Kryptonite To The Liars

It's Time To End The Liar's Game

The dirty secret to the current state of law enforcement is that the challenges the profession has faced are nothing new. When I began my career in 1993, we routinely had the same liars doing what they do.

Well before the media fell in to nothing more than a propaganda machine for their favorite political party, they still enjoyed the sensational or bias police story from time to time. Before the typical anti-cop activist had a social media following and their narcissistic sense of power, they were lying about law enforcement. Politicians have never changed and their false promises and the use of the profession to either pander or get votes has been well documented.

So what has changed?

The truth is that leadership in law enforcement has changed. Historically, those in the law enforcement profession always knew that there were elements in society that didn’t like them and would use them for whatever twisted agenda they were pursuing but as long as we acted accordingly, there was never anything to worry about.

Over 20 years ago, a friend of mine shot and killed a robbery suspect that pulled a gun on him. It didn't matter that the suspect had committed a robbery, fled the scene, tried to kill my friend and was also wanted for murder from another state, the liars did what they did.

The media found a so called witness that said my friend executed the poor man by shooting him in the back with his hands up. A few politicians piled on screaming racism and further evidence of police brutality and the media played their part.

The problem for the liars is that was 1997 and not 2024. The chief of police drove directly to my friend’s house, sat with him and his family and told him the liars would be dealt with and that he shouldn’t worry. The chief then scolded the media for their lack of journalism ethics and told the activists they just lost their “seat at the table.”

That Was Then

But we aren’t in the 90’s anymore. There are more lies that have been told on the profession than the bandwidth allowed here and every time it happens without our leaders responding is another reason that recruitment, retention, and the overall morale of this fine profession is destroyed.

We discuss this at length in our seminars and we believe it is so important, a core principle of Courageous Leadership is to “communicate to eliminate misunderstanding.”

It’s easy but unfortunately, it is a rare action.

Until Now

That is likely what the activists thought in Jacksonville (FL) when they accused the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Department of racism after they assisted in a traffic collision investigation. In all of the typical methods, that have worked so well over the last decade, a young woman alongside a pastor stood in front of media cameras crying about how horrible she was treated by the agency.

As she weaved the hoax, the tears flowed as she told the story of how she was fighting for her life while deputies treated her like a common criminal accusing her of drinking and being on drugs. Her own mother rushed to the scene to help her but she was refused and an investigation wasn’t even conducted by law enforcement.

You may wonder how anyone could be so brazen and openly lie, knowing that the entire encounter was on body camera but that is how weak law enforcement leadership has been in recent years.

There was absolutely no concern about being caught because our profession has just sat and taken it along with the multi-million dollar law suit settlements that follow.

Not Anymore

Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters understands that communication and transparency is the core foundation of leadership and he wasted no time destroying the lies. While he pointed the media and the public to his excellent website on transparency, he did what every leader, in any profession, should do when lies are used to divide our communities and hurt the law enforcement profession. He told the truth and he used the same methodology of the liars…He did it publicly, in front of the cameras.

In a sense, the accusations may not be seen as serious as others but it’s important to address every lie, every time. This will not only hold liars accountable but future liars will have to press pause before they attack and defame.

Ultimately, any lie is a big deal because it further erodes the trust the community and our own employees have with the profession and it’s time that we start leading courageously rather than with comfort.

---

Dr. Travis Yates retired as a commander with a large municipal police department after 30 years of service. He is the author of “The Courageous Police Leader: A Survival Guide for Combating Cowards, Chaos & Lies.” His risk management and leadership seminars have been taught to thousands of professionals across the world. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy with a Doctorate Degree in Strategic Leadership and the CEO of the Courageous Police Leadership Alliance.