Several years ago, after teaching a firearms instructor class in Las Vegas, I noticed a group of shooters talking and prepping gear as they waited for us to clear the range. I asked one of the older guys in the group if they were qualifying or if they were at the range to do some other type of firearms training. His answer was simple, but it struck me as being overly self-deprecating and disparaging. He told me, “We’re just patrol officers doing our quarterly qualifications.”

“… just patrol officers …”

The way he said this made it sound like they were a collective group of minions being led by others without input or consideration. This police officer was older and mostly carried himself as if he was a leader or supervisor of the group. I don’t know if this gentleman was a supervisor or not, and it doesn’t really matter. He was part of the group, appeared to be one of the more experienced members and should be taking a leadership and mentoring role for the younger troops.

If they care about our profession, mentoring is every veteran officer’s responsibility. The future of law enforcement depends entirely on what we do now to prepare the next generation of officers and leaders for their roles. This isn’t just a supervisor or instructor’s role. It’s the role of every officer. My wife, Chrystal Fletcher, a noted firearm instructor and writer, once told me, “The measure of a man lies not in the distance he’s traveled, nor the duration of the journey, but in the light he has spread.” This is the essence of mentorship.

Frontline mentors

The officers on the street are leading the charge into the future. As a result, these are the people primarily responsible for mentoring the law enforcement officers of the future. The folks on patrol are the future trainers, supervisors and command staff of our departments. These people are the frontline servants and protectors of our communities and role models for younger and less experienced officers.

Regardless of rank or position, every law enforcement officer has the responsibility to be a mentor. We have chosen a career that puts us at the front and center of our communities. It is a calling carrying the greatest responsibility one can possess, and mentorship is a core job function. We need to commit to making mentorship a primary career goal. If it’s not one of your primary goals, then you are contributing to the leadership vacuum currently plaguing far too many of our law enforcement agencies. Be the solution and not the problem.

However, many departments don’t have a culture of mentoring at the street level. Often, mentoring efforts are saved for command staff positions when it may be too late for tangible personal and occupational development. Depending on the region or state, your career begins the first day of academy training, the swearing-in ceremony, or the first day of field training. This is the point when a culture of mentorship should be planted and cultivated. Mentorship should be something that occurs as soon as someone joins our organization and continues into retirement.

Supervisors

Mentorship is most often thought of as flowing from the top–down where rank puts you in a position to lead, mentor, and provide guidance to those of lower rank. While it is true that supervisors and those working at the command staff level should be role models and mentors for their entire department, the mentors with the most frequent connection and influence are the more experienced peers on the street. But this doesn’t mean the command staff doesn’t have a key role.

Command staff set the tone, culture and expectations for mentorship. They need to hold themselves and those they supervise accountable for seeking out mentoring opportunities. Supervisors should be looking to develop people to replace their own positions. It’s been said that you can’t have success without a successor, and every supervisor should be working diligently to find their own successors.

Before I retired, I was reassigned back to being a patrol sergeant. This was my favorite position because I had a direct impact on the career development of every officer and corporal on my team. During my career, my most satisfying accomplishments were seeing the officers I supervised promoted to positions as field training officers, detectives, K-9 handlers, corporals and sergeants. 

The last two years of my career, I had the pleasure of working with an officer who wanted to become a sergeant. I actively sought opportunities to put this officer into circumstances to work as a team supervisor. I expected him to lead the daily team briefings before we hit the road. Even though this officer was a talented tactical officer, I would bring him to the incident command post to observe and later run tactical responses. I convinced my boss and the IT folks to give him security access, granting him authority to read and approve certain reports. A little at a time, he was provided opportunities to work in a supervisory role until he was ready to be a sergeant. When I retired, this officer took over my patrol team as their new sergeant. That is the definition of success.

Starting now

To make mentoring a part of your department culture, it helps to have support from the top down, but this isn’t strictly necessary. We’ve all heard the saying, “Think globally. Act locally.” The same applies to creating a culture of mentorship. Think about the big picture: improving your department and the future of law enforcement. But your immediate impact and actions can be small, local steps to make things happen: the development of a particular person or the improvement of a team.

Once others see what you’re doing, the positive effects it has on your working environment, and the growth from the people who are part of your culture, they will start to integrate those changes into their teams. Within a few short years, this could lead to department-wide change and improvement.

We owe it to those who served before us and those who follow to improve our noble profession. If we don’t act now to fill the vacuum with strong mentors, we have no one to blame but ourselves. Experienced officers, supervisors and command staff can improve the future of law enforcement by spreading the light of mentorship and ensuring success through succession.