power. She is regarded as belonging to the marginalized sector of society. Tactless people look down on her with contempt saying, â€Å"She’s only a teacher. † After all, unlike OFWs, teachers do not contribute to the national economy. What many do not seem to realize is that a teacher is truly a hero in her own way. For a teacher is not only about her lesson plans, her teaching methods, strategies and techniques. A teacher is also about her personal character, her values and her attitude. And more importantly a teacher is also about her missionary work which entails a great deal of sacrifice on her part and her family. Indeed, the pro-bono services that she renders involve numerous risks to life and limb. We have heard of teachers who were kidnapped for ransom, forced into marriage under pain of bodily harm, physically abused and the unfortunate, even beheaded. I remember a male teacher who reprimanded a student for provoking trouble in class. That afternoon the huffy father with fire in his eyes sought the teacher in school and mercilessly hacked him to death. I had a relative who was summoned to the Comelec office in Manila and made to explain her inadvertence to affix her signature on a pair of election forms. The financially distressed teacher was forced to take a long-term loan which she used to pay for her transportation fare, board and lodging while in Manila. In the meantime her family had to be sparing and frugal in order to tide them over until such period that the loan was fully paid. While other government employees are off after five, the teacher spends long hours of work at home writing lesson plans, checking test papers or preparing visual aids and similar teaching devices. Compared to those who work in the comfort of their office, thousands of our teachers go on long hours of journey to their far-flung stations over hill and dale, many times in harsh weather condition. It is no wonder that many of these teachers become decrepit long before their age or they get pitifully sick before retirement from the service. And yet their take-home pay is a mere pittance. Any increase in their starvation salary comes far apart and in trickles because this is dependent upon the members of Congress who remember the teachers only on election time. Come May of next year teachers will again be called upon to man the electoral ramparts of our democracy. They will be there to help safeguard the sanctity of the ballot, armed only with the nobility and integrity of their profession. Whatever people say to the contrary, the teacher as a hero is ready to lay down her life for the sake of country sans a loud flourish of trumpets. I salute our teachers as heroes, living or dead! ANTONIO A. MORAN of Camalig, Albay is a retired general education supervisor of the Department of Education.

History and Purpose of the Commonwealth of Nations

As the British Empire began its process of decolonization and the creation of independent states from former British colonies, there arose a need for an organization of countries formerly part of the Empire. In 1884, Lord Rosebery, a British politician, described the changing British Empire as a Commonwealth of Nations. Thus, in 1931, the British Commonwealth of Nations was founded under the Statute of Westminster with five initial members - the United Kingdom, Canada, the Irish Free State, Newfoundland, and the Union of South Africa. (Ireland permanently left the Commonwealth in 1949, Newfoundland became part of Canada in 1949, and South Africa left in 1961 due to apartheid but rejoined in 1994 as the Republic of South Africa). Commonwealth of Nations Rebrand In 1946, the word British was dropped and the organization became known as simply the Commonwealth of Nations. Australia and New Zealand adopted the Statute in 1942 and 1947, respectively. With Indias independence in 1947, the new country desired to become a Republic and to not utilize the monarchy as their head of state. The London Declaration of 1949 modified the requirement that members must view the monarchy as their head of state to require that countries recognize the monarchy as simply the leader of the Commonwealth. With this adjustment, additional countries joined the Commonwealth as they gained independence from the United Kingdom so today there are fifty-four member countries. Of the fifty-four, thirty-three are republics (such as India), five have their own monarchies (such as Brunei Darussalam), and sixteen are a constitutional monarchy with the sovereign of the United Kingdom as their head of state (such as Canada and Australia). Although membership requires having been a former dependency of the United Kingdom or a dependency of a dependency, former Portuguese colony Mozambique became a member 1995 under special circumstances due to Mozambiques willingness to support the Commonwealths fight against apartheid in South Africa. Policies The Secretary-General is elected by the Heads of Government of the membership and can serve two four-year terms. The position of Secretary-General was established in 1965. The Commonwealth Secretariat has its headquarters in London and is composed of 320 staff members from the member countries. The Commonwealth maintains its own flag. The purpose of the voluntary Commonwealth is for international cooperation and to advance economics, social development, and human rights in member countries. Decisions of the various Commonwealth councils are non-binding. The Commonwealth of Nations supports the Commonwealth Games, which is a sporting event held every four years for member countries. A Commonwealth Day is celebrated on the second Monday in March. Each year carries a different theme but each country can celebrate the day as they choose. The population of the 54 member states exceeds two billion, about 30% of the world population (India is responsible for a majority of the Commonwealths population).