A simple twist of fate unlocks old truths for 21st century policing

i work for the saint mary’s county

sheriff’s office

and in a leadership role what we’re

finding

is that with all the events that are

happening in the world right now

we as management we as police leadership

have to start to ask ourselves

what are people wanting in their police

officers and what should we

as police managers be looking for in the

police

that we hire and the police that we

currently have

oddly enough a strange chance

coincidence

and a chance meeting in washington d.c

recently

helped to clarify a lot of those things

for me personally

my mother had to have a heart procedure

at washington hospital center

and i drew the short straw and had to

drive her to washington dc

i picked her up we had everything mapped

out we had everything planned

we had plenty of time i had my gps

we got up there driving no traffic

because we left early

mom says we have to leave at least two

hours early to go anywhere

we’re driving we make good time and as

we get on the 395 exit

going into washington dc

you go around the washington navy yard

and you go to the left

and you bottom down a little bit and

there’s a beautiful view of the united

states capital off to your right

i distinctly remember that because right

about then

we heard something it sounded metallic

but to me it sounded like it’s something

had fallen off the roof of the car

i said mom did you leave something on

top of the car and she says no no i

don’t think so

so we drive on right about south capitol

street

we start to get alarms the car is brand

new

it’s about the third time i’ve ever even

sat in this vehicle

and i start to hear a very distinct

sound

and right as we’re approaching uh first

dave and

capitol street i realize i’m riding on a

rim

now i’ve got about 30 minutes to spare

for this very important

uh pre-operation meeting for her where

they do all the diagnostic testing

and at that point i have to make a

command decision

the area that we’re in is not the best

of areas there’s no parking

and i’ve got to get this lady into the

hospital for these important diagnostic

tests

so i decide i’m going for it and i rim

it all the way to the washington

hospital center

i know that i’ve got to get her out of

the car as fast as i can

and get to a place where i can evaluate

what the problem is

so we go around the emergency entry

and she’s basically got a burnt rental

style it out of the car

and into the hospital so that i can’t be

stuck

in the ambulatory loop so out she goes

staggering with her cane

yelling i’ve got roadside assistance

i go around the circle i find a place

somewhere off michigan avenue and i stop

the car i’m a little bit in the roadway

and i’m on a rim people are waving me

down i’ve got metro bus people waving me

down saying

sparks flying so i pull over

i don’t know exactly where i am but i’m

definitely in a place i’m not familiar

with

this particular day was one of the

hottest days that we’ve had this summer

and it’s been

unusually hot in this area it was the

kind of heat that when you looked out

into the distance

it was one of those mirage vision

bending days in washington dc if you’re

familiar with washington dc you know

what i’m talking about

it was about 103 at that point

so i don’t panic too much at this point

but there is a panic setting in and i

call the roadside assistance number

and the roadside assistance person tells

me

unfortunately mr hall

this policy follows the driver not the

car

so even after i’ve explained that the

driver is actually in the washington

hospital center i’m out of luck

so option number two i get out of the

car most new cars do not have

spare tires but after about 15 minutes

of trying to figure out how to open the

back hatch

i figure out that there is actually a

tire

or almost a real one with a metal

uh with a metal hub on it i pull it out

i’m in luck because i’ve changed quite a

few tires in my time

so i pull the tire out i get myself set

the jack is in good order i get myself

ready now i am

tactically taking peaks around because

i’m worried about getting hit by a car

or potentially hit over the head so i

get down and i start to

place the jack to raise the car but the

pavement is so hot

i can’t get down on my hands and needs

to even try to place the jack

luckily mothers are always prepared

she’s got a blanket in the back

lay the blanket out start to crank it up

panic is beginning to subside confidence

is raising

because now i’m concerned about mom but

she’s where she needs to be

so i get the car up i get good

uh good clearance i get the

all of the uh little bolts and nuts off

of it

and i give a pull and i give another

pull

i pulled so hard i almost pulled the car

off the jack

it’s not budging now i’m thinking i’ve

warped the thing on it i’ve bent it

onto the hu it’s not going to come off i

get up

i’m in a strange place it’s hotter than

you know what

i can’t get the tire off and i am

absolutely

in despair and right then

right behind me i notice a little tiny

woman

has come right up on me

she’s wearing glasses of leopard skin

leopard print

mask with purple strings

and as a good marylander i know my

history and the only thing that i can

tell you about this woman in my mind’s

eye now

is that she reminded me in stature and

height

of the mighty harriet tubman about five

foot two five foot three

and she says in a velvety smooth voice

can i help you honey my first concern is

her safety and her being out in the heat

and i said well ma’am

you know not really but her calm

demeanor

i find myself telling her my story of

woe about my mother and she says

my mother’s in the hospital too she’s

got stage three cancer

i said look i’m embarrassed to tell you

this but i’m going on 51.

i’ve been a cop for 26 years i can’t

change this tire

well let’s take a look she leans in and

now

i’m a little worried that she’s going to

lean down and pull the tire off i got to

be honest with you

but she takes a look and she says

well that’s a wheel lock honey

and i said wheel lock my i got a 2005. i

don’t even know what a wheel lock

is she says you’ve got to find the key

okay check in the glove box

that’s where the key will be go in the

glove box my mom’s got cat treats

a couple of prayer cards some you know

handkerchiefs

there’s no key but i’m looking for a key

let’s check the the ch tire changing kit

nothing there either i’m frustrated to

be all all

it’s just i’m so frustrated i don’t know

what i’m going to do because now i’m

starting to think how am i going to get

my mother home how are we going to deal

with this

and she says let’s try one more thing

look in the center console

i had already been in the center console

looking for a gps charger

for the phone

way down in the bottom of that center

console there was a plastic

holder with four lug nuts and in the

center

a big piece of metal that’s all it

looked like to me and she says

that’s your key honey pull it out

put it on this smooth object

tire came off just like butter

i start to put my stuff away i get the

tire down confidence up

panic is just disappearing and no sooner

did i turn around to thank her

and she was gone

so as fast as she was there she was gone

in the time since that incident happened

i’ve been able to think about what it

meant because my mother said the whole

time she was in there trying to get the

diagnostic testing

she was praying for somebody to help me

because of the good things that police

officers do

scientific people may be coincidence

people of faith

that’s a whole nother ted talk but it

made me it solidified a lot of things

for me

and that is what is a police manager

what are police leadership

what do we need to look for in our

police officers

so here it is

when we’re recruiting when we’re

rewarding

when we’re promoting we typically will

pick

things like shooting

driving skill

things like that in a police academy

those are the kind of awards that you’ll

see

academic tests pt fitness shooting

driving things of that nature you tend

to look for somebody in a as a police

manager

that looks the part but may not have the

skills of the heart

so it really began to clarify what what

had happened

and i started to think what are the

attributes of a police officer

that are most important and most

utilized

not saying that the other things aren’t

that i just mentioned because they are

very important

but initiative came to mind initiative

you have to be a person of action you

have to show up

you have to insert yourself in

situations

of chaos despair loneliness

unpredictability you have to be

emotionally intelligent enough

to know how to enter where to stand

the tone of your voice the volume of

your voice

and what message needs to be sent in

that particular situation

you have to have the communication

skills to know that when that message is

delivered

how it’s to be delivered but most

importantly remember

the communication is verbal tennis and

you’ve got to listen

as well as talk problem solving

you have to be able to go to an incident

and allow

the individual to partake in the

problem-solving process

what is the issue identify it and then

come up with

reasonable ways to resolve the issue

perceived and real and finally

selflessness

and selflessness basically is being a

person of humility

it’s about others you’re on the team of

we

it’s not about me if you do that

you can’t marginalize people you can’t

devalue

the people that you’re around and when

you are selfless

the things that you’re concerned about

are others and you have to be

comfortable with the fact

that after you’ve introduced yourself

into the situation

communicated and solved the problem

you have to be okay with leaving knowing

that most of the time

you’re going to be faceless nameless

and not be thanked

i’ll never know who this woman was

i don’t even know what she looked like

because it was covered by a mask

i can’t remember a name i don’t know

anything about her the only way i can

truly thank her

is to share what happened to me in a

very brief

non-law enforcement encounter and how

that solidified

these very important tenets that we as

police managers

have to think about and value

so that it reaffirms the good work

police officers do

and helps to re-fortify the public’s

trust in us