Worth a Look: If You Don’t Have Anything Nice To Say, Don’t Say Anything At All
One of the unique leadership and management challenges in law enforcement that I have seen over the years is with regard to our civilian staff members. Most supervisors that I have known will say that supervising civilians is very different that supervising sworn personnel. I agree. I would never say it is more difficult, but there are distinct differences between the way sworn personnel and civilian personnel respond to sworn supervision, form relationships in the organization and view job satisfaction and reward.
I have had the opportunity to lead civilian staffers in my career and have always enjoyed it. Granted, I have been blessed with amazing people and remain fortunate to this day, but regardless of the great hand I have been dealt, I have learned a great deal from working with my civilian staff. I learned even more about leadership and myself when things were not going so well.
The first thing I make sure I remain aware of, especially with new hires, is that these people have walked into a culture that few people ever get to experience. The police culture can be a vacuum and sometimes less than friendly until the members accept the newcomers. If we are going to develop a new civilian properly and give them a fair shake, we have to remember that they might feel more familiar stepping onto the surface of Mars, then walking through the doors of a police department.
Worth a Look
I am sharing a very insightful blog post that was authored by Levi Giraud, the crime analyst for the Fargo Police Department and host of his blog, The Crime Analyst Hotspot. In Levi’s post, If You Don’t Have Anything Nice To Say, Don’t Say Anything At All, we get a glimpse of the civilian perspective. Arguably, it may not be too different form other workplaces in this case, but we need to make sure we recognize it in our industry.
Take a few minutes to read Levi’s post, look over his blog and sign up for updates on his blog site. The Crime Analyst Hotspot is one of my favorite blogs.
Developing an awareness and respect for the civilian’s perceptions in the police workplace is fundamental to developing effective teams in the police workplace. And let’s not forget after all, that the civilian staff in a PD is the hidden backbone of successful police departments.
What practices does your police department engage in that help civilians integrate into the police culture?
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That statement is way too vague. Most times things need to be said. How you say it is the biggest issue. Be professional in everything you say, but do not hold back…
And civilian staff are in no way the backbone of a law enforcement agency… Useful in budget, but not necessary. The backbone is sworn uniformed officers. Everyone else, including the lead LEO of the agency are their support.
Points taken; this is a topic that I plan on expanding on down the road. Stay safe and thank you for taking the time to comment!
Welcome! Thanks. Semper Fi
Earl, civilians do play a very important role in LE. They may not be in your opinion the “backbone” but they make sure that the department runs efficiently and they should be treated with respect as well.
One of the most critical discussions around the engagement between sworn law enforcement officers and the rest of the population needs to focus on “civilian.” In the United States, *everyone* is a civilian except for military personnel. The police in this country are not a paramilitary force, are not a separate class of citizens, and *are* civilians. They are civilians who put their lives in danger every day for the safety and welfare of the entire country, and face hardships, challenges, and stressors usually unknown by the majority of the rest of the civilians. But they are still civilians.
Andrew I have never viewed it that way but I agree with that take on the situation. We have that delineation in the little worlds we operate in but the bigger picture is more like you described. Thank you for taking the time to comment, and above all, stay safe!
Police officers rank high on my scale of cynical people influenced by their occupation. By the same token they are some of the most honest, outspoken, and loyal group of individuals, almost to a fault. I speak from experience as a 26-year commissioned police officer. Law enforcement is composed of a close-knit group of individuals who rarely associate with people outside of their inner circle. Civilians are often times welcomed into an inner circle once they have demonstrated their support, allegiance, and trustworthiness, which is no small task. Law enforcement officers are held to a higher ethical and moral standard than civilians, so caution is always the best approach.
Jose J. Blanco
Special Contract Investigator/Federal Criminal Supervision Consultant/Criminal Defense Investigator
I have nothing niece to say…but I’ll say it anyway! The blog ran too long to make a simple point, which seems to be to perpetuate the myth of civilian world Vs police culture. How all police cease to also be civilians is a distinction without a difference. The truth is police agencies have lagged behind successful leadership models, most often found in the civilian for profit organizations, and have instead embraced a top-down hierarchical style which invariably promotes nepotism; incestuous professional relationships; clicks; and unfair treatment and promotions in a highly charged political environment. A recent example is former US Secret Service Director Pierson’s performance testifying before Congress. It quickly became obvious she was not up to the task. Although I’m sure she has a distinguished career, she was done no favors by having been promoted to the directorship. Especially when her promotion was a political statement followed by the myth a female director would best control the highly liquored-up and testosteroned agents. It is that unprofessional culture above described what gets you the scandals in that agency. It is the myth of the thin blue line’s manipulation what begets corrupt loyalties. Why is it that police agencies follow a military style organizational structure but are unable to achieve the high level of leadership development found in the military? Is it because police agencies do not have resources such as the U.S. Military Academy; Naval Academy; War College; Officer Candidate School; or any other rigorous educational program? Moreover, by promoting diversity at all costs, many departments have eliminated the rigorous objective testing in place thirty years hence in many large metropolitan police departments. So instead of promulgating this old-school officer versus civilian myth that only promotes division in purpose and mission, I suggest police brass hit the books and learn how successful organizations do it!
1 month ago
Ken Stanton
A/U-Sec. Off./P.O./M.P./P.I.-Yet to test
Yea, but if it’s related to the job at hand, it might not be nice to say you’re under arrest and they say for what and you answer 1st Degree Intentional Homicide. They state you’re nuts and you say oh well. You’re telling them the truth and nice or not, you must say what you must say and don’t forget to tell them their rights to.
1 month ago
Rob McLachlan
Police Enquiry Center Officer
So you would let that person who isn’t doing the best job they can to carry on to the detriment of your public or welfare of their colleagues without challenge? In the department where I work it’s expected that you challenge bad behaviour. The result of this is that bad behavior is very rare.
1 month ago
Ralph Valencia, ACE
Airport Police Sergeant 2 at Los Angeles Airport Police
Having been in my agency for 35 years, I know all too well about rumor control and the way it can have a devastating effect on one’s career. Most of it evolves around perceived personality defects, such as sexual preference, alcoholism, domestic partners, etc. The worst center around relationships between officers, supervisors and officers (really bad in any context), and management decisions.
I was a victim of this type of nonsense and ended up being taken out of a specialized unit because the female sergeant who was in charge of the unit thought I was not properly reacting to the divorce I was going through at the time, completely ignoring the fact that not everyone is going to break down during one of these ordeals. I later found out that had I fought being removed from the unit, I would have been pych-reevaluated. I didn’t play their game, went back to patrol and later transferred back into the same unit. Eight years later I made sergeant and left for a new assignment. So much for their perception of my situation.
Always remember, unless you have intimate knowledge of what’s happening to the person being talked about, don’t draw the same conclusions others do that just want to belittle other employees. Then you yourself become part of the problem.
1 month ago
David Lyons, MBA
Author of PoliceBusinessAdvisor.com
Well said Ralph; I’ve seen your predicament played out a few times over the years. Can you imaging how healthy a PD would be if those things were dealt with appropriately?
1 month ago
Wayne Walker
Retired LEO/ Fire Fighter/ EMT/ Diver
Ralph: Great comment, David well spoken, I know all to well about those things, & I’m glad to be retired. Then again you do miss the teamwork when you have a good squad.
1 month ago
David Lyons, MBA
Author of PoliceBusinessAdvisor.com
It’s always the people that are missed; never the nonsense
1 month ago
Wayne Walker
Retired LEO/ Fire Fighter/ EMT/ Diver
Isn’t that the Truth.
1 month ago
Doug Arnoldt ( LION )3300 +
Retired Law Enforcement Professional !
I try my best but sometimes people need to speak up and out , keeping your mouth shut when things are wrong , causes many problems in many situations ! A person can speak with out getting plain Nasty doing it ! Maybe that is the problem with this country ! Seems like we have many Pieholes blowing for no reason and stupid people follow them , I think we should let the stupid people have a choice 🙂 ! What is Right and what is Wrong !!!
Just my thought of life , and for me it has worked ! Well most of the time LOL ! Have a Great weekend !
1 month ago
David Lyons, MBA
Author of PoliceBusinessAdvisor.com
Love it! Have a great weekend too !
1 month ago
Barry Masuda
Director of Special Projects and Investigations at Security Industry Specialists (SIS)
Great article and should be required reading for all leo trainees and then some. Police gossip or so called unofficial “union meetings” can be very destructive to the general morale if not properly neutralized by effective supervision.
1 month ago
David Lyons, MBA
Author of PoliceBusinessAdvisor.com
So very true! Talk about toxic environments!
1 month ago