Where Do You Start if You Want to be a Police Chief?
Instead of Where Maybe it Should be When Maybe the question shouldn’t be where do you start. Instead, it should probably be when do you start? I’m not sure about most police officers, but when I first got into law enforcement I had no clue about what I wanted to do. I was just happy to have a job and spent quite a few years just figuring out my place in the department. After I had been with the Marietta Police Department for a few years, I thought about what I needed to do to get promoted to Sergeant. It took 10 years for me to achieve that goal and then another four years to make Lieutenant. I first thought of my career goal after making lieutenant. So basically, I spent the first 15 years of my career with no thought of being a police chief. So, let’s get back to the original question. Where do you start? Right where you are. Let’s get to my alternate question now. When do you start? Right now! If you are a police officer, sergeant or lieutenant you obviously have more time to prepare for that future police chief job opportunity than someone…