The New Jersey Police Chief Magazine | May 2017
SEXTORTION , OPIATE DRUGS , MASSACRES , STRESS , CHEMICAL BIOLOGICAL RADIOLOGICAL NUCLEAR THREATS , PEARL HARBOR , TERRORISM AND RISK MANAGEMENT : DO I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION ?
A study of the 2017 NJSACOP Police Executive Institute 16 th Session from a UK viewpoint
By Detective Chief Inspector David Annets ( Ret .)
A quick glance at the agenda for this year ’ s NJSACOP Police Executive Institute ( 16 th Session ) would lead you to believe the world is a scary place , and that I was in for a bumpy ride in this week-long seminar , where I was asked to deliver on the topic on Employee Engagement and Coaching in amongst a myriad of pretty stressful topics . Fortunately , the scene was set , and I was in safe hands of the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police ( NJSACOP ) so I quickly relaxed into the soft leather chairs in the lecture theatre , only to be hit side-on by a juggernaut of a presentation from Retired Chief Kent Williams from Breachpoint Consulting .
Chief Kent explored the culture within law enforcement and contrasted and compared current organisational culture in some departments against attributes and beliefs that individuals held when they first joined the department ( whatever the department was ). At interview stage , individuals come across as enthusiastic , young and trustful , with low levels of coercive controlling behaviour . But is that the case today ? This was shaping up to be a bit of a roller-coaster ride , and to be honest I felt as though I could not get off that ride . Why ? Let me explain .
Chief Kent ’ s presentation was fast-paced , delivering hard-hitting truths , but delivered in a spiritual and humble way that left participants clear that he was talking directly to each and every one of them , and that he had years of experience to move them through stressful , torrid waters , guiding them to the safety of the bank on the other side . Like a bullet straight in the heart , but delivered with full CPR and heart massage at the end . Self-reflection complete , stress reduced , Chief Kent left me in no doubt that he had a number of tricks to deal with the stress and , by observing the rest of the class and speaking on a one-to-one basis afterwards , I am convinced there were many “ hallelujah moments ,” with a quickly dawning realisation that we had all been “ there ;” some may even still be “ there ” based on their subsequent admissions and private telephone calls home afterwards . The Chatham House rule prevents me from naming names , but if you read on and recognise either yourself in this , or you recognise your colleagues , then please share , as I am sure that is the Chief ’ s intention here .
Look away now if you have a squeamish nature , but read on if you want to know more , but remember these are personal reflections and may not represent any of the presenters ’ thoughts whatsoever , albeit I am pretty sure they do .
So , what do I mean by we have all been “ there ”? Where exactly is “ there ”? Well , the Chief asked us all to perform a reality check of our departments , and to give some thought to the pervading culture and environment that our organisations are operating in . Was it warm , open , trusting , and supportive , where people flourish and grow in friendly professional teams full of vision , innovation and freedom designed to make a positive difference ; or is it a closed -shop , full of suspicious battle-worn staff that find it hard to move on or to change , and are disconnected with the vision , full of rules and regulations to do this , to not do that , heavily relying upon the need to “ control ” others and quick to blame ? Go on , I dare you to think about this .
A quick and simple math test revealed that most departments have a little bit of each , in fairness , but when scrutinised , and on reflection , there are more of the negative factors displayed now than ever before , a factor reflected across the board . I know this from our conversations over coffee , and by the looks in participants ’ eyes ; they were emotionally beaten by the Chief , myself included . We fall short of the ideal position at almost every turn , and if honest with ourselves we now lean heavily towards a lack of trust in people , and full-on attempting to control every aspect of our lives , on the street , in the department , and , without doubt , this filters down to our home life .
So what does this look like , and what does it mean ? Chief Kent explained that we all didn ’ t start out like that , we didn ’ t turn up for our job interview for law enforcement like that ( in fact quite the opposite , we were very trusting and not coercive in the least ). If we were any different , we would surely not have been given the job .
But somewhere along the line “ it ” happened , and if you recognise some of these traits in yourself , “ it ” may have happened to you too . Oh , by the way , I don ’ t think that you necessarily need to be employed in law enforcement for this to be the case . It could be any organisation where people have become cynical , and leaders are distant from their teams .
It ’ s a fact that healthy organisations are “ engaged ” and “ empowered ,” where people are recognised for their contribution ; indeed
21
Continued on next page