Hybrid Command College
NOBLE
Accelerate
On behalf of the University of Virginia's
Center for Public Safety and Justice, thank
you for joining us in this important
conversation on the future of public safety.
Today's public safety leaders are navigating
an environment that is more complex,
demanding and scrutinized than ever before.
Agencies across the country are confronting
challenges involving workforce, development, organizational culture,
public trust, emerging technologies, crisis leadership,
and rapidly evolving community expectations.
At the same time, there is an urgent
need to prepare the next generation of leaders
who will guide the organization through these realities.
That is exactly why we're proud to
launch the Mid level Management Academy for
Strategic Leadership, a premier collaborative, developed with
the National Organization of Black Law enforcement
executives and 21 CP solutions.
This initiative is designed to invest in
the leaders serving, in the critical middle
levels of public safety organizations.
Those that are supervisors, managers and rising executives
who often shape the culture, drive operations, mentor
personnel and, and influence organizations success every day,
both sworn and professional staff.
Today's fireside chat brings together an exceptional group
of leaders who spent their careers navigating many
of the issues that the profession is facing.
We are fortunate to be joined by President Renee
Hall, Associate Professor Tracy, Kesey, Chief Rodney Bryant, Executive
Director Duane Crawford, and Chief Ron Davis.
Individuals who bring tremendous insight, experience and
perspective in leadership, organizational effectiveness and the
future of public safety leaders. Welcome.
Thank you so much for being here.
Our goal today is to discuss the
challenges facing the profession and to explore
how leadership development, innovation, mentorship, collaboration, can
help prepare the communities that these leaders
serve for the future.
Candidly, why folks should be part of this
new initiative and why they should join.
Thank you again for being here.
Let's get started today.
So I'm going to ask you each to introduce yourself,
and to share a little bit about your, background.
And I'm going to ask to move through fairly
briefly on this, but if you can hit a
little bit about some of the unique challenges that
leaders are facing as you introduce yourselves.
Chief, please.
Well, good afternoon and thank you for having us.
My name is Rodney Bryant.
I'm the, past president of Noble and a retired
chief of the city of Atlanta Police Department.
I think that this program that we are embarking
upon is so critical to this profession that, I
am proud to be a part of.
And I think that us addressing the middle management
will fill in the gap of misleadership, as one
ascend to the position of the chief of police. Please.
Outstanding.
Thank you.
My name is Renee Hall.
Again, I'm honored to be here, launching this partnership,
this collaboration between University of Virginia, and 21 CP
and of course Noble, as the president of Noble
and former police chief in the city of Dallas,
in my career I've experienced, that mid level manager
is, it's the glue between the vision of the
organization and the application of the organization.
And oftentimes, getting the buy in,
shaping culture, influencing, the message and
the messaging around community engagement.
Why operational needs are necessary comes
from that mid level manager.
And so it's important that they have the
knowledge, the wisdom, the tools, all the resources
to be able to carry that water, and
then shape the future of public safety.
Good afternoon and once again
thank you for inviting me.
My, name is Ron Davis.
I'm a partner at 21 CP Solutions.
Before that I have close to 40 years in
law enforcement, 30 years at the local level with
Oakland Police Department, was a police chief in East
Palo Alto, had the opportunity to serve as director
of the COPS office and executive director of President
Obama's task force on 21st century policing.
And most recently I retired as the
director of the United States Marshals Service.
And I went through that long list of things because
those experiences have taught me that the one constant we
have in our profession, if not our lives, is change.
And we need to prepare a generation for that.
I'm very impressed with the generation that
we're focusing on, this mid level managers,
because they are the future.
Well actually they're the current, but also the
future of public safety and law enforcement.
So to be able to educate them and prepare
them based on experiences, based on best practices, based
on the best learning, I think prepares the field
and if we've known nothing else over the last
decade, change is here, change will come.
And we need people that's prepared for that so that
they become, as we always say, a learning organization.
Any organization that is stagnant will not survive.
They tell all the agencies that I left.
If I look back and you're doing the same thing
you did when I left, then unfortunately I failed you.
Which means we have to constantly evolve.
And the only way to do that are or
have leaders at that mid level at every level,
but especially the mid level, and executives that are
prepared to be able to make the kind of
changes necessary and to lead this profession forward.
Thank you.
My, name is Dwayne Crawford, Executive
director for the National Organization of
Black Law Enforcement Executives. Noble.
We're right now, celebrating our
50th year of existence.
This year, and over the last
decade We've tripled in membership.
We've got really 5,000 members.
But I think it also comes with a
certain amount of responsibility of how do we
prepare the current members to fill those positions
as chiefs and sheriffs, et cetera and line.
That's going to be how we
able to develop our middle managers.
So for me, it's going to be critical
when you triple a membership over a short
period of time, that's good news.
But the bad news is what we'll be
providing to these new members and the current
members, one, to stay involved and no, more
importantly, to better serve our profession.
So this is going to be critical.
And last thing I'll say is with the responsibility
of 50 years, our founders probably never imagined having
5,000 members, but also having them be between middle
managers and CEOs and rank and file.
So I do think it's also an opportunity to
pay the debt to our founders of making sure
that we provide those tools necessary for these young
people to have a successful career.
I love that. Thank you. I am Dr.
Tracy Kazee, Associate professor at
the University of Virginia.
And the one thing that is so incredible about
this is the collaborations and the new things that
you can create when you have partners like this.
Especially, when we're talking about academics
and how are we preparing folks?
My background, of course, is in policing.
25 years with Denver PD and then on to NYPD
as their deputy Commissioner of training and Equity Inclusion.
Also the co founder of the center for
Policing Equity, along with Philippa Tiba Goff.
And I also have a UN appointment, that helps
me and allows me to go all over the
world, to talk about issues in law enforcement.
And I think that we cannot forget that we go
beyond just what we have here in the United States.
I think it's important to know that when there
are changes in policing, that you have people who
are ready to help you navigate those changes.
And when we talk about that, we have to
talk about how we train our middle managers.
And I have to think back when I was a middle manager,
I was being asked to do things I wasn't prepared for.
And it's really important that we make sure that
not only do we have a good understanding of
current issues, but how do we help people begin
to navigate those things and not just navigate them.
We want them to be able to what we say, we
want them to teach up, and we also want them to
prepare those that are beneath them getting ready to go.
So our supervisors, advisors, we don't have anything
that what I consider to be a streamless
way to prepare for future leadership.
And I think by identifying this gap of middle
managers and addressing this gap puts us ahead.
So I do appreciate that. So thank you.
I look forward to the conversation.
President hall, why is investing in mid level
managers so critical for their leadership development?
So I'm glad you asked me that question.
Today's society and policing comes with complex issues and
we need operators in the space who can challenge
the status quo and deal with those complex issues
using collaboration, using new ideas, using partnerships, and the
only way that they truly understand and know what
that's like is to be able to be around
like minded individuals who are learning from a technology,
from technology, from innovation and all the changes that
are coming.
This partnership with the University of Virginia and 21 CP surrounds
them with individuals who are leaders in the industry who have
done the work, who have been able to challenge some of
the status quo's, to be able to do the work to
advance it to where it is today.
But we need to push forward. As Mr.
Crawford introduced himself and talked about Noble celebrating
50 years, how old are these agencies?
What is the culture in the agency?
What is the police relationship between law enforcement and
those communities and how does it need to change?
What does it need to look like for the future?
When you invest in your mid level managers, you have
the middle of the organization who has the power to
influence change culture, to create transparency and accountability, getting the
skills, the knowledge, the wisdom and all the resources that
they need in order to be innovative in the future,
and focus on what's coming next.
So this is key for us.
Oftentimes we're focusing on that police chief, that executive
and what their vision is going to be.
Imagine creating in the middle of the organization,
a group of individuals who are forward thinking,
who have a vision before the vision.
And I think that's what this
mid level manager program does.
It allows us to pour into those individuals,
who are the future of public safety.
And we get a chance to create new
minds, new hearts, and give our community access
to a greater policing for the future.
That's outstanding.
Chief Bryant, Many organizations focus very heavily on their
senior leaders and executive development but often overlook this
mid level leader or mid level manager.
As you think about these roles and
positions within organizations, why are they so
important to the organizations themselves?
Absolutely, much like what the president spoke about,
the culture of the organization lives within the
Middle management and to develop that.
And when one is requiring change, you
want to attack it at the source.
And by the time, as you stated in your opening
that executives tend to be able to receive a lot
of training, but their tenure tend to be short lived.
And so even though they are there to change culture,
they generally establish it and then they move on and
agencies resort back to what they typically knew.
But when you are now addressing this up and
coming leaders who will tend to be there, oftentimes
longer than the chief, it allows that ability for
culture to change and to be maintained.
And much like you stated about the vision driving
that vision even further than what that chief that
may have been there just for a short period
of time, that it carries on beyond them.
Because you are touching the middle manager.
And those middle managers are so significant to the
community and that agency, that they are serving.
And that's where the benefit lies for the communities
and people that they are leading going forward.
Professor, coming to you, how do we
prepare future leaders to navigate polarized environments
while maintaining professionalism, legitimacy and impacting trust
positively within their community?
And that's a great question.
And we start that by creating again a program
that really will address and begin to help them
think about how do you navigate those spaces?
One way in which you have to begin to
do that is to expand what you already know.
We do know that when you have concepts like procedural
justice, when we have the co production of public safety,
and when we talk about the history of our communities
and how we've historically engaged, it then begins to allow
folks to think about are there other ways in which
we should be doing this?
The other thing the program will also address is
that you have lived experience, all around you.
And you have chiefs, and you have retired chiefs,
current chiefs and former chiefs who have navigated some
of the most cruel, crucial moments in policing history.
So the ability to not only give you those concepts, but
to bring in, not just case studies, but real live people,
who've survived it is one of the things, the ways in
which we try to make sure we can help you.
Because when you think about your lived experience as a
middle manager, we can only live so much for you.
You're going to have to experience that.
But what we can do is prepare you for those things.
And preparing you means how do you
learn about what has happened historically?
And then how do you go eyes forward?
How do you begin to think about
how do I do this differently?
How do I remain aware how do I center community?
And more importantly, how do you center
your own people inside that organization?
Because oftentimes we forget that that's also part
of a community that we need to gavigate.
So I think that this program
should do all of those things.
Building off what you said,
Director Davis, coming to you.
What are some of the biggest mistakes agencies
make or leaders make when developing or failing
to develop their next generation of leaders?
So we talk about tragedies in
law enforcement organizations all the time. Time.
But what do you see from your perspective,
both on a local and national level?
Thank, you for the question and
I think it's a great question.
I think in many cases agencies confuse and sometimes even
conflate the concept of risk management versus crisis response, which
means some of the mistakes we make is always waiting
for the crisis to occur, then responding and then trying
to build a strategy in response to the crisis versus
one of the jobs of leadership is to take a
look at and project future challenges and change in building
a response to mitigate the risk.
And so I think this is why a, program
like this is special and very much needed is
because you're teaching a generation to do exactly that.
The best way to project future challenges is
to know what's going on today, but also
know what happened yesterday, understand our history.
And I think that's really critically important right now
when there are efforts to reduce and to eliminate
and to rescind and amend, actual history is.
Nelson Mandela said it best.
Only the truth can put the past to rest.
You cannot address the historical issues that face in
many of our communities if you don't start by
acknowledging the truth and then developing strategies of how
we use that truth, how we engage that relationship
and how we do better.
So I would say to the chiefs that are thinking
about whether or not to send a middle manager to
the course, of course, because this is how you start
looking at how to project for the future.
What's around the corner to tell my managers, I don't need
to know what's in front of me, I got eyes.
What I need to know is what's around the corner.
And I need to prepare for that
and to take a look at that.
So I take a look at yesterday, look
at today to project the challenges of tomorrow.
And I prepare the agency for that.
But you have to have like minded managers
or those that will drive the agency.
Otherwise people are constantly looking either in front
of them or they're always looking behind them.
And I think both by itself are not bad.
But if that's all you do, then it can be very negative.
So I think this is one
of those periods in law enforcement.
It's a generational moment that
comes around every so often.
Every generation, quite frankly.
And I think we're there.
Probably generations have said that, but I think for
real, when you look at what's going on, the
challenges, just from where we're at as a country,
where we're at globally, where we're at as a
profession, but with that challenge, I strongly believe we
have probably the best opportunity we've had in 100
years because we had the challenges.
And I would say this to the young, and the
young is relative to me, to the young professionals out
there is this is the smartest, most analytical, most responsive
and most professional generation of cops and leaders that I've
seen in my entire 40 years in a game.
And so, they have the ability to get it done. Mr.
Crawford, coming to you, the role of a
public safety mid level manager or executive have
both changed tremendously over the past decade from
where it was to what it is now.
What do you think it's going to
look like a decade from now?
Well, that's what I hope it's going to look like.
But I think from my standpoint, this term of servant
leadership, how we're able to convince leaders, current and futures,
that if you can lead in how you serve your
fellow man, how you serve your agency, how you serve
your community, it matters because at the end of the
day, if you can get that community, help you out,
maybe referrals, and maybe give you key intel, it's almost
impossible for about a million officers to be able to
do what police millions and millions and millions of our
citizens.
It's going to take those citizens, in my opinion, buying
in to either what the agency is communicating, what that
CEO, but also those middle managers, in my opinion, they
can lead in how you serve and demonstrate that you
take an oath to protect and serve everyone.
Not, ideology, not a religion.
But we're gonna serve and protect.
And I'm gonna get focused on the whole
country, we're gonna get focused on our agency.
How can our agency serve and protect each of
you and give you the respect you deserve?
And also this thing called synthetic of life,
we're gonna make every effort to protect that.
I do think if leaders put
service first, the rest will come.
The last thing I'll say is we know between technology,
we know, and training and all these other concepts, it
still comes down to the will of a human being.
To make another human being's future, their
opportunities, just as important as theirs.
I by that is the quality of life should matter.
Whether you're the chief, you, the sergeant, you,
the lieutenant, are you rank and file.
But it's important, and I think it's facing our
country right now is a very basic thing of
just respecting my right to exist and flourish and
have what, a quality of life.
So I'm hoping that we begin to
understand that my success is actually dependent
on your success and vice versa.
Your success is dependent on what?
On my ability to do what, protect
and serve you and your families.
But I'm optimistic.
I've been in this role as executive
director for over a dozen years now.
I remember in the first couple of years you
would never hear a CEO in a use of
force incident, maybe going a little south, actually give
a message of empathy and condolence publicly.
Now, maybe privately.
And the fear was if I did
that, I may compromise my case.
I get that now.
That's very common for a chief or a sheriff to
say, look, I'm expressing my condolences whether I think it
was justified or not, because I respect your humanity.
And so in on that, we've
got to respect each other's humanity.
So for me, leadership is that being the
first in line to protect everyone's humanity.
Thank you, President Hall.
We talk a lot about organizational culture
in our variety of different programs.
We talk about recruitment, retention, wellness, all
topics critical today's public safety executives.
What role does that mid level service supervisor,
maybe that lieutenant on evenings or the sergeant
on midnights, play in shaping that organization's culture?
So I will say this, that is a wonderful question.
And the culture rises and fails with that mid
level manager, that lieutenant, that sergeant, that captain.
And that is because, when we develop
what we believe is culture, someone has
to push that through the organization.
We know that historically a culture was created.
But if you have a vision and you want
that culture to change you, as the Bible says,
you write the vision and you make it plain.
But in order for it to come to fruition,
it has to permeate down through that baseline. Officer.
But there's a ladder there.
That mid level manager, that lieutenant is
going to hold the individuals accountable.
So that if culture is to change, it changes
because of the rules and the regulations that are
being pushed currently that weren't in the past, transparency.
They are going to ensure that what happens on
those shifts, what happens on those calls, is communicated.
Body worn cameras are worn the use of the
technology that has been put in place, that all
of these policies are going to be followed.
That is what helps to change
the culture of an organization.
That is what helps to change
the perception of the community.
So if you do not have that mid
level manager, that sergeant, that lieutenant, depending upon
what organization you're in, that captain driving home
all of those, all of the vision from
the top of the organization, it is very
difficult to change the culture within that organization.
So I will say, emphatically that without mid level managers
buying into the vision and making every effort to follow
policy or to even implement new policy, watching the officers
as they interact each and every day and saying something
needs to change in order for us to be better,
ensuring that they're pushing the message of, of building a
stronger community, but also when we talk about wellness, they
are the individuals who see these officers day in and
day out.
That officer that gets a
tremendous amount of citizen complaints.
Why or why not?
They are the ones that are going to
be addressing those concerns and figuring out what
the officers need and being able, to get
that information to the top of the organization.
So they're critical.
And since they are critical to the organization, then
we have to be intentional about making sure that
they have what it is that they need.
And this program provides them with all the tools,
that they need in order to be successful and
make sure that these organizations are successful.
So I will tell chiefs all across the country,
invest in your men and women in your organization,
but in your mid level managers, that is where
you rise and where you fall.
You see organizations that are very successful
have long trajectories where chiefs have invested
in generations of future leaders.
And you see organizations that don't have that.
You spoke to that point really of the value
of pouring into your people and seeing the dividends
that it has long after, any particular tenure, professor,
coming to you, one more time here.
Can you talk a little bit
about how agencies should balance innovation
with ethics, transparency and community expectations?
We're at a time right now where
people have a lot of expectations in
public safety, in particular in the police.
How do agencies balance that?
And how should middle level leaders
think about that in the future?
I just asked you four questions.
Yeah, four questions in one.
But I want to back up a
little bit before I answer that question.
When we think about technology and we think about all
the things that we purport, we hope it can do,
I have to back up and say we have to
be talking about not just uniformed personnel.
We also have to be talking about our
professional staff, our mid level professional staffs and
leaders, who also I think are a part
of this conversation and this program as well.
Because when you're thinking about things like
technology, one of the things that you
want to talk about is accountability.
It does not excuse organizations or
middle managers from holding people accountable. Right?
So that's not just your own people, it's
also accountability around what does the technology, technology
do, what does it mean to be innovative?
When you're thinking about those kinds of concepts and questions,
you also have to continue to center community because we
will often hear technology companies that say, hey, we can
do this for you and you don't have to hire
anybody, or you don't need so many people.
And just because technology is available doesn't
mean technology is the right solution.
We also have to make sure our middle managers are
understanding that there has to be a balance there.
This is still, as far as I'm concerned
as a professor in retired law enforcement, this
is still a people person organization and a
people purpose, focus, driven interaction.
There's a lot of conversations about technology being able
to go to calls and things like that, which
I think in some cases may be helpful, but
it's not going to be the case for everything.
And I think your ability to understand what's innovation,
as opposed to what I would consider excusing, not
wanting to deal with an issue, as well as
what does technology really bring to your organization.
So it also requires, that you have a good
understanding of the direction leadership wants to go.
And middle managers also have to be responsible
for also speaking to leadership around what we
think the implications of adding technology will be.
So I think there's a need
here for accountability on both sides.
We love innovation, but innovation also may
be restricted depending on what it is
that you're trying to innovate on.
We also don't try to reinvent the wheel, but you
also have to learn how to do those things.
And I think that's what this program is for.
And to be in a room with
your colleagues to have this difficult conversation.
There is nothing more, I think rewarding than to have
someone in a room with you, in a cohort that
also is going through the same thing you're going through.
So the ability to sort of what we call, phone a
friend literally is going to be sitting next to you.
So I think all of those things have to
be put into consideration when we're talking about not
just innovation, technology, but the accountability and whether or
not it is something in the community that will
not just benefit the safety needs, but the needs
of those who need the most.
And including, as we always say, the officers as well.
Excellent.
Chief Bryant, question for you.
If you were talking to a newer mid
level manager, what's a piece of advice you'd
get them on how to be successful?
One of the first things I think talking to a
mid level manager, first I would tell them continue to
be educated, that it is vital that you continue learn.
I think someone used the term stagnant earlier,
that if your agency is not learning and
evolving to change, then you become stagnant and
eventually you're going to have some significant problems.
Additionally, I think that it's so critical
that a middle manager finds a mentor.
Because though this program will give you a level of
academic and practical experiences that will be able to carry
you far, there's nothing like having someone who has that
can provide you with a true lived experience, and a
level of intuition that leaders have to rely upon.
So there are things that you can
be taught academically, but a mentor can
tell you about an experience right now.
Something that you need to address currently, that you
cannot wait for the next cohort or you can't
wait till the next time a class meets.
You can pick up that phone and have that
conversation with that mentor right away, be it someone
more senior to you or someone junior to you.
But those are the two things that I think
are critical and they go hand in hand.
Continue to learn and identify yourself with a mentor.
We talk often about a
kitchen cabinet of mentors, right?
Not just one single voice, but, you kind
of everything in the kitchen cabinet you turn
to for different pieces of advice.
Who's somebody in your cabinet that's given you advice?
Hopefully that's been good
advice throughout your career.
I reach out to a number of
people, I really do, I think.
But the person that stands out
the most is probably George Turner.
He was my chief of police, and promoted me
up, through my more senior level of management.
I had the opportunity to just witness how
he performed and go through some experiences with
him as well, which helped me be prepared
for experiences that I had to deal with.
And myself and Renee were in the seat at the
time when we had to deal with COVID And then.
So you have to rely upon the chiefs that are
in that seat because even Chiefs that had gone before
you had not experienced what was going on then.
So your mentorship was changes just a bit.
But they were still those that you could rely upon.
And he was someone that I could call
to help navigate waters that, he had gone
through and was beneficial to me.
President hall, who's mentored
you throughout your career.
So I've had a plethora of mentors.
Commissioner, Ramsey, the godfather, I talked about
all the time whether whether I'm speaking
across the country or not.
The, individual who brought me into law enforcement,
Benny Napoleon, who's, no longer with us.
He was the chief of police in Detroit,
as well as the Wayne County Sheriff.
But, most recently, I have
to say, Cassandra Deck Brown.
She is the former police
chief in Raleigh, North Carolina.
She has guided me through, my chief years ever since
I've had a chief in my title when I was
the chief in Dallas, and, some of the most challenging
times, going through Covid, but also through the civil unrest.
George Floyd.
So she is one that I would say, provided
a lot of insight, a lot of wisdom.
She's one who served in a chief's position
for eight years, and that is not normal.
The average tenure of a police
chief is three to five years.
So she had a lot, to embark upon.
Me, but also my peers.
President, Bryant, past President Bryant and I
talked a lot during that time.
There were Director, Davis.
He would reach out.
He send me a message on social media,
tell me, keep going, and things like that.
So I can tell you that there are so many,
and I just agree with Chief Bryant, past President Bryant.
When they say get a mentor, not get a mentor.
Make sure you surround yourself with mentors.
And they don't necessarily have
to be in law enforcement.
There are individuals. Dr.
Kasey is, in education, but she
has a background in law enforcement.
But even if she did not, she would be
able to navigate these waters, because our future leaders
have to be able to think critically.
And critical thinking is not one track thinking.
So we have to make sure that
we surround ourselves, with a plethora of
different, disciplines so that we can navigate.
All right, we're coming into the home stretch.
But before I let you go on this one,
so to the participants or the potential participants that
are listening, they're listening to both of you, describe
the value of mentorship that you've had in your
career, the impact that that's had.
What does a program like this do?
How does this help jumpstart them on
their mentorship journey and receiving some of
that excellent advice and support.
So, you're surrounded with the excellence because
all of the individuals that are creating
this program, are surrounding this program, are
individuals who, have navigated these waters.
These individuals have a
background of different disciplines.
They're able to provide you with the skill sets of
critical thinking and jumpstart your career so that you can
see where we've been, the challenges that we faced.
We can also talk about where we are now.
Director.
Just served as the director of atf, a federal
agency that had to work hand in hand with
local citizens, state, and county law enforcement.
What that experience is like and how as a
mid level manager, you have to pour that into
your organization and actually get that message of why
these relationships are important and how they impact not
only your organization but your community.
So I think this program allows us to be
able to give any mid level manager, almost every
tool that they need to be successful.
Successful and who does not want
their agency to be successful.
So this is my plug.
Noble UVA 21 CP.
We're calling on chiefs, sheriffs,
colonels across the country.
Invest in your people, make sure that they
are prepared for the future of law enforcement.
Make sure that they can navigate the complexities,
ensure that there's legitimacy in your organization, have
accountability and I think to also ensure that
they're surrounded by the best in the business.
So we're asking you, send your people to our program.
We're rooting for you. Thank you.
I feel I need to bring the panel to a close
on that one, but we got a few more questions. Thank you.
President Hall.
Director Davis.
What makes this particular course series different than
a, traditional training that people might go to?
Right, so my mentors probably started
when I was in Oakland pd.
The first one that comes to mind was the deputy chief.
We used to call him the late, great
Marvin Young, who was a great mentor.
And then I must say noble in the sense
that there's not one is we're able to reach
into the Noble family and make phone calls.
When I was dealing with one issue as a chief
with a possible rogue and corrupt cop, I called Richard
Pennington, who had dealt with that New Orleans.
When I was doing certain issues, I could
make calls and had people that would, that
had no agenda other than to help you.
And I think that sometimes Makes a difference.
But in Addition to a mentor,
we also need honest critics.
Right now, that role is exclusively to my wife.
So she's my mentor, but she's
also my most honest critic.
To bring you down when you're two up and
to make sure that you're moving forward, forward.
And don't lose focus of why you agreed
to do what you're going to do.
And the fact that she was also a police
chief and retired means we could have that conversation.
So have mentors, plural, and have people that
you can that will tell you the truth,
slow down, chill out, you're wrong.
And be able to do so because they.
Because their motive is very clear.
I want you to be successful.
Now, what makes this program unique, I
think is the key that it's. You said something.
It's not just a training program.
It's the education and training program.
And I think, past President Bryant said it best
about the need to make sure that we can
have that continual education, because education broadens our perspective
beyond law enforcement and lets us see the world
globally and understand what impact we have, whether it's
looking at our history or otherwise.
But let me just add one thing that I
think I hope I know the program will address.
You were asking about being successful.
And so the key thing I would ask any mentee
to start with is you define success for me.
What does success look like for you?
And I always asked him, why do
you want to be a lieutenant?
Why do you want to be a captain?
Why do you want to be a chief?
If it's simply for the title, then I
have to question why you're doing it.
So the title is not an ends, to the mean.
It's a way to accomplish a goal.
I want to be a lieutenant because that's
the position that I can affect change.
I'm seeing things that I think we can do better.
I'm seeing things that I think we're doing wrong.
I want to be chief because if I'm
chief, I can serve my community better. Right?
So there's got to be a way to first
identify why do you want to do this.
So for those lieutenants and captains that are
thinking about coming to the program, ask yourself
why you want to be in the program.
What is your ultimate goal? And then it will help you
identify why this is important.
And so I think that's why the training program
is really important, because it will test them to
understand what they're actually getting involved with.
This is going to be a quick, rapid round, and I'm
going to ask each of you to give a piece of
advice for someone who's up and coming in the ranks.
What's one piece of advice that you give them?
Now I'm limiting you to one sentence.
I don't know how I'll turn
off the microphone, but one sentence.
My one piece of advice would be ask for what you need.
Be transparent, be honest, but most
of all, be fair and impartial.
Never forget who you are, where you came
from, and make sure you continue to embrace
the core values that define you.
Policing is a calling.
Ensure that you handle that the way God intended.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall
be called the children of God.
Be adaptable to change.
Be intentional about, service to the people that
you lead, the people that you serve, and
the community that you serve as well.
Looking ahead, what gives you great optimism
about the future of public safety?
Chief Sticking with you and then we're going
to go right back down the line.
The optimism I have is for agencies to be
as transparent as they have become and quick to
address, things that they identify as wrong.
And having organizations like this, having an organization
like Noble that is putting out so much
information to help professionalize the profession as well
as some of our other partnering, organizations.
What gives me optimism, is this program,
this collaboration allows, future individuals in public
safety, to recognize the importance of collaboration.
What's needed to address mental
health, homelessness, the wellness.
We talk about wellness within our police agencies,
but the wellness of our communities, it's organizations
like the three of ours combined, providing information
and knowledge that equips our future leaders with
compassion and understanding that this is not a
job for just law enforcement.
Policing a, community and public safety requires all
hands on deck and it teaches you how
to get access to those hands.
For me, optimism is based on two.
Couple things, couple things real quick.
One is having the honor of leading the
current men and women of law enforcement, and
seeing just the level that we've.
Congratulations to the chiefs and the hr, experts that
have hired such a good crop of new generation.
But the other one, through my partner being a partner
at 21cp Solutions, we work with agencies all over the
country and to go into agencies and see them at
the highest levels of the organization, at the chief, the
mid level that are driving that agenda and operationalizing those
policies and the rank and file, grapple with, accept and
take on challenges and in some cases even acknowledge when
they can do better, even when it's not in response
to a crisis, but simply because they know they can
do better.
So to see that, to witness that firsthand, to see
this generation and also the crop of police chiefs and
executives that are sitting in the chair right now, I
think the only place we can go is up.
But that should not result in
complacency, nor should we be content.
And so that means we have to keep pushing.
And even the fact that we have a partnership
with UVA University, because 10 years ago that would
be a bad word if you're talking about some
type of relationship or partnership with academia.
And the recognition now that we are a profession,
which means we should have a national coherence to
a body of standards like any profession.
The late great Pat Murphy, used to be the commissioner
in New York, posed a question I heard him say
once, are we a vocation or a profession?
And a profession does this.
It educates, it trains, it certifies
it credentials, it holds people accountable.
It continually strives for the highest standards
and high the best in the field.
And that's what I'm watching us do right now.
But it's just, it's one of those perpetual goals.
There's no finish line.
Just keep going and going.
And I think this partnership is one
of those ways we keep doing that.
I'm very optimistic for the following reason.
I've worked now for want to say over a dozen men
and women who have been presidents are presidents of Noble.
I've had a chance to literally so over a dozen years.
And they all led with integrity.
They were committed to their profession, but they
also were humble people and I think so.
My enthusiasm is that I've had an amazing
kind of Catburg seat to see how it's
being done from a leadership standpoint.
But the second thing I'll say was mentioned earlier.
This is in my opinion the best
trained law enforcement force maybe ever.
But it comes with a certain amount of responsibility.
And I know we always focus on when something doesn't
go right and it goes viral and everyone goes but
audience, I would say 99% take their oath seriously, do
the best job they can and do it under really
extreme environments and situations and they deliver.
I get it when it doesn't go right.
But for the millions and millions of encounters that go
on, these men and women do an unbelievable job.
But I'll say it again, this is probably
the best trained law enforcement force ever.
And it's going to get better with this program.
Thank you.
The last one always says there's
very little left to say. Right.
But I will tell you what gives me optimism is
we have middle managers who are ready to go now.
This program was created because we recognize that there
is a need, for them to be able to
step into a space and to educate and to
learn and to also be taught by pracademicians.
I think we often forget that those who are
involved in this program wore that hat, were in
that seat, and can bring that realness and reality
to the experiences that we're trying to do.
So what gives me optimism is that we know
we have cohorts that are ready to go.
And so I think that is going to
be the most exciting thing that all.
Thank you so much for this conversation.
I'm so excited to launch this
program, and thanks to everybody.
