True Colors: OUR police serving at their best
Norm Jahn served with the LVMPD for over 21 years and achieved the
rank of lieutenant. He also served as a police chief in Wisconsin for
over three years. Jahn has been a university professor and also taught in the criminal justice program at the College of Southern Nevada for over a decade.
I went to a musical performance Saturday night. The venue was an old theater that is slowly being restored. It is 86 years old. The band (Bluegrass) consisted of six members. They were talented and performed well. I kept thinking that there should have been more people watching because the quality of the show exceeded my expectations and, for a small town, this should have been more well-attended. I would guess that there were fewer than 20 people in a theater which could hold hundreds.
I started thinking about showing your TRUE COLORS (doing your level best) even when you are disappointed by the crowd. It must be difficult to get into the mood when you see so few people in the crowd. Why put out your best performance when you can get away with ‘sloughing’ a little and save your energy and passion for nights when the crowd is rocking and singing along and dancing in the aisles?
What level of intensity would the players have had when Golden State and Cleveland played their ‘Game 9’ if the only fans were the coaches and teammates? Even with the opportunity to win an NBA Championship (and large amounts of money) does anyone believe that they didn’t at least try to play at their greatest (LA Lakers called it Showtime) because of all of the attention and adoration from their fans? I’m convinced that even professionals (not necessarily an accurate descriptor of our police) rise to another level and achieve great results when they are motivated and when the playing environment is supportive and outright ‘rabid’ (Not Charles Hank) in their passion for their team (or band or police department).
Mike Zahara wrote on the website www.watchdogwag.com about the FBI and comments made about possible ‘de-policing’ in the LVMPD as contributors toward [the] spike in crime. Zahara supports his boys in Metro’s current administration, which is hard for me to figure. He adores Undersheriff Kevin McMahill — even though he knows the history of McMahill’s early days with the LVMPD. In one breath he teases ‘Tubby Todd’ (Fasulo) but then groups the boys together and praises them. He was vehemently opposed to past sheriff (Doug Gillespie) and regularly criticized him. Mike is free to have his opinion and ‘puff up’ in response to comments by the FBI and maintain that there are reasons other than ‘de-policing’ that may impact crime in Clark County, but I have another option for him to consider.
Metro officer MORALE has been nearly totally destroyed by the past and the current administrations! Cops can ‘slough’ off calls and be less proactive for many reasons other than the Ferguson Effect and criticisms from many different levels of government and from many sources. Cops who are not feeling the support of ‘raving fans’ can easily do less work and give it less effort. Just like the band I cited at the beginning of this column…What do you do when no one is watching? That is actually one of my favorite definitions of ‘integrity’ and I know there is virtually no way to force cops to work. Some are lazy. Some are cowards — afraid of their own shadows. I experienced far too many who are just biding their time (trying to survive Metro’s ability to target and destroy their own) to get a fat retirement check. There is not going to be a passion for CRIME FIGHTING when it is viewed as too risky for your career.
As a police chief, I had a chance to try to ‘reform’ a police department from one that was self-serving to one that gave the best possible service to the public (there really wasn’t much crime to
fight) instead of posturing for political reasons or resisting change.
In a little over three years, I failed to see the changes that I had hoped for. Even a police chief can’t force cops to do their jobs (primarily fighting crime) because there are so many complications and
distractions (i.e., unions, politicians, special interest groups, allegations made to derail the proposed changes).
My argument to Zahara and any others who claim Metro has not ‘slowed’ their crime fighting is that they look to other causes such as lack of motivation, lack of recognition, perceived favoritism or unfairness caused by the police leadership! You can get stories to back up my position from hundreds of current and former members of Metro. The changes/disbanding of the ‘specialty’ units (Gangs) are not the total reason for the declining morale. It has been spiraling down for years.
I believe Sheriff Gillespie fired more police officers than any sheriff in the history of the LVMPD — maybe more than all sheriffs combined! He and his ‘boys’ set the stage for the current department
which is NOT operating at maximum levels of performance.
Many officers have the skills and the training to show their True Colors in times of stress and the current crisis of confidence and they are still giving it their best. Unfortunately, others are making excuses and pouting (without justification) and really don’t care what is happening with crime on the Strip or in the Las Vegas Valley. The working cops are not ‘slowing down’ because of budget cuts or reduced spending on the police by the City and County. They are more concerned with things on a ‘micro’ level — and are asking what is in it for me or what hazards will I face if I give my maximum effort as often as possible? I guess they are not going to perform at their best unless it is ‘Showtime’ and they are going to be directly rewarded for it.
I simply don’t feel sorry for Sheriff Lombardo or his cronies because of things like ‘statistics’ and budget problems (that ‘half-billion dollar beast known as LVMPD).
If there was a way to give the cops a dose of Larry Burns’ LEADERSHIP (passion, professionalism, praise, people skills) we would see significant improvement.
It is not easy to pilot a large ship up the river. There is no magical solution that will reduce or eliminate crime. Life (and death) are about more than statistics and speculation. You wanted the job (Mr. Lombardo), so carry on and quit the whining!
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Norm Jahn served with the LVMPD for over 21 years and achieved the rank of lieutenant. He also served as a police chief in Wisconsin for over three years. Jahn has been a university professor and also taught in the criminal justice program at the College of Southern Nevada for over a decade.
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