Editor’s Note: Police1 “First Person” essays are the place where P1 members (and on occasion, our regular columnists) candidly share their own unique cop’s-eye-view of the world. This is a platform from which 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 feature is from William P. “Bill” Fogarty, who has been in law enforcement for the past 15 years. He achieved his Master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of San Francisco, is a part time instructor for the South Bay Regional Academy, and serves with the San Mateo County (Calif.) Sheriff’s Office. Do you want to share your own perspective with other P1 Members? Send us an e-mail with your story.
By Deputy Bill Fogarty
San Mateo County (Calif.)
Sheriff’s Office
A new day is dawning for law enforcement. Many cities are faced with a shortage of officers as a result of a severe drop in the number of people interested in law enforcement. This, combined with an increase in the number of officers retiring as they reach age fifty, creates a huge lack of knowledge (and experience) that each agency is going to face in the future. This will be reflected in day-to-day activities, and during a critical incidents, from inexperienced and undertrained personnel.
“Forward” vs. “Historical” thinking
Education and planning for the future is needed for a flexible and open learning environment. However, there cannot be enough emphasis placed on historical knowledge within the organization. Many departments have a large number of people approaching retirement age which have lived through trying times and incidents. These have provided them with invaluable knowledge and experience in the world of law enforcement. Instead of losing that knowledge, it can be passed on to the new officers in each organization.
Take a moment to reflect upon your first day (or month) on the job and the tremendous learning curve that you were seemingly always behind on a daily basis. Your ambition to climb that learning curve, with each incident that the academy or field training program could not fully prepared you for. Now imagine that time long ago, what would have happened if you had ridden with a tenured partner who could coach you through the issue or problem without the need to call for a supervisor.
Development
A primary goal of any organization should be not to lose historical information. Instead, retain and impart that information to prepare younger personnel for the future. This means passing along knowledge critical to the success. There exists a program called “mentoring”. This program allows new employees to be paired up with experienced co-workers. The experienced employees provide a real-life education to the new employees and assist with career development after the initial training program.
The same thing should be done in law enforcement. The knowledge that a twenty year veteran has on integral skills like report writing can affect the new officer in a positive manner. It is possible that a retiring officer might be interested in part time employment in which they would not “take paper;” but rather enjoy the mentoring role of guiding new officers. If you were to offer a retiring officer, a position in which they would be mentoring a new officer; and not be responsible for report writing, testifying in court or writing citations, how much would that position be worth?
Matching
This idea of mentoring would require supervisors to evaluate and understand the abilities of retiring personnel for the mentoring program. Many agencies would not want the twenty year veteran “corrupting” the new officer. However, having a senior officer who likes teaching, mentoring, and possibly stills lives in that community would be a huge asset. Senior officers have knowledge of what houses serve as drug dens, which members of the community are the 10 percent who consume 90 percent of a department’s time, and most importantly understand what it takes to get a job done on a long term basis rather then applying a band-aid to fix the problem on a short term basis.
The single most important part for a successful mentoring program is matching. This would require a review to compare the senior personnel with a junior officer. The analysis that needs to be completed includes: putting together similar personalities, work habits, and differing institutional knowledge. The mentoring role needs to be carefully crafted to allow a senior member to feel comfortable guiding newer personnel to the right decisions without being forced to do all the paperwork.
The work force today consists of a new generation that does not want to be told what to do. But, like a video game ending or a TV show that has been “TiVo’d,” they need an understanding of what is at stake for their overall success or failure. This new generation of personnel want success to be instant, and often do not understand the need for institutional knowledge. However, at the first major crime scene, search warrant, wiretap, and testifying in court these worker bees would love to have someone to help them prepare and perform well. We all want to be successful in our lives and having a mentor to help guide you through the process would be invaluable.
Review
The only way a new program can succeed is to review and learn from failures. It is important that both the new and the retired officers have a chance to offer commentary with an anonymous response. This allows for real critical development and understanding of success or failure of the mentoring program. This review should not be critical of another officer’s style, but provide real training points for future employee development.
The use of a mentoring program with open and honest peer review can assist a training manager with identifying areas of concern or needs for improvement. It is possible that liability issues would decrease as a result of having a training program in which the needs of each officer are individually evaluated to determine a training program suited just for them. The use of a senior officer can be a lot less threatening then having a supervisor approach new officers. The ability of this mentor to spend quality time reviewing areas of weakness can only serve to strength the personnel and the organization.
The future
Imagine if you will, five years from now when a critical incident occurs in your town. Many departments will have a person with less than five years as the initial responding officer. Does that officer have the training and knowledge needed to be prepared for the situation? Maybe having a senior officer around to guide them in the right direction during the incident will recover that important piece of evidence rather than kicking it down a drain.
Additionally, imagine a new detective who has never written a search warrant. The senior officer could review and “walk” the detective through the whole paperwork process of getting a search warrant signed, admitted to the records office and returned. Most new officers only need to be shown how to do things once and they are on the road to success. The development of new officers determines the future for any department. Would you rather live in a community where new officers can do a through investigation that someone with previous historical knowledge can lead them in the right direction to solve the crime or not?
