06-27-2006, 06:19 AM
1. Is there really a crisis going on at CCSO?
2. Are there valid explanations as to why so many CCSO employees have been in the news lately?
3. Is anyone really responsible for this?
4. Can there be a solution to an unknown problem?
5. What are we going to do?
These are all questions that we continue to hear from others and yet we are not asking ourselves these questions. We continue to talk about how someone else had a problem and the resources that were available to them but we are not honestly asking ourselves these questions, about our self.
It seems that we are afraid to look at ourselves and honestly asks ourselves if we may have a problem. The majority of this lack of self examination may be present for the simple fact that we view ourselves as society’s last hope in solving issues that require finality. So, if we, who are suppose to be the final authority, also suffer, like the ones we are paid to protect and comfort, then who do we turn to and can we?
The answer lies within our self.
Although there are many programs at the CCSO that will allow for help such as counseling, guidance, time off, Peer Support and many more, they all require two things. First, you have to admit that you have a problem and second, you have to tell someone you have a problem. This seems like a logical sequence of events but remember we are cops and by completing the two steps, we would be violating the unspoken rule; within our self. (Never ever let anyone know you are not perfect.)
Our own peers are brutal in making known and exploiting any weakness we might have. The speed at which gossip and tragedy reported by Fox News is nothing compared to the speed that news travels within our own agency when anything less than perfection has been identified about one of our own. We are our own worst enemies.
So how can we admit that we need help without alerting our peers that we may be a wounded fish twitching at the surface trying to survive? And where is the rule, written or unwritten, that guarantees a course of protected assurance that IF we admit we are having a problem, we will be protected from our own?
Sure, all the resources are there but can we really trust that we will not be looked upon as being weak or plagued with the inability to solve problems. After all, most of us would like to be promoted one day to a supervisory position or are currently in a supervisory position. The question then becomes “How can I be a supervisor or want to be a supervisor if I am unable to solve my own problems?”
“Will someone in my chain of command remember this time of my life and hold it against me?” Be it personal or professional, the system of Human Nature does have a tendency to work against us sometimes. The need to be around a person perceived as flawless in a non-perfect world does have a way of making us all feel good. Can we obtain the same sense of competency from those who have once admitted weakness?
How do we overcome this allusion of greatness? We start by admitting that everything that has happened to “Those other deputies” can happen to us. We can admit that we are not immune to human issues and each of us is susceptible at any given time to the forces of life. But most of all, we MUST stop creating an atmosphere within our ranks that to be less than perfect is an open invitation to talk about them. We must reverse this macho attitude that is isolating us and develop an attitude that fosters strength through admission of weakness.
The face of law enforcement has changed dramatically over the years. Times are no longer simple. Not only must we now be so sensitive to everyone’s special needs while balancing the perception of justice with the reality of injustice, we must also deal with our own lives which, through this injustice, only accelerates and magnify’s our own weaknesses.
No one is going to stop the press from making us the headline story except ourselves. If we must sit for 8 hours a year to be told how we must treat the public for which we serve then by God, let’s find 8 hours a year to reinforce the fact that it is ok to say “I am hurting inside and I need a break” without the fear of reprisal from our own and learn how to treat each other. Only then can we become stronger personally and professionally.
We are not the only agency that is suffering from the stresses of the job but lets be the first to find a real solution and quit burying our heads in the sand before it destroys us, one by one.
2. Are there valid explanations as to why so many CCSO employees have been in the news lately?
3. Is anyone really responsible for this?
4. Can there be a solution to an unknown problem?
5. What are we going to do?
These are all questions that we continue to hear from others and yet we are not asking ourselves these questions. We continue to talk about how someone else had a problem and the resources that were available to them but we are not honestly asking ourselves these questions, about our self.
It seems that we are afraid to look at ourselves and honestly asks ourselves if we may have a problem. The majority of this lack of self examination may be present for the simple fact that we view ourselves as society’s last hope in solving issues that require finality. So, if we, who are suppose to be the final authority, also suffer, like the ones we are paid to protect and comfort, then who do we turn to and can we?
The answer lies within our self.
Although there are many programs at the CCSO that will allow for help such as counseling, guidance, time off, Peer Support and many more, they all require two things. First, you have to admit that you have a problem and second, you have to tell someone you have a problem. This seems like a logical sequence of events but remember we are cops and by completing the two steps, we would be violating the unspoken rule; within our self. (Never ever let anyone know you are not perfect.)
Our own peers are brutal in making known and exploiting any weakness we might have. The speed at which gossip and tragedy reported by Fox News is nothing compared to the speed that news travels within our own agency when anything less than perfection has been identified about one of our own. We are our own worst enemies.
So how can we admit that we need help without alerting our peers that we may be a wounded fish twitching at the surface trying to survive? And where is the rule, written or unwritten, that guarantees a course of protected assurance that IF we admit we are having a problem, we will be protected from our own?
Sure, all the resources are there but can we really trust that we will not be looked upon as being weak or plagued with the inability to solve problems. After all, most of us would like to be promoted one day to a supervisory position or are currently in a supervisory position. The question then becomes “How can I be a supervisor or want to be a supervisor if I am unable to solve my own problems?”
“Will someone in my chain of command remember this time of my life and hold it against me?” Be it personal or professional, the system of Human Nature does have a tendency to work against us sometimes. The need to be around a person perceived as flawless in a non-perfect world does have a way of making us all feel good. Can we obtain the same sense of competency from those who have once admitted weakness?
How do we overcome this allusion of greatness? We start by admitting that everything that has happened to “Those other deputies” can happen to us. We can admit that we are not immune to human issues and each of us is susceptible at any given time to the forces of life. But most of all, we MUST stop creating an atmosphere within our ranks that to be less than perfect is an open invitation to talk about them. We must reverse this macho attitude that is isolating us and develop an attitude that fosters strength through admission of weakness.
The face of law enforcement has changed dramatically over the years. Times are no longer simple. Not only must we now be so sensitive to everyone’s special needs while balancing the perception of justice with the reality of injustice, we must also deal with our own lives which, through this injustice, only accelerates and magnify’s our own weaknesses.
No one is going to stop the press from making us the headline story except ourselves. If we must sit for 8 hours a year to be told how we must treat the public for which we serve then by God, let’s find 8 hours a year to reinforce the fact that it is ok to say “I am hurting inside and I need a break” without the fear of reprisal from our own and learn how to treat each other. Only then can we become stronger personally and professionally.
We are not the only agency that is suffering from the stresses of the job but lets be the first to find a real solution and quit burying our heads in the sand before it destroys us, one by one.