Courtesy photograph
Pulaski Police Chief Jill Neice, from left, Sgt. Anthony Thompson and Lt. Sarah Grim present their tattoos and beards in a photograph on the division’s new recruiting flyer, “Inked, Bearded, Employed, ?”
By MELINDA WILLIAMS
You possibly can’t seem like you simply walked off the set of Duck Dynasty or be sporting gang symbols in your physique, however tattoos and beards are not disqualifiers for employment with Pulaski Police Division.
Tasteful tattoos, together with sleeve tattoos, acquired the okay for employment earlier than Chief Gary Roche retired from the division earlier this 12 months. However the means to have a beard year-round is a change that has come about below the management of recent Chief Jill Neice.
“Chief Roche had his requirements and there’s completely nothing fallacious with any of his requirements. However there have been some recruitment points with among the youthful technology,” she mentioned. “Being tattooed simply doesn’t have the stigma that it used to have many, many, a few years in the past.”
After attending coaching classes addressing recruitment and retention in regulation enforcement, Neice and Sgt. M.D. Parmelee approached Roche a couple of change within the tattoo coverage.
“So he agreed we may rent and recruit individuals who had sleeve tattoos so long as they have been tasteful. That’s a normal, so far as I do know, all police departments,” Neice famous. “We don’t need to be off placing, however we do need to signify our neighborhood. We’re not letting these be one thing that stops a superb candidate from coming right here.”
She added, “I do know lots of people with a variety of ink and so they’re nice individuals, they will do a superb job. So I knew that was one thing we may change as a result of everybody else right here agreed that simply because you could have a tattoo or have facial hair doesn’t imply you’ll be able to’t do that job and do it nicely.”
Earlier than the beard coverage was modified the one time a police officer may sport a beard was throughout No Shave November. The annual fundraiser allowed officers to pay a charge for the power to develop a beard for the month. Proceeds, which have been matched by the division’s neighborhood policing funds, benefitted T.G. Howard Middle.
Now that beards are permitted year-round, Neice mentioned the division will provide you with one other type of fundraiser to exchange No Shave November.
To Neice, permitting officers to develop beards is a manner of permitting them to be their very own particular person.
“We’re all in uniform and you may all establish us as cops, however we’re individuals with particular person tastes. So, we simply determined going ahead that regardless of who the brand new chief was the city supervisor and city council felt prefer it was the precise factor to take action we modified that within the guidelines and rules guide,” Neice mentioned.
She identified many individuals serious about turning into cops are former navy, who typically have beards and tattoos.
“We’ve had navy people up to now who didn’t even apply with us — they simply didn’t even take a look at us — as a result of they knew for a very long time we had a coverage towards tattoos and full sleeves,” she mentioned. “We would like individuals to know we don’t actually care when you have a beard now, however you’ve acquired to maintain it trimmed to look good.”
Apart from the aesthetics of a trimmed beard, Neice factors on the market are sensible causes for not letting a beard get uncontrolled. For instance, a fuel masks wouldn’t match correctly.
To get the phrase out that the coverage has modified, Lt. Sarah Grim created a “Inked, Bearded, Employed, ?” flyer that’s being posted all through the realm. The flyer features a {photograph} of Neice and Grim displaying their tattoos and Sgt. Anthony Thompson along with his properly trimmed beard.
“This hopefully opens up some new avenues for us to recruit individuals who thought that we didn’t need to take a look at them as a result of they didn’t seem like us. We don’t actually care in case you don’t seem like us, we don’t want you to look a sure manner. We simply want you to have the ability to serve the neighborhood, and I don’t suppose that issues whether or not you could have a beard or a tattoo,” Neice mentioned.
In actual fact, Neice mentioned a tattoo or beard may even function a dialog starter with members of the neighborhood.
Requested whether or not the nationwide environment surrounding regulation enforcement is one more reason for recruitment and retention points, Neice mentioned that’s a part of it.
“To begin with, it’s not such as you’re going to make 1,000,000 {dollars}. I imply perhaps over the course of your complete profession, but it surely doesn’t pay nice. It actually doesn’t,” Neice mentioned. “Folks have been attempting to work on that — even throughout our area.” She mentioned space departments are realizing they’re going to have to enhance pay or they’ll lose expertise to larger paying departments with higher advantages.
However the nationwide environment is taking its toll.
“Lots of people aren’t followers of us proper now. I’ll say although, that I’ve not seen something however assist from our neighborhood. I’m certain some individuals have complaints, and if we’ve completed one thing that we have to handle we’ll handle it. However for probably the most half, we haven’t suffered right here on this neighborhood and that’s a blessing.”
Having been in regulation enforcement 23 years (all at Pulaski Police Division), Neice does see the job as being “100%” extra harmful than a decade in the past as a result of regulation enforcement is regularly “getting focused.”
“There’s a variety of people which might be retiring on the similar time, and among the legislative adjustments in Virginia, after which discuss of [doing away with] certified immunity, has actually been the deciding issue for folk,” she mentioned. “And I’m speaking about individuals with 20 years expertise. Individuals who you’ll be able to’t change which have gone out in droves. That’s nothing new to us or distinctive to our neighborhood, you see that throughout the nation. So, sure, it’s very tough for recruitment and retention.”
On the whole, she mentioned, “I really feel like there’s an absence of respect, throughout the board, for individuals, not even simply in regulation enforcement. There’s only a lack of respect on your fellow human being.”
Though Neice wasn’t actually serious about being chief when City Supervisor Darlene Burcham appointed her in an interim capability this summer season, she had a change of coronary heart after being within the place for some time.
“So, I simply wasn’t certain that that was one thing that I wanted to be concerned in, I simply didn’t know. However when Ms. Burcham requested me to be the interim, I believed, right here’s a couple of issues that we are able to do: beards and tattoos, simply a few issues that we are able to do, and I might help try this.
“Being right here for these few months. I simply sort of realized we are able to do that — I spotted that it actually isn’t all on my shoulders. It’s the entire division and the entire city, and there was a variety of assist from individuals throughout the city, and the remainder of the neighborhood was supportive.
“I actually didn’t permit myself to consider that earlier than. I simply felt my second had come and gone and it was time to look to another person; however simply being right here I felt like we have been doing okay,” she added.
So, will Neice nonetheless be responding to calls within the subject?
Completely.
“We’re understaffed and we’re busy, so generally it takes your complete division to stand up and go deal with a scenario,” she mentioned, including there are a lot of occasions the county assists as nicely.
“I believe everyone’s sort of like that proper now. Yeah, I’ll exit right here and reply a name. I’m really just a little bit extra snug doing that than the [administrative functions], she added. She says she’s nonetheless studying what being chief “appears to be like like.”
“Chief Roche was concerned in a lot, with the academies and the civic organizations and we need to make sure that we proceed to keep up that connection,” she mentioned.
Requested about being the city’s first feminine chief, Neice mentioned it wasn’t one thing she thought of till individuals began pointing it out to her.
“We’ve acquired a feminine lieutenant and several other females throughout the division so it wasn’t a difficulty for me. I assume if there have been ever any feminine officers on the market pondering that there was no line of development inside our division that’s clearly not the case. And I don’t suppose that’s actually the case in different departments, but it surely’s not the case right here at ours,” she mentioned.
These serious about making use of for a place with the police division are inspired to go to the city’s web site (pulaskitown.org) and fill out the applying below the roles tab.
“Hopefully individuals will need to take a look at us and our stunning city,” Neice added.
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