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Opportunities and expectations
FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin,The, July, 2003 by Russell J. Rice, Jr.
Today, for this brief moment, you are paused between the exhaustion of what has been and the exhilaration of what is yet to be. You are not quite over your collective past and not yet into your respective futures. For some of you, this brief hesitation may seem like the longest day of the last 10 months. I will try not to contribute substantially to that.
If you were like some of us were, way back when, you came to this academy with your heart full of hope and your hopes full of uncertainty. Not quite sure what to expect or what might be expected of you. The same may be true today as you await your career in public service.
Before Theodore Roosevelt became the 26th president of the United States, he served in a number of public roles, including that of commissioner of the New York City Police Department. Of a career in public service, he said, "Of those to whom much is given, much is rightfully expected."
Perhaps, at no other time in recent memory has the public's expectations of law enforcement been greater. And, perhaps, at no other time have so few in law enforcement done so much to undermine the public's confidence in our ability to meet those expectations.
To get some sense of that eroding confidence, you need only open a newspaper or turn on the television. It seems impossible to get through a news cycle without another story related to the withholding of evidence at the federal level or that seemingly endless corruption scandal at the local level. I am sure that many people in this country think that the Los Angeles Police Department has only one division and that it is staffed entirely with corrupt cops. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth.
Unfortunately, everyone who wears a police uniform has been painted with the same broad brush as those few who never should have worn one. You can help change that. When you leave here, you will have the opportunity and the obligation to restore public confidence to public service.
But, before you go to meet that obligation, I would ask that you take a moment to consider not only that which you have been given but also that which will be rightfully expected of you. During your time here, you have been given the very best that this academy and this staff have to offer. And, you have been given the opportunity to reach deep inside to find the very best that you have to offer.
In search of your best, you have been given the opportunity to examine the depth of your capacity and the content of your character. You have been given some sense of yourself by being required to sacrifice some of yourself. You have been given the opportunity to apply individual effort so that you, as a class, might share collective successes. You have been given the opportunity to support one another. And, you have been given the support of your families and your friends. But, for all that you have been given these past several months, perhaps, the greatest expectations have been your own.
When you began this endeavor, with your heart full of hope, you expected to succeed. And, although you may not have known what to expect back on that first day, you did expect to be here on this day to take your rightful place among the graduates of Class 19.
When you leave this place for your career in public service, you may find that some things have changed. While your heart still may be full of hope and your hopes still may be full of uncertainty, you may find the greatest expectations are no longer your own. Because when you are given the opportunity to serve, you will be expected to serve something bigger than your own self-interest.
When you are given the oath of office, you will be expected to uphold the Constitution and the individual rights it guarantees. When you are given the badge of office, regardless of its shape or size and regardless of whether you wear it part time or full time, you will be given stewardship of the public trust. And, you will be expected to hold this gift as sacred because it is from our guardianship of this powerful but fragile trust that we derive the authority and the legitimacy with which we serve. When you wear the uniform of service, you will become the most visible and most accessible representatives of our government. And, you will be expected to be subject-matter experts in all matters, foreign and domestic.
Now, having told you this, as I stand here today, the only thing I have to give you is advice. And, for whatever that is worth, it is given freely and without any specific expectations. My advice, however, is given with the hope that you might find it of some value as you strive to meet the expectations of public service.
I would first remind you that, as a law enforcement officer, your primary duty is to serve mankind. And, I would tell you that a life of service is a life of significance. I would caution you to be aware of the power and the potential of your position. As a law enforcement officer, you will have the opportunity to impact a culture. Never underestimate the impact of your words or your actions. People may forget what you say, but they never will forget how you made them feel.
