I had a reader question a prior article of mine where I wrote that one of the roles of a supervisor is that of an instructor. This reader disagreed and stated that is the academy’s job and not his. Therefore in recapturing our conversation, here goes my response to him. One of the primary roles of any supervisor should be that of an instructor. It is in your DNA. You want your squad’s members working better, safer and smarter. If you are afraid that your staff will become too smart and you will be overlooked by command, then rethink this. If the staff is performing and productive, then you can be deemed successful as well. This is not about your squad’s productivity but their overall wellbeing. How your officers handle the hazards of police work is it is all about. Face it; nobody wants his or her team members to go the hospital. As a chief or supervisor, none of us want to meet an officer’s spouse or loved one at the hospital. We should fear the three letter word question “why” the most of all.
The C’s of Leadership
There are three C’s in successful leadership: Communication, Cooperation, and Coordination.
There must be solid and truthful communication between you and your officers on how well they perform. How they proceed about getting a task done correctly, effectively and safely. I am not telling you to look over their shoulder or pry into their lives. It is very important to supervise and evaluate their tactical and technical proficiencies. You must be able to make corrections in the field and lead them towards constant improvement. Everyones’ lives depend upon the other members; weak links can create bad outcomes. There must be cooperation between you and your squad, everyone should be working towards weak spot training and facing the hard questions now. You must have the cooperation of the leadership, to allow staff time to train, backfill funding and to get them to quality training. This coordination is a balancing act for staffing. You have to coordinate their training, their personal growth and development as a competent police officer. If you have a smoldering problem and it is not addressed, the longer you wait, the bigger it gets. So once you identify the issue or training gap, verify it and address it. On the other hand, your staff may have had additional training on a topic that you could benefit from as well. Leadership and training is hard work. Prepare before you go off into Trainerland and do not pull an instructor muscle.
Risk Analyzers
As a leader, you have been told repeatedly that we all are risk takers in some form or fashion. What we should be in today’s work is the role of a risk analyzer. On every situation, we have to determine what we know about the call (the knowns). Then we analyze what we do not know (the unknowns) along with what we think we know (the assumptions). These three elements add up to our tactical decision making towards a safe, tactical solution (outcome). Years ago, SWAT would come running in like gangbusters, today that may not be an acceptable option. Now they plan, obtain intelligence, seek floor plans and rehearse the mission. They now (when time allows) tactically analyze their missions. Because of this model, injuries and probably deaths have been avoided. The days of saying you are either going to be dead or lucky should not be in your tactical decision model. As the supervisor, you need to develop your team in how to make solid consistent decisions. Everyone wants good positive legal outcome but we also demand safety in his or her work. Teaching proper decision making skills will pay off long-term results in today’s overly litigious world.
We all say ‘everybody goes home at the end of shift” but have you defined what ‘home’ is? The quality of life is the real question at hand. I want my officers to walk in through the front door at the end of the shift the way they left before the shift. I do not want any officer to go home in a wheelchair or worse. Now you may not believe me but I try to view safety with the moniker that ‘all accidents are preventable’. I know this is not real world for there is that one file folder of ‘stuff happens’ and that is the way it is. However, I have to believe in it and just do not say it. Hazards of the job are not the same as risks. If we spent half as much time and effort on safety solutions as we did tactical stuff, we would lower the numbers of killed and injured. When I view a police store catalog, everything is tactical black and tacticool. It is all high speed and low drag widgets and gear. Look in the safety area of the catalog; everything is high visibly slime yellow and reflect enough to melt Mars. I agree not as cool as SWAT black but I am not the fashion police. Safety is a mindset, not a gadget. When you are planning an event, say your local concert or fair, push safety. Every incident support plan (ISP) has safety statements and declarations for all. Why do we wait for the carnival to come to town to drill on this?
One thing that law enforcement can learn from the fire service and the all-hazards incident management teams (AHIMT) is that all have a position for the safety officer. Yes, it is so important to them their have a safety officer. One of the best safety officers on my AHIMT told me, that he has the easy job for everyone should be a safety officer. If everyone is focusing on safety, he has the easy job. In everything that you do, there should be a viable safety statement in it. Not the general “now you all be safe out there” statement, but meaning safety directions. We are all human and will be make mistakes. The great leader will minimize the impact of the mistakes if not eliminate them all together. Therefore, there it is, leaders go make a difference. Teach and analyze your risks, keep your staff safe.
