In January of 2020, I announced I would be leaving the city of Longmont as our community’s public safety chief. In February of this year, I was asked to develop a list of personal and professional attributes for consideration in selecting our next Public Safety Department chief. In Longmont, the Public Safety Department includes police services, fire services, community health and resiliency, dispatch services and a support services division. They were written with the highest of hopes for the future.
This list of attributes takes into consideration what is believed would best serve our city, a community that is diverse and growing in complexity. They were designed in consideration of our history, our present and our hopeful destiny. They also take into account the transitional nature of our community, the rapidly transforming role of public safety services in our community, and the development of a future that can transcend our past, our old stories and our usual demographics. The listed personal and professional attributes include the following:
This person,
1. Sees people through the lens of their strengths, gifts and talents. Believes people have infinite potential. Creates structures, systems, processes, and a culture that supports people in maximizing their potential. This applies not only to staff but to our community.
2. Utilizes personal dialogue and connection as a major tool to engage others. Values transformational conversations that invites others, that opens up new possibilities, that creates ownership, that welcomes dissent, that brings commitment, and that acknowledges the gifts of others. Has the innate capacity to be truly present to others in ways that people know she/he cares about their well-being. People will know that their voice counts, their thoughts matter and their humanness is valued. Is predisposed to valuing and recognizing performance that reinforces the values of public safety and our community. Knows how to engage in various kinds of conversations. This applies not only to staff but to our community.
3. Understands organizational and human resource development. Has a keen awareness regarding pace of change, how much change can happen at once or over time, and what kind of change needs to happen. Can rally champions from all levels within the organization and the community to assist in the change process. Has the stamina and steadfastness to resist undermining, sabotaging, cynics, victims and bystanders. Can and will see change through. This applies not only to staff but to our community.
4. Sees our community as a possibility and not just a problem to be solved. Sees its goodness, its gifts, and wants to create a safe and welcoming place for our residents to become an integral part of policy development within public safety. Sees the many parts of our community and knows how to customize and tailor public safety services for the various needs in our community. Can balance all the needs in a way that no one part of the community believes or thinks it is more or less important than any other part of our community.
5. Sees the value and can form personal and professional relationships with various leaders within our community, and in particular, with high-profile activists. Believes that partnerships with our community are absolutely integral to enhancing safety in our community. Has the skills to engage all public safety staff in the forming of personal and professional relationships with every aspect/part/component of our community. Can create a significant culture of trust and confidence between public safety and every aspect/part/component of our community.
6. Understands the value of integrating fire, police, community health and resiliency, emergency communications and support services. Operates from the perspective that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Can influence greater depth of integration within public safety.
7. Understands the value of blending public safety with the entire city organization. Sees the possibilities of leveraging the strengths of public safety with the strengths of all other city departments. Knows that the collective impact of all is critical to the effectiveness of service delivery.
8. Knows how to provide public safety services without creating an unhealthy dependency on the part of the community on public safety services. Can engage in challenging conversations with our community about the community’s and individual’s responsibilities for ensuring public safety.
9. Believes in and can create structures that surface and activate the social capital (expertise, talent, gifts and resources) in our community. Sees public safety as integral in the development and the activation of the abundant social capital in our community.
10. Can create necessary but flexible boundaries for public safety to ensure it does not become politicized, used for purposes not related to public safety, and to stay true to its purpose in our community.
11. Believes in creating alternatives to the criminal justice system. Is willing to detach from the criminal justice system and to utilize other mechanisms and structures to respond to the many social and health issues more effectively. Knows how to appropriately and judiciously utilize the police enforcement role.
12. Has knowledge and understanding of fire service’s structure, functions, responsibilities and role in the community and can create a vision for fire services that brings about more value-added services for our community.
13. Sustains appropriate focus on high liability policies and procedures such as use of force, high-speed driving and pursuits. Ensures that everyone is intimately familiar with the expectations and regularly trains staff on the principles of these policies and procedures. Will develop multiple checks and balances within the Public Safety Department to ensure policies and procedures are followed.
14. Has the capacity to develop a culture of accountability within public safety. Knows how to create an environment where personal and peer accountability are powerful influencers with the entire department. Has a philosophy of leadership that builds and sustains trust within the entire department. Will, without fail, demonstrate that those who do not choose accountability have appropriate consequences for their misaligned action(s) or lack of action.
15. Demonstrates that she/he is devoted to the public safety profession by advocating for needed innovation within the region, state and country.
16. Is very approachable, is considerate and truly cares for people. Is willing to meet the needs and wants of others without compromising their own intellectual, physical, psychological and spiritual needs.
17. Has the capacity to develop and implement long-range strategic planning processes that involves every possible stakeholder in public safety and our community and can create a sense of ownership and follow through on the part of all stakeholders.
18. Has an optimistic, cup is always half full, the world is a wonderful place perspective. This sort of perspective carries the moment in many discussions and day-to-day ongoing situations. The residuals of this kind of attitude is immeasurably powerful for everyone in a business that responds to the messiness and often the ugliness of the human condition. This role requires the person in the role be humbly resiliently “bigger” than the job itself, any set of circumstances, or the aggregate of multiple events and happenings.
19. Has enough technical, tactical and strategic expertise to engage with anyone regarding the nature of or individual components of the various aspects of public safety.
20. Can assess and place talent in the most suited positions. Learns what motivates people, their individual talent, skills, knowledge and propensities and can position them in a way that serves our organization and community best.
21. Has the capacity to leverage technology to enable staff to work more effectively and efficiently as well as connect more robustly with our community.
22. Can work closely and effectively with city management and city council to ensure they have the insight, knowledge and understanding of the roles and functions of public safety within our community.
23. Understands the value of inviting, convening and facilitating groups of people who reflect diverse perspectives with the purpose of finding common ground. Has skills to form perceptive questions that can shift the nature of conversation and become the precipitators of more in-depth discussions. Sees the value in not readily providing answers to “how, what, where, when” questions from staff or community but has the deftness to deflect questions in a way in which the person(s) asking the question is prompted to seek the answer on their own.
24. Values transparency and can design structures, systems, processes and a culture that’s inclusive of all staff and community voices. One example is to open meetings to anyone who wants to attend and meaningfully participate. Will not act as a gatekeeper of information, bad news, conflict or difficult discussions.
25. Is very accessible, available, and approachable to anyone on staff and our community. Is often seen in our community encouraging goodwill for public safety, listening to all voices within our community, and is authentically open to explaining public safety policies, the complexity of our work, and high-profile public safety operations. Sees the value in the development of vast numbers of personal and professional allies within our community.
