Nov 2023. Blues Vol 39 No. 11

FROM THE EDITOR-AT-LARGE

FROM THE EDITOR-AT-LARGE TCOLE 2023 Well over a thousand cops have just returned from the annual TCOLE Training Conference in Corpus Christi. (One of my personal favorite spots in Texas-very laid back and lots of good food) The 2023 conference was a bit better than in previous years. We weren’t standing in endless lines being bar coded in and out of classes. This year, at the end of each class, a bar code was displayed on the screen, and we all raised our phones like at a Willie Nelson concert and “click”, we were on the road again. As for the subject matter, I have to say I was a bit disappointed that there wasn’t more open dialogue from TCOLE, especially with so many Chiefs in attendance. I thought for sure we would discuss upcoming expectations, rules and or at least changes from TCOLE. Flip side, we did get to see the Commission’s Board of Directors conduct an actual Business Meeting, which was pretty cool. Except for the part whereby an elected Texas Sheriff was a bit belittled in front of a whole lot of people. Most in attendance thought that was in pretty poor taste 8 The BLUES of the Board to put the Sheriff out there like that. But hey, we did get to see how the Board functions and their thought processes when dealing with Law Enforcement leadership. So, there’s that. The Vendors…Lots of cool stuff. Lots of new Vendors who were pretty friendly this time. (Sometimes, they’re not such a fun-loving crowd. But this time, they were all nice) As for all the “stuff” they had for sale. I don’t know who or what Department can afford all those amazing things, I just know, where I’m at, we can’t afford any of them. There is some amazing technology out there though, that can seriously reduce the risk of injury to our Officers. At a cost of course. Also, for the Vendors, they are only there to what equates to about a day and a half. That’s it. So, if you do find something you’re seriously interested in, you better have some really fast dialogue because they are all gone by the end of day two of the four-day conference. Perhaps TCOLE might add an additional day for vendors to allow more floor time and give them CHIEF REX EVANS additional time to sell their wares. Now to a very important part of any conference - the people and the food. The people were great. Corpus Christi NEVER disappoints. The service was excellent and the food…OMG. Whether it was seafood, Tex-Mex or even Italian, it was absolutely on point. The group I ran with (all awesome people by the way) ate mostly at a little place called U & I. This is an older, well-established restaurant which was directly behind our hotel, which was also very convenient. I can honestly say, no matter where I’ve dined in Corpus, I’ve never had a bad experience. Last take away and perhaps the most important. FINALLY, the conference was a buzz with classes and honest dialogue about a critical problem affecting ALL Law Enforcement

- The Recruiting and Retention of officers. Recruitment is a very real challenge and at times, a battle. I assumed my current role as a Chief with nine officer openings and 5 tele-communicator openings. I just hired and filled my last open position. It took eighteen months. Eighteen. And I’m the lucky one. Many departments are struggling to find officers wherever they can. And the competition for new hires is FIERCE. Like, I can’t tell you how many people I was able to get pay raises for. They would turn in their twoweek’s notice and their current Chief would beat my rate by a dollar or more an hour just to keep their employee. This has happened to us at least a half a dozen times. It is a serious endeavor to get people hired with your department. The idea of retention is also at the forefront of my mind, as I am writing this morning. Now that our department is at full staff, how do we keep them. After all, every time an Officer leaves your department for another, that’s roughly ,000.00 walking out of the door with them. The Background. The L-2 and L-3. The uniforms, body armor, belt, handheld radios, sidearm, ammo, qualification, FTO Training Period, etc. It’s more than just the loss of an employee, you’ve lost a chunk of your budget when they leave. It’s very serious business when people walk out. Retention is a very critical part of any Chief’s strategic planning. If it’s not, that Chief is letting everyone down. Parting thought here with the Holidays fast approaching. I want to mention how thankful I am for my life, my career (even the tough parts), my family and friends. I am thankful for The Blues and how it has been instrumental for many years in helping Officers just maybe feel not quite so alone as they did before. God bless. Stay safe and please watch over each other. The BLUES 9