Editor’s Note: In PoliceOne “First Person” essays, our Members and Columnists candidly share their own unique view of the world. This is a platform from which individual officers can share their own personal insights on issues confronting cops today, as well as opinions, observations, and advice on living life behind the thin blue line. This week’s essay comes from PoliceOne Member Morris Greenberg, who presently serves with the Baltimore County (Md.) Police Department in the Criminal Investigation Division. Do you want to share your own perspective with other P1 Members? Send us an e-mail with your story.
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By Morris Greenberg
Baltimore County (Md.) PD
Are your ears burning? They should be! Whether you realize it or not, you are being talked about. Your supervisors are talking about you, your co-workers are talking about you, and attorneys are talking about you. Heck, even judges are probably talking about you. Officers need to understand that the way they handle themselves during encounters with citizens, judicial officials and their fellow officers says a lot about them professionally as does the extent to which their criminal investigations are or are not conducted.
Just as most of us knew in school those students who were heralded for their academic success; so do we know those officers or investigators who are held in high esteem for their professionalism and investigative excellence. This article will offer three characteristics of a good officer that any officer can easily adopt to help improve or maintain their professional reputation.
Once you’ve written a police report or prepared a criminal case for prosecution it is read and reviewed by many eyes before it arrives at its ultimate destination, usually a crowded courtroom. The courtroom becomes essentially the theater in which “the script” you’ve written will be reviewed for its quality and attention to detail. All too often courtroom proceedings feel like a one-person show with the spot light shining only on you. Your critics are many: stern judges, rarely satisfied attorneys, your supervisors and fellow officers, fidgety jurors, victim’s families, newspaper reporters. etc... The critics will hold you to the highest level of investigative standards and expect nothing less than professionalism from you at all times. It is entirely up to you whether they speak well or ill of your talents.
The quality of your criminal investigation will leave an impression on all those who have participated in it and once documented all those who have read it. Your professional reputation is either made or broken by the quality of your character and your investigative efforts.
Here are three things any officer can do to improve their professional reputation:
1. Be a good communicator. Most good officers communicate well. It is imperative that an officer intent on gathering information knows how to talk to people. A good officer must be both respectful and gentile while speaking with people; keeping in mind they may have just witnesses or experienced a traumatic event. Conversely, the successful officer must be stern but also inviting when dealing with someone reluctant to cooperate. The officer must be versatile enough to win favor amongst the citizens of the diverse communities in which he or she works. The good officer must be able to write a comprehensive and detailed account of the facts, which allows someone unfamiliar with the case to understand and appreciate all the elements of it. The good officer must then be able to report the facts and defend them with confidence while testifying in court.
2. Follow your leaders. A good officer emulates the qualities of known leaders in their profession. Most good officers have adopted, in one form or another, the qualities of a fellow officer that they once looked up to or continue to admire. Following the example of those who have succeeded and who have garnered peer respect for the excellent quality of their investigations only makes sense. Talk to these officers or investigators. Ask them questions. Find out what’s worked well for them and what hasn’t. Good investigators usually welcome such inquiries and are often flattered by them. Most will be happy to offer suggestions to help you and some may even want to take the credit for your success!
3. Be persistent. A good officer is tenacious. He or she does not give up easily and does not take “no” for an answer. The good officer will persist despite lags in a case, a lack of cooperation, a lack of evidence, budgetary set-backs and the like. The good officer will view problems as challenges not barriers. He or she will be patient until a case can be successfully closed.
Edmund Locard is known for establishing the first forensic laboratory in Lyon, France in 1910. Locard had a theory that is commonly referred to today as, “The Theory of Transfer.” Locard asserted, a suspect in a crime scene will take something from the scene with him and leave something of himself behind1. Every police encounter has the potential to add something or take something from your professional reputation. Therefore, be certain you are proud of your conduct and the thoroughness of every investigation.
Adopt the qualities of a good officer and apply them. If you’re not a good communicator recognize it and attempt to improve your skills by following your leaders. Emulate those who do things well and never quit. Seek to find other characteristics or qualities of good officers on your own that will improve or help you acquire an enviable professional reputation. As the Locard’s “Theory of Transfer” suggests, you leave something of yourself with all of those you contact in the performance of your duties. Most importantly, you leave a lasting impression!
1Paraphrased from: Swanson, Chamelin, Territo, and Taylor (2009). Criminal Investigations. Historical Milestones of Criminalistics (p.11). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
