"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" "WHY?"

That something has always been done in a certain way is no recommendation to Colonel Kleinknecht. Indeed, the assertion makes him suspect that at least one better way can be found to get the job done, one the person making the assertion should have already discovered and put into effect.

"What are you doing?" "Why?" These two questions seem to predominate in Kleinknecht's conversations with his employees. The answers have led to more than one innovation in the way the department enforces laws and protects the public safety. Among those innovations were the automation of the police records room and of the patrol dispatching system, activities that once depended on pen and paper in a cumbersome process that slowed response to people in need of help.

However, Computer-Assisted Report Entry, or CARE, is the initiative that has attracted the most attention. One stubborn problem that did not immediately yield to Kleinknecht's determined probing was how to streamline the writing of reports. "Three days to 13 days was the amount of time it took to get a police report from a precinct to a detective," Kleinknecht recollected. "It became the police officer's worst responsibility." Officers would spend half an hour trying to talk a citizen out of making a complaint that would have required a 10-minute report. "I brought my senior people together and asked them to study how to change it, and they came back and said it could not be done. I told them to do it anyhow. Or so I am told." It was years after he took over that Kleinknecht tackled the problem head-on.

That is where Dennis George came in. Kleinknecht was looking for someone with the qualities he prizes in an employee. "Generally, I pick someone on the basis of his ability to work. Someone aggressive and willing to make mistakes. I will take this kind of person every day over someone who knows what to do, but can't make a decision. I want someone who will put in a 12-hour day, and argue with me if he thinks that I am wrong."

George fit the bill. "I was a field lieutenant," he said, "out on the street as a watch commander." In 1979 a friend in the department asked George if he would be interested in taking over as director of central police records, a job that previously had been a civilian position. He could take the job under what is termed "rank and assignment." That is, he could put his rank in escrow without jeopardizing his pay grade and benefits.

Blondish, ruddy, athletic, and 49, George explained his reaction to the possibility of a new position in the straightforward way characteristic of him. "I was happy for the change and wanted to take the job. Police work gets boring after a while, even if you are in a combat zone. Besides, I like the administrative stuff. It was a pay raise. I got a car to take home. It was straight days and weekends off, so I could see my kids playing sports."