Law enforcement adapting through an era of change
More than 20 years ago I had a professor who would consistently tell a group of us there was going to be a leadership gap in public services into the second and third decades of the 2000s. His area of expertise was sociology and criminology and so he would quite often single out those of us pursuing law enforcement careers and tell us to plan for it. We would minimize it, but he was adamant we had to listen or at least be alive to the fact that a perfect storm was coming.
The baby boom was going to be retiring — taking with it incredible corporate knowledge and leaving significant gaps. There was also some indication the next generation was not going to be as willing or able to jump in. The kids of Generation X brought different skills and a different outlook that would also challenge traditional thoughts of law enforcement.
The professor would get animated and tell us to get ready. “The world will be your oyster if you prepare for it, prepare for then and step up.”
He would share his observation that generally law enforcement was slow to adjust, react and innovate and if we did not prepare for 20 years ahead it was going to sneak up on us. As kids in our 20s we smiled, shrugged or nervously said “you bet” suggesting we would prepare.
Fast forward to the year 2000 and the dawn of Y2K. Police agencies across Canada were being told by various academic and quasi-academic institutions to prepare for a leadership, recruiting and innovation vacuum that was going to hit us in the next 10-15 years. Again, the departure of the baby boom was looming large along with the exodus of corporate knowledge, skill and experience.
This time we were told that Generation Y and the Millennials were even more different than those Generation X-ers. There were indications they may be more challenging to retain as a long term employee given that they were more about work-life balance, or, that policing would be one of several careers they would hold in their lifetime.
Compounding all of this was some early indication that policing was declining in popularity as a career of choice. The audience was a bit older this time and instead of just smiling, had learned enough social etiquette and political correctness to look concerned, raise an eyebrow and nod in agreement. But largely I believe the messages were overlooked.
Another impact factor we were told in both settings was to be alive to the wave effect of mass hiring and hiring freezes — the former typically the result of the latter. They inevitably have an impact 25-30 years later when retirement becomes an option.
I lived this in Ontario in the mid to late 2000s. The early 1970s saw incredible regionalization of police services and resulted in some very large agencies being created. Fast forward 3035 years and all of those hires were retiring. I have witnessed the hiring freezes in Ontario and Alberta. We had hiring freezes in the late 1980s and early 1990s and I know officers that ventured west to Alberta back then. Shortly after arrival they experienced hiring freezes.
The Lethbridge Police Service was no different. It too went through a stretch of hiring freezes, and the hires before and after the freeze are now starting to reach a point where pension is an option.
It is a very interesting time in policing as those predications now turn into reality. In Alberta alone this year we saw the retirement of the RCMP’s Commanding Officer for K Division, the retirement of the Edmonton Police Service’s Chief and the retirement of the Calgary Police Service’s Chief — the three largest agencies in the province and the announcements within weeks of each other.
This month the Commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police also retired (from the second largest police service in the country). And these are just the Chiefs. There are many more people retiring at all ranks and in various areas of policing in all agencies. The prophecies of my teachers has become reality. From a personal perspective, I have witnessed dozens of retirements of friends this year and recently learned of a bunch more for 2019.
Last week the Edmonton Police Service announced Dale McFee as their new Chief. Congratulations Dale! Chief McFee is a visionary and is one of the ones that heeded the messages being put out there 20 years ago. I expect that soon we will know who the permanent RCMP Commanding Officer for Alberta will be and who will be the next Chief of the Calgary Police Service.
The reason I write this article is for anybody who is considering a career in law enforcement, is new to law enforcement, or has a friend or family member in law enforcement. The current era of retirements is expected to last for several years and the succession requires people who have the ability to see the future and what policing will need going forward.
After this current era of retirements, it will then go full circle — that wave effect — in what I would predict to be in the next 15-20 years. That time will fly by and those new and junior officers today will be the ones who will bring the skills, expertise, innovation and vision to equip and lead policing in 2035 and beyond. Should you have any teachers, professors, mentors or influences that try to give you an informed opinion of the future, take the time to listen, assess and start planning to be the future.