A new year gives you a new chance to promote your career and develop a strategy to move forward. Through the course of my more than 35-year career in law enforcement, there’s one important piece of advice I’ve learned that I’d like to pass on to every new officer—plan your career and then work your plan!
Every agency is different. At some agencies your promotions to patrolman first class, corporal, sergeant, etc. are a matter of time passing. Many agencies simply give you that first promotion after six months or a year and the second after another year. It’s often as much about pay steps and structure as it is about rank and seniority. That recognized, not all agencies do so. There are plenty of other agencies who only promote based on time in plus performance evaluations plus fitness evaluations plus supervisor recommendations. Do you know which one of those categories your agency falls into?
You should know how your agency promotes—what the timeline is and what the promotion requirements are. Next you need to have a plan to exceed those requirements. Why exceed them? Well, are you the only person seeking advancement? If your agency uses a qualification system for promotions, you don’t want your qualifications to be equal to your competition. You don’t want to have just met the minimum requirements. If you’re going to stand out and have a better chance at every promotion, then you’re going to want to shine brighter than your competition. Everyone has the same 24 hours in each day and it’s up to you to motivate and earn your promotions. Know your promotion requirements and go exceed them. Grow. Educate. Stay fit. Train hard. Aim for a timeline and match it as best you can. Get advice and guidance from your chain of command.
Never be ashamed of working for your promotions and wanting to excel. You will have peers who are envious or supportive. Ignore one and appreciate the other. You will have supervisors who don’t have a plan and aren’t promoting in a timely fashion. They may try to actively hinder you. Their ability to slow you down is reduced when their superiors see how well you’re doing. An envious sergeant can only hold you back so much if you’re a go-getter. So go get what you’re after.
Next I’d like to draw your attention to SHOT Show, held each January. It used to have a small section devoted to law enforcement equipment, but the law enforcement section is now so large that many major manufacturers have two booths—one for the “regular” show and one for the law enforcement section. Attending SHOT Show is not only a fun time due to the items you can see, but it’s also a great learning experience. The conversations had with industry experts about various products can be quite educational. When you find out why a given holster has a specific feature or how that armor carrier was designed for a common purpose, it’s knowledge and information you can carry back to your agency that adds value to what you teach.
If you’ve never attended SHOT Show but you are a firearms, officer survival, active shooter response, defensive tactics or other instructor for your agency, I recommend you have the conversation with your chain of command to attend next year.
Stay safe!
Lt. Frank Borelli
