Chief of Police
David G. Bishop

Chief's Bimonthly Newsletter
April 18, 2008

There are two different kinds of people in the world, those that choose to be reactive and those that choose to be proactive.  Without fail, I think you will find that people who opt to take charge of their lives are happier for the most part.  There is nothing more liberating than having the power of options. 

From a professional standpoint, I will always encourage you to be proactive.  Those who practice management by crisis do not move forward, and are fortunate if in fact they do not take steps backward.  You will always find more success when you take the time to lay out your options and create a plan ahead of time rather than having to make split second decisions that may or may not be the best course of action.

You may have heard the saying “If you sit back and do nothing, the view never changes.”  Part of what makes a person’s career interesting is the changes that transpire and the new opportunities change brings.  With the end of the school year approaching, the new WES line coming, and all of our other events taking place, being proactive is especially important.  Take time to look for potential problems and assume responsibility for addressing them.  Not only will it maintain the agency’s forward momentum, it will minimize the amount of time the department, and you, spend reacting to crises situations.

I also encourage you to take a proactive approach in your personal life.  Look into the future and see where you want to be.  Will you need additional schooling to attain your goal?  Do you need to save money to take that special trip or buy a luxury item?  Most everything worthy of achieving or obtaining requires pre-planning.  For every day that you put off planning, your dreams are that much farther away. 

Fortunately, we have control over what we do, what we think, and what we are recognized for.  By taking control of our lives, we give ourselves options rather than simply reacting to what comes our way.  It serves to reduce our daily stress, and propels us forward so that we do not always have the same view.