Stop Reading the Emails: How to Resurrect Your Roll Call

We've all been there. You're sitting in the briefing room, coffee in hand, struggling to stay engaged while a supervisor reads another email from administration word-for-word. The energy in the room is non-existent. Informational bulletins are read in a monotone voice. The assignments are handed out. You walk out to your patrol car feeling exactly the same as you did when you walked in—or worse, more tired and unmotivated.

This is the "Zombie Roll Call", especially if you are working the early morning shift and is a missed opportunity of massive proportions.

Roll call (or briefing) may be the only time during a 12-hour shift where the team is unified, stationary, and attentive. If you are a leader, this 15-minute window is your most powerful tool for setting the tone, sharpening skills, and building culture.

If you want to shift from being an administrator to a leader, you have to break the monotony. Here is how to wake up your shift.

The quickest way to kill morale is to read information that your officers can read themselves.

• The Fix: If it's an administrative update (policy tweak, court notice, uniform inspection reminder), send it out electronically 30 minutes before the shift or print it on a handout.
• The Leadership Move: Don't read the email. Interpret it. Instead of reading the new pursuit policy verbatim, say: "The policy changed. The key takeaway is we can no longer pursue for property crimes alone. I know that's frustrating, but here is how we are going to adjust our tactics to catch them later."
• Why it works: It respects their intelligence and saves time for what matters: tactics and safety.
  

Athletes watch game tape before a match or game. Cops should too.

• The Fix: Once a week, devote 5 minutes of briefing to watching a video. It can be a body cam release from another agency, or (if policy allows) redacted footage from your own agency or shift.
• The Leadership Move: Don't just watch it; dissect it. Pause the video at critical moments. Ask the room: "The suspect just bladed his stance. What are you thinking right now?" or "Where are forms of cover or concealment?"
• Why it works: It turns passive listening into active visual processing. It builds "mental maps" for dangerous encounters without the physical risk.
  
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You are not the only expert in the room.

• The Fix: Assign a "Topic of the Week" to your officers.
• The Leadership Move: Have Officer Jones, who is a DRE (Drug Recognition Expert), spend a couple minutes explaining the latest trends in fentanyl symptoms. Have your SWAT operator explain a specific room-clearing principle.
• Why it works: It empowers your officers, giving them ownership of the team's success. It also forces them to be proficient enough to teach, which creates a higher standard of knowledge.
  

Law enforcement is a negative profession by nature. We respond to problems. If briefing focuses only on crime trends, complaints, and critical incidents ending in tragedy, you create a cynicism loop.

• The Fix: End briefing with a "win".
• The Leadership Move: Publicly recognize a specific action from the previous week or shift. "Before we head out, I want to highlight the stop Smith made on Tuesday. He noticed the VIN plate was altered—something most people would miss. That one stop led to the arrest of a motor vehicle theft suspect. That's the standard we want".
• Why it works: What gets rewarded gets repeated.
  

We spend 12 hours a shift (or whatever shift lengths you have) dealing with other people's crises, trauma, and conflict. If roll call is strictly business every single day, you treat your officers like machines. Machines break. Humans need connection. 

• The Fix: Dedicate time in your roll call or briefing to zero police talk.
• The Leadership Move: Ask about your team's weekend, upcoming vacation plans, or something other than work. Be prepared for silence if this is unusual in your organization or on your shift.
• Why it works: You cannot lead someone you don't know. By showing interest in their lives off-duty, you build the "relational equity" you'll need to draw on when things get tough on-duty. It reminds them they are more than just a person filling a shift. This also gives officers a positive note to begin their day.

Your challenge for the next rotation is simple: Do not read a single email out loud.

Summarize the admin information in 60 seconds, and use the remaining time to teach, debrief, or prepare your team in other ways. They may not say thank you, but they will be more awake, more prepared, and more likely to look to you for leadership.