You All Have to Start Somewhere

March 30, 2009

Even though the day you get your badge you will be raring to go and feel like you are able to tackle all the world’s problems, the fact is – you all have to start someplace. Usually that someplace will be on traffic detail or perhaps even walk a beat or ride a bike for community policing. While you might not particularly like that idea, it’s a good way to log in hundreds of hours of hands on, up close and personal experience before moving up the ladder.

And speaking of moving up the ladder, remember all those police traits you’ve read about in our Police Ready blogs? Keep them in your mind at all times and enhance them, as moving up and moving on means those traits better be up front and visible. Moving up also means keeping yourself at the fore front of the latest developments in policing all across Canada and internationally.

Knowing what is happening in other communities may assist you in doing your job better, but more importantly, if you study other policing methods and become an innovator on the job, guess what happens? Right, you become a likely candidate for promotion. But, promotion is more than just knowing what other forces are doing. It involves always upgrading your skills, diversifying your abilities and taking on new tasks.

Being a cop does not mean being stagnant. When a cop stays in one place too long and does not make the effort to expand their horizons, their abilities, their knowledge and skills, they get overlooked. It’s as simple as that. If you want to move up the ladder, you have to keep not only your body in tiptop shape, but also your mind.

Think about it this way. If you keep doing the same job day after day and make no changes in how you do it, or tried to improve it, how interested would you be in your job after several years? The answer likely is, not very. Your policing career is what you make of it. So if you want to succeed in your chosen career, then you need to make the most of it at all times.