Ask a police officer what rule number one is.
Maybe you’ll get the answer I’m fishing for—this isn’t a literal universal rule in such a way that I can guarantee it—but certainly if you ask around, it won’t take you long to hear someone saying that rule number one is make it home at the end of your shift.
This isn’t intended to be a literal override of the priority of life—we will always put innocents ahead of ourselves. But it is a recognition of the dangers we may face in an eight or ten or twelve hour deployment. It’s a recognition that when it comes down to it, all other considerations take a back seat to making it out alive. (Walk in our circles and you’re likely to hear someone say, “I’d rather be judged by twelve than carried by six.”)
I agree with some of the basic principle—that when you’re worried about making it out of something alive, concerns of looking good, adhering strictly to policy, and keeping your job can’t let you let up on doing whatever it takes. Make it home. But I propose we demote this to rule number two.
Rule number one is be a good person.
On February 10, 2016, two Hartford County (Maryland) sheriff’s deputies were killed responding to a suspicious person call at a Panera. A “sketchy and disheveled” man was sitting alone, having not ordered any food. The first deputy sat down next to the suspect and asked him how he was doing. The suspect pulled a gun and shot the deputy in the head.
Shortly after this occurred, I was at a physical tactics/use of force training where this was discussed. To the trainer, this was an example of poor officer safety. He railed against the decision by that deputy to sit down next to a suspicious person, compromising his mobility and reactionary distance. The message was clear: Don’t let compassion override your officer safety.
Even at the time, my thought was this: With some effort, we could compile a list of officers who were killed because they compromised their safety to show compassion for someone. But what we have no way of knowing is how many officers weren’t killed, precisely because they made that same decision.
What if we change the details of this situation? What if the man had a gun, and was teetering on the edge, ready to kill anyone who confronted him… and he was brought down by a police officer, not standing over him and questioning him, but sitting down and showing concern for his wellbeing? Perhaps this man leaves the restaurant of his own accord, and the officer never knows how close he or she was to being shot. We can’t measure that.
I have observed that police officers, especially in the absence of available statistics, are incredibly reliant on anecdote. You can’t blame us: we are perhaps more driven than any other profession to constantly improve, because we know every day we do better is a day we’re more likely to make it home. We obsessively try to learn from every encounter and especially every mistake. So it should be no surprise that my trainer, and probably trainers all over the country, are insisting that we never sit down next to a suspicious person.
I’m not saying sit down, and I’m not saying don’t. Every situation is different. You have to follow your own boundaries, your own read on the situation, your own instinct. Maybe you never sit down next to the guy. I doubt if anyone always does.
My broader point is, there comes a point where who we are matters more than how long we live. That point is not contained in one situation of deciding whether or not to sit down, or whether or not to yell aggressively, or whether or not to act first and go hands on with someone who is a potential threat. There is no all or nothing. There’s no way we can put this in a rulebook to tell officers when to do what.
And let me be clear: This isn’t news. It’s the trainer’s job to turn the dial to 100% officer safety, but no cop is 100%. We all work to find the balance. We all understand that there are things that are more important than making it home. I’m just trying to make it explicit, because this is what I want to pass on to those who come after me.
Be a good person.
Make it home.