Misdirected

Chapter 11 - The Promotion

Life was good for the LaSalle's. Chris received an unexpected promotion when his Division Director for Law Enforcement was killed in an auto accident on the belt way. The promotion came with a $20k a year pay raise. LaSalle didn't mind not walking a beat anymore. While he retained his uniform in a closet, he enjoyed finally being able to dress like a business executive. Having a stylish wife was a great addition. Sonja often joined him on shopping adventure having something to say about every jacket or pair of trousers he tried on.  "Look love, you have the body to show this stuff off, do it" Sonja told him! We were still running miles every day. The kids joined us as they reach the age to do so.

The moment Christopher LaSalle's butt hit the seat of his new desk he knew that this was his job!  He quickly changed the format of when he met with subordinate supervisors. They met first thing Monday to review the security updates accounting for suspicious activity. Then they accounted for all personnel to determine who was unavailable because of medical, personal issues, vacations and retirements. This assessment allowed LaSalle to realign person for that week.  The Thursday staff meetings were detailed, inclusive and pre-planned.  It became a real 'team effort'.

In-between briefings by each Bureau Chief, LaSalle reviewed the yearly personnel evaluations of every employee. He was open to what presented itself, but quickly became concerned that females and ethnic personnel scored lower on their appraisals. Personnel reviews were used for promotions and incentive pay as well as retention.

Since Christopher was not known by many employees outside of his former bureau, he once again dawned a uniform and filled in at various locations around the Division. Then he was ready for the next round of evaluations.

A couple of his bureau chiefs were 'put out' by the new director's intense interest in lower level personnel. These are tomorrow's leaders" he reminded them. And I'm not quite sure if I understand why only one bureau chief is female when there are thousands of former active duty personnel trained as military police and military intelligence officers.

It took four years but LaSalle was extremely pleased to hire a second female bureau chief. A year later he hired an Asian Veteran to fill another leadership role.

LaSalle's actions did not set well with some of the old timers. This is 2019 people. I want this division to reflect the people that we walk by every day. His popularity among the rank and file grew each month. He took a suggestion to implement a cost saver and a mission improvement box. There were many very good ideas submitted from the line personnel. However several troubling comments were made and soon staff from the IG's office were a constant on site somewhere. It took a few years for the smoke to clear. In the end four people were let go and one was charged in Federal court.