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Thinking
Out of
The Box
Out of
The Box
| Copyright © 2006 - 2010 - Barry M. Baker - CareerPoliceOfficer.com |
| Disclaimer |
| CareerPoliceOfficer.com is not responsible for the contents of any linked site or any link contained in a linked site, or any changes or updates to such sites. Links are provided only as a convenience, and the inclusion of any link does not imply endorsement by this site. |
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When you hear a person use the phrase, "thinking out of the box," take a
very hard look at that person. Most of the time, when a person utters that
phrase, that person is using it to justify an act already undertaken or
completed which deviates from, or violates, an established way of doing
things.
If you're fortunate enough to join a police department that's really at the
top of its game, it's going to have a well developed organizational structure
designed to deal with just about any situation or circumstance. Now, you
say, "Ah... just about anything doesn't cover everything." While this is
true, you'll experience few, if any, situations and circumstances that are
not addressed, to some degree, in a well organized police department.
I once received a call to a vacant lot for suspicious activity. When I
arrived, I found no people, but I did find over fifty hypodermic needles
spread across the ground in a two foot circumference. All the needles
looked to be new; however, some had the needle covers removed.
I had plastic bags in my car, but I looked around the littered lot for a more
secure container where I found an empty coffee can. I put on a latex
glove, and I very carefully picked up the needles, one by one, and dropped
them into the can. I placed the can of needles in the trunk of my car and
headed off to dispose of the needles.
Here's where I deviated from established procedure. The department had
a written directive for this very circumstance. I was to take the needles to
the Evidence Control Unit which maintained a large container specifically
designed for the collection and storage of hypodermic needles prior to
proper disposal. While the Evidence Control Unit was located all the way
downtown, there was a hospital emergency room only a few minutes away
from my location. I entered the emergency room where a nurse took me
to a bio-hazard container where I dumped the needles.
I submitted my report explaining exactly the details of the incident to
include my disposal of the needles. My sergeant reviewed and signed the
report without comment; however, it was a different story when the
lieutenant reviewed the report. Both I and my sergeant got a verbal slap
down over my deviation from established procedure.
I know what you're thinking, "What's the big deal?" After all, a bio-
hazard container is a bio-hazard container. What difference does it make
where the container is located? Well, here's the big deal that has nothing
to do with needles and disposal. It's all about established policy and
procedures. What that lieutenant was communicating to me was this...
"Whenever you get the urge to ‘think out of the box,' be prepared for the
stress that may follow."
When you become a police officer, you'll be dealing with departmental
policies and procedures every day. While you may disagree with the way
some are designed or implemented, it will never be up to you to alter those
policies and procedures. If you join a police department where
supervision, management, and command are well in tune with all the
written policies and procedures, you'll have a pretty stress free existence.
Your supervisors will keep you on a short lease, and they won't let your
thinking out of the box think you into trouble.
You'll soon learn that a lot of people think out of the box all the time.
Some simply don't know the rules while others think they know
everything better than anyone else. Police officers aren't immune from
this form of ignorance and self importance. Unfortunately, the countless
television shows and movies about cops show cops breaking the rules all
the time to get the job done. While the movies frequently portray the
stress created by these masters of thinking out of the box, it's find for
entertainment, because stress = drama. In real police work, stress simply
equals stress.
When done on a grand scale, thinking out of the box often results in
unintended consequences. In May of 2008, faculty members from El
Camino High School in Oceanside, California, and at least one California
Highway Patrol officer, gave an even newer meaning to thinking out of the
box. The faculty members and the officer devised a hoax; wherein,
highway patrol officers visited 20 classrooms on a Monday morning to
inform students that a number of their classmates had been killed in
drunk driving accidents over the weekend. The reports are unclear as to
how many police officers were involved in the hoax. It doesn't really
matter, because one police officer is one too many. The hoax was part of a
program to stress the seriousness of driving while drunk – yea, talk about
stress. The idea was to let the students stew in their emotional stress
created by the news – DELIVERED BY A POLICE OFFICER – for a few
hours, before the hoax would be revealed at an assembly later in the day.
Of course, some students became so emotionally distraught that they had
to be told immediately that the news was not real. It's not surprising that
the creators of this sad act kept it going to its conclusion. The faculty
members and the police officer who devised this idiocy defended their
stupidity with the usual caveat, "Though the deception left some teens
temporarily confused and angry, if it makes even one student think twice
before getting behind the wheel of a car while intoxicated, it is worth the
price," said the California Highway Patrol Officer who orchestrated the
program. I wonder how this police officer would have responded if one of
those "temporarily confused and angry" students, not that stable to begin
with, had taken a walk off the roof of the school?
While it's impossible to know if this stunt had any positive effect
regarding drunk driving with even one student, it's a certainty that the
credibility of California Highway Patrol officers, or any police officer for
that matter, was destroyed in the minds of those El Camino High School
students.
As I said earlier, you'll be fortunate to work in a police department where
your leaders understand the importance of organizational continuity and
keeping everybody on the same page. However, if you join a police
department where thinking out of the box is a favored activity among
those who lead, you could be subjected to a lot of stress not of your
making. Such police departments definitely do exist where people in
positions of supervision, management and command essentially make up
rules as they go along while ignoring previously written policy directives
and procedures. If you find yourself working in such a confused and
stressful environment, you must simply adhere to written directives and
procedures and statute law where applicable.
Never confuse initiative with thinking out of the box. One has nothing to
do with the other. As a police officer, you'll be making decisions and
acting on those decisions all the time. Your initiative is simply a timely
means of applying a solution to any situation or circumstance in the best
interest of public safety. Don't forget that the "Box" is synonymous with
"Organization" wherein lies the guidance and support for the decisions
you make and the actions you take.
very hard look at that person. Most of the time, when a person utters that
phrase, that person is using it to justify an act already undertaken or
completed which deviates from, or violates, an established way of doing
things.
If you're fortunate enough to join a police department that's really at the
top of its game, it's going to have a well developed organizational structure
designed to deal with just about any situation or circumstance. Now, you
say, "Ah... just about anything doesn't cover everything." While this is
true, you'll experience few, if any, situations and circumstances that are
not addressed, to some degree, in a well organized police department.
I once received a call to a vacant lot for suspicious activity. When I
arrived, I found no people, but I did find over fifty hypodermic needles
spread across the ground in a two foot circumference. All the needles
looked to be new; however, some had the needle covers removed.
I had plastic bags in my car, but I looked around the littered lot for a more
secure container where I found an empty coffee can. I put on a latex
glove, and I very carefully picked up the needles, one by one, and dropped
them into the can. I placed the can of needles in the trunk of my car and
headed off to dispose of the needles.
Here's where I deviated from established procedure. The department had
a written directive for this very circumstance. I was to take the needles to
the Evidence Control Unit which maintained a large container specifically
designed for the collection and storage of hypodermic needles prior to
proper disposal. While the Evidence Control Unit was located all the way
downtown, there was a hospital emergency room only a few minutes away
from my location. I entered the emergency room where a nurse took me
to a bio-hazard container where I dumped the needles.
I submitted my report explaining exactly the details of the incident to
include my disposal of the needles. My sergeant reviewed and signed the
report without comment; however, it was a different story when the
lieutenant reviewed the report. Both I and my sergeant got a verbal slap
down over my deviation from established procedure.
I know what you're thinking, "What's the big deal?" After all, a bio-
hazard container is a bio-hazard container. What difference does it make
where the container is located? Well, here's the big deal that has nothing
to do with needles and disposal. It's all about established policy and
procedures. What that lieutenant was communicating to me was this...
"Whenever you get the urge to ‘think out of the box,' be prepared for the
stress that may follow."
When you become a police officer, you'll be dealing with departmental
policies and procedures every day. While you may disagree with the way
some are designed or implemented, it will never be up to you to alter those
policies and procedures. If you join a police department where
supervision, management, and command are well in tune with all the
written policies and procedures, you'll have a pretty stress free existence.
Your supervisors will keep you on a short lease, and they won't let your
thinking out of the box think you into trouble.
You'll soon learn that a lot of people think out of the box all the time.
Some simply don't know the rules while others think they know
everything better than anyone else. Police officers aren't immune from
this form of ignorance and self importance. Unfortunately, the countless
television shows and movies about cops show cops breaking the rules all
the time to get the job done. While the movies frequently portray the
stress created by these masters of thinking out of the box, it's find for
entertainment, because stress = drama. In real police work, stress simply
equals stress.
When done on a grand scale, thinking out of the box often results in
unintended consequences. In May of 2008, faculty members from El
Camino High School in Oceanside, California, and at least one California
Highway Patrol officer, gave an even newer meaning to thinking out of the
box. The faculty members and the officer devised a hoax; wherein,
highway patrol officers visited 20 classrooms on a Monday morning to
inform students that a number of their classmates had been killed in
drunk driving accidents over the weekend. The reports are unclear as to
how many police officers were involved in the hoax. It doesn't really
matter, because one police officer is one too many. The hoax was part of a
program to stress the seriousness of driving while drunk – yea, talk about
stress. The idea was to let the students stew in their emotional stress
created by the news – DELIVERED BY A POLICE OFFICER – for a few
hours, before the hoax would be revealed at an assembly later in the day.
Of course, some students became so emotionally distraught that they had
to be told immediately that the news was not real. It's not surprising that
the creators of this sad act kept it going to its conclusion. The faculty
members and the police officer who devised this idiocy defended their
stupidity with the usual caveat, "Though the deception left some teens
temporarily confused and angry, if it makes even one student think twice
before getting behind the wheel of a car while intoxicated, it is worth the
price," said the California Highway Patrol Officer who orchestrated the
program. I wonder how this police officer would have responded if one of
those "temporarily confused and angry" students, not that stable to begin
with, had taken a walk off the roof of the school?
While it's impossible to know if this stunt had any positive effect
regarding drunk driving with even one student, it's a certainty that the
credibility of California Highway Patrol officers, or any police officer for
that matter, was destroyed in the minds of those El Camino High School
students.
As I said earlier, you'll be fortunate to work in a police department where
your leaders understand the importance of organizational continuity and
keeping everybody on the same page. However, if you join a police
department where thinking out of the box is a favored activity among
those who lead, you could be subjected to a lot of stress not of your
making. Such police departments definitely do exist where people in
positions of supervision, management and command essentially make up
rules as they go along while ignoring previously written policy directives
and procedures. If you find yourself working in such a confused and
stressful environment, you must simply adhere to written directives and
procedures and statute law where applicable.
Never confuse initiative with thinking out of the box. One has nothing to
do with the other. As a police officer, you'll be making decisions and
acting on those decisions all the time. Your initiative is simply a timely
means of applying a solution to any situation or circumstance in the best
interest of public safety. Don't forget that the "Box" is synonymous with
"Organization" wherein lies the guidance and support for the decisions
you make and the actions you take.
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