As the old, retired chief, I am often asked—“What does it take to have a successful career or department for that matter?” Now, the first caveat is that all chiefs are not the same. Some people say if you have met one chief, you have met them all. Fact is, you have not, for each of us are different. Some have urban versus rural departments, then some are small/medium departments to the larger ones. So, these are my insights into what will make you a success.
You see, we all have a legacy whether we want it or not. Many try to orchestrate theirs; some allow theirs to develop. Some fail miserably at it and history writes theirs. When we have a legacy, first we need to look back at our students. Those who we have trained or had direct influence over their training. Next, look at the officers that we have worked with either as a field training officer or have supervised in the field. Finally, scrutinize the staff members we have selected, promoted and nurtured. You are what you create. But foremost, some of us have been fortunate enough to help create new chiefs and new sheriffs. Which to me is the greatest measure of extending your mark to other departments.
Now being the old guy looking back at my career there is a maxim I must state to you. No leader was born great, but it is a lifelong journey. You will have “shaping experiences” along this voyage. I was told that all retired chiefs should subscribe to the “3 Bs”. Be seen. Be brief. Be seated. So, I try to do so until asked.
When asked for my insights, I share them and am trying to learn to become brief. The levity of that caveat is that has an Irishman ever told a short story? So, I will try to be brief. The legacy of the future now is in your hands, the readers of this piece. Now, please note that everything that I have ever seen of extremely successful individuals. They always possess one key ingredient or personality characteristic about them and that is passion. They never accepted the idea that the task was “only good enough for government work”. They never acknowledged the idea that only minimum standards will get them through. They always try to increase their knowledge, skills, and abilities. They are life-long learners.
One of my favorite recreational television shows is the cooking shows. I thoroughly enjoy observing a chef prepare a wonderful meal. They have a passion for cooking. I had one chef tell me that you treat each dish as the last one you would ever make, because this is the last one you are known by. Now stop, put this in the realm of a police officer. Are you treating every call for service as your last? Granted in today’s perilous world, we know each of you could walk into what could be your last call, and I ask that you always stay safe. And I ask that you remember your training and tactics, so you go home safe to your loved ones.
But if you could walk in on a call for service and this call would be the one that you would be remembered by—how would you treat it differently? This would be the call that would determine your legacy. If that was so, just how great would the service to the citizens be on this last one? Would it be good enough for government work or you just going to sluff off the call and hope they do not call back by the end of your shift? Throughout my years I have always noticed those police officers who were endeared by the public and well respected by their peers. When I observed them on a call, it was like that chef creating that wonderful dish. They poured themselves into it, but also too they have passion of service. I think they never forgot their obligation that they were there to protect and serve. They were there to make this day better for someone who’s having probably the worst day of their life. Do you do that? Sometimes, I think we just walk in and try to make the call go away. This was one of the things that I enjoyed about community policing and problem-solving policing. Here we encouraged the officers to spend a little time and see if we could prevent the problem from reoccurring. You know, there’s an old Turkish saying “that when a clown walks into a palace, he does not turn into a king, the palace turns into a circus” (sic). Now when you walk into this next call for service, walk in with passion and not that of a clown. When you attend training, treat it seriously. It’s unusual to speak about passion in police work. But I think it is a key element deep down in our hearts that we all have. Yes, I know through the years we all have become jaded. After being passed over so many times, or not having good leaders; you really do not care. You go in, put in your straight eight and go home. Please do not lose your passion for the vocation and let it become only a job. When you lose your passion; all you’re doing is losing the ability for us to garner respect by the community. When I look back at several people who were well respected in law enforcement, even when they had bad days, the community still stood beside them. They had and maintained their passion.
Now, in this era where we want the police to be safer and for us to stop the public to stop killing our officers; we also want them to respect us again. Yes, we were respected in some eras, but now we have got to earn that respect back. I think sometimes now we need to remember when we ride calls for service that we still have a chance to make a difference in someone’s life. When you begin a call for service with a person, do it with passion. I feel our role is that of protectors rather than that of soldiers of an occupying army. In closing, remember the best leaders are passionate about developing emerging leaders, because true leaders do not create more followers, they create more leaders.
William L. Harvey | Chief
William L. "Bill" Harvey is a U.S. Army Military Police Corps veteran. He has a BA in criminology from St. Leo University and is a graduate of the Southern Police Institute of the University of Louisville (103rd AOC). Harvey served for over 23 years with the Savannah (GA) Police Department in field operations, investigations and completed his career as the director of training. Served as the chief of police of the Lebanon City Police Dept (PA) for over seven years and then ten years as Chief of Police for the Ephrata Police Dept (PA). In retirement he continues to publish for professional periodicals and train.
