Post by David Vaughn on Sept 1, 2015 8:29:13 GMT -5
Face it, August 2015 was not a favorable time to be in law enforcement...or was it?
Granted, losing so many LEO's in a weeks time is hard to take. But what can we take away from these tragedies? What have YOU gained from each of these incidents and apply those learned principles in your daily work ethic? How vigilant are you to your surroundings? Have you made the time available to study each of the incidents in which a fellow LEO was lost or maimed?
The next time you are around your co-workers or working a scene away from school, take a moment and look at where your co-workers eyes are focused. What has their attention? During moments of calm, where is your focus?
For me, I've studied my co-workers in several different agencies. During times of calm, most of their eyes are on the sidewalk as they walk along. Or along a trail in a forest setting.
Our eyes should be on a swivel. We should be looking more outward in an ever moving 360 degree arc, seeing what potential threats are waiting for us. It may be nothing more than a skateboard on a sidewalk, or low hanging limb, loose shale on the side of a hill. Or it may be a more focused threat upon us.
Where are your eyes?
Being an SRO is hard. Being an SRO for any length of time will fragment your situational awareness...possibly to the point of complacency.
I would like the members of this board to not glance over this thread, but to become actively involved in our discussion on what we can do to prevent harm to ourselves, by becoming more vigilant in our surroundings. By helping not only newbies, but complacent LEO's in each of our agencies. We know who they are. I once chewed out a former police chief who was rushing into the inner perimeter of an active shooter, as he was not wearing his body armor. I would not allow him any further, as he didn't have any radio communication either. He thanked me later in private.
No-one understands the demands of an SRO other than another SRO. As such, we should stand up and help one another to be better equipped when it is "our" turn during a critical incident. As one who has been there several times, it will come without warning, even more quickly if we are not in tune with our surroundings and/or building events which leads to tragedy.
I guess my "aha moment" came while working patrol during dayshift. Nothing ever happens on dayshift, right? I mean, face it, all the good stuff happens between 1800-0200 hrs. Yes, I was a bedeviled heat seaker...
Walking up with other LEO's to a 9-1-1 callers home, who called about wanting to hurt himself. How many of these calls have we each responded to? And the caller usually agrees to seek professional help at the end of that 2-hour call for service. (Can we say boring?!) Yup, just another day in uniform.
Approaching the house next door, we all hear the unmistakable sound of a single shot ringing out. Where were my eyes at the time? Looking at something down the street which held nothing of importance instead of where my thoughts should have been.
Yeah, hearing that gun shot on a routine, boring dayshift definitely re-focused my situational awareness.
And it continues through to this day.
Regarding the latest incident in Harris County, Texas, with the Deputy being assassinated while fueling his patrol vehicle, brought my thoughts to how I fuel my patrol vehicle, day or night. My head is always on a swivel. My body is constantly moving in all directions and not looking at the pump or nozzle.
No disrespect to the slain Deputy, please understand that.
But know that is what I took away from this latest incident. Being hyper-vigilant when fueling my patrol vehicle. Being vigilant to my surroundings at all times. By looking into the faces and eyes of everyone I meet on the street, sidewalk, inside a structure. It may be intimidating, but know that I am fairly confident of my surroundings at all times.
That is what I took away from Harris County, Texas.
It is now your turn. What have you taken away from this latest round of LEO losses? Pick one of the recent ones, or one from the past. Again, don't glance over this topic, as it just may save your life one day.
What have you taken away and currently using in your daily work ethic?
- David
Granted, losing so many LEO's in a weeks time is hard to take. But what can we take away from these tragedies? What have YOU gained from each of these incidents and apply those learned principles in your daily work ethic? How vigilant are you to your surroundings? Have you made the time available to study each of the incidents in which a fellow LEO was lost or maimed?
The next time you are around your co-workers or working a scene away from school, take a moment and look at where your co-workers eyes are focused. What has their attention? During moments of calm, where is your focus?
For me, I've studied my co-workers in several different agencies. During times of calm, most of their eyes are on the sidewalk as they walk along. Or along a trail in a forest setting.
Our eyes should be on a swivel. We should be looking more outward in an ever moving 360 degree arc, seeing what potential threats are waiting for us. It may be nothing more than a skateboard on a sidewalk, or low hanging limb, loose shale on the side of a hill. Or it may be a more focused threat upon us.
Where are your eyes?
Being an SRO is hard. Being an SRO for any length of time will fragment your situational awareness...possibly to the point of complacency.
I would like the members of this board to not glance over this thread, but to become actively involved in our discussion on what we can do to prevent harm to ourselves, by becoming more vigilant in our surroundings. By helping not only newbies, but complacent LEO's in each of our agencies. We know who they are. I once chewed out a former police chief who was rushing into the inner perimeter of an active shooter, as he was not wearing his body armor. I would not allow him any further, as he didn't have any radio communication either. He thanked me later in private.
No-one understands the demands of an SRO other than another SRO. As such, we should stand up and help one another to be better equipped when it is "our" turn during a critical incident. As one who has been there several times, it will come without warning, even more quickly if we are not in tune with our surroundings and/or building events which leads to tragedy.
I guess my "aha moment" came while working patrol during dayshift. Nothing ever happens on dayshift, right? I mean, face it, all the good stuff happens between 1800-0200 hrs. Yes, I was a bedeviled heat seaker...
Walking up with other LEO's to a 9-1-1 callers home, who called about wanting to hurt himself. How many of these calls have we each responded to? And the caller usually agrees to seek professional help at the end of that 2-hour call for service. (Can we say boring?!) Yup, just another day in uniform.
Approaching the house next door, we all hear the unmistakable sound of a single shot ringing out. Where were my eyes at the time? Looking at something down the street which held nothing of importance instead of where my thoughts should have been.
Yeah, hearing that gun shot on a routine, boring dayshift definitely re-focused my situational awareness.
And it continues through to this day.
Regarding the latest incident in Harris County, Texas, with the Deputy being assassinated while fueling his patrol vehicle, brought my thoughts to how I fuel my patrol vehicle, day or night. My head is always on a swivel. My body is constantly moving in all directions and not looking at the pump or nozzle.
No disrespect to the slain Deputy, please understand that.
But know that is what I took away from this latest incident. Being hyper-vigilant when fueling my patrol vehicle. Being vigilant to my surroundings at all times. By looking into the faces and eyes of everyone I meet on the street, sidewalk, inside a structure. It may be intimidating, but know that I am fairly confident of my surroundings at all times.
That is what I took away from Harris County, Texas.
It is now your turn. What have you taken away from this latest round of LEO losses? Pick one of the recent ones, or one from the past. Again, don't glance over this topic, as it just may save your life one day.
What have you taken away and currently using in your daily work ethic?
- David