5 Lessons I Learned From the Old Timers (Veteran Officers) I walked into the Marietta Police Department on October 15, 1981.  I was 21 years old and excited about the opportunity to serve my community.  And I knew nothing about being a police officer. I attended basic mandate training, received instructions from my Field Training Officer and learned from experience in the school of hard knocks. Our department was like many at that time, full of tough military veterans who joined the department in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s.  I remember thinking “these guys are old.”  Many of them started at the department before I was born! Over the next several years, I worked closely with these old timers and got to know them.  Many of them served as my supervisor throughout the years. In 1988, I was transferred to Detectives.  The majority of the Detectives in the unit were old timers, hired around the time I was born.  We were as different as night and day yet over the next four years, we grew to trust each other and were a very effective unit. I retired from the department after 28 years of service.  I was hired as…

The first seven steps in this process have helped you prepare for your interview, now it is time to execute.  If preparation is the key to success, execution is the door that must be opened. To recap, Part 1 in this series can be accessed here. Part 2 in this series can be accessed here. The panel conducting the interviews has your resume, your application and have prepared a series of questions to help them make an assessment of you as a candidate for police chief.  Their goal is to identify motivated candidates who are competent and a good fit for the organization. Let’s get started. 8.  Arrive Early Arriving early should be a given.  Your one chance to make a good first impression can be shattered if you arrive late.  Yet candidates frequently arrive late.  How can this problem be avoided? The first way is to set two alarm clocks rather than one.  Being late because your alarm clock didn’t go off is a lame excuse.  Make sure that doesn’t happen to you.  Set the alarm on your phone and back it up with a clock. The second way is to set everything you need for the interview out…

As 2017 comes to a close, it is a great time to reflect on how far we have come this year and also acknowledge where we have fallen short.  It is also the time of year when we start making plans for 2018. Have you thought about 2018 yet? No Resolutions For many people, thinking about doing better in the new year means compiling a list of New Year’s resolutions. If you are like me, I’m sure you have done this on many occasions.  And like me, I am sure every resolution you made was broken within a few short weeks or months at the most.  80% of New Year’s resolutions are broken by February.  According to one study, only 8% of New Year’s resolutions are kept. If this information is true, why do people continue to make New Year’s resolutions? One reason is resolutions are easy to make.  It requires little thought or effort to jot a few resolutions down. Another reason is the allure of starting the new year with a fresh start. Still, another reason is the long tradition of setting New Year’s resolutions.  Most people want to be like everyone else. Rather than continue making resolutions…