Dear Generation X (or older) Police Officers,
I was forwarded an article this past year about a Police Chief in a major *unnamed* city “Ripping Millenial Officers” and blaming them for their department’s hiring crisis. Officers sent this article to me to incite a response since they know me OH so well. You all JUST WANT me to get even more blacklisted, don’t you?! Sigh… anyway… of course, I couldn’t help myself, and here is my response. We so called obnoxious “Millennials” have some things to say about the older “Generation X” Officers as well. This is the point of this open letter.
Get with the “New Generation” program and utilize social media outreach-
The departments that have finally made that leap, that brave decision, to utilize their funniest employees to man their social media accounts to recruit new officers, and to make this job appear as fun as possible, are getting it right! I found myself laughing hysterically when a Police Department in Texas (I hear a rumor it was Fort Worth Police Department) sent out a tweet, congratulating a large *once again unnamed* Police academy class for graduating, and then added sarcastically that they would see them in a few years when they came to apply at their department. “Holy S&%t!” I said to myself. “That was hilarious and ballsy!” I found myself retweeting that same post all over my social media platforms because it was just that funny! I mean… wow… the fearlessness of whoever runs their social media platform. It was GENIUS! It was so different from the normal boring Police Department tweets “Lane is closed on highway 635” and “Take, lock, hide your stuff.” Why do more departments not allow their most personable employees with a sense of humor (probably a rookie from patrol, let's be real) run their social media?
Another social media point…Why…. Please tell me why… you choose to destroy some of the only fun and entertainment we still have in this job anymore (online humor and individuality)? This “Big Brother” and “1984” style of leadership, your extreme focus, and sometimes damn near harassment of our personal social media pages (some of them even literally stalking our private FaceBook pages) is depressing. Yes, we understand the things that we can/can’t post on social media outlets due to our jobs, but, you must stop stifling your creative new generation Officers. “Leave Brittney… I mean…. Leave our memes alone!” (said in the voice of Chris Crocker, you young ones will know exactly what I am talking about)! Please try to find a portion in your heart to be proud of your social media cops and encourage them to continue reaching the world in only a way millennial can.
Change the culture-
You want to blame the younger Officers for consistently low hiring numbers.. I get that; blame must be placed somewhere these days when the retention of Officers at your department is at an all-time low. But please… take a look at the culture at your department first. Command staff and older generation Officers, please don’t perpetuate the toxic culture in this job. That same unending toxicity continues on when it is taught to younger Officers who are learning so much from you. I don’t claim to know everything, but what I do notice every day is the increase in suicides and depression in Policing. There is something wrong here. I know change is tough, especially when your generation is close to aging out of this career to move on to retirement, but why would you not at least try to change the culture of this job? Grow with the “New Generation?” Or… how about this? Try to be more positive and teach younger Officers how to be a true brother and sister in blue and support others making their way, instead of gossiping and tearing other Officers down to get ahead? Be the example of making this job worth surviving.
Even changes to the environment of your department I think could help. I often find myself day dreaming (or night dreaming I guess, considering I work the deep night patrol shift) when going on alarm calls at companies where they clearly care about their employees. I see the decorated cubicles, the coffee bars, the gymnasium set up for breaks, the outdoor patios outfitted with games such as horseshoes and chess boards. The most minute things can matter, such as the small details - like the paint color (that psychologically tricks you in to being happy to be at work) on the walls makes this environment more welcoming, fun, and even relaxing. I think, wow, I wonder what it would be like if we could focus some attention, even a little, to making this police job more enjoyable for its employees. Maybe the older generation could take a page from the Forbes “Best places to work” and consider molding their departments after some of the businesses that are most sought after for employment. We put people in prison; we don’t want to work in it.
Tattood Officers-
Yup, it's true. A lot of the new generation Officers are tatted “AF” (young Officers will get this acronym). It’s okay - take a deep breath. It doesn’t make us bad people. Let’s be real, it actually makes us the normal ones in our generation, and kind of makes the older generation that are judging us for our tattoos the abnormal ones. Make the change to your policies regarding tattoos with the current times and boost your recruiting instantly! Let’s use Rowlett Police Department in Texas as an example. They hire tattooed Officers there with no issue, including hand tattoos! It obviously helps that the current Chief of Rowlett is super cool, down to earth, and tatted up as well. We also can’t forget that many departments actively seek out our military veterans for many obvious reasons. Today’s military is also a tattoo rich environment so it makes no sense to further limit this pool of candidates because you can’t accept them for something as trivial as tattoos.
I have seen some departments changing their tattoo policy for the better, mine included, which is a great change. The Officers that have been sweating their body weight in water in the middle of the summer, wearing long sleeve uniforms in the Texas heat, thank you for this kind gesture.
With all of this said, I truly hope we can keep the changes coming, and stay up to date with the current generation of our Police Officers. Hey… before you know it, Generation X, you’ll have all the annoying Millennials applying at your department to work the weekends and holidays before you know it. I know manpower is one of the biggest complaints at EVERY department and who wouldn’t want a little more seniority and a little less time taking so many reports?
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