![]() ![]() Never forget the first day in that same cop car alone and how everything looked foreign, people looked twice as big and you don't know how but some smart ass was able to move all the streets around from where they were last week and now you're lost. Never forget your first arrest, report, scuffle, or ass-chewing. Never forget your first time in the car trying to figure out where to put your stuff while listening to a radio with 5 different channels and 20 different voices all while trying to remember all the faces, cars and storefronts that pass you all while listening to some person you just met telling you how a mistake out here can cost you or someone their life. Never forget your first time in briefing. Never forget your awkward and bulky ride to work. Never forget the night before your first day. Never forget your first time in uniform and the awkward bulkiness.Don’t be afraid to speak up when you know something is being done wrong even if “that’s how we’ve always done it.” Read and be able to explain case law and code. Although most senior officers and supervisors mean well, they aren’t always right.Having good supportive leadership and administration in your agency is more important than high pay, technology and fancy gadgets.Use it to help you remember the victims and some of the funniest things you can imagine, and some that defy your imagination. Use it to memorialize leadership wins and failures. Use that journal for reflection and personal growth. You have a front-row seat to the greatest show on Earth and it will all become a blur after the first few years. What is the public’s perception of how I am doing my job? It will determine their support for you when you need it most. What are my peers’ perceptions of my abilities and limitations? They affect how they do their job. What are my abilities and my limitations? They affect how I do my job. Ask yourself these three questions regularly, and answer them with ruthless honesty: 1.Always give yourself an advantage in every situation, do what has to be done, and take care of yourself, your partner, other officers and the people you serve, but the goal at the end of the day is to make it home! Hold your family tight, and spend as much time with them as you can – working OT, or off duty is great, but you won’t get the time with your family back. This job will eat you up if you let it, it’s not a crime to take a minute for yourself, or a week if you need it, you have to stay mentally healthy, or you will not last! When you make a mistake, and we all do, give yourself some grace, but always learn from that mistake. There is more to life than cop stuff! This is your career, not your life! And most importantly, read Kevin Gilmartin’s book “Emotional Survival.” Don’t eat, sleep and breath police work no matter what your peers think. – Rodney Scottĭon’t be peer pressured into being “on duty” 24/7. Keep the humor because it is going to be a wild ride.As my FTO told me and I didn’t quite take to heart, “It’s a career, not a crusade!” – Blair Powers.Not every lesson has to be learned the hard way.Wake up, sit up and pay attention because it might just save your or a buddy’s life one day. Those "boring" department-mandated mental health, wellness, and PTSD for LE trainings are important so stop acting like you are invincible.Policing is what you do, not who you are! Keep the friends you had before the job and don't hang with mostly LEOs.That was 41 years ago, and I thank god he did. First week on the job my supervisor sat me down and basically ordered me to participate in the deferred comp program.You get paid the same no matter how much work you do so no need to light the world on fire! – A A Ron Dohert.Learn how to pick your battles, sometimes the juice isn’t worth the squeeze.You will be let down by the prosecution/system more than you wish.My motto used to be "talk ‘em into cuffs." I hated fighting with folks, so I avoided it as much as humanly possible.Not everyone needs a ticket or to go to jail. You want to do that with the least amount of force necessary. Your badge is not an invisible shield and it does not weigh nine pounds.Get a degree you can fall back on, unrelated to LE, for a secondary career if you get hurt or burnt out.Each shift will have the good and the bad. You’re not ready! Slow down and learn from your FTO, spend time as a back-up to learn from your shift partners, ask questions and don’t stop until you’re satisfied with the answers.Unfortunately, that is the reality in some departments. You get out of it what you put into it.Email us to share what you think, or complete the box below. ![]()
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