Step Up, Big Dog

I have accepted that I will never be promoted by this administration because I lack the political gene in my DNA (and I don't look like the prototypical business executive). Despite the fact that my career is dead-ended, I do wish to see the agency prosper and improve. My sense of justice (the reason I became a cop) causes me to desire to see promotions given to those who deserve them.
I want to see real leaders promoted but being a company-man is what gets you there. The solution? Once you've done your time as a yes-man and cracked the glass ceiling, step up and be a leader. Think outside the box. Be man enough to stand up and say "That's wrong!" Don't be afraid to stand up for what's right even if it means you will never be promoted again. Be a corporal or sergeant with honor and dignity rather than being a lieutenant or captain who is just a sheep, a scared sheep scared of losing his position in the herd. When you retire, look back on your career with pride in how you were a man. Don't look back and have a tinge of shame that you sold out your dignity and honor even once.
You will make people angry but they will be drowned out by those who respect you and who will follow you into battle. By stepping up and being a dignified, selfless leader, those who criticize you will be revealed for the cowards they are. In comparison, your shining light of honor will illuminate the shadows where those skulking, selfish, cowards creep around looking for their next opportunity to make things better for themselves at all costs.
This issue is not exclusive to this agency so please don't target me with the dogs of IA. Every government agency has the same problem as does the private sector.
Step up, Big Dog!

[Signal20]

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It's not who you know, but who you......


Pvt or Not....

INTERESTING post, Hot to Trot.

BUT - Why decide to become a leader at the corporal or sergeant level? Why not work on up to the lieutenant or captain level where you will have more effect on more people when you assert your leadership skills?

OF COURSE you wouldn't want to wait until you became a major, because at that level you have no civil service protection.

THE PROBLEM is that it takes so many years to achieve rank that in most cases you will be a confirmed "company man" by the time you get there and it will be next to impossible to change.

PERHAPS I've just answered my own question as to why you go ahead and make the change at the corporal or sergeant level. At that level you may not be so habituated to conformity that you can't make the change.

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IN ONE of my last assignments at the office I held a position which should have had rank attached, but I was told going in that it was not a promotion opportunity. I went for it because I though I could make a unique contribution to the welfare of employees throughout the agency. It was a job that affected both the LEO and the Detention side. It had to do with administration of state and federal laws that affected how the office related to its employees.


IN THAT job I had to tell a lot of high ranking people that they couldn't do what they had been doing and they couldn't treat their employees the way they had been doing. This was particularly true of the old "abuse of sick leave" charge. The rule was being misapplied, especially in Detention.

AT ONE POINT I wrote a memo to all LEO Majors explaining that I had repeatedly dealt with a particular administrative matter and that THEIR ADMINISTRATIVE CORPORALS WERE STILL DONG IT WRONG! Yep, I wrote part of a sentence in all caps to get their attention.

I GOT THEIR ATTENTION in the form of a special called meeting with me, my colonel and the Majors from three districts and a Captain from the fourth. The Captain characterized my memo as "the most insubordinate document" he had ever seen. I didn't back down. I had the advantage of being correct in my criticism and I had no rank for them to take away. No action was taken.

THE POSITION I held no longer exists because it was absorbed into another position. Most of the people who I "made angry" have retired. I didn't gain a lot of "respect" from others for what I did because word of the event didn't get around very much - perhaps because I "won." But, in the final analysis I did accomplish what you recommend. I stood up for the right and can look back with pride for having done the right thing.

YOUR POST deserves a lot of careful consideration.

Well CS you have stated a point that someone else has mentioned in another thread. Many of those with rank feel that someone lower than them can not have an idea, or know something about a procedure, such as Federal Rules and Regulations concerning things like family medical leave because they have more rank than you. It should not take a Federal Agency to come to our Office and demand a change. My God, what do we pay all those that work in legal for.

Actually, I found that in the main those of higher rank virtually always deferred to me regarding application of the laws and rules that I was administering.

It was my demeanor that the District Majors got upset about. (That and the fact that they had been admonished in writing by a subordinate.)

The perception that many of those who (presently) hold rank feel that someone lower than they cannot have an idea or know something about a procedure is something that I have been reading on the board, but was not what I experienced.

But of course, the current staff is in the main a different group than those I dealt with.

In closing, let me point out that those state and federal rules are for all employers guidance, not just ours. It's not like they "come to our office and demand change." I was put in the position I was simply to assure we did things correctly. While I was there we not only did things according to law; we gave the employees more benefits than the law demanded.

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Getting back to the original post by Hot to Trot: What do you think about his concept of being a "yes man" until you become a corporal or sergeant and then becoming a leader and one who will tell management when they are wrong?

I too have felt the same as Hot to Trot and realize that I don't do the things that the big boys think people should do in order to wear stripes. But ya know, you don't need stripes to lead! It is satisfying to know that when things are going bad that people will turn to you for guidance. I have been told by my sergeant that he knows that I informally lead my squad. It was a compliment to me that he understood this and depends on me in this manner. There lies my reward. Stripes are nice I guess, but I receive more reward knowing that my partners value my guidance as such.

It was the attitude of the Office, CS. Your position was because for many years "they" did what "they" wanted. Finally the Courts rules that if you are gasing up before rollcall, it is on duty. If your rollcall is 15 minutes before your shift, it is on duty. Our K9 Officers received a nice bonus in several hundered hours of comp time for taking care of the Office dogs on thier own time. Feds ruled can not do, Office caught up the hours as back time.

One has to look no further than the Heart Bill that has been around for several years. Some at this Office can qualify, but try getting the benefit that the Legislators gave us. Go to benefits, it is like talking to a brick wall. They are no help at all. If you want the benefit, you need to get the PBA attorny to sue for you. Sad, real sad. This has been brought up to Staff, nothing :oops: