7 yr Limit in Specialty Units

[quote=Voice of Reason]

Your scenario is a straw man.

If a "senior" officer is working hard, then it is impossible for a junior officer to make up for 10 or 15 years of experience by also working hard.

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Voice of resaon you are correct, a junior officer working hard does not speed up any process except that he's doing what he's getting paid to do. Just about every cop here was a go getter when they started, when an officer reaches the 7-10 yr mark, thats often when you start seeing what that officer is capable of and what his true interests are. Most of us started with interests of going to DB, CST, K9, VIN, TRAFFIC, DETACHED, but the reality of a small department is you MIGHT be able to get one maybe two of these specialties throughout a 20 yr career. When your in a small department and you have a rookie officer that puts in for every opening that becomes available, the perception is that he/she is trying to do anything to get off the road. Unfortunately we don't have the luxury, like the county, to bounce from unit to unit, so it's some wise advice to think about what your interested in and go for it when you have the chance, if a senior officer (not a slug) puts in for the same opening as the rook, my feeling is to give it to the senior man, WHY? Because he/she has done their time and that goes much farther than a rookie officer that is "proactive", remember, we all were the first years of our career. Keep your heads up rooks, you will have your chance to advance but keep in mind that advancement in small agencies is minimal, if you have the career plan of experiencing several different specialties throughout your career, try a larger agency, cuz if you stay the reality is that you'll be dissapointed.

Seasoned Vet, you broke it down quite well. Keep doing what your doing newbies, one day your experience will be respected. When your the senior officers of this agency, you most likely will be preaching the same words to the rookie officers that feel all senior officers are slugs. When you newbies were children, still in middle and high school, we were stopping and arresting any piece of sh$t we could, it's sort of the circle of life, when pertaining to this career.

Well said, Seasoned Vet.

Promotions and appointments to specialized units ought to be based on the merits of the individual, and seniority should only be used a tiebreaker for two equally qualified applicants. Seniority should not cause a less qualified vet to get the spot over a better qualified junior cop.

Well said, Seasoned Vet.

Promotions and appointments to specialized units ought to be based on the merits of the individual, and seniority should only be used a tiebreaker for two equally qualified applicants. Seniority should not cause a less qualified vet to get the spot over a better qualified junior cop.

Voice of reason, that was exactly the point I was trying to convey.
Let seniority be the deciding factor when both canidates are neck and neck. But dont give the senior seadonkey a position that a junior officer is much more qualified for. Everyone knows who the workers are... And just because someone has managed to stick arround for tweny years under the radar does not make them a poster child of knowlege and wisdom in their profession.