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