Editor's note: Through the end of the year, we will be posting a series of articles that focus on common-sense officer safety. Use them for briefing and squad meetings, and send them to everyone you know who wears a badge.
There are just shy of 20,000 names of fallen officers on the walls of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial. What are you doing to prevent you and your fellow officers from being added to that sacred wall?
As I look back on my 26 years with the Miami-Dade Police Department, I realize that the beginning of my career was a bit of a baptism of fire. I lost four friends in my first five years on the job. Several others throughout my career were lost in the line of duty, including Roger Castillo and Amanda Haworth, both shot and killed serving an arrest warrant.
Those losses inspired me to work with the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial to increase awareness of the sacrifices within law enforcement through two powerful and moving documentaries entitled Heroes Behind The Badge. I’m very proud to say that four people have said that their lives were saved as a result of watching the first film. (The second is being released December 15.)
As a producer of those films, I spent the last two years traveling the country, meeting and interviewing spouses, children, co-workers and partners of officers who lost their lives in the line of duty. Re-living their worst nightmare on film, and having to ask the difficult questions is heart-wrenching and something that I hope everyone learns from.
Challenge Yourself!
What do you do to prepare for your shift and the unforeseen, or unexpected? Do you take the indifferent approach that “things like that don’t happen around here” or assume that it will happen to someone else? Do you prepare for the possibility of different lethal encounters? Do you train—really train—and do you utilize every tactical advantage?
It is imperative that you wear your vest, have a back-up weapon, never become complacent and guard against tombstone courage!
What about your driving? Arrive alive! If you wreck your car (or worse), what assistance are you to your fellow officers?
When I was with the MDPD, I ran a unit called the Tactical Narcotics Team; we made 6,000–8,000 arrests each year. Our team was nicknamed the “jump out boys” by the dopers because we would sweep in on raids and warrants, bailing out of our cars. During my tenure we never suffered a loss or serious injury. (I can’t say that for the bad guys.) Tactics, training and safety equipment were absolutes. Everyone in that unit wore their vests, everyone was proficient in their officer safety skills and everyone wore their seatbelts.
Some officers rationalize that seatbelts might slow them down or cause them to be trapped in their car. For officers on the Tactical Narcotics Team, training and muscle memory made this a non-issue. It was fast-paced and dangerous but no one got hung up in their seatbelt, forgot to release it or couldn’t draw their weapon. We made thousands of arrests in countless operations—all while using our safety gear (including seatbelts). It is my strongly held belief that anyone who argues against using a seatbelt or who goes without armor is just mule-headed, or outright full of bull!
If you don’t heed the warnings and practice your officer safety skills for your own good, do it for your family or to set an example for others. It’s just incredible how many people are impacted by a line-of-duty death or critical injury. Those who are close or connected to the officer are never the same.
Will we be able to finally bring the number of annual LODDs below 100 in a single year? December has historically been the most deadly month of the year for law enforcement. Don’t be a statistic. Maintain vigilance, combat complacency and fight off laziness! Don’t contribute to others becoming lackadaisical—be a leader, not a follower, and remind everyone to be safe out there!
Below 100—The time is now!
