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Power, Passion, People, and Production

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“Success is the sum of small efforts repeated day in and day out.”   –Robert Collier


 The mission at Thin Blue Line of Leadership is to share positive leadership tactics with the field of law enforcement. Positive leadership starts by creating a positive squad culture.

 Sergeants or first-line supervisors have direct influence on the officers assigned to them and the environment in which they work. The direction a squad takes culturally can be attributed to the leadership, or lack thereof, provided by the sergeant or first-line supervisor.

 Culture is defined by the actions and attitudes of a particular group demonstrated over time. The culture of a squad will carry over into everything they do both within the department and out in the community.

 Power, Passion, People, and Production

1. Power of Policing – Setting a clear vision and mission for a squad is crucial. The department provides a framework, but the TBL Leader defines it and gives it life. The ability to take a group of officers and show them exactly what winning looks like generates power. The more power the TBL Leader shares with the squad, the stronger the squad as a whole will become and the more impact they will have on the community. Without a barrel, a shotgun loses all effectiveness because the pellets have no direction. TBL Leaders provide the direction and thus the power.

 2. Passion for Policing – Passion is infectious! If the TBL Leader consistently shares their passion for the job with their squad, then the squad will reciprocate by retaining or regaining their own passion. When an entire squad has a shared passion, then overlapping squads take notice and want to have that same feeling of success. Passion also develops a desire to be at work and a commitment to protecting the positive culture by always working at a high level. Work is always at its best when it does not feel like work. TBL Leaders will always attract great officers to their squads that buy into what they are selling. Passion for policing should be encouraged and never discouraged.

 3. People are Policing – Victims, citizens, officers, and suspects – no matter the role, people are policing. Creating a positive squad culture directly impacts how officers respond to the people within the community they serve. TBL Leaders set the expectation that all people are to be treated with dignity and respect, even those under arrest. Then, they go out with their officers to regularly model, support, and reward this desired behavior. Officers are always watching how the TBL Leader handles a situation and learning from it. Demonstrate that treating people right can be one of the most effective officer safety tools in their toolbox.

 4. Production in Policing – Law enforcement production has always been a double-edge sword. The person who just received a speeding citation may be the one calling 911 shortly thereafter when their home is being burglarized. This dual role as both enforcers and protectors creates a very fine line for officers to walk. With that being said, departments need a way to show they are getting what they pay for, but must be cautious about assigning quantitative-only measures. When people are reduced to being stats, there is the risk that integrity, fairness, and good judgment could go by the wayside in lieu of statistical production. To offset this, TBL Leaders must routinely reward quality production, as opposed to just sheer quantity. Rewarding quality production regularly will teach officers where the balance point lies and what winning looks like to the TBL Leader. This is an essential part of developing a positive squad culture.

 By establishing a positive squad culture; power, passion, people, and production are all engaged positively. Will this require extra time, effort, and thought on the part of the TBL Leader? Absolutely, but the end result, the sum of those small efforts repeated day in and day out will be well worth it.

 The next blog at Thin Blue Line of Leadership will provide real-world suggestions for creating a positive squad culture . . .

 How have you seen leaders within your department create a positive squad culture?

 Share your comments with us below or on our Facebook page. Continue saving the world one call at a time and as always, LEAD ON!

Law Enforcement Lingo 101

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This post is for readers that are not familiar with basic law enforcement lingo. Understanding the full meaning of Thin Blue Line of Leadership’s tweets and blog posts will deepen your comprehension of our mission to share positive law enforcement leadership tactics.  As new terminology comes up, I will update this post with additional terms and their meanings.

ACRONYMS

CFS – Call for Service

LE – Law Enforcement

LEO – Law Enforcement Organization

LT – Lieutenant

OFC – Officer

SGT –  Sergeant

TERMINOLOGY

BRIEFING – A daily meeting for a squad or group of officers prior to the beginning of a shift. (15 – 30 minutes in length)

CALL – When an officer is assigned a task to complete. Typically this starts as a call to 9-1-1 or a department’s non-emergency number.

CALL FOR SERVICE (CFS) – Same as a “call.”

CHAIN OF COMMAND – Law enforcement organizations are setup as paramilitary organizations and the chain of command is the line of authority and responsibility along which orders are passed. Law enforcement chain of command positions are different from the military and also vary between police departments, sheriff’s departments, and federal law enforcement agencies. In a police department, the chain of command is usually some form of the following: Chief of Police, Assistant Chief of Police, Commander, Lieutenant, Sergeant, and Officer. Depending on the size of the organization, there may be more or less positions in the chain.

OFFICER/DEPUTY/AGENT – These are all similar positions, just different terminology, and make up the backbone of any law enforcement organization. The only difference is the type of jurisdiction they serve – city, county, state, or federal. The jurisdiction dictates if an organization is a police department, sheriff’s department, or federal law enforcement agency. Thin Blue Line of Leadership will be using the term officer as a default, but the knowledge shared applies to all law enforcement agencies regardless of name.

OFFICER SAFETY – This is a term used to describe the actions necessary to keep an officer safe in any given situation and get them safely home to their family. It encompasses things like using a backup officer, wearing a vest, proper officer positioning, and many more. A huge part of being a law enforcement leader is keeping your officers safe by sharing up-to-date officer safety information and verifying that they are applying all officer safety techniques available to them.

PARAMILITARY – An organization whose structure, training, and function are similar to that of the military, but is not a part of the nation’s formal armed forces. Police departments, sheriff’s departments, and federal law enforcement agencies are set up as paramilitary organizations.

SQUAD – A group of approximately 6 to 10 officers assigned to work the same general area and shift. Each squad will have a sergeant or equivalent first-line-supervisor assigned to oversee their activities. It is common for multiple squads to overlap each other due to the need for 24-7 coverage and staffing at busier times of day/night.

THIN BLUE LINE – A common law enforcement symbol showing 2 black lines with a thinner blue line in-between. It has 3 common meanings: (1) Represents the line between life and death an officer walks each time they start a shift. (2) Represents the line that officers maintain between the good and bad to prevent chaos and disorder. (3) Represents fallen law enforcement officers that have died in the line of duty.

Thin Blue Line of Leadership can be reached at tblleadership@gmail.com for any questions, comments, or suggestions.

LEAD ON!

Welcome to Thin Blue Line of Leadership

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Welcome to the Thin Blue Line of Leadership blog. The Twitter (@tbl_leadership) and WordPress (tblleadership.wordpress.com) accounts associated with Thin Blue Line of Leadership have been created as a conduit to share positive leadership tactics with the field of Law Enforcement.

Law enforcement is an extremely unique career choice and once in it you become part of a very special brother/sister-hood. Only so many people in the world get to see what officers see and do what officers do. A large number of police officers actually come from other careers like education, real estate, military, IT, etc. and eventually are drawn together into a paramilitary organization focused on defending the laws of their particular jurisdiction. Law enforcement leaders must find ways to blend this diversity into a cohesive unit that can serve their community effectively. Depending on the backgrounds from which law enforcement leaders originate, leadership styles within any given organization can vary greatly. Unfortunately, once “on the beat,” there is little to no leadership training available.

There is a ton of great leadership information out there geared towards corporations, entrepreneurs, churches, and personal improvement, but very little written specifically for law enforcement. Various law enforcement websites have leadership articles here and there, but most of what is written is geared towards higher levels in the chain of command – chiefs, assistant chiefs, captains, and commanders. Sharing leadership ideas within law enforcement is further made difficult because the culture is such a tough nut to crack. If you have not been there, seen that, and shared calls with your brothers and sister in uniform, then translating abstract concepts like leadership can come across as phony.

Thin Blue Line of Leadership believes that leading within law enforcement organizations begins by educating and mentoring officers to become the next generation of leaders. This cannot be done through general observation and osmosis. It must be done with purpose and an intentional mindset over an extended amount of time. The sergeant or first-line supervisor of any law enforcement organization has the most direct contact with officers. This puts them in a unique position to create environments that purposely train the next leaders of the organization. How to create an environment conducive to leadership-development, educating officers, and mentoring them is why Thin Blue Line of Leadership is here.

Thin Blue Line of Leadership can be reached at tblleadership@gmail.com for any questions, comments, or suggestions.

LEAD ON!