Wickersham Commission Findings Continue

Chicago PD Lieutenant Speaks Out

Wow! Very interesting read. When I was in the academy many moons ago I remember the instructor saying the biggest danger will not be the crook on the street with a gun. The biggest danger will be our own administration. He was ever so right! More careers are harmed by administrative decisions rather than street crimes. Granted there are officers who bring it on themselves. However there are also officers whose only real offense is they ran afoul of someone in power. Over the years I've seen these types of officers;

Broke D***s or ROD (retired on duty): These guys have been on the job for decades. According to them they have seen and done it all. There is no way to verify this except to find someone they used to work with and ask them. These guys are tired and want to ride the wave into retirement trying to squeeze in a few more years and a few thousand more into their retirement. Some of them won't complain when they just answer their calls and do enough to stay off the radar while the rest gripe and mumble. The latter strike me as having been lazy even in their youths. These guys are set in their ways and are resistant to change and anything short of a direct order will fight all the way to the bank.

Generation Xer: I guess I would fit into the group. We grew up with old school upbringings (unless the parents were hippies) and went through all the trials and tribulations of a teenager of the 1990s. When we get into law enforcement we hear war stories from the old timers and if we're smart we take notes because we can learn from them (both what to do and what not to do). Sometimes we can be a bridge between the last generation and the next generation.

Generation Y: Not sure how these guys/gals were raised. They are embedded with a "me" attitude. Not sure what drew them to police work but they feel they should be given banker's hours with weekends and holidays off. "Someone else" can work the other shifts. They don't grasp the principle's of duty, sacrifice, and paying one's dues. The previous generations learned that sometimes you have to make sacrifices and schedule your personal life around the job. This generation feels the job shouldn't ever interfere with their social life and become upset and act like toddlers throwing tantrums when it does. They tend to feel they are being picked on and love to be the victim. When they tell a story the facts get rearranged to portray them as being the victim. It isn't that they are lying (90% of the time), that is how they perceive the situation. They don't understand that someone is trying to guide/teach them while they are getting spanked. However because of their narrow mindset they cannot see that.

As with every rule, there are exceptions.

On the other hand there are different types of leaders.

There are those who have not forgotten what it's like starting out and working up. He understands their people are going to mess up and depending on how bad and how much damage is done it isn't necessary to toss the wolves fresh meat. He cares about morale and is happy to pass out compliments and "atta boys" to let his troops know they did a good job. He also knows that sometimes someone will need to be made an example of after committing (or omitting) some action that really causes some damage and embarrassment. He also understands that politics play a hand in law enforcement administration. How much depends on the individual leader. Some keep it to a minimum, others allow themselves and their agencies to be an arm of politics.

While there are certainly other categories of leaders I will refrain. If you want to add some categories of your own you're more than welcome to do so in the comments section.


Read the blog post here....