Meeting Generational Challenges, Pt I

For several years now, whenever we’d mention the word “Millennials” or the phrase “Generation Y” in training, or even address the generation in writing, we’d watch normally sane officers go through a visceral reaction of disgust, confusion, and anger.  This generation, born between roughly the late 70s/early 80s and about 1996, has gotten a lot of shade and hate thrown their way.  So much so, many shy away from the using the word “Millennial” themselves because it has become almost a dirty word and one to be carried with shame.  A lot of them even throw criticism at their own generation, or the eldest among them at the younger, solidifying the belief there is something wrong with the majority of the cohort.

Some statements we’ve heard FTO’s, Command Staff, and other officers say about them:

·        They want everything handed to them;

·         They believe they are entitled and don’t want to work for anything;

·         They can’t handle criticism because they are too thin-skinned;

·         They want a trophy for just showing up;

·         Why should we give them praise for simply doing their job?;

·         If they are our future, then we are all in trouble;

·         How can they value family time over being at work?  OT is where it’s at;

·         Why should we invest in them if they are just going to leave for another job?;

·         Policing is a calling and a lifestyle, yet they view it as “just a job”;

·         They are all way too involved in social media and tech pursuits;

·         They think everyone is a bully;

·         The future of policing is doomed.

What we find ironic is those who parented the Millennials, the Baby Boomers and Gen Xers, are also the ones who parented them.  It’s weird that those who are most vocal about how they are failures are the ones who created them.  So is it the Millennials are outcasts and misfits or did the parents somehow not step up to the plate?

What’s also ironic is that the criticism keeps coming now for close to two decades, even as most of them actually learn the job, become good or even great cops, and are making their mark and rising to the top in policing!  Maybe the “kids” are alright after all, especially as the earliest to arrive are now pushing 40.

Reality Check

Like it or not, for most departments who have an upper age limit for new hires, embracing the next generations of officers is the only choice.  Unless you can keep enticing older adults into becoming first time cops – and would any of us really want to do that with most of aging Gen X and Boomers out there, or incentivize experienced officers into working long past the time most have dreamt of retiring, you’d best re-center your thinking about the newbies jostling for position on our hiring lists.  They are not going away and either police culture needs to adapt and welcome them or departments will continue to be short-staffed and under-resourced.  And if you think recruiting is difficult now, the next group that is just now coming of age, Generation Z, is only going to frustrate you more   Theirs is a group with a reputation of respectfulness toward those in authority and who want to lead them until they have evidence they are being disrespected themselves, at which time they’ll be done with it.  They will happily move onto a place here they’ll be treated with respect and positivity over one often known to be hostile and unwelcoming toward anyone who is different.

Maybe it’s time for police culture to change (at least a little)

As we wrote last December in The Present and Coming Recruitment and Retention Crisis (December 18, 2018):

Agencies… face demographic challenges.  The youngest of the Millennial Generation (or Gen Y’s) are now entering the workforce, with the Post-Millennials (Gen Z) to soon follow.  The expectations and experiences of the Gen Y’s have led many of them to eschew a willingness to commit to the working conditions and long-term commitment requirements of police work.  We don’t yet know exactly what to expect of the newest cohort coming up behind the Y’s, but what we do know is this:  there aren’t going to be that many of them.

The second big demographic challenge facing all employers is one of both numbers and where those numbers are located.  The US birth rate has been declining for many years now, for various reasons, recently hitting a 40 year low.  Its continued decline is expected.  While the Millennials were one of the largest generational cohorts ever, they were born over the course of nearly two decades.  The generation just before them (Gen X) had fewer children than their parents before them, creating a decline in the number of younger Gen Y’s and Gen Z’s.  The Gen Y’s are even more baby averse…

…adding further complication has been a rural to urban migration as rural economies shift and struggle to overcome the loss of agricultural jobs, small manufacturing, and their support services.  Rural America has, in general, been aging disproportionately as older residents tend to stay put while the young relocate to suburbs and cities where opportunity abounds.  The need for quality law enforcement remains, however, and smaller departments face shortages of qualified candidates. 

When facing crisis, our natural impulse is to resort more than ever to what is known and comfortable, to rely on training and past experience to guide decisions, and trust in the status quo to “get us through the crisis’ until things calm, and only then consider alternative strategies.  It’s why tactical police training relies so heavily on uniform tactical response and procedural repetition; when we create muscle memory to override confusion and fear when things go sideways it is believed that training will take over, everyone will act more predictably and in concert, and the likelihood of survival increases significantly.  And usually it works!  How often have you heard a fellow officer describe how, when suddenly and unexpectedly faced with what could have been an overwhelming and life-threatening crisis, say they “went on autopilot” to neutralize and overcome a threat?  How often have you felt it yourself? 

There can be a downside, though.  When our behavioral autopilot kicks on we risk turning off emotional connections, situational awareness, and intellectual overrides that prevent that autopilot from making necessary course corrections.  We see this when officers over or underreact, fail to properly perceive danger or mistake innocuous behavior for threats, or experience perceptual narrowing.  With the growing emphasis on police uses of force in recent years, many of the questionable or outright improper UOFs we’ve seen that have come under public scrutiny appear to have occurred when officers were acting “on autopilot” and failed to adjust to – or completely missed –  important information that might have influenced their ultimate actions. 

This is why the best police trainers now emphasize and incorporate situational awareness and dynamic decision-making (ongoing and continuous problem-solving) in their tactical training to keep cops thinking and perceiving even while relying on the muscle memory that comes from training reps. 

Police agencies must learn to likewise break from the autopilot mode many go into when recruiting, hiring, training, and incorporating the new generation of officers into the fold.  As law enforcement moves forward it will need to change its culture to preserve its future.  I our next article, we will explore some ways that can be achieved.