Is There Anything New Under the Sun?

“What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.”  Ecclesiastes 1:9 (ESV)

Wildlife officers are some of the most innovative people I have ever known.  I used to joke (well, there was more truth to it than I wanted to admit) that their combination of innovation and intelligence kept me awake at night.  Or as a former executive director told retired officer Fred Weisbecker, “Weisbecker, I have nightmares wondering what you will cook up next.”

G.A. Jones Jr.
Chief, 1948-1953

W.C Bumgarner
Chief, 1953-1955

As I have been looking through some old Wildlife in North Carolina magazines, I have been struck by three truths. First, this innovation/intelligence combination has been present in our officers from the very beginning.  The NC Wildlife Resources Commission was formed in 1947.  Many of those first “wildlife protectors,” a term still used in statute, had worked in their counties for years.  They included World War I and II veterans.  They practiced community policing before the term was coined.  Although many only had a basic education, over the course of their careers they became layman biologists with a keen understanding of the natural world.  Two of the early chiefs, G.A. Jones, Jr. and W.C. Bumgarner were attorneys (Bumgarner was also a combat pilot in WW II).  The officers were (and are) a smart crew.

WINC 1949

Second, wildlife officers have adjusted their tactics as violations, and violators, have evolved.  But, the fact is that as King Solomon put it, “There is nothing new under the sun.”  Many of our current "innovations" have come and gone – sometimes multiple times.  K-9 units were utilized off and on from the beginning.  Using an aircraft to cover more ground makes as much sense now as it did in the 1940s. 

K-9s Nip and Tuck 1949 

Finally, the officers’ service orientation has always be strong.  We have sometimes grumbled about giving programs and working events such as the state fair.  I’ve been guilty of saying, “We don’t have time to do law enforcement work anymore."  But those early officers were working fishing events, staffing the booth at the state fair and even doing an “Operation Wheelchair” for “thirty war-weary and wounded GIs” - an early iteration of the popular, current Wounded Warriors program.

WINC 1952

State Fair 1951

So, has anything changed?  Technology continues to advance and the pace of that advance is quickening.  Radios continue to get smaller.  Our cameras have moved from black and white film, to color, to digital and now even our phones take photos.  The overall communication process is virtually immediate (along with an expectation of an immediate response) with email, text messaging and cellphones.  To make an on duty phone call, we used to have to ride all over the county to use a payphone and I’m not sure those even exist anymore. 

Just a few years ago one of our officers was grumbling about the recent addition of computers to the patrol vehicles.  He fell back on the, “I just want to be a game warden” line.  Then someone showed him Google Earth.  He only had to roll it around in his mind for a moment before being struck by the realization that he could use that computer to make him more efficient (and help him catch somebody). 

His epiphany occurred at that point where technology, service, innovation and intelligence intersected.  Wildlife officers operate at their best where these points converge. While the advancing technology, and the innovation and intelligence of officers has caused some supervisors to lose sleep since 1947, the officers' service orientation lets the supervisors roll over and doze back off.