To See Change, You Have to Make Change
/To See Change, You Have to Make Change
By: Heather Glogolich, Ed.D.
If you’ve been paying attention, you’ll have seen that my agency, NJ Institute of Technology Police Department, has not only broken through the recruitment crisis, but we have been the example for retention. An agency that once was known as just a stepping stone to a “real” career in law enforcement has quickly become the emerging hero for cops who want to work for an agency that doesn’t just preach the thin blue line family, we live it. In addition to that, we have 30% female representation.
So how did we do it? Easy answer. We made the changes necessary to create a culture of inclusivity, growth and love. Those changes started with getting a contract that was comparable to surrounding agencies and then pushing forward to create opportunities for our officers to find their purpose within this profession. And then the easiest step of all – we showed up. We didn’t just give lip service to the sentiments of resiliency, balance, growth and culture change. We lived those words and supported our people.
When tasked with creating an environment that people wanted to be a part of, I went to the source and asked officers what changes would help the problems they see every day. They answered with a few things:
- They want to feel supported.
- They wanted leadership to show up.
- They wanted training so they could be more confident in their roles.
- They wanted transparency.
- They wanted to feel like they were a part of something.
When people believe in the leader, they believe in the vision.
I walked into this agency with zero credibility as far as I was concerned. Sure, they could hear about what I had accomplished, but I felt I needed to prove myself to them, and more importantly, for them. If I asked them to do something, I did it first or alongside them. I didn’t just meet with them to hear their issues. I turned around and made changes to address their valid concerns. I had hard conversations regarding my expectations and I challenged them to let go of their fears from the past and trust me enough to tell me their expectations of me.
We were no longer going to work with the mindset of “WE ARE JUST CAMPUS COPS.” I challenged them to be proactive as far as engagement and enforcement. When mistakes were made, it was never about criticizing them or punishing them. It was about failing forward together and learning. That’s the foundation of growth.
Because of such a high turnover rate, it was noticeable that our “senior guys” needed the support of learning how to be leaders in a way that was servant and transformational. All of this was done with an underlying narrative of if you weaken the standard to accommodate incompetence, you weaken the culture. I challenged every person there to let go of what held them back prior and to work toward their goals for themselves and not for reward, although I look to give credit where credit is due as much as possible.
Part of that credit has to be given to Chief Kevin Kesselman, Deputy Chief Michael Villani and my co-Captain Joshua Sanders. They supported me in so many changes, allowed me full autonomy and had more patience than I probably should have been granted. They also supported the concept of not retaining people who should be let go; this probably being one of the most controversial aspects of police organizations. Time and time again, people are kept in an agency because of the financial and time investments already made. The notion that a person can be trained up is great if that is a possibility. But that isn’t always the case, and sometimes you have to make the difficult decision to let someone go because of the potential for them to ruin agency culture, create conflict and possibly lead an agency into crisis.
NJIT Police Department was down 17 officers when I was hired in September of 2023. Other than potential retirements, we are at full staff. We have recruited officers from a myriad of different agencies without having a phenomenal salary or fewer steps than other agencies. Who I get to work with every day are officers that value the thin blue line family and who don’t tolerate the negativity that unfortunately overtakes morale in most other agencies. The reason why? Sometimes it’s not WHERE you work, it’s WHO you work with that makes a job worth going to.
Heather Glogolich is a 20+ year NJ Law Enforcement Professional. Heather is currently a Captain with the New Jersey Institute of Technology Department of Public Safety and holds a Doctorate of Higher Education from Saint Elizabeth University. She is an instructor for the NJ Chiefs of Police Command & Leadership Training Course, and is a PTC Certified Police Academy Instructor.
