Archive

The Things We Talk About

Most business coaches will tell you that the things you talk about most are the things that matter most to your organization. Emphasize company rules or filling out forms; and before you know it, those rules and forms will quickly seem more important than other aspects of the company. But are they really the things that make your organization great?

Of course not! Those are your people, products and services.

If we want great organizations, we must be willing to recognize and emphasize the things that are most important. 

Here at the Ukiah Police Department (UPD), we emphasize the same simple but essential goal every day: to make Ukiah as safe as possible. Everything we do is focused on providing this critical service.

We talk about how we can deliver excellent police services to our community, and we pride ourselves on working within a set of core values that guide every employee’s decision-making: safety, professionalism and community service. It is these core values that serve as our guide as we serve Ukiah.

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that the UPD is constantly searching for new law enforcement professionals. I listed these values and said that if they are attractive to you, you should consider joining our team.

When we find people who embody these values, we work hard to recruit and hire them into public safety. We want to work with people who, like us, seek a career of service, a career based on caring for their community.

Remember, you do not need to be 6’4” and able to lift a piano to be successful in law enforcement. In reality, we are looking for people big and small, male and female, white, Latino or any other ethnicity. If you have a strong desire to help others—to make a difference here in Ukiah—we’re looking for you.

To highlight the great work our people do, and hopefully encourage more people to consider a career with UPD, I thought I’d share a recent letter of appreciation I received about Officer Max Brazill and Officer Josh Cooper.

We would like to share an example of two of your officers going above and beyond for a family here in Ukiah. We had a situation here in the UVMC Emergency Department where the father of a critically ill child was attempting to take the child and leave against medical advice. We called UPD because of the need to protect the child and staff in this situation. Officers Brazill and Cooper responded and, after being informed of the situation, spoke with the father of the child. They were able to calm him down and help convince him that the hospital staff were only trying to help his child.

This would have been enough, but during their conversation, the father of the child cited several social issues that were adding stress and anxiety to the already terrifying situation of having a gravely ill child: having to be out of his current apartment by tomorrow, not having childcare for his other children, and upcoming court dates. The officers called the family's landlord to explain why they needed more time to move, helped the father get in touch with extended family to arrange for childcare, and rescheduled his upcoming court dates. After only a few minutes, the situation was diffused and the patient's father was able to be calm and support his sick child.

We would like to thank Officers Brazill and Cooper for their compassion, quick thinking, and professionalism.

We truly are lucky here in our community to have such great law enforcement professionals, people who have committed their careers to caring for others and keeping our community safe.

If a career like this interests you, please consider joining our team. Your work will truly make a difference.

As always, our mission at UPD is simple: to make Ukiah as safe as possible. If you have suggestions on how we can improve please feel free to call me. If you would like to know more about crime in your neighborhood, you can sign up for telephone, cell phone and email notifications by clicking the Nixle button on our website: www.ukiahpolice.com. 


email icon Subscribe to Ukiah Police Department Hot Topics by Email

feed icon Subscribe in a reader