By Tom Joyce

 

I recently heard someone say, “People don’t leave companies; they leave managers.”
It’s a popular line in corporate circles. HR folks nod like it’s gospel.


But from where I’ve sat with 20+ years in policing and now a second career in corporate
America that logic doesn’t translate to law enforcement. It’s actually backward.


In policing, cops don’t walk away because of one bad supervisor. We’ve all worked for
miserable sergeants, micromanaging lieutenants, or captains who spent their entire tour hiding
in the office. And you know what you do? You wait them out. They get transferred. They
promote up. They get reassigned to a unit specializing in nothing. Or you move to another
command, at worst.


Bad bosses aren’t a deal-breaker in policing. They’re just weather systems.
What cops can’t outwait is a broken agency culture.


Cops leave when:


● the mission gets hijacked by politics,
● policies contradict common sense,
● prosecutors stop prosecuting,
● leadership folds to activists,
● backing evaporates,
● and one split-second decision can destroy your career, home, and freedom.

 

That’s not “manager friction.”
That’s existential risk.

In corporate life, a bad boss means stress.
In policing, a bad system means you are exposed.

And here’s the critical difference, good policing is built on strong leadership, not fragile
management. The sergeant who knows the job, the LT who sets standards and backs you up,
the captain who stands in front of you when it matters. Cops will follow those leaders through
fire.


What they won’t survive is a department that:


● won’t defend them
● won’t train them
● won’t equip them
● and won’t stand behind them when the headlines hit

 

That’s why we see laterals, rollovers, early retirements, vest-outs. These aren’t tantrums, they’re
survival strategies.

The corporate world thinks retention is about personality conflicts and compensation. And it is.
In policing, retention is about organizational integrity.

So yes, people leave managers in the corporate world.
But in policing?

Cops leave agencies.

And anyone serious about officer retention needs start looking at systems.

 

Tom Joyce is a retired NYPD Lieutenant. He is co-host of Ten-Four Tavern on The Finest Unfiltered Network