I have a plan. At least I think I have a plan. But it is going to make me run five days per week instead of the four days per week I just wrote that I would run until June. The weekly mileage is going to be huge, for me. See the plan here.
Obstacles on the Horizon: I may be completely wasting my time even dreaming about running a 50K. Just about two days ago, the Chief o’ Police himself asked me point blank if I would “go anywhere he asked me to go”. It was his way of asking if he had a crappy job that needed to be done, would I do it. Of course I said yes. What else is a Marine going to say? I heard later, from someone else who was in the room when the Chief asked me, that the Chief and his Deputy Chief’s may have had a little thing going where they were debating who should be reassigned where… one of them made the comment that they could ask me to do any of the jobs and I would do it without a problem because I had been a Marine. So we will see what new job I am getting… Too be honest, I think it is a little like Christmas, getting reassigned to a new unknown adventure…
Media Boy: But the reason this could corrupt my running dreams is that it could be a reassignment to the Media Relations Sergeant. Which is a killer job, on call 24 hours a day 365 days per year… just waiting by the phone with your hair combed perfectly. It would completely prohibit me from being able to go running very far from the house. I would be bummed about that. The flip side of it is that the job is amazing training for thinking on your feet and seeing how the Chief of Police thinks through situations. So plenty of people who have had it have become very successful.
Intel: The job I want the most is the Criminal Intelligence Sergeant. It basically has the responsibility of assessing threat potential for serious criminals known to be in the region, providing dignitary protection for dignitaries, and working with allied agencies on major projects. It has a lot of responsibility. It’s the type of job that I would want just too darn much to actually get. It is also on call 24 hrs a day 365 days a year but there is more flexibility. It’s the kind of job where there is an expectation that you will remain super fit. So I could say I was responding from a training run in the middle of nowhere and it would be no problem.
Crime Prevention: The job that I will most likely get, (my gut feeling) is a rather undesireable position that involves working with the City Buildings department, and other city departments, to act as a voice for the police department on major construction projects. It’s essentially Crime Prevention Sergenat, but it is called called Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design. I guess it is a lot of writing, and glad handing. It’s about working to ensure that it is harder for criminals to commit crime in the City of Sacramento. For example, it might mean making a developer add more lighting in their parking lots. It is something guys continue to do as consultants well after they retire. The bad thing about this job is that it is just pretty boring when you compare it to the adventure of most police jobs. I won’t be getting in any vehicle pursuits, or anything like that!
The one thing the Crime Prevention Sergeant has going for it is that is has a really good track record for the person who gets it to get promoted from it. Actually, all these jobs have a good track record for that, but the Criminal Intel and the Crime Prevention positions have a super good track record of being avenues toward promotion.
Internal Affairs: There is a small chance he could be thinking of sending me to Internal Affairs. I think this is unlikely but possible. Unlikely because I don’t see where there is room for me unless one of the IA sergeants gets one of the jobs I listed above and I take their place.
So, by saying yes to the question the Chief posed, I commited the administrative equivalent of jumping out of an airplane over unknown territory. I’ll let you now where I land.
Semper Fi
