20 AMERICAN POLICE BEAT: AUGUST 2017 R emember the Teen Rebels – as in “Reb- el without a Cause”? Odds are if you’re under 80 you don’t. How about the “Lost Generation?” Still nothing? Well surely you’ve heard of the GI Generation, right? Perhaps you’re more familiar with what Tom Brokaw called people born between 1901 and 1926. He said they were the “Greatest Genera- tion.” The point is that from time immemorial, older people have expressed varying levels of confu- sion, hostility and outrage about the generation be- hind them. But no generation has had to deal with this kind of generational branding as much as the so-called “millennials.” When you hear middle aged and elderly folks talk about “the kids these days,” it sounds like they’re describing an invasive spe- cies from an alien planet rather than our nieces, nephews, explorer scouts and food service workers. “We hear that they all want a pat on the back for doing exactly nothing. They’re into the ‘environ- ment’, whatever that’s supposed to mean. They think everyone’s racist!” Painting tens of mil- lions of people with such a broad brush is a sure-fire way to let everyone know you’re getting older and out of touch. But regardless, the “mil- lennial boogey man” is an excuse that works for just about everything – espe- cially the law enforcement recruitment crisis. “Today, the millennial generation isn’t interested in a law enforcement ca- reer. I think when most of us were back in our youth, we had friends who all wanted to be police of- ficers. Today, you don’t see that. Then combined – it’s not a good thing, we don’t support it, we don’t agree with it – the percep- tion right now of law enforcement doesn’t help. So those two things make it very dif- ficult to recruit quality employ- ees.” That was Mer- ced County (CA) Executive Officer talking about why the county sheriff is having a hard time finding new employees during the regular meet- ing of the Board of Supervisors. Brown’s com- m e n t s a s i d e , there’s a lot of disagreement about why it’s harder to hire law en- forcement officers than it used to be. “There are still young people who desire to be in law enforcement,” he said. “We just have to make it at- tractive,” Merced County Sheriff Vern Warnke told reporters with the Merced Sun Star. The Sher- iff was say- ing that in his opinion, it isn’t about millennials – it’s about money, health care and a pension. Between givebacks, pay cuts, layoffs, pension im- plosions, lawsuits and a long list of other factors, you’d have to be pretty dense not to understand why the job doesn’t hold the esteem it once did. If you want to get people excited about taking a job, why not make the pay competitive? Sheriff Warnke has asked the Merced County Board of Supervisors to give deputies a reason to work here and stay around a while even with no pay raise. He’s been trying to get his people raises for three years with no luck. “I’ve been told several times, ‘It’s not just the pay, Sheriff.’ What is it?” Warnke said, addressing the board. “That’s what I’m asking you. What is it then? I’ve got the men and women back here tell- ing me it is the pay. Folks, it’s at that point where we need your help. We’ve got to make a decision. Some- body is going to have to be told no, and it shouldn’t be us.” Warnke said the county needs to look at compara- tive pay rates at every level. He said he firmly believes Older folks baffled by these exotic and bizarre “millennials.” I don’t know, man – I just can’t call it. They eat something called kale that looks like leaves and I’ve heard some of them even drink it in a milkshake. They’re all worked up about student loans and the environment but seem to have no problem with gay marriage and marijuana legalization. To be per- fectly honest, I’m starting to suspect that they might be cleverly disguised aliens from another solar system. “There are still young people who desire to be in law enforcement,” he said. “We just have to make it attractive.” the issue is about money, not an apathetic genera- tion of young people. Millennials “aren’t stu- pid,” Warnke said. “They want to be paid for putting their lives on the line.” Uh . . . yeah. But maybe the sheriff is wrong. Maybe millennials really are radical- ly different from every single gen- eration preced- ing them for tens if not hundreds of thousands of years. Seems like a long shot. But it’s a really easy talking point and it works great with an older audience. Some people try and frame the recruitment crisis in law enforcement as a function of a lack of respect for cops and a kind of “anti-law enforcement” attitude on the part of young people. But let’s take a look at some of the over the top language and messaging that might play some role in an individual’s decision whether or not to pursue a career in public safety. Police Association says new contract “taking food out of their kids mouths.” Sheriff had “hit list” of cops he wanted terminated. Disciplinary practices are beating down morale with overly harsh penalties. Anyone who would be a good candidate for a career in law enforcement understands that there’s a fair amount of negativity, sour grapes and outright rage in LE culture. But considering the way many people in this line of work tend to talk about it, it’s not hard to imagine that this might be a factor when some 22-year-old says, “Forget that job. I got enough ag- gravation already.” Who are these people? Who are these people? Man buns, soy milk and avocado toast