101 things I wish I knew when I was a rookie
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  1. #1
    Guest

    Unhappy 101 things I wish I knew when I was a rookie

    What IF?
    If I was a stupid rookie that could not tell the difference between an
    NTA and a PC, would I not want some practical advice?
    Sure I would. Here it is.
    Those of you who have been around awhile should feel free to add to this list.


    Rookie Rules
    #1 Keep your eyes and ears open and your mouth shut. Police officers (most especially the older and more experienced officers) will be suspicious of you regardless of who you are. No one will trust you initially, despite what your FTO tells you and regardless of all that stuff they told you in the academy. As far as your academy training, all the most important things were left out. So listen and learn. Don't ever say you know something, because you don't. Don't say anything that has a ****y, arrogant or aggressive tone. You really do not know anything. In order to get the best possible training, the best assistance and the best advice, you must come in everyday with a humble outlook and a box of donuts (thats funny).

    #2. Although no one has ever explained this to you, what is really happening is that you are learning a new way to think. All of your former perceptions as a stupid civilian will be altered. You will learn to see people in a new light, and you will see them at their worst. Why is this important? Everything you say and do will be under scrutiny from now until the time you retire (assuming you make it that far without divorce, alcoholism, suicide, medical problems, etc). Today, the use of video by the public can make you an instant star on the six o'clock news. Every time you open your mouth, the police officers who are senior to you are judging you on whether or not you will be able to handle yourself, and on how much they can trust you.

    #3. The department has rules that are set up for a reason. You are stupid and new and you must follow the rules. Dont bend them or break them. Eventually you will find out why the rules are in place and how, under certain circumstances, they can be twisted somewhat. Some rules, however, cannot ever be broken. These you must leave alone.

    #4. Trust, Respect, Integrity are all words that are over-used and underappreciated by civilians. Not so with us. If you are a liar, a thief, a cheat, a tattletale (the police word for this is "rat") you will soon find yourself in a very uncomfortable and lonely place.

    #5. Sometimes you will find yourself in circumstances that are difficult from a moral, ethical or legal point of view. When this happens, as it eventually does to all police officers, you will be judged by your peers as well as your superiors. Be prepared.

    #6. Egos have no place in this environment. Police officers have to work in very serious situations under a lot of stress on a regular basis for years at a time. All of us are heroes. All of us are unappreciated. All of us have done heroic things that only we are aware of. There is certainly nothing wrong with someone getting a little well-deserved recognition. BUT, it you think you are the Grand Poobah and everyone else is cat poop- you'll soon be back in that uncomfortable and lonely place we mentioned before.

    #7. Locker rooms are for locker room talk. Sometimes it becomes necessary to say things to someone who may or may not understand it in the normal way. Locker Rooms are special places because what goes on in there is never repeated out here.

    #8. Its really dumb to have to say this but most people nowadays really are confused about it. Life is UNFAIR. You will be treated unfairly. Citizens, not having any idea of who you are, will judge you merely because you are wearing a badge. Someone will spit on your cruiser door handles, someone will call in a false complaint against you, someone will say you took their watch or their wallet or their dope. And you may get in trouble for it. Yeah, you may be innocent and still get in trouble. It happens. When it does, you have two choices: suck it up and get over it, or whine about it and be miserable and piss eveyone off because of your whining.

    #9----open for the next guy.......

  2. #2
    Guest

    Re: 101 things I wish I knew when I was a rookie

    9) Never - ever no matter how careful you think you will be, or how quick you think you will do it, eat a white powdered donut while in uniform, or in your patrol car! That white powder does not come out of blue or green polyster very easily, and actually the more you try to rub it off the worse it becomes!! Stick to glazed!!

  3. #3
    Guest

    Re: 101 things I wish I knew when I was a rookie

    can we get these added to our fto manuals???
    :cop:

  4. #4
    Guest

    Re: 101 things I wish I knew when I was a rookie

    I just passed some serious gas!

  5. #5
    Guest

    Re: 101 things I wish I knew when I was a rookie

    :x :P ops: :cry: :evil:
    WHY do Rookies do the crazy things they do?

    Do any of you remember a movie with Robert Duvall called Colors?
    Do I have the name and the actor right?

    As I remember, the vet is telling a story about two bulls on a hill. At the bottom of the hill are a number of cows.
    The rookie bull says to the vet bull, "Why dont we run down there and bang us a cow?"
    The vet bull says, "Why dont we walk down there and bang all of them?"

  6. #6
    Guest

    Re: 101 things I wish I knew when I was a rookie

    Heres a little principle which seems to me to have been overlooked in the training of some of our young men and women.

    Of course, its not something you will find in any training manual, but it is a core principle nonetheless.

    What I am referring to is the principle of the Blind Supervisor.

    Let me show you how this works. First, we need to make certain assumptions and in this case we will assume that the supervisor is an experienced, dedicated individual who makes rational decisions based on substantial experience.
    Second, we must assume our "rookie" is out of the FTO stage, possibly out of his mandatory year of probation.

    Onward to the Blind Supervisor. Calls are dispatched, our valiant rookie goes forth and does his level best to handle all he can. For the most part, he does his best. A few things are done improperly, however, such as a lack of minor documentation, or a failure to fill out a statement form. Nothing major, mind you, and all is well. No problems occur as a result of our heroes oversight. The supervisor, who has enough faith in his rookie to trust him alone, has no idea that these minor malfunctions have occurred because he has not gone on his rookies call and watched him every step of the way.
    For the rookie, he has seen that some minor things can be overlooked from time to time, and so long as the results are positive, there is no real problem.

    The scenario above is actually played out on an hourly basis in police departments all over the country. Of course, no one will ever admit that, and I certainly cant prove it, but what the heck! this is all just one mans opinion anyway, right?

    Now lets go a little deeper. Lets assume the same characters, and lets assume the rookie forgot to dot the "I" or cross the "t" or whatever. As a result of that forgetfulness, some poop rolls down hill. The sergeant gets a little heat, which he subsequently passes down to the rookie. Fair? Unfair? Would the administration say that the sergeant should have been watching the rookie (and every other officer) on the shift at all times (along with all other calls)? Yes, they will. Of course the admin folks will be completed unable to grasp the impossibility of a single sergeant watching each officer at each call and ensuring all are completed properly and in accord with policy.......

    So the sergeant has a choice now. He can play babysitter to his people and avoid the heat, choice one.
    Lets look at choice one.....Say there are 4 guys on a shift and one sergeant. No lieutenants or captains. The sergeant is the top dog. Now say this sergeant is tired of getting heat from admin. He decides to do the babysitter routine. He goes on every call, watches each officer, checks and re-checks all reports, checks with the dispatcher and is constantly watching and questioning third parties to make sure the officers are not scamming him. Well, unless you're a total jackass you can see the results immediately, right? The officers will immediately become unmotivated. They will lose all sense of self-initiative and only do what they are required to do......Obviously, they believe their sergeant has no trust in them and no faith in their judgment or abilities. BUT the admin folks will be happy. The paperwork will be correct. The heat will disappear from the sergeants back....and the citizens will be better served.....(wait, WILL they ?- dont think so).

    HMMMMMMM...doesnt sound so great, that one, eh? What about choice two...
    Choice two involves the sergeant and the officers in a co-existent agreement. The sergeant must realize that the officer needs a certain amount of independence and latitude to conduct his business. The officer, in a symbiotic relationship, must realize that the sergeant needs certain things accomplished in certain ways in order to keep his back from melting. At this point, the supervisor can become "blind". The officer will go about his business, doing that which he knows best. The officer will act as a trusted professional whose leaders have confidence in his abilities and judgements.

    From time to time, however, something will occur which the officer will need to advise his sergeant of. It may be necessary to call the sergeant to the scene as well. The purpose will be to tap the sergeants greater knowledge or to use his greater authority or resources to complete the call. Chaos will be averted. On the other side of the coin, the officer must not call the sergeant into petty arguments, malicious gossip or foolish rumors. The sergeant must be outside of those things and, in fact, blind to them. This preserves his objectivity and integrity. This is one of the fatal errors rookies often make. They tell the sergeants everything all the time. This places the sergeant in an awkward position. If it is shown later that he had knowledge of a situation and did nothing, he could be liable for discipline or censure. It also forces him to act in a situation that could be best resolved in a locker room chat or a parking lot at 3am. These traditional police "chat rooms" are very effective between officers and should remain useful.

    Educated officers will know these two choices as two of the three most common types of leadership styles. The authoritarian, the democratic and the laissez-faire are all classic leadership types. They have all existed in police work for many decades before they were given fancy french names. The element which differs so much in police work is the particular relationship that exists between the sergeant and the officer. Trust, Integrity, and Fairness. Up and Down.

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