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Thinking
Out of
The Box
Out of
The Box
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| Copyright © 2006 - 2008 - 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.
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.