— Personal Information

1.1 Full Name: James Hucken
1.2 Current Rank: Deputy Sheriff III
1.3 Badge Number: 833
1.4 Department Join Date: 27/MAR/2018
1.5 Significant Other: None

— Internal Records

2.1 Employee Folder: LINK
2.2 Current Units and Ranks:
Traffic Enforcement - Traffic Lieutenant
Recruitment - Auxiliary Recruitment Officer
Field Training - Field Training Deputy
Canine - Canine Trainee Handler
2.3 Have you been the leader of a Unit previously? If yes, which?: None
2.4 What do you believe is your expertise within our department?: My expertise will be a mix of administrative and field work. I have worked performing administrative duties for a while to which, I find it of most importance as I believe that noting down even the smallest details can play a big part later. I supervise paperwork within the Traffic Enforcement Unit, this has helped me grow an eye for details and look for any mistakes that can in one way or another be worked on and fixed. I work hard and I always try to do things as best as they can be done, if they can be done even better, I aim to try and figure out how.

Within the San Andreas County Sheriffs Office, I perform my duties as a Deputy Sheriff and a divisional command member with professionalism, never letting anything take the good of me. A situation may require you to act quickly and put stress upon me, though this I try to push aside and stay calm to then solve the situation as calm and best as possible.
2.5 What does primarily motivate you to seek employment within the Supervisory Staff?: To help keep the San Andreas County Sheriffs Office running in the stable state it is, and to keep our reputation as positive as possible. I currently work with training Deputy Sheriff Generalist into becoming a Deputy Sheriff. I am therefore applying for a spot in the supervisory team so that I am able to provide more help and assistance for any Deputy when needed, this also includes listening to the civilians and as hard as it may be to take action upon a Deputy you may know, it will at times be necessary and I will do so under any cost.


— Essay Questions

3.1 Why do you wish to become a Sergeant? (minimum 400 words):

I am applying for a spot in the supervisory team for one of many reasons.

One of the reasons that I wish to join the supervisory team is to further grow and develop my career within the San Andreas County Sheriff's Office. Throughout my time within the San Andreas County Sheriff's Office, I have always shown my ambition to further develop my career such as me working hard, and being a dedicated member of the Traffic Enforcement Unit. On top of my Traffic Enforcement Duties, I have always ensured that my duties as a Field Training Deputy within the Field Training Unit haven't gone to waste nor got pushed to the side, by always taking a Generalist on patrol whenever possible to teach them everything, from the knowledge and experience that I have gained throughout my career within the San Andreas County Sheriff's Office. and then proceeding to fill out a detailed shift report for every time I took a generalist on patrol with me. The reason I did these things was to further grow and develop my career by showing that I am a dedicated and hardworking member of the department earning every promotion and merit that was given to me.

I am also applying for this position to expand my skill and knowledge.
I joined the Traffic Enforcement Unit to expand my knowledge regardings MVA and how to properly deal with new situations, learned how to manage traffic and keep the scene clear for rescue to work freely out of harm from traffic.
I also joined the Recruitment Unit to help expand my knowledge and skill regarding administrative work, how to properly handle them, deal with them and then to proceed them.
I, later on, went to join the Field Training Unit to help expand other deputies potential, knowledge and skill, while also having an open mind and being able to learn from them as there are always things to be learned.
This is why I have now chosen to apply for a spot in the Supervisor staff team, to further on expand my skills and knowledge, to use what I know and to learn anything new.

Last but not least, I am seeking a position in the supervisory team is because I strong will and love to help. This is part of the reason why I have joined the Field Training Unit, to not only share knowledge and experience but to help the Deputy Sheriff Generalist reach their potential and be a role model for them to look up at and inspire them into joining a unit they like, and to teach them everything there is to know regarding the San Andreas County Sheriff Office so that they won't be ending up in troubles that could easily have been avoided. My plans for when I join the supervisory team is to utilize this and use what I know to help other deputies the best I can.

3.2 Why should you be hired within the Supervisory Staff? What aptitudes suitable for this position do you possess? (minimum 200 words):

I feel I should be hired because of my skills, knowledge, and will to excel within the San Andreas County Sheriff's Office. I always look to stay professional at all times, looking for things that are wrong and could be fixed. Working in the Traffic Enforcement Unit as command staff member (Traffic Lieutenant) has many responsibilities which come with the position which includes my role as traffic instructor to teach and train new members of the Traffic Enforcement Unit, the ability to respond to new applications from the members of the San Andreas County Sheriff's Office and my ability to conduct Traffic Enforcement operations. Using these responsibilities as an example it means I have gained insight on supervising, rooting out good and bad people by their application and thus improving my intuition making me a good judge of character. Working with applications for the Traffic Enforcement Unit has helped me gain experience in doing administrative work. As part of my duty, I conduct and set up Traffic Enforcement operations, during this process I have gained the experience in taking up responsibility and management of fellow Traffic Enforcement staff.

In addition to my skill to my skills learned within the Traffic Enforcement Unit, I try to help fix things that are done wrong and I let the involved party who has done it know in a polite and friendly manner while also offering them to help get it right. I have leadership and will always be there to assist anyone, even despite the situation I been in being a stressful one or if I have had a bad day, at times like that I try to think positive to not just make myself feel good, but so that I am able to help and assist people as best I can. I have the will to learn everything there is, no matter how good we think we may be, there are always things to learn and I want to learn those things. I enjoy training and being there for people in any and all situations, may it be to just point out a mistake or to be a shoulder for them to learn on in a stressful situation. I am a very friendly person who always sees the best in a person and likes to give everyone a chance, though of cause despite this, I can be strict and able punish someone if needed, even if this person is a close friend of mine.

3.3 Is there a difference between leadership and management? If yes, elaborate:

Yes, I believe that leadership and management are two different things. Management is the process to control a group and order them where to go and what tasks to achieve, in order to ensure that goals which are set in place are completed generally by a certain deadline.
In contrast to management, leadership is about having the ability to listen to their people for what they wish and want, thus making changes according to what has been discussed and then leading the organization in the right direction. It's also about having the ability to lead and inspire other people setting a vision for them instead of a goal.

3.4 If you could, what are the top three most important changes you would make in the department? (elaborate on each):

Backup I have witnessed this more than I'd like to admit, Deputies do not respond to backup requests, being it a code 8, deputy dealing with a huge MVA alone, a group of angry people or more. A way to fix this would be to have a stage in the academy training where it's stated loud and clear that some situations may be more urgent than others. For example instead of dealing with an abandoned car that is parked by the side of the road not causing major harm, responding to a group of angry people surrounding a deputy may be of more importance as we are meant to work together and not alone.

Equal treatment I have seen, heard and witnessed this happen quite a few times. For example, there can be multiple sergeants dealing with the same situation, yet all of them can punish the deputy differently, this should be fixed to make it fairer for deputies by ensuring we root out bias and unfair treatment depending on which sergeant they get in contact with. Sergeant A may only warn while sergeant B suspends, a method I believe we could implement to counter this would be to have a meeting and/or some sort of paperwork where it is stated how severe the actions made by the deputy has to be in order to get punished different ways. Thus having equal punishment and less favoritism.

Team work I have seen this happen a lot, and it hurts having to point it out. Deputies are at times seen not doing as much teamwork as there should be. They either stay alone or in a little circle with a few others. This is critical as teamwork is an important skill we need to have and use as staying together makes you stronger. A way to change this and bring deputies closer to each other would be to host some events, a BBQ, a staged situation, some fun games, anything that would take our minds away from the daily activities and instead focus on whats important, stay together and always stay with the team. We are all partners at the end of the day, not enemies.

— Declaration

I, James Hucken, solemnly agree to uphold an honest and dedicatory approach to the Sergeant Training Program and acknowledge that failure to show sufficient interest following the acceptance of this application may result in disciplinary action being filed against me. I understand that joining the Sergeant Training Program as a Corporal (SiT) is not an inherited right, but rather an earned privilege achieved through months of arduous and persistent work, determination and perseverance. I hereby commit myself to the Sergeant Training Program and accept that its Directors reserve the right to reassign or remove me from the program or the Supervisory Staff in its entirety, even after I have been granted a permanent spot, at any time and for any valid reason, whether explained or not, as they see fit.

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