Your Voice - October 2017

As your Director, I routinely attend roll calls throughout the city. It is always a pleasure to meet hardworking officers, listen to their concerns and address their problems and issues. I recently attended roll call in Harbor Area where Watch 5 supervisor, Sergeant Chris Carson, made some very special presentations. Sergeant Carson dedicated the roll call to honoring his officers for their hard work. He had taken the time to research and identify the officers on his watch who had earned the Department’s Patrol Service Ribbon (for five, 10, 15 and 20 years of service in Patrol) and the Department’s Commendation Ribbon (for having at least 40 documented non-Class-D commendations). Chris presented each of these officers with their pins and an accompanying certificate to mark their achievement.

Although there was good-natured ribbing, which is expected and always part of the fun, I was delighted and moved to see how much this meant to the officers. I have never heard of a supervisor taking the time and effort to openly recognize their watch with these very important milestone awards. Chris also took the time to write up a commendation so that the awards would be entered into the officers’ individual TEAMS reports. None of this surprises me, as I have known Chris for many years, and know that he believes in taking care of and recognizing police officers for their hard work.

I often hear stories of officers receiving their service pins, certificates of achievement and commendations via interoffice mail. That is unacceptable and not the way to treat our employees as the valuable members of the Department that they are.

I encourage our members who are the leaders of this Department to step up and take the time to show that you appreciate your employees. Thank them for their hard work. Recognize milestones and achievements. Celebrate successes. Write a commendation. Scratch out a comment card. It only takes a little effort on your part but has a huge impact on the morale of our officers. Demonstrate that you respect them.

The Department asks more and more of our officers during very difficult times. We are who we are collectively as a Department because of the individual men and women who serve and protect daily. Never let them feel like they don’t matter.

“Outstanding leaders go out of their way to boost the self-esteem of their personnel. If people believe in themselves, it’s amazing what they can accomplish.”
—Sam Walton

As always, you may reach me at (818) 416-6495 or at [email protected]. Stay safe!