Most of what you read in Law Officer deals with one of the three legs of the "Combat Triad" Training, Equipment, and Mindset. Training is interesting, as these articles suggest classes that we can choose to attend, and in some cases tactics or techniques we can try on our own. Equipment articles are always fun, as we sometimes think that if we just buy the right equipment, we will be able to overcome any outlaw, as well as becoming taller, better looking, and more attractive to the opposite sex. But I believe our mindset is the critical factor.
When I started my career, I carried a five-shot .38 snubby revolver and one pair of cuffs. No OC spray, baton, and absolutely no long gun of any description. Yet from day one, I decided I was going to survive. Almost three decades later, I turned in my high capacity pistol, four sets of cuffs, OC spray, expandable baton, shotgun, and .223 rifle. But in my box of stuff from my office was a plaque which had hung over my desk for most of those years. It has a quote from the 70s that defined my mindset, and now hangs on my "I love me" wall.
Did I say it was from the 70s? I mean the 1870s! No, the officer survival mindset was not developed after the Newhall Incident, where four California Highway Patrolmen gave their lives. The FBI Miami shootout, the Norco Bank robbery, and the LA bank robbery all are way points on the road to survival, and all had officers who had this mindset, but it did not start there. It may have started with the first caveman, detailed to protect the tribe while they slept, but the first writing I have found is credited to a writer and lawman from the 1870s.
John Clum was well known in Arizona in the late 1800s. He had started several newspapers, including the Tombstone Epitaph and the Tucson Citizen. He also served as the government's Indian Agent for several years, and during that period he had both white and Indian police officers serving for him. In two sentences, he defined the mindset a law officer, every law officer, needs. While not politically correct in these times, no officer can go wrong in applying this message today. Clum said:
"I do not think that an officer of the law should offer himself as a target for the bullets of every thug and bandit and desperado he may be called upon to apprehend, and wait until the criminal has missed him a couple of time or had mortally wounded him before he joins in the shooting.
Anyhow, I always cautioned my Police both red skin and pale face that, in any meeting with renegades, or desperate outlaws, if there was to be any shooting, they should be prepared to join in the fray with disconcerting alacrity and deadly effect, for the reason that society could much better afford to lose a score or two of rustlers and bandits, than sacrifice one efficient peace officer."
Our tools have changed in the last 130 years. Training? Most lawmen of the 1870s had no training; they were just sworn in, in some cases issued a badge, and told to arrest the outlaws. They brought their own transportation (horse) and equipment (handgun and rifle). They were expected to know right from wrong, how to ride and when and how shoot.
Over the years of my service, I never felt under-gunned, because I had trained with the state of the art equipment of the time. But underpinning it all I was of the mindset that if it was going to be him or me, it was going to be him! I intended to "join in the fray with disconcerting alacrity and deadly effect," because I did not deserve to die. So read the articles about training, and get some. And look over the shiny new equipment, and select that which will truly enhance your ability to employ your skills on the job. But above all, adopt the mindset that you deserve to retire, whole and hearty, after your service to the community. For "…society could much better afford to lose a score or two of rustlers and bandits, than sacrifice one efficient peace officer."
Seth Nadel served as a Senior Special Agent with U.S. Customs for 27 years, including 2 overseas training missions and 9 years at the Academy as an instructor. He has been a FLIR operator in specialized aircraft, performed horseback patrols, extended surveillances, and undercover operations. During his career he put about 1,000 felons into Federal Prison. He was stationed in Boston, San Diego, Tucson, and on the Tohono O'odham Indian reservation Southwest of Tucson the same tribe overseen by John Clum.
