Police as Volunteers:
An Investment Returned
by Ron Buckner

For the past ten years, participants in both the Supervision School and Management College have frequently been given the opportunity to engage in some sort of volunteer activity as part of the course. Following is an essay outlining a volunteer experience at the Arlington Night Shelter in Arlington, Texas:

Volunteerism by law enforcement officers represents a logical component of what the profession stands for. When a police department supports the involvement of employees in volunteer activities it profits in a number of ways including improved delivery of services to community, and enhanced employee interpersonal skills. Obviously, benefits are also realized by the community at large, for volunteers are the life blood of most service organizations. By lending of their time and talents, police volunteers (and their departments) can expect to gain considerable benefit. Here are a few.

First, balance or stability in an officer's life is enhanced through volunteering. Encountering others through volunteer service gives participants an opportunity to reassess their own personal problems, trials and conflicts. A by-product of such interaction is genuine empathy. A recent volunteer experience at a local homeless shelter reminded me of this, as I observed families much like my own dealing with problems that I have never faced.

Second, the perspective gained in service to others can help diminish stereotypes held by some officers. For example, the belief that only certain groups of people ever avail themselves of these types of services quickly vanishes. Officers, as volunteers, find the majority of clients, patients, or victims are people like themselves, each seeking some type of independence. Of the clients I served, each was trying to change some aspect of their individual situations. Officers' biases, often reinforced by repeated interaction with people at their worst, are replaced by factual perspective. In turn, those served have the opportunity to reassess the stereotypes they may hold about police
officers.

Third, service to the community through volunteer work reinforces the deep-seated motivation – the desire to serve – that bring many, if not most, officers to the profession in the first place. Volunteer service, as opposed to the more rigid professional services usually delivered by officers, allows a spirit of altruism to infuse one's life, resulting in pride, confidence, and a positive self-image. My personal experience not only filled me with a sense of accomplishment; it also gave me the knowledge that the service I provided, in some small way, touched someone's life that night.

Education is the fourth benefit for the volunteering officer. Interaction with people of different ages, ethnicity, gender, socio-economic background, and even those with disabilities, gives an officer insight on a broad range of issues facing society. For example,
working with the children of homeless clients gave me a glimpse of the stress their parents experience, and reminded me of the pressures they face among their peers. Such knowledge will enhance an officer's ability to provide informed and sensitive professional services to the citizens of their community.

Clearly, benefits are available to the department that encourages and supports volunteerism and the volunteering officer. In a world where neighbors don't know each other and throwing money at a problem is easier than giving of oneself, service to our fellow man is sorely needed. I became a police officer 20 years ago because I wanted to help others. Now, 20 years later, it would be easy to allow my views to become jaded and my desire to serve to become dulled. Participating as a volunteer helps ensure that will not happen.

Ron Buckner is a sergeant with the Longview, Texas, Police Department. He is a graduate of the 74th School of Police Supervision.

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Labeled for Life
By Dan Carlson

Have you ever noticed how some people just can't seem to let certain things go? You can be talking with someone and all of a sudden ... completely out of left field ... an issue comes up that you thought had been put to rest years ago. What's that all about?

Harry, a former police officer, had retired from his police department and moved across the country more than fifteen years ago. As he sorted through his e-mail one recent evening, he came across a message from Richard, a colleague with whom he had worked some thirty-five years earlier as they were both starting their careers. Richard had come across Harry's e-mail address about a year ago, and since then they had exchanged pleasant correspondence on two or three occasions.

When Harry opened the e-mail that evening, he was interested to learn that Richard had been talking to Mike, another of his former co-workers from many years past; but the message and question sent along from Mike made Harry sit back and sigh deeply. Mike wanted to know "... if it was you that arrested Captain Mike Miller?"

As a matter of fact, the answer was "yes." Harry had moved from his original department after several years to join a state police agency, and when on patrol one morning at about 3:00am, he witnessed a vehicle drive off the road and strike another car in a diner parking lot. As the dust settled, a crowd of bystanders watched the operator open his door and fall out onto the pavement. Sitting at his computer almost thirty years later, Harry could recall two things with great clarity from that long-ago early-morning incident. First, was the shock he felt when he saw the operator was a drunken Mike Miller. Second, were the words he uttered next: "Captain, this is one of the most unpleasant things I've ever had to do as a cop, but you are under arrest."

When two people reestablish contact after a lengthy separation, there are many questions that could be asked to help each catch up on things: How have you been? How's the family? Where are you living now? Where are you working? How's your health? How many grandchildren do you have? But Mike didn't ask any of those questions of Harry ... all he sought was confirmation of a drunk driving arrest he vaguely remembered from three decades ago.

In the midst of a recent ethics training program, a twenty-year veteran officer raised his hand and asked to speak. When he did, he outlined a series of events in which he recently found himself embroiled, including his decision to "wear a wire" to help his agency make a criminal case against a corrupt police officer. His recitation of the details was straightforward and articulate, but he became emotional as he described the reaction of some fellow officers and supervisors when they learned of the role he played in assisting Internal Affairs. "I couldn't believe it," he said. "Even though this cop pleaded guilty to his crimes, I was ostracized ... shunned ... by a number of other cops and even command personnel. It's been a very painful experience."

Let's face it. Most police officers are altruistic and ethical individuals who have chosen a complex and dangerous profession for their life's work; for them, it is heartbreaking to hear someone relate a story like the one shared in class. But for that multitude of upstanding people of good will who daily struggle to create an open and supportive culture of policing, there is both good news and bad news. The good news is that the numbers of nefarious officers who would heap scorn upon a peer for doing the right thing seem to be declining. The bad news is that once you have been "blackballed" by that small group of individuals who represent the dark side of policing, you bear that distinction for the rest of your life. Just ask Harry.

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Wanted: Honest Employees

If you are involved in the recruitment and screening process for new employees, you know the job of finding qualified candidates gets more complicated every day. But when it comes to selecting a quality police recruit a job for which honesty is an essential requirement how much faith do you have in what the candidate tells you about his background and accomplishments? If recent experience in the private sector is any indicator, you should be very careful.

As several recent high-profile instances of resume fraud have shown, the problem with inflated credentials is not confined solely to new employees. George O'Leary, for example, was forced to resign as head coach at Notre Dame when it was learned that he had lied about his athletic and academic accomplishments. Joseph Ellis, a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian who often related stories about his wartime exploits, was suspended by Mount Holyoke College when it was learned he had never served in Vietnam. And Sandra Baldwin resigned as president of the US Olympic Committee after acknowledging lying about her academic credentials.

In late 2001, Christian & Timbers, a national leadership search firm, surveyed 7,000 resumes and found almost one quarter of executives had misrepresented their accomplishments (Fort Worth Star Telegram, April 16, 2002). For example, 71% of applicants misrepresented the number of years in a job, 64% exaggerated accomplishments, and 60% overstated the size of the organization. Others listed a degree which was only partially completed (52%), overstated their compensation (48%), or simply omitted previous jobs (41%).

Thankfully, sudden and uncontrollable bursts of honesty sometimes cause questionable police applicants to screen themselves out of the hiring process. For example, one candidate for a north-eastern police agency earlier this year asked a background investigator if the hiring process could be expedited since he was going to be "unavailable for a few months." When asked where he was going to be, the "honest" applicant said he was going to be in another state "serving 90 days in jail for impersonating a police officer."