Another training video from my trip to Israel. This one was filmed at the Sea of Galilee and I use it to explain the Police Dynamics version of the Peter Principle as related to me by my Chief of Staff, Barney Barnes.

Recorded in Caesarea, Israel, this video explores the important role Centurions played in Biblical history. Three centurions, Cornelius, Claudius Lysius, and Julius, played pivotal roles in protecting the Apostle Paul from mob violence, an assassination attempt, and plans to kill him due to being shipwrecked while he was being extradited to Rome.

My friend and colleague, Ron Ward, wrote a book called the Dirty Side of Leadership in which he explores a number of key leadership principles he calls “Dirty Lessons.” He asked me to do a short video segment on one of them and I chose Dirty Lesson #70, “Get off your high horse and mingle with your team.”

On a Python Hunting trip in the Everglades, I stumbled across this Cottonmouth and decided to post a quick video on a new teaching I’ve added to the Police Dynamics curriculum. I also stumbled across Dusty Crum, the star of the TV series Guardians of the Glades.

The Dynamic of Interposition is about the duty that each officer has to intervene whenever a fellow officer becomes abusive or loses control of themselves, even if the officer is of a higher rank.

SPECIAL NOTICE:
I am in the process of totally revamping the Police Dynamics website to include brand new content as well as a number of online courses. So stay tuned!

During one of our recent Justice Clearinghouse webinars, I shared the story of when I was asked to guest-host a local radio talk show on WTMA radio. One of the webinar participants asked me to make a video of the story, so here it is.

One of the callers on the radio show was a father who was struggling with how to reward his kids. He promised his son and his daughter that he would give them each $50 if they made the honor roll. His son made it but his daughter missed it by just a few points. He knew she tried hard and he wanted to reward her for her efforts without lowering his standards. The Character Connection was what he needed. Instead of rewarding his kids for their achievement, he needed to recognize them for their good character.

THE CHARACTER MAXIM:
If you recognize achievement to the exclusion of character,
you inadvertently encourage bad character.

While I was in Colorado to present the Inductive Interview Course for the Ft. Morgan Sheriff’s Office and surrounding agencies, I stopped off at the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs to produce the video.

Criminals invade neighborhoods much like pythons have invaded the Florida Everglades.

While on “Python Patrol” in the ‘Glades, I took a few minutes to record this latest Police Dynamics training videos. In this segment from the Dynamic of Strongholds, I use the metaphor of roaches invading a house to illustrate how ineffective traditional law enforcement can be in fighting crime in troubled neighborhoods. Just like roaches rely on a disorderly and dirty environment in which to breed, criminals rely on Fear, Apathy, Tolerance for Crime, and Mistrust of the Police. These environmental elements are best attacked through a coactive trust-based relationships with the community.

After last month’s webinar on the E5 Leadership: the Essentials of Ethical Excellence hosted by the Justice Clearinghouse, they took the Q&A session from the end of the webinar and converted it into an online article. To take a look, go here: http://justiceclearinghouse.com/resource/after-the-webinar-e5-leadership-qa-with-ray-nash/

The participants asked these very insightful questions:

1. How do we hire for character and how could we modify existing hiring practices to accomplish this?

2. How can you regain trust when you have made a bad decision despite years of making good ones?

3. How do we justify leniency for a previously “model officer” in light of all public attention on our work?

4. How do we begin this conversation with the leadership team to clearly set the standards?

Click here to read my responses.

The current anti-police narrative that we are experiencing got me thinking about the qualities that mark a professional law enforcement officer. It’s certainly not an exhaustive list, but I thought I would share with you five that were on my mind while I was at Watts Bar Lake in Tennessee.

The qualities in my list are:

• Hatred of Evil
• Love of Justice
• Respect for the Law
• Commitment to Character
• Genuine Humility

According to our Character Maxim, “recognizing achievement to the exclusion of character can actually encourage bad character.” Instead, we promote the idea of making the Character Connection by connecting the achievement with one or more Character Qualities (Virtues of the MAGNUS Officer) that made the achievement possible. This is a powerful paradigm and I think you will enjoy this example of character-based praise from a law enforcement colleague and supporter of Police Dynamics from Australia.

THE CHARACTER MAXIM
Focusing on achievement to the exclusion of character inadvertently encourages bad character

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As law enforcement and public safety officials, we are often called upon to mediate conflicts.

These conflicts can be internal between officers, or external between members of the public, or a combination of the two where an officer has a conflict with a citizen. By applying the character quality of forgiveness to a conflict resolution strategy, many conflicts can be resolved effectively. When I was first exposed to this technique, I was skeptical, and even thought it was a bit hokey. But after using it several times, and NEVER having it fail, I became convinced of its power as a conflict mediation technique.