And he wanted to be a hero part 2

I spoke to the ego maniacal lunatic whose presence pollutes my office. He bragged about his being selected

to teach new officers. I pointed the jury is out on his skill. His reputation stems from being the "bitch" of a previous manger who was sent to the rubber room. Her replacement was no fan of his skills.

I pointed out that most of us don't have the need nor the desire to scream they are a paragon with a bullhorn.

Others may sat this, but I make no such statement. Plenty of attorneys and members of the public sing my praises and I pass this onto my boss. I am but a member of a team and how large I or anyone else looms is a matter of perspective. On the rare occasion I make a mistake, I typically accept it and move ahead.

My compassion and genuine respect for the community at large are known. If there is an issue I deal with it directly and don't beat around the bush. I state exactly what the problem is and why this can not be done. When a task is difficult, I explain the problem to the attorney and state it can be overcome with a different approach. The attorneys view my perspective quite differently then the would be hero.

In the end, the worst feeling in the world is to do hard work for no reason. After our so called hero ignores facts and twist logic his errors become my problem. Almost all of the time, I set the person free. All of this chicanery and self promotion for naught. 

We had a new officer stating we are so lucky to have this so called hero. Over time, he has seen that the talk was empty and he isn't quite that good. This officer is now in customer service learning the hard way and it becomes apparent day after day. The other day he told me "you were right".

I told this new officer "Don't ever believe hype. Look with your eyes and imagine the people were your family. Would you honestly want to have your family sit in front of such a person who makes the case all part of an ego trip.

The officer repeated some critiques of my work. I pointed out these themes come from a lesser officer who 

has never had a good idea or bothered to treat people fairly. If a peer sees something differently, I accept this and embrace another perspective. It is not about me or you, it is about the person across the desk and sometimes another perspective can yield another result.

A different new officer was dealing with a new case type. I groaned as she placed her values upon different people.She made assumption after assumption and I wondered what the %$&%&. I knew why her previous unit was more than happy to dump her on us. I can envision the attorney eviscerating her flawed assumptions. I cringed as she started to rant about truth in black and white terms. In this case there will be a child soon and a more rational officer will fix this mess.

The battle between my peer is summed up as the battle between classic Batman and John Wayne. In the classic comic Batman is a dark hero with a world of problems. John Wayne is the classic icon who stands for something. I see my job quite differently than most. My job is more nuanced. I am sometimes shepherd, 

philosopher and much more. When I act, it is because the law requires me to do so. There is room for facts and logic arrayed in a coherent presentation.

This person has no business wearing a badge and is ill suited for public service. A true hero does not shout it from the rooftops. When someone else took credit and was decorated for something I did, I shrugged my shoulders. My peers were bothered and my response was who needs to be a hero when we can be officers?

I do these things each and every day and my file is filled with examples, no big deal.