Chief Silverii, PhD – Discussing Police Culture
January 22, 2013 in Featured, Leadership,
Posts by Chief Scott Silverii, Ph.D.
Who can forget Robert Duval’s advice to a young LAPD Officer played by Sean Penn in the 1988 movie “Colors?” While Duval’s character may have been referring to operational efficiency more than chronological age, the point is that better results are often associated with maturity.
Oakland’s Chief of Police Howard Jordan recently announced increasing the Police Department’s minimum hiring age from 20.5 years to 25 years old. I hope this draws the more experienced recruits with college, military or additional life exposure on their resumes.
Most importantly, I pray God blesses and protects the good people of Oakland. Next, the city is fortunate to have a chief executive willing to explore options and alternative solutions for solving violent crime. When we stop searching, we stop serving. Chief Jordan, here is wishing you the best of luck searching for what works in Oakland.
My concern is not with the age, the education, or the numbers of recruits. I am concerned about the organizational culture that these recruits are entering. I am not referring to the 2003 Negotiated Settlement Agreement (NSA) that followed the tumultuous period of “