Law enforcement officers are people who are inherently good, who want to serve and, in my opinion, outperform many other professions notwithstanding the forces against them. Despite that, I guess N.W.A, the infamous Hip Hop group, is getting closer to their wish, and in turn neighborhoods all across America will feel the impact.
In 2014 I wrote about the uptick in crime after Darren Wilson was falsely accused of shooting an unarmed man while his hands were up. Even after the Department of Justice refuted that story the myth perpetuated. Celebrities, athletes and the news just kept going along with the fable because, I presume, it made some feel better about themselves, or worse, they profited. Cops pulled back and crime spiked. At that time I spoke to many active officers and supervisors and simply put; the cops were “not getting out of the cars”. Not because they don’t want to, but because they were frightened. Fearful that something could go wrong and not only that the agency and the city they work for is not supportive, but outright aggressive to terminate and prosecute. Due process be damned! Well wait ‘til you get a load of this, the year of 2020!
We have all “joked” that we want 2020 to end or even better; a reboot. But it’s no joke, quite serious actually. That was understandable with the issues around COVID as well as the brutal assault of George Floyd and its aftermath. But what could never have been predicted and what has become an assault on the United States of America, is the assault on Police Departments and law and order; a by product of that effort. I am not going to debate the merits of alleged systemic racism in the U.S. I am not going to deliberate if historical statutes should come down or not. I am not going to offer my opinion on the virtues of occupied territories within cities making a difference. But, I am going to warn all that will listen that if the police are not supported, this nation will be damaged, badly. Good honest people of all walks of life will be irreparably harmed. And it won’t be the “agitation leadership”, more commonly known as “the elites”. It will be the vulnerable. The less resourced.
In transitioning from policing to the private sector I have found, in my experience, there is a greater ability for a manager to motivate, cultivate, retain and recruit talent in the private sector. I ask every one of my direct reports a series of questions on a fairly regular basis. Are you happy? Do you feel respected? Are your ideas and opinions valued? Do you feel you are making a difference? Get more yes’ than no’s and salary is not as big of a deal. Those workers stay late even if you don’t ask them to. If salary is the only motivator you have the wrong employee…but I digress. Starting this moment, in this time with all that is going on in this country if we don’t figure out a way to support and protect the work the police do in a way that they feel valued, respected, secure and ultimately happy, policing in the US will have an exodus like never before.
In the Washington DC Metropolitan Police Department, a recent poll put the number of officers contemplating leaving the department at over 71%. I suspect the ones that will actually act are the officers that are eligible to retire leaving a void in experience, and those young enough to pivot to a new career. For a bit of irony: probably the least likely to be brutal or corrupt are the most experienced. That fact may the be function of assignment not seniority, but I doubt that. This is a blog not a research project, just my humble opinion. The officers that will remain will be those vested long enough to feel that are walking away from too much financially, and they will be unmotivated (unhappy, not valued, not contributing, not appreciated). And recruitment? Don’t even ask. Police departments were struggling before 2020.
Think about it, who becomes a police officer? Crappy work schedule, low wages, high stress, physical danger, massive scrutiny….shall I go on? Yes, please do. PTSD. High divorce rate. Poor health as a result of the high stress and long erratic hours. They become police officers for service, not the previously mentioned “benefits”. And before anyone says the pay is good (it’s not in comparison for what is expected), health benefits and pension (vs 401K), I would say, that those benefits are all available in many other industries. That is a weak position. Cops take the job out of a desire to serve. I have met many highly intelligent AND educated (there is a difference, trust me…maybe that is my next blog: “Learned Idiots”) that could be wildly successful in many other industries (Think Jamie Reagan, the Harvard grad lawyer in the TV show Blue Bloods). They do so for SERVICE!
No profession is more expected of and provided with less to be successful. (Click the link, watch a Paul Harvey video and replace “Policeman” with “Police Officer”, for obvious reasons.) #Backtheblue, if you don’t you will regret it.
