Kind of a cool thing, wonder how long it will last

[retdetsgt]

This guy's been Portland's chief for about a year now. I think he was a Sgt. when I retired, I remember when he came on......

Each month, Chief Michael Reese takes a patrol district for an officer and gives them the day off. In June he also got to be the first Bureau member to take the new police car design out on the street. What started out as a photo-op quickly turned into lights, sirens, K9 and setting up a perimeter near Rocky Butte.

What's interesting is that this quote comes from an internal source, he's not making a big deal of it in the media. We've had chiefs go on ride alongs now and then, but none that ever went out and actually worked.

We'll see if it lasts.

[Kimble]

That is cool. The chief at the PD I worked for prior to going fed (just under 300 sworn) had a chief that was highly respected, and would occasionally show up on traffic stops to back an officer up. Buddy of mine was doing a DUI stop on midnights and heard over the radio, "100 [designation for the chief], put me out at that officer's location as back up." He also didn't make a big deal about it outside the department from what I recall.

The sheriff at the SO I started with was the exact opposite. Overheard him say once, "I don't give a damn about the deputies of this department, my loyalty is to the citizens of this county" [translation: "I don't give a damn about the deputies of this department, my loyalty is to whatever keeps me employed as sheriff"].

[LCSO7470]

I'm not an LEO but I think this is interesting. These days you think that "high rank" people are so into politics and the money that you never can tell if you can even trust them. It's nice to know that there are still honesty, trustworthy, and down-to-earth people that don't seem to think they are better than everyone below them.

[SANE-A30]

That is cool. The chief at the PD I worked for prior to going fed (just under 300 sworn) had a chief that was highly respected, and would occasionally show up on traffic stops to back an officer up. Buddy of mine was doing a DUI stop on midnights and heard over the radio, "100 [designation for the chief], put me out at that officer's location as back up." He also didn't make a big deal about it outside the department from what I recall.

The sheriff at the SO I started with was the exact opposite. Overheard him say once, "I don't give a damn about the deputies of this department, my loyalty is to the citizens of this county" [translation: "I don't give a damn about the deputies of this department, my loyalty is to whatever keeps me employed as sheriff"].

wow..that's crazy the last statement I guess he fails to realize the deputies that work " under" him make the department....I think when a higher rank places themselves above their employees they loose all respect, I respect a boss more if they put themselves to my level rather then above...I could not imagine my superior acting like that and doing the job that each of you do.

[Kimble]

wow..that's crazy the last statement I guess he fails to realize the deputies that work " under" him make the department....I think when a higher rank places themselves above their employees they loose all respect, I respect a boss more if they put themselves to my level rather then above...I could not imagine my superior acting like that and doing the job that each of you do.

That sheriff (who's still in that position as I recall) could care less about being respected. He cared about building his own empire and doing what it takes to keep it.

[retdetsgt]

That sheriff (who's still in that position as I recall) could care less about being respected. He cared about building his own empire and doing what it takes to keep it.

I've found that's the ultimate goal of most command personnel. In private industry, success is gauged by the amount of money you make. In government, it's how much power you can amass.

Reese is trying to avoid more problems with the rank and file. Shortly after he became chief, he fired a cop that did a questionable shooting. To be honest, the more I read about the shooting, the more questionable it was in my mind too, but he got some heat from the union. He also made the statement that we were too many police shootings. The last statement wasn't well thought out IMO.

A chief here rarely lasts more than 5 years. By that time, they've either terminally pissed off the liberal population or the cops. Either can be fatal. Low morale leads to apathetic cops and the local reporters suddenly get a lot of "sources" about dirt in the department. It takes a lot to piss off the guys that much, but I've seen it happen twice. What Reese is doing will certainly build some bridges with the grunts on the department, but I seriously doubt this will last once he gets back in reasonable graces. It's a ploy, a very good one, but a ploy none the less. The fact he's doing it sans media releases means a lot though.

[greg72982]

I like the idea also. We have alot of small departments that only run one guy a shift around here so a "working Chief," as they are called, here isnt uncommon at all. The Chief of a neighboring department will work all shifts, all days. He actually worked this past Christmas so someone else could have off from what I heard.

That is cool. The chief at the PD I worked for prior to going fed (just under 300 sworn) had a chief that was highly respected, and would occasionally show up on traffic stops to back an officer up. Buddy of mine was doing a DUI stop on midnights and heard over the radio, "100 [designation for the chief], put me out at that officer's location as back up." He also didn't make a big deal about it outside the department from what I recall.

The sheriff at the SO I started with was the exact opposite. Overheard him say once, "I don't give a damn about the deputies of this department, my loyalty is to the citizens of this county" [translation: "I don't give a damn about the deputies of this department, my loyalty is to whatever keeps me employed as sheriff"].

Sounds like leaving was a pretty easy decision. I'm surprised anyone stays.

[retdetsgt]

I like the idea also. We have alot of small departments that only run one guy a shift around here so a "working Chief," as they are called, here isnt uncommon at all. The Chief of a neighboring department will work all shifts, all days. He actually worked this past Christmas so someone else could have off from what I heard.

That's common among some little bitty towns in Oregon too.

Here, once you make Lt., you're really not a cop anymore, everything is administrative. In fact, that's more or less the way it is with uniform Sgts too. A few Sgts in traffic still do a lot of ticket writing, never investigate wrecks though. Their ticket writing is all optional, no one asks them to. Detectives is the only division with working Sgts, which is why I stayed there. All detectives are Sgt rank and then we have supervising Sgts that get 3% more pay.

[MikeG]

That's common among some little bitty towns in Oregon too.

Here, once you make Lt., you're really not a cop anymore, everything is administrative. In fact, that's more or less the way it is with uniform Sgts too. A few Sgts in traffic still do a lot of ticket writing, never investigate wrecks though. Their ticket writing is all optional, no one asks them to. Detectives is the only division with working Sgts, which is why I stayed there. All detectives are Sgt rank and then we have supervising Sgts that get 3% more pay.

Not A leo, but I think it would accomplish the same thing if he just rolled up as backup on traffic stops rather than writing their own. I would think seeing the chief roll up without being requested and just performing silent backup in marked unit would do wonders.

The last think I think I would want is a busy chief/commander/LT trying to rush in a traffic stop between meetings so he can look good to rank/file. We had a local LT killed 18 months ago pulling a traffic stop. He was waiting for backup and then decided not to wait to get them out of the car. I don't know why he felt he needed to get them out immediately. The motors backup guy was held up because he was finishing his own traffic stop. From what I understand, the regular patrol officers dread hearing LT/Commanders pulling traffic over the radio. Especially since if it turns into more than a citation, the LT/commander is going to hand it over to them as they aren't going to spend hours with a DUI or arrest.

[retdetsgt]

Not A leo, but I think it would accomplish the same thing if he just rolled up as backup on traffic stops rather than writing their own. I would think seeing the chief roll up without being requested and just performing silent backup in marked unit would do wonders.

Actually, no. Most guys (me included) don't care for command people being around my calls. The good thing is what he's doing is that he's handling some calls all by himself and he's giving guys the day off when he works their car.