I had a meeting with the mayor the day before the council meeting concerning the promotions. Typically, the Chief would bring the recommendations for promotions to the Mayor and Board of Aldermen. In this instance, the Mayor, acting on his authority chose to bring forth the promotions. In speaking with other chiefs across the state, this move isn't unheard of but it’s rare and frowned upon. Most Mayors trust the judgment of their police chief and leave police and personnel matters to them.
With regard to the promotions, several questions were brought forth, most importantly, did the mayor have the unilateral authority to issue an executive order and bypass the council. This question has been answered by a mutitude of Attorney General's opinions and is covered under the Lawrason Act. The mayor can make the recommendation, however, the council must vote to allow such an action due to the increase in the budget.
With regard to our department, the position of major was disolved when I was appointed as the Chief of Police. My former salary was absorbed back in to the budget and small raises were given to the officers. Furthermore, we have three Captains that are eligible if in fact a promotion is to be given. We have a policy that we must adhere to along with an interview process and review of education, training as well as time in service. Ultimately, moral is adversely affected when eligible cadidates are bypassed or not given an opportunity to even be considered. Moreover, we open ourselves up to litigation and discriminatory action for not adhering to policy.
We currently have an internal affairs investigator and he is doing an outstanding job. He was originally hired for his experience, specifically in internal affairs.
My job as the Chief of Police is to oversee the day to day operations of the police department. After 28 years in this career field, I still learn something new everyday. One of the most important things I have learned is to seek out the experience of those who have the knowledge pertaining to the goal I am trying to achieve and to remain silent when my own ignorance of the subject matter would hinder its success.
I believe in communication. I believe in telling others what I need done and allowing them to amaze me with their creativeness and problem solving. I believe in transparency and most importantly, I believe when a person holds a position, they should be allowed to carry out their assigned duties unimpeded by outside influence.
Our department, like many others across this country, is experiencing a manpower shortage. From political rhetoric to the Defund the Police movement to administrations not backing their law enforcement officers, our ranks are diminishing. There's more than one way to Defund the Police and one of them is to lower morale to the point that officers leave and others officers don't want to come work for your agency.
Our focus at the police department should be the recruitment of new officers. We should increase salaries to make our agency more competitive and utilize the experience of our older officers who are soon to retire to teach the new ones.
This job isn't getting any easier and few want to be a police officer anymore but I'm here to tell you, this career is the most honorable and rewarding job out there. Police officers have a monumental task at hand and they get it right the majority of the time.
