Balance
That’ s a pretty rough statement. One that many people on this job are, at first, going to disagree with. But hear me out. Yes, every Sergeant, every Lieutenant, even every Chief was once an Officer just like you. Every one of them has a first name, or even a nickname, that they go by outside of work. That person, the outside-work one? By all means, be friends with them. Have a beer, play golf, watch a game— whatever. But once you are at work and put that supervisory title in front of their name, that relationship has got to change in your mind. Because it absolutely does in theirs, if they take their job seriously, that is. While there is camaraderie within members of our profession, it is important for the distinction between Officer and supervisor to be written in stone. You have a job and responsibilities, and so do they. You are laborers, and they are management.
The further away in rank you get from supervisor, the easier it is to make this distinction. Very few people at the rank of Officer in a department this size speak of the Chief by their first name. As you get down to middle management( Lieutenants) and frontline supervisors( Sergeants), that line begins to blur. We are all guilty of it at some point. As the paramilitary design of police work has been phased out, whether intentionally or not, so has the respect of rank structure. We have all become too familiar with each other. As a result of this, Officers take for granted that their friend will treat the work relationship as if it was a friendly one, rather than a supervisory one. It’ s this lack of separation that, in this political climate, can cost one or both of you your job. investigation, and you did not make a notification as required. What if you didn’ t trouble your friend to do an industrial packet for your minor finger injury, and now it’ s six months later and your knuckle is the size of a golf ball?
Where am I going with this? You as a Police Officer are held to a standard. Honestly, an unrealistic standard. You must be right all the time. When you are wrong, you are the one that is disciplined, on the news, etc. Every news article, truthful or not, that paints police in a bad light refers to the officers. Very rarely is there a story about your good friend, the supervisor. But here is the thing— the first line of protection for you as an Officer is that same frontline supervisor. And by making that first notification to them, you could be saving both of your jobs, or at the very least, some minor headaches down the line.
If you have any questions or comments, I can be reached at the PLEA office or by email at dgrant @ azplea. com.
Here is the part where you all say,“ Dan, you are out of your mind. So-and-so is a good buddy of mine.” Again, outside of work— absolutely. But think of how that dynamic plays out at work. Do you, as an Officer, call your supervisor( your friend) to respond to every incident that is required by Operations Orders? Do you have them verify every arrest on scene as required? Do they fill out your industrial-injury paperwork as required? Chances are, absent unusual circumstances, the answer is no. And why is that? Again, more often than not, it is because you don’ t want to create extra work for them( your friend). The job of a supervisor is to ensure that his subordinates are doing their job properly. There are also specified duties they must perform that are of a“ quality control” nature. That frontline supervisor makes 24 % more annually than you do at the top step for this responsibility. Now, ask yourself what you think the consequence would be if something went sideways, became a politically charged
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