Officer.com Police Blogs & Podcasts

Tim Dees
Editor-in-Chief
Officer.com

Today was one of those personal dates we have all have and observe, and I observed this one by calling the lady that was the matron of honor at my wedding, fifteen years ago.  Helen (not her real name, but her name is kind of distinctive, and I don’t want to embarass her) and my wife were police academy classmates and running buddies. Like my wife, Helen was also a rookie police officer at my agency, but she didn’t feel comfortable in the job, so she left. When she did, there was the predictable Monday morning quarterbacking of the decision to hire her.

• “Little piece of fluff was too delicate for the street. “
• “Guess she figured she wasn’t going to find a husband here” (Helen had a husband, and still has the same one).
• “She was afraid she’d break a nail - and she was afraid of everything else, too.”

It wasn’t long before Helen was picked up by the local sheriff’s office as a deputy sheriff, assigned to detention, as are all new deputies. She did well there, and gained the respect of her colleagues. After a few years, she was offered the opportunity to go to patrol and get back out on the street. She went, but she didn’t stay. As before, she didn’t feel comfortable there. She went back to the jail, and everyone was happier.

Before long, Helen tested for sergeant, and made it on the first try. She excelled at that job, too, and oversaw the rookie deputy training programs and other special projects. Then a colleague approached her with a proposal to leave the sheriff’s office and go into business with him. It seemed like a good idea at the time. However, before long it was clear that the business partner wanted all of the credit, money, and decision-making power, and none of the work. She decided that this was one of those “grass looked greener” events, and petitioned to go back to the sheriff’s office. The civil service rules allowed her to return within a grace period that had yet to run. But there are rules, and then there are rules.

Helen had gotten caught in one of those political crossfires that flare up in every law enforcement agency. Someone that liked her was disliked by someone else who was in a position of influence (these things can get very convoluted), so she was told that her services were no longer required. There was an appeals process, and, of course, the civil court route. After several conversations, hearings, reviews and nasty letters, she got her job back - but as a deputy on probation, not as a sergeant.

She could do more working than not working, so she went back to the job. Before long, a sergeant’s test came up. Normally, deputies on probation wouldn’t be allowed to test, but the eligibility rules read “have at least two years as a deputy sheriff,” and she had that. She came out Number One on the list, and was promoted almost immediately. Then, a few months later, there was a lieutenant’s test. Once again, she was a probationary sergeant, but the rules only said that she had to have two years as a sergeant, and she had that, too. Long story short - she gets promoted on Monday.

This “little piece of fluff” has turned out to be the kind of law enforcement officer that agencies would kill for. She hasn’t slept her way to the top (bet some of you were assuming otherwise), and she hasn’t enjoyed the charmed life that some people seem to have, going from one choice assignment to early promotion to the next. She’s experienced the bumps in the career road that plague a lot, if not most, cops, and she has the respect of her peers and subordinates because of them. She hasn’t worked the street much? Get over it. Corrections is every bit as important a job, and one that I am too chicken to work. Let’s see, you’re going to lock me in a room with maybe 75 bad guys, and I won’t have anything but a radio, a panic alarm, and my sparkling personality to hold them off. I think I’ll take a pass.

So, when you don’t have enough data to do a fair evaluation, don’t make assumptions about people. The difference between success and failure might not be a patrol/corrections thing - it could be the outfit they’re working for. I worked with people that would have been fired and probably put in jail for doing things that made them role models in my department. The policy manual means nothing when compared to the influence of the organizational culture and the political climate.

And, as for Helen - good on ‘ya. I wish you every success, even though I don’t think you’re going to need it.