Learning New Territory

There are several things that a FNG (Fabulous New Guy/Girl) needs to know and adapt to when arriving at their first assignment. Unfortunately, police precincts, stations, or whatever you refer to them as are often run more like a frat house rather than a police organization. I have often said that police agencies have plenty of PPE, not personal protective equipment, but rather, personalities, politics, and egos. Therefore, you got to know your territory. In the opening scene of the movie Music Man, the railcar of traveling salesmen is heading to Rock Island bickering about a new salesman – “But he doesn’t know the territory.” Let’s explore your new territory.

Probably one of the most daunting tasks before you in the first days is that of just where to sit. When you go into the roll call room, there is always some chair that belongs to that senior corporal, and nobody sits in it. There is also that one table where a couple of the senior officers sit and again, nobody sits there. So, your first few days kind of sit back and watch and observe how everybody settles in. Then you are just going to have to find your own little nesting spot. Maybe your FTO has told you where to sit or may have invited you to sit next to them. But sit and watch and find your own little safe niche to sit in. Sounds silly but things such as simplistic as where to sit can also be a task.

Next, try to learn the culture. What I mean is the way or manner that roll call is conducted. You can go to any police station, and every roll call will be somewhat different. One place may be formal where everybody sits and takes notes, the commander stands at the podium. Or a variation where everybody sits. I have seen some roll calls where everybody must stand at parade rest while going over the assignments. Some could be more casual, where officers are having coffee or maybe a snack during roll call. What might break the rules in other places are the norm in others. Spend some time watching the culture of the roll call and how it goes. Once again, you do not want to break those informal unwritten norms.

Next, understand who your chain of command is. You could be working with a shift where they have multiple corporals or sergeants. You may become friends with one of them, but they're not your direct supervisor. Make sure you understand which ones that you are responsible to. Sometimes crossing the lines between supervisors could create friction. Maybe one sergeant is trying to steal a very productive officer to his squad. You could be viewed as someone shopping for a supervisor. Yes, we all must work together and get along but make sure you stay within your chain of command. Remember this is going to be that supervisor that must approve your reports, approve your time off, give out assignments and can make your life a living hell.

As a new officer, you must understand the difference between power and authority. Real quickly, we understand those with stripes and bars are the ones that have supervisional authority over you. This is by virtue that they are the authority for the shift. Then, there are people who have power but no authority. I have known many with authority who had little if any power at all. Do not believe me? The shift commander announces that he or she is hosting a mandatory fun day on this weekend's days off. You will attend, you will have fun, and nobody wants to go. Most will make a cameo appearance and then dash out. However, we all know that officer who does not have the rank or the authority, but they have the power. These are the ones who are the internal movers and shakers. They are the ones who will say we are having a cookout this weekend. It's going to an epic event that you have to attend! Understanding this balance and understanding where the lines are drawn is yet another element of learning the dynamics of this new group that you're going to work with every day.

You also need to understand the assignments process. You arrive with little or no seniority in service or in this precinct. You will be one that fills in vacate assignments of that day. This can beat you down since you will be floating around all the area. This is not a problem, that is the way you learn geographics and nuances of your new area. Also try to understand how people are selected for assignments. It is considered nearly a forbidden to go up and request to be assigned a beat. Never say it is an area I don't like; you are setting yourself up for problems. In other words, do not seek out favoritism, just go along with the process. Oftentimes the way you are assigned in a new place is part of the ritual of learning, there is usually a method to their madness. Before you are given a regular assignment, you have got to increase your skills, increase knowledge, geographics and the dynamics of that precinct. Go with the flow, do not seek favoritism.

The next thing to learn is how things get done in this precinct. I have worked at and visited departments where there are decentralized areas of command. They might as well be that many different police departments within the structure. I do not care what the policy, procedures, and the accreditation standards state, each precinct and shifts are slightly different. You are usually going to see tasks performed in different ways at every location. Learn to be flexible even though you may have been taught the suggested way at the police academy. When you arrive at your new precinct, they might show you “this is the way we do things here” way. Be adaptive, you will also discover that prosecuting attorneys will have their own ways that they desire their files prepared for prosecution. There are a lot of little idiosyncrasies in life, we do not all see everything black and white. The shades of gray can be difficult for a FNG to understand. What works for one may not work for the other; these are the little learning moments that you must apply.

And finally, do not push yourself! This is going to be a long-term learning process, there is no magic wand or magic elixir I can give you to speed up this process. People acclimate to places more quickly than others. Sometimes it takes months, learn to go with the flow, apply what is learned and do the right thing.