| Captain Cindy Kok |
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| From Cadet to Director |
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Accepted into the OSP Family
Cindy Kok has always had an outgoing personality. When she was growing up she was involved in several church and school activities. During high school, a friend introduced her to OSP's Cadet program, and she spent her first summer working at Fort Stevens State Park in Astoria, Oregon. The position gave her the chance to interact frequently with the public. She still recalls the "double-takes" she'd get from people when they saw her in uniform and the inquiries she'd receive when they saw that she wasn't wearing a gun. "Occasionally, I'd joke around with them at first and ask, 'Oh…did I forget to put that on today?'" said Kok. "Then I'd go on to introduce them to what the Cadet program was all about."
Kok's Cadet experience continued each summer while she attended Oregon State University. But it wasn't until the summer prior to graduation that she had the opportunity to get introduced to the Department's Fish and Wildlife Division. The job gave her the chance to get to learn about hunting and fishing rules, procedures and practices. After the summer experience was over, Kok was offered the opportunity to join the Department full-time. However, after spending four, long, years at Oregon State University studying Elementary Education, Kok thought she probably better take advantage of her education. Kok accepted a position as a teacher late that summer and continued in that profession for the next three years.
"I always had that calling to come back to OSP, though," said Kok. "It didn't take me long to recognize, too, that advancement in teaching would be dependent upon getting into administration…I did not want to do that." Kok decided to apply with OSP. She was told she would be hired, but the timing was bad. A hiring freeze had been declared. "For two years, I taught as a substitute," said Kok. "The wait (to join OSP) came to an end in 1983 when I was able to attend OSP Recruit School. After completing Recruit School, I was assigned to the Salem Patrol Office."
Having Career Flexibility that Fit her Changing Lifestyle
"When I was hired," said Kok, "I was one of very few women in the Department. At the time, OSP gave me the opportunity to try a variety of things. Besides working Patrol , I was also given the opportunity to become a Narcotics Detective. I was always gung-ho and ready to try new things. I didn´t have kids, but I was married, and it was sure tough for my husband, an accountant, to compete with the kinds of stories I had to tell him when I got home."
The narcotics experience was an eye-opening one for Kok. As she describes it, "I was from a small town with primarily a white population. I had grown up with ´good´ kids and had never had much exposure to dope or the kinds of people that used it." Kok believes that the exposure helped make her a better officer when she went back out on the road.
While pregnant with her daughter, Kok worked in OSP´s Dispatch Center at GeneralHeadquarters. "The Department had just removed Dispatch from the patrol offices and centralized it," said Kok. "Getting exposed to Dispatch was a good way to establish rapport and a good relationship with support personnel there. I learned very quickly what these people went through when they heard some of the unusual calls coming in from the field."
After leaving Dispatch, Kok spent a little more time working the road before transferring to the Criminal Division as a Detective who investigated literally hundreds of child abuse cases and sex crimes . Kok is quick to note that the assignment turned out to be one of the more "character defining" experiences that she´s ever had. Again, it was an area where she had had little, if any, prior personal exposure or knowledge.
"There wasn´t really anyone who could show me the ropes back then," said Kok. "Detectives during that time were either general law, narcotics or arson detectives. I had to be self-motivated and seek out the training that I needed. I worked hard to learn how to conduct competent, complete, child abuse and sex abuse investigations."
Today, things are different at OSP. There are several detectives who work in specialized areas, and the Department has a Violent Offender´s Section within the Criminal Services Division. OSP officers, today, are very well trained to handle such cases.
As a child abuse and sex crimes detective, Kok regularly sought advice from those working at the State´s Children´s Services Division (now SCF) and others. "For those unfamiliar with the terrible cycle of abusive violence, it is sometimes hard to be compassionate for people…particularly for women who are repeat victims in domestic violence situations," said Kok. "They taught me how to ask legally defendable questions and to understand the difficult position victims often find themselves in."
Receiving Encouragement to Pursue Management
While working as a Detective, Kok had a very supportive Station Commander, Jack Rogers. In addition, Bill Paden, presently OSP´s Deputy Superintendent, also served as an important mentor. "Both of these men made me believe that I could do more than just be a Detective or road officer," said Kok. "You have to have that kind of push and reinforcement. They pumped me up so that I had the courage to go through my first management assessment. Unfortunately, my first experience was very bad and I totally bombed. At the time, assessment involved a lot of competency-based interviewing and the process required giving a lot and revealing a lot about you. I just wasn´t prepared to do that. There were personal pressures going on in my life…I won´t make excuses, it was just a very bad day."
Three years later, Kok went back to the assessment center for the second time. This time, she felt better because she was a bit more familiar with the process. In fact, she reports that she felt so relaxed that it scared her a little. The assessment process had also been reduced from a day and one-half ordeal to only requiring a full day.
"Away it went," said Kok. "I felt like I went through it (assessment) just great. I remember thinking, ´It just can´t be this easy.´" At that point, Kok knew that if she didn´t pass that day, then she was just not the kind of person the Department wanted in a management slot. She felt satisfied that she had done her best. Her instincts were right on target. When the candidate list came out the next day, Kok found herself second from the top. "I felt really good about that," said Kok. "It was a good day."
Tackling One of the Toughest Management Jobs in the Agency - Policing your Own
Fortunately, Kok had never been one to shy away from a challenge, as the first management job she accepted was as an Inspector in OSP´s Office of Professional Standards (OPS). As an Inspector, she conducted "internal" investigations…not exactly a job that won her popularity contests within the agency. "It became the position that people loved to hate," said Kok. "But the position was very, very, valuable. I learned so much about the agency´s policies and procedures…about public records and laws and requests. Conducting an investigation of your own people is very complicated. Again, I often learned as I went. I had never been a problem employee or even experienced discipline…I´d never even come close. I hadn´t even had an accident in a patrol car. I know there are still people still out there that remember when I worked in that position and that may resent some of the difficult decisions I had to make. They may have taken these times personally, but I try very hard not to. I was just doing my job. I would be a liar, though, if I said that I wasn´t glad that experience is over. It´s so hard on the soul." (The Department recommends that OPS Inspectors not stay in such jobs for more than three years.)
Working at the Top - Overseeing a Program
Kok had decided long before that she would eventually like to have responsibility for overseeing an agency program. That break presented itself when the Captain overseeing the Fish and Wildlife Division at the time transferred to a District Headquarters office. The Captain´s former position then became available in Salem. Being that Kok and her family still resided in the local area and preferred to stay in the community, she felt the job would also fit her lifestyle. Kok worried, though, whether she would even have a chance of getting the position. "I didn´t have a lot of the traditional technical expertise and experience in the Fish and Wildlife area," said Kok.
Certainly, Kok´s willingness to work hard and meet new challenges in the past had a direct bearing on the agency´s decision to promote her to the job. Kok admits that the transition wasn´t an easy one, though. "Truly, there were days when I asked myself, ´Why did I ever think I could do this…this is just not signing papers or putting my initials on reports that are coming in. It´s much more, and the field is much more deserving than that."
Kok worried, too, that her assignment might be perceived as a "token" classification if she wasn´t able to handle the job. This motivated her to dig in her heels and confront the steep learning curve ahead. "The job was more than just being able to go to a reference book and look up an answer," said Kok. "I had to learn to understand hunters and fishermen and women and get a sense for what was in their minds. I had to learn what motivated them and the history behind many of the rules and laws. I was always confronted with a research project."
Kok´s perseverance helped her get through the next few years, and she feels very proud that she could show the troops that she was not just a fly-by-night supervisor trying to make rank who would then move on. "I had no intentions of that," said Kok. "I feel vested in the position and in our employees. Right now, we have a lot of turnover in our Division because people are retiring. I have been responsible for hiring many of the new employees and recruits that we have on board."
Entrusted to Oversee OSP's Fish & Wildlife Division as Interim Director
Such commitment earned Kok the opportunity to serve as OSP´s Fish and Wildlife Division Interim Director starting February 12th, 2000 while the Division´s Director of Fish & Wildlife, Captain Lindsay Ball, serves as Interim Director of Oregon´s Department of Fish and Wildlife. A vacancy was created at the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife when the former Director announced his retirement early this year. Once again, Kok finds herself laden with new responsibilities, especially having been assigned to the job during the peak of Oregon´s Legislative Session. She now finds herself addressing the questions and concerns of Oregon´s Senators and Representatives at the State Capitol.
"I find myself in front of legislators who expect you to be the expert and know how your Division is funded…which positions are specifically funded by which funding source," said Kok. "And to know what potential cuts would mean to various programs and to officers, personally. Captain Ball left me in a good position. I was able to look at last session´s presentation because many of the issues are similar and, before he left, he helped mentor me through the actual writing of the testimony."
Making the transition from "program" oversight to oversight of an entire division takes some work. Kok has spent many hours pouring over reading material and consulting with people familiar with Fish and Wildlife issues. "What I have learned now," emphasizes Kok, "is that I have to depend on the terrific people around me…my full compliment of 128 staff people. I must be humble enough to call out to the field and ask a Sergeant, a Trooper or even a Recruit the most basic field questions, because I won´t always have the answers or knowledge. I hope this lets the field know that I´m just not making decisions on a whim. I want their input…it helps me put a finger on the pulse of what is really happening out there."
"I truly joined the Division because I had an interest and desire to spread my wings and expand my knowledge, but I never dreamed I would find myself sitting in Captain Ball´s chair. I see it as a gift. It´s one I want to value and treasure as more than just a career defining or career enhancing opportunity. I want to take good care of it.
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