Friday, September 18, 2009

Sun and fun

Even though it's still summer for a few days, some gorgeous fall weather has settled over Lincoln this week. Fall is one of the best things about Nebraska. We may have to endure a little Houston summer and a bit of Minnesota winter, the extremes don't last long, and in between there will be a lot of perfect sun-drenched days--like yesterday.

About 9:00 AM, most of the management staff of the police department was standing on the rim of Nine Mile Prairie, an expanse of native tall grass prairie Northwest of the city. We were up on a tall hill, on the adjacent parcel where the University of Nebraska Campus Recreation Department operates it's Challenge Course. We slathered on the sun screen, then two young course leaders from UNL took us through a morning-long series of outdoor problem-solving and team building tasks.

It was a great time. We learned a little about one another; mainly about teamwork, planning, and situational leadership. My chief take away: get all the alternatives and ideas out on the table, reach a consensus about which course of action is the most likely to succeed, commit to that, take advantage of the individual skills of team members, and work together to get it done. If it doesn't succeed, regroup and try a new strategy.

Sounds a lot like certain aspects of police work.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Reminds me of a Beatles song.

ARRRRG!!!!wannabe said...

I know that tomorrow is the official "talk like a pirate" day, and I was wondering with it falling on a Saturday, does that mean here at work we celebrate on the Friday before (today), or on the Monday after?

I thought one of your frequent viewers might know the answer.

Anonymous said...

I'm curious chief, at about 2am last night I saw a *lot* of LPD squads with all their lights on. They seemed to be nearly everywhere for blocks. This was around 10th and F.

What was it all about?

Tom Casady said...

10:19-

We were looking for an escapee who bolted from the parking lot as he was being removed and taken to the jail. He didn't get very far. Jake & Jeff tracked him to his hiding spot under a Ford Expedition parked in the 900 block of F Street.

ARRRRG!!!! said...

If Talk Like a Pirate Day falls on a week end, the entire 4 days, Friday through Monday, should be celebrated at work.
I hope everyone got their official Talk Like a Pirate Day uniform from property to wear at work this weekend.

Anonymous said...

The official Talk Like a Pirate Day website.

Anonymous said...

Good to see this moron get nailed, ditto for his companion. Let's hope they charge him as an adult, refuse to move it down to juvie court, and don't plea bargain. I know, it's a useless dream, because they'll probably knuckle, and he'll never even serve a day in jail for it. By the way, were you lucky enough to snag the weapon?

Anonymous said...

Sorry, forgot the link; looks like I'm part-moron today myself.

Anonymous said...

sounds like screw off time to me,

A blog about... said...

How is it that Lincoln has effectively controlled bums asking for money downtown? I live downtown Omaha, and I'm getting so sick of people asking for money. It seems like you're doing something better than the big city because I never get asked for money in Lincoln.

Anonymous said...

Yep...a couple Beatles songs....

Trevor said...

Sounds good in theory, but how much time do you have to "get all the alternatives and ideas out on the table, reach a consensus ..., commit ..., take advantage of the individual skills of team members, and work together ...?"

As you have mentioned earlier Chief, spot decisions made by officers under duress in the field don't leave much time for SWOT analysis or any of that other corporate fudgery.

Steve said...

Sounds like the boyscouts' COPE program (Challenging Outdoor Personal Experience, if I remember correctly). Except with COPE, there was repelling and walking on wires 40' in air, falling backward from elevated platforms into the outstretched arms of your teammates, and other somewhat scary tasks in addition to problem solving excersises. I can't imagine anything that would really test your mettle on the grassy prairie, unless there were rattlesnakes or charging buffalo involved.

Tom Casady said...

4:56 -

You've never spent a day in a meaningless training session or seminar? At least I got something out of this, and enjoyed myself, too. Check the attitude.

Eric-

I usually hear just the opposite, especially from the businesses near 14th & P Streets downtown. Panhandling is protected by the First Amendment, but you can adopt reasonable regulations. You've got to enforce those, though, if you want any control. Maybe that's why we are a little better than some cities of our size and larger.

Trevor Brass-

Hence the qualifier in my original post: "Sounds like certain aspects of police work". Most of the work officers do is solo. But we have plenty of team operations too: SWAT team callouts, undercover operations, protests, road races, escorts, dignitary protection details, complex investigations involving multiple officers, barricaded subjects, high-risk arrest warrant service, suicidal parties threatening to jump, massive wild parties, service of search warrants, searches for missing persons, and special events of all kinds. The logistics of planning and executing a University of Nebraska football game day would probably surprise you. Policing is both an individual and a team sport.

Dave said...

Chief, I just wanted to take a moment to congratulate LPD for wrapping up things with the ATM bandit. Good job Blue!

Anonymous said...

A9-093657 - unusual area for a street robbery, but the summary line doesn't indicate whether the robber was on foot or otherwise. Middle of the day, too. I wonder if it's the same guy who did A9-092692.