…and they never were
Tim Dees
Editor-in-Chief
Officer.com
Kevin Davis, who is Officer.com’s Tactical Survival contributor, explores in his column (The Inside Game) this month the problem with internal politics and the stress it creates for police officers. He makes an observation that, about ten years ago, things changed from a climate where supervisors acted as mentors to their officers and guided them to become better and more professional, to a situation where supervisors only act when they need to do so in order to protect their own career aspirations. Any similar aspirations of the officer involved become irrelevant.
Kevin didn’t start his career in policing all that long after I did, and he works in a different agency, different state, and different part of the country than what I am accustomed to. Maybe that’s the way it is (or was) in his part of the world. But I think it’s far more likely that things haven’t changed all that much during my career, or Kevin’s, or that of anyone else that’s been a cop in the last fifty years or so.
One factor that makes me believe this is what I heard when I was a rookie, and what I hear today. The veteran cops who were in the home stretch of their careers when I was a slicksleeve (that’s a guy without any service hash marks or stars on his uniform sleeve, just for clarification) told me, “The job isn’t what it used to be.” Oddly, I hear cops my age and younger saying the same thing to their own rookies, some of whom were not born when I was in the police academy. “The job isn’t what it used to be.” I don’t think it ever was.
People are called to police work for all sorts of reasons, but I think the majority are one of three personality types. The biggest bin holds the traditional recruit, who really does want to do something good with his life. He (or she) also wants something a little adventurous, wouldn’t mind looking heroic now and again, and knows who they are a little better than most people. When they look in the mirror, they’re not disappointed with what they see.
A much smaller group takes the civil service test because they believe the uniform, badge and gun will validate them, as they haven’t been able to pull that off themselves. They have inadequate personalities, for police work or much of anything else. They’re often fairly bright, so it’s not uncommon that they will promote swiftly, even though they do their best to avoid anything that looks like traditional police work. In a short time, they find themselves supervising other cops without having gained the experience to have a shot at being effective at it. Identifying these folks is fairly easy. Look for the supervisor that leads the league in writing up his troops and filing insubordination complaints against them. He can’t earn respect, so he tries to substitute fear. For officers that haven’t promoted, they will be the ones with lots of use of force complaints and who bring charges of resisting arrest most often.
The last, and fortunately the smallest group, are the bullies. They really liked picking on smaller kids in school, and this is one of the few ways they can continue their fun into adulthood. They turn into predators looking for a thrill, and the thrill comes when they can intimidate someone, or better yet, beat the snot out of them. They believe empathy and communication skills are for losers. In good agencies, these people are quickly identified and urged to seek opportunities in the private sector. In departments where no one wants to make waves or the field training program is given only lip service, they do more to detract from the accomplishment of the agency’s mission than their impressive record of arrests would indicate. Surprisingly, some of these people survive the weeding-out process and even promote, though seldom past first-line supervision. This usually happens because the people that have the power to stem their careers are afraid of them. They are either in fear for their personal safety, or know that the predator has dirt on them and won’t hesitate to use it—the police equivalent of Mutually Assured Destruction.
Note that the first group of idealists, even though superior in number, aren’t the best candidates for promotion. This is because the people from the other two groups are threatened by them. The idealists want a meritocracy, where the person best suited for an assignment is the one that gets it. The inadequate personalities and bullies see special assignments and opportunities to do something exceptional as currency to be offered in exchange for what they want from someone else. Occasionally, they will reach down into the proletariat and pick out a competent pawn that is happy to do something where their particular skills will actually be used. However, if their work turns out to be fruitful, you can bet they will never be recognized for it. The person who plugged them in will take credit, and the stooge will be tossed back into the lake.
The idealists do occasionally get ahead, and when they do, they are superior, almost charismatic leaders. Their agencies are models of innovation and effectiveness. If you have a leader like this, cherish him or her, because they don’t come along often.
Things don’t change much because the people with the greatest capacity to promote change and evolution are exactly the ones who benefit most by it not happening. The typical top police executive is in the twilight of his career. He wants to get a few more years of retirement credits so that he can leave with the largest pension possible. Implementing change not only requires more effort on his part with no personal gain to speak of; it also invites the possibility of failure. In order to find out what works, someone has to try something that doesn’t. If you’re that guy, the local elders may decide to replace you with someone with better assessment skills. This goes double if the change is one that would limit the power that the elders have on day-to-day police operations. It’s always nice to be able to take care of a traffic ticket or make a report disappear for a valuable constituent. You can’t do that if the head cheese at the PD won’t play ball.
Kevin’s article (remember Kevin?) uses quotes from officers that started out as hard chargers, but had become discouraged and burned out, and who were just hoping to coast along until they could pull the pin. The physical stresses of the job, wearing 25 lbs. of gear around their waists, wrapping themselves in Kevlar in the summertime, chasing malefactors down alleys, and going from brain-in-neutral to omigawdwhatsthat too many hundreds of times ages cops’ bodies way too fast. But what Kevin calls “the inside game” destroys their souls, their fire. They want what they know is right and good and proper, but the means for obtaining it are always denied them.
I don’t think that things have changed all that much in my lifetime. I’d like to believe otherwise, but I don’t think they’ll change that much for the baby cops of today, just starting their police journey. The system is self-perpetuating, and while evolution is possible, too many people have a vested interest in stomping on the toes of any police creature that tries to crawl out of the water onto dry land.
Tim,
I must say that I truly do enjoy all of your editorial’s. You never cease to amaze me with your wisdom and wit. The scary thing is you hit it dead on. It’s a shame that politics and personal games play any a part in law enforcement management and supervision. However, I do suspect that it always has and will be that way. I can only hope that some of us “baby cops” can eventually get the tide to turn in a different direction. Keep up the good work and thank you!
Thank you for your article and Kevin’s article. I have 15 years on and I felt that I was the only one who felt like this. I knew that it wasn’t a case of me having a bad attittude because I still love being a cop. I am an idealist. And I now better understand where I stand
In my 21 years, I have seen all three. Thankfully our chief is in the process of implimenting major changes for the better. Your description fits him to a “T”. Just to let you know I am not brown nosing, He and I have had our falling outs from time to time, But all he has to do is say “Because I am the Chief, that’s why. And I respect that. Stay safe
After 28 years in and around law enforcement, I can truthfully say that you are “right on target” with your assesment of the profession. When I first joined law enforcement I was one of the first group you described. Around ten years into my career I awoke to the fact that the law enforcement profession eats itelf from the inside out. I hit the wall and watched the younger “do what they were told, not what was right” group promote around me. I stayed until retirement, but the job lost all of it’s glitter and I was miserable for years. Now my youngest son want’s to be a “cop” like his dad was. I guess I will just stand back and let him pursue his goal, but I would really like to discourage him from it. Be safe out there!
Tim:
Everybody must be taking the weekend off….
You’ve been telling this to anyone who’d listen for as long as I’ve known you, which is something on the order of 20 years….
My own view is that the Chief can make a difference if he/she is progressive enough to try to get past what amounts to inertia in the PD. Sometimes it works. But I wouldn’t count on it….
Regards,
Stu.
The column was/is based on real frustrations felt by officers and front-line supervisors. My motivations were not to bash/trash police administrations. In these days of agencies throughout the country experiencing difficulty in recruitment efforts, I think the best way to maintain manpower is to keep the officers you all ready have, as Jeff Church wrote in one of his excellent recruiting columns. That is best facilitated by “taking care of the troops.” This is the best way to maintain high morale, efficiency and effectiveness. This is accomplished by leaders. Sadly leadership is sorely lacking in most agencies. What we perpetuate in LE is management typified by the greaseboard carrying, checklist creating, micro-managing control-freak.
In these days of sign-on bonuses, take home cars, college incentives, four-tens, luring away good officers from agencies, we need to improve our departments.
But how can we create leaders when the leadership model in most LE agencies is broken?
Kevin Davis
d…
Tim,
Your description of who goes into policing is perfect. In Minneapolis I heard the same old tired refrain every year for 23 1/2 years: “Morale has never been lower.” The other comment I heard, and still hear from the cops on the street is “The community hates us. The press hates us. We can’t win.” The comments typically come from officers with 7-10 years on the job.
I know I felt the same way for about a two year period. I was lucky my Dad was also a cop because he was able to remind me that this is and always will be one of the greatest jobs in the world; where you have the opportunity to do things for people that no one else can do. The highs don’t come very often, but when they come they can keep you going for a long time. He also advised me to find my “place” in policing. My FTO, Dick Gardner, was a patrol officer his whole career of 35+ years and his “place” was as an FTO. It gave meaning to his career, to be able to pass on what he knew about ethical and effective policing. He was truly committed to doing the job right, day in and day out. My “place” was the rank of sergeant, SWAT, and training. Police academy supervisor was probably where I made my greatest contribution to the city.
This job always has stress and the job stesses that are most destructive to any career are the “inside” games played by incompetants and political hacks who enjoy making life miserable for the officers who want to make a difference and there will always be brutal cops, people are mean, but you have choices. You alone decide how you are going to feel about your job. I think when you find your place in policing you will also find a sense of peace with yourself and your career. I feel for Kevin and all those other cops out there that are going through tough times. As I’ve written before, it’s not the danger of the job it’s the dangerous people we promote. Good luck Kevin. What you do is important. Police work hasn’t really changed, you just notice it more right now. For all us that are now in the civilian world I want you to know that we depend on you and others like you. We may never call you, but we sleep better at night knowing you are out there.
Stay Safe,
Mike Quinn
I can’t thank you and Kevin enough for putting into words what I’ve been feeling for the past couple of years. After a recent blood pressure check I sat down and evaluated some other symptoms of stress that I was exhibiting…headaches, stomach tied in knots etc. I quickly realized that most, if not all of it was caused by what I would like to think is righteous indignation directed at the pettiness and self-serving actions of some people in management. When I took the oath, I understood that pucker factor situations were part of the job and I welcome it. I also understood that there would be long hours of tedium between the “omigawdwhatsthat” situations. I expected to spend hours pouring over case files trying to understand someone’s motive and intent. What I didn’t expect was that I would have to spend a good deal of my time worrying about the MO&I of colleagues. All academies should drop Constitutional Law and add another class: How to Survive in a Hostile LE Environment. The required reading will be Machiavelli’s The Prince.
Just a couple of random somewhat related thoughts: I mean no disrespect to Vietnam Veterans and the hardships that they went through but I can’t help but see some parallels in their situation and ours. Can anyone say PTSD? They were fighting a war that was called a police action. We are attempting to police in what increasingly resembles a war. Their home front support was eroded over time and ended with outright hostility from the minority but very vocal protestors. I believe that the vast majority of people support us but the very vocal minority of police detractors are constantly in the media spotlight. It wasn’t until 9/11 that you saw a mass movement to recognize the heroism of police. What I think is odd about that though is that the heroic police officers who gave their lives on 9/11 were praised for doing something that is traditionally the work of the perennial hero…the firefighter. Think about how many times you see stories of the hero cop who jumped in the icy lake to save the drowning child? Again…praise for rescue not policing. I have all the love and respect in the world for firefighters. They run into burning buildings while everyone else is running out. What I want to know is where is the love for the people that run TO the sound of gunfire? What about the daily heroism of hitting a meth lab or chasing some skell in the woods in the dark of night? These daily activities are fraught with danger and the possibility of violent action. The one common thing I hear time and again is that officers are more afraid of the aftermath of use of force incidents than the initial encounter. The media will treat you like some violent thug. Management will be mad because you actually did your job. The politicians will be mad because despite what they and the Chamber of Commerce tells everyone, yes… there is crime in their city. I don’t know what the answer is. I don’t expect or want accolades from the public. What I do know is that we only have our brothers and sisters to count on. It’s their respect and support that I try to earn and expect. We plug on and hammer away every day because it’s who we are and it’s the right thing to do. Was there ever a “good old days” when management led by example? What ever happened to inspired leadership? Is it a myth? More and more it seems like the works gets done in spite of management’s actions not as a result of it. Does anyone else make a great by-the-book arrest and then feel somehow sick and dirty about it later on, second guessing everything you did because you know the boss will? I think that when we all come on board we believe that the people up the chain are our brothers and sisters in arms…too often they are not
Your editorial rings so true. In my 20 years on the job I noticed that the only ones that made any real headway within the ranks and special assignments were those that ignored police work and focused their energies on department politics and one-up-man-ship. They worked off the premis that it is easier to make others look bad than it is to make oneself look good. They viewed the job as a competition and everone else in the department as an adversary. You know who they are. We call them brown nosers, cheese eaters, house mouse etc. (and these are some of the nicer terms). A very wise training officer once told me that, as everyone knows, cream will rise to the top but if you look really close you will find scum feeding off of that cream.
You hit the nail on the head. Does anyone else see a connection with the Freemasons negatively affecting morale in police departments?
aaI really don’t have that much time in my small department of 4200 members. I only have thirty three years. I have seen all the listed types. Sad to say one of the type three people rose to the level of Troop Commander. Thank God our new boss was one of the first type and got rid of him. I still like being a cop! I will always like being a cop! We can and do do good things for people. We save lives! I have one confirmed life saved in my years. My son also wants to put on my uniform. I hope he is able to do so. He will enjoy it as I have. All a new kid has to remember is the words of wisdom given to me my first week in the street by a trooper who was in his LAST week on the job. “The job is not as loyal to you as you are to the job” Remember that and you will enjoy thirty three or more years.