I hear it all the time. Agencies all over. Rookies these days.. the candidate pool sucks.. blah blah blah. Back in my day…
Guess what? It’s not your day. Its not my day. It’s theirs. And guess what? We need good cops.. badly! Stats from early this year even highlight how we are losing cops faster than we can hire them.
From some of these nay-sayers, in nearly the same breath, I hear them reflect on how they wouldn’t want to be a cop today.. or how they wouldn’t encourage their kids or other young adults do it.
Sometimes corrosive attitudes don’t even allow individuals to hear their own disconnect.
I’ll add one another item to the mix… plenty of cops back in your day (and my early days) weren’t actually great cops!
We all know solid cops who had a rocky start. Heck, I was one. Some of the cops I respect most have shared their blunders and lessons learned. Maybe you were, too. Whether it’s an athlete, artist, or cop- we need to recognize that with a good coach, the right coach, someone with strong drive and strong attitude can generally get there.
We NEED to recognize the job is more dynamic and multifaceted than ever. Seasoned cops even have trouble keeping track of new law updates and change ups. ✋🏽 (myself included).
Anyone can red pen and critique someone all day (see internet trolls). We need someone who can LEAD and show the way.
So let’s embrace that positive coaching mentality, and rely on our strength as mentors and teachers to uplift our new folks and by proxy, our entire team.