Odds 'N Ends

Happy MLK Day. Let us all pause and remember what the Reverend Dr. King's message was really about.

A segment of Democratic legistators are skipping Friday's inauguration of our country's 45th President. Celebrities are engaging in protests. Performers are refusing to perform at the event. I say 'good'.  Unlike some of the younger generation, I can remember a time when a presidential inauguration didn't closely resemble a pre-Super Bowl Hollywood gala. Parades with marching bands? Fine. No problem. Parades are good; we have them on major national holidays. Let's focus on what the day really represents, though: a transition of power in the White House.

I was thinking about some of the losses we've suffered in the local law enforcement realm lately, specifically Lawrence Harper and Dan Brant. It brought to mind another man who had a great deal of influence in my career as a police officer, a leader that I wish today's generation of coppers could have known: Lt. J.D. 'Jack' Moore, post commander of Mansfield's Ohio State Highway Patrol back in the '70s.

A few weeks ago I mentioned Lt Moore in the Lawrence Harper post, saying that he was '...the best cop I ever knew.' Allow me to expand on that. He was one of the best PEOPLE I had the privilege of knowing. I first met him in 1977, when I was accepted as a cadet/dispatcher at post 70. Cadet/dispatchers are persons who have been accepted into the OSHP training academy but are awaiting assignment to a class of recruits. Until their class starts, they work as dispatchers for the State Patrol and are, figuratively speaking, at the bottom of the totem pole.

Jack Moore didn't see it that way, because he treated me more as a fellow employee instead of the lowest subordinate. He would take me to workout sessions with him three times a week when I worked day shift, always at the old Naval Reserve center on Ashland Road, where we'd run laps in the small gym. Many, many of them. Then calisthenics, with LT always encouraging me to go one repetition further than my body said I could. He told me everything he knew about the academy, what to expect and prepare for, how to act and respond to the training staff. It would be tough, he told me, tougher than anything I'd ever done...and he had been right. The point is, JD didn't make a difference in how he treated people, be it a young cadet/dispatcher or one of his troopers. He was a pure people person, well-respected among his peers. From that first day I met JD to this morning, I have yet to hear one person make a single, negative remark about Jack Moore.

Many, many folks in today's law enforcement community would benefit from adopting his leadership style. That was illustrated several years ago when a young, eager patrol officer came to me with a question.

"Tim, how do you get so many people calling you or telling you drug information?" The guy was speaking about drug trafficking intelligence.

My response? "Well, Norbert ( not his real name ), first off, don't treat everyone you come in contact with like crap. You don't need to write a ticket or summons every time someone breaks the law. Give a guy a break on a minor violation, he'll remember that and maybe help you out in the future."

Norbert was stunned. Apparently, he'd never considered that possibility.

People make mistakes. We're humans and we sometimes make bad decisions which could follow us for life. The key is, if you make a mistake or bad decision, learn from it and move forward. Listen to those who have been where you want to go. One incident is a mistake; after that, behavior and/or decisions become a pattern.

Above all, treat others how you want to be treated. It's not rocket science, folks.