Some ex-sportspeople amaze me with their insight – Michael Johnson from the world of athletics is a great example. He listens to others too, really listens. However, not all have this ability. The worst for me is when the particularly dreary ex-professional footballers who are now very average pundits insist that only those who have ‘played the game’ hold valid opinions. Yawn. Really?
I sometimes get a similar feeling when I speak to current or ex-detectives. Not all by any means, but there are certainly some who think that unless you have done their job you don’t have a view that matters. Maybe they are right, but I don’t think so.
One thing that professional football and law enforcement have in common is that winning has to be a team game and unless all parts of the team play their part, then the team can’t be successful. This is why I struggle when certain detectives take credit for a certain conviction. Of course, there have always been the high profile ‘super’ detectives, but maybe before the internet and social media, fewer ex-detectives built their future career on these apparent individual successes.
It reminds me of the visit of President Kennedy to the NASA Space Centre in 1962 when he noticed a janitor carrying a broom. He interrupted his tour, walked over to the man and said: “Hi, I’m Jack Kennedy, what are you doing?” The janitor responded: “I’m helping put a man on the moon, Mr President.” Without the janitor, the highly skilled people holding senior positions could not have achieved the same success.
And it surely is the same in law enforcement as in football.
But then again, maybe I just don’t get it. After all, I haven’t done the job.