Ready, Set, Go - the Attack Cascade

When does a waterfall start? If you wait to furiously paddle your kayak when the water goes from horizontal to vertical you will be swept away. Just like a waterfall starts upstream, an attack or escape begins cascading long before the fist or feet fly.

No batter waits for a pitcher to make a throw before taking a swing. They make their decision based on practiced observations of pitcher behavior ( http://www.policeone.com/health-fitness/articles/4942626-What-we-do-isn-t-a-game/) . Cops should be trained to act based on behavioral cues of attack or flight, rather than to react to an attack at its peak. Critics would call this response preemptive, but the reality is that, just like the batter's swing based on the pitcher's windup, the fight has begun before the first blow is struck. We'll rely on science to justify our actions in the courts.

With the offender who senses a threat (Crap! I'm going to jail!) his primitive brain alerts the body and starts the adrenaline for fight or flight. Depending on the magnitude of the threat, according to that individual's perceptions,  the primitive brain can override the thinking process and take over the body. (I don't know why I ran, officer. I just did!)  If the threat is not overwhelming, the primitive brain gives the thinking brain a little time to mull things over. If the thinking brain has time to put the brakes on the primitive brain, it may decide that compliance is in the body's best interest and the offender follows your instructions. Or the thinking process may be to develop an escape plan. Can you know the difference?

Deadly Delay
Many police officers, as seen on videos, wait far too long interpreting attack signals before engaging an offender. Subtle and not-so subtle manifestations of this mental process show up in the body seconds before gross body movements of fight or flight present. I call this process the cascade sequence. Just like we don't want to start paddling until we're over the brink, we don't want to start dealing with non-compliance until the offender strikes. 

Our fear of tackling a nervous, but complaint, offender creates an intervention delay that can result in more suspect and officer injury. We're trying to make the decision about whether this person is just nervous because of the police contact and all of its consequences, or if the body is just waiting for the best time to fight or escape. 

Is Cascading Different for Compliant and Non-Compliant Offenders?
An absolute necessity for early intervention is your ability to articulate your observations of predictive behavior of attack or escape. You'll notice I have not used the phrase "pre-attack indicators" because the cascade of brain activity is already engaging in attack behavior, so it's not "pre" anything. I suggest that trainers start referring to the "cascade of indicators" and save the phrase "pre-attack indicators" to refer to environmental circumstances such as the existence of an arrest warrant or the presence of other persons as an audience for the offender. 

In general, compliant nervousness will manifest in the offender's body position being square with the officer and concentrated on his own existing space rather than angled or gradual positioning for fight or flight. Nervous jitters will center in the hands and voice of a compliant subject. Compliant subjects may talk more, since speech requires brain cells that are not available to the person contemplating for fight or flight. Physical preparation of the non-compliant is going to the shoulders, elbows, feet, hips, and knees for fight or flight. The compliant person is bracing for submission and will have nervous hands and fingers rather than the large muscle groups. The submissive will more likely maintain eye contact with you; the non-compliant will be scanning for targets, confederates, or escape routes.

Where Scenario Training Falls Short
Arrest control scenario training is currently centered on responding to the gross motor movements of an attack in progress ("defensive" tactics). We aren't likely to authentically reproduce genuine, subtle, fear based fight or flight behavior in role players because those are autonomic and impossible to mimic. For now, your best training in early intervention in the cascade sequence is your own experience put to use. And, of course, reading my new book The Badge and The Brain!

I’ll Be More Professional If You’ll Tell Me What it Means
JFShults


You probably have a policy that requires that you act professionally at all times. Looking at the dictionary definition of “profession” we see that it is an occupation requiring rigorous training and formal qualification. Some say it’s simply a contrast to an amateur. None of that helps the officer who is being told to “be more professional”.

So what does it mean for an officer to act professionally?

A professional holds knowledge that is not known by the general public. They are stewards of that knowledge in humility. They don’t disparage others for not knowing what they know. Professionals don’t shake their heads that the secrets of the law and human behavior are still a mystery to the public we serve. They calmly help educate and explain to the lay person things beyond the average person’s grasp.

A profession engenders trust. Our fellow citizens will necessarily judge us by the way we look, walk, speak, and conduct ourselves.  It isn’t always fair that they do so, but that’s the way humans work. Their ideal template of a professional peace officer is one who is fit, stands tall regardless of their stature, and gives them due attention.

Being a professional sometimes creates distance from others. Blood pressure goes up in the doctor’s office, people stumble over their words talking to a professor of English, and some try to show how much they know by telling about their experience or using our jargon. A professional puts others at ease, and does not compete for the title of who is the smartest person in the room.

A professional engenders confidence that everything is under control. Of all the skills they possess, the skill of appearing to know what’s going on is paramount. Not fearless, but courageous; not pondering, but thoughtful; not cocky, but confident.  Others look to the police officer in times of chaos and we must not fail them in those moments.  A professional is always a leader, even at the lowest rank in the organization.

A professional is a person that others aspire to be. They are a model of what one can accomplish with dedication, hard work, and mental fortitude. They are not perfect, but make perfection a goal in their craft, their conduct, and their relationships. For some, being a role model is thrust upon them. For others, it is happenstance. For the police officer, it is an occupational imperative.

A professional does excellent work all the time. We don’t want a physician taking shortcuts, a pharmacist doing guesswork, or a lawyer hoping nobody notices what she left out the contract. A professional meets the standards every time, exceeds the standards frequently, and takes pride in her work.

A professional knows the demands of their occupation well enough to know their own weaknesses and strengths. They know when to seek help and when to help others. They are self-aware and, though driven, do not ignore their need for balance in their lives in order to be at their best.

A professional knows that very few others know what it feels like to do the kind of work they do. They know that critics are many. They know that mistakes can cost in lives and lawsuits. Professionals are typically rewarded well by the satisfaction of their high calling, their respect in the community, and excellent compensation. In the law officer’s case it may be only one of those and seldom all of them.

A professional never stops learning. He or she is open to new methods and new knowledge. They learn from their colleagues and share information. They take self-improvement as a discipline and don’t rely on being coerced to attend training, even if it is a review of the most basic skills.

Only one person can look directly in a mirror and meet their own eyes. The professional may see fatigue and frustration in those eyes, but takes comfort in knowing that the people who depended on him that day saw a true professional at work.

Hardwired for Faith

Hardwired for Faith
JFShults

Many police trainers point to faith as essential to police work. That pronouncement usually comes with some statement that it doesn't matter what you believe in, just believe in something.

The majority of cops will nod in agreement, but it doesn't make everyone happy. People who are confident in their own religious faith often find that kind of statement disheartening because their faith teaches them that there is Truth that transcends the general concept of "faith in something, no matter what". Those who have no belief in a benevolent supernatural power, whether that be an outright hostility to the thought, a benign indifference, or an active disbelief, are troubled at the accusation that they are less of a cop. As it turns out, there are some atheists in foxholes.

From my perspective as an evangelical Christian, I see efficacy in any of the following perspectives on faith: faith in one's self, faith in an ideal potential, faith expressed in iconography, faith in a religious system, and faith in a personal God. I contend that everyone in law enforcement does, indeed, rely on one or more of these.

For the purpose of this article, I base my argument on science, not theology. Research on the mind-body connection (as if they were ever disconnected in the first place) yields some interesting findings. One is that perception affects behavior. Expectations are self-fulfilling, not because of some karmic influence, but because it engages brain chemistry as well as behavior templates that are already established from life experience.

Thinking about a previous success improves job interviews. Standing tall increases perceptions of authority attributed to you by others. Clenching a pencil in the mouth, thus forcing the "smile" muscles to work, actually creates changes reflected in optimistic behavior of research subjects.

Other recent research shows actual changes in the brain - not merely ephemeral thoughts - under the influence of meditation. And we all know the calming effect of combat breathing that results in both physiology and emotion. We also accept that positive self-talk affects our behavior.

Sociological studies show marked benefits in health, success, and longevity among those with a religious practice and supportive faith groups. Similar benefits accrue from any positive group affiliation.

My non-religious colleagues find that a locus of control centered on their own competence, drive, and purpose is quite powerful and sufficient to sustain them in their profession. Those who have a religion other than one based on Judeo-Christian tradition gain strength from their practices as well. Even mere superstitions can sustain us for a time. That is not incompatible with the beliefs of my evangelical Christian colleagues who would agree with me that God offers common grace to all, blesses the efforts of the peace officer for the common good, and has divinely designed a magnificent brain to operate within human free will. God, as we understand Him, does not deny His benefits beyond the fold.

Whether what you believe brings you ultimate, transcendent peace or fits you for heaven is quite another discussion (one I'd be happy to have with you). As to the question of whether faith in SOMETHING is essential, the science of the matter says we're wired for it. And that is something we can all believe.

Very excited! My first juvenile fiction book is now available at https://www.createspace.com/4316692 !  Soon available on Kindle!

Sorry I haven' t posted for a while. Catch my past Police One articles at http://www.policeone.com/columnists/Joel-Shults/ 

Cop Hate

Cop Hate
JFShults

I am a middle aged, white, heterosexual, protestant, middle class, non-disabled male American. For me to speak authoritatively on discrimination will irk some who have lived in the overt and covert darkness of prejudice. I can't walk a mile in your shoes. I am part of a hated minority, however.

This minority is subject to unprovoked violence and yet prosecutions are frequently denied when they are victims of violent crime. Not infrequently they get prosecuted for merely defending themselves. While most people hold their tongues when criticizing groups in front of a member of that group, the same is not true of my tribe. Criticism, in fact, is often the first things that confronts us in conversation. With all the political correctness that has put a lid on slang, pejorative, and hurtful words, some of our finest citizens have no reservation about saying they hate us, that we're corrupt, lazy, pompous, and stupid.

Is blue so easy to hate? Here are a few reasons:

Power envy. Critics will immediately challenge the thought that an armed government agent can claim that they are labeled or treated unfairly. It is true that we hold position power, but a look at our subculture can show  a lot of areas where we as individual police officers have a very confined position legally, culturally, and organizationally. Any power that we possess is that which we mediate and administer on behalf of others. But we Americans are jealous of the power and inequity symbolized by the badge and gun.

Media coverage. This is not a media bashing statement. They can only report from the sources they find. When events happen, even those that seem normal and neutral in our world, we are often not allowed to narrate or explain the event. There's no Jesse Jackson stepping in to speak for the police. We all know that raw video and angry relatives and activists without a police perspective is bad news for the cops.

Dedicated hate groups. The internet trumpets hate for the police with a constant discordant presence. A search for the word police plus corrupt, abuse, brutality, etc will bring up not just random rants, but organized hate movements and lots of attorney advertisements.

These three thoughts are just the beginning of the cop hate issue. Without being antagonistic or divisive, our safety on the street and our survival in the courtroom is severely compromised by this prejudice. What can we do?

Encourage advocacy. There are civic and faith groups that are supportive of law enforcement. Optimist International has had a respect for law effort since 1965. One church in my area has a photo display of every law officer in the area (with their permission) for their members to remember in prayer. We should seek out opportunities to speak on the subject of anti-police sentiment in order to confront some common misunderstandings. These presentations should be fact and ethics based, rather than the "I deserve respect because I'm out there with my life on the line everyday" . Other people have tough jobs, they don't want to hear how rough it is in yours. Make sure your prosecutor is tough on anti-police crime, too.

Preload information to the public. Citizens are fascinated with police work. If you give them information they can use, they'll pay attention and absorb it. Efforts like the Hollywood V. Reality video (http://www.forcescience.org/hollywoodvsreality.html) can be very helpful. Getting the idea out that the offender chooses how police act is a theme that bears repeated emphasis. As the Department of Justice says so flippantly "citizens bear some of the responsibility for the nature of relations with the police".The idea that police shoot people unnecessarily is unfounded (http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/law-enforcement-bulletin/june-2012/restraint-in-the-use-of-deadly-force).

Seek and multiply advocacy venues. My organization, the National Center for Police Advocacy (http://policeofficersvoice.com/), is available to be an objective voice for editorials, media interviews, and case studies where official silence is required. I hope that other organizations will be created to do the same thing and more. Telling your success stories on Twitter and other social media can help balance negative stories and stale statistics. Focus on what I call "Positive Policing" - tell your stories and light up your community with more than warnings and crime prevention tips.

Police hate is not just a public relations problem, it's a survival problem.

A Day in the Life

The shift seemed to go really fast. The tension was palpable, and it was as though every mood and movement were set to music. There would be two dead bodies and one armed robbery before my shift was over.




I stepped under the crime scene tape to kneel at the lumpy white sheet, pulled it back and tilted my head to look at the gaping wounds on the dead man's face. Crime scene techs swarmed over the liquor store, carrying their sidearms gracefully as they balanced their fingerprint kits, light sources, and cameras flashing photo after photo. My partner, a rookie dete ctive, waited anxiously for my pronouncements.



The case seemed familiar. I think I knew who did it - but it was an old nemesis who should still be behind bars. "I don't think this is where he fell when he died. The body's been moved. See this entry wound? Looks like a nine mil but the gun here beside him is a .45". I pulled out my pen and slid it down the barrel to pick it up, then dropped it into an evidence bag presented to me by a technician stooping to help.



I stood up relying on my memory rather than wasting time taking notes and walked to a large warehouse in the back of the store. Two burly guys were pushing merchandise around and making notes on a clipboard. I interviewed them for a few minutes as they meandered around, pausing only to deliver a deadpan response. I approached the first worker. "You work for the guy in there?" I asked as I followed him around the warehouse. He paused and met my eyes. "Not anymore," he said, gruffly. Then he continued about his tasks while I asked him about the murder.



My rookie partner's cell phone rang. He answered seriously and looked at me before he flipped the ancient phone shut. "Another one?" I asked, prophetically. "China town", he said ominously as I followed him to the shiny black Crown Vic by the line of uniformed police holding back the crowd. The dancing red waves of light were still flashing from the magnetic red light on the roof of the unmarked car . Reporters tried to get in our faces with cameras and microphones, but we sped off yelling "No comment" over our shoulders. My captain's voice blistered on the radio: "Franklin on tac 3". I picked up the mike and rolled my eyes at the rookie. "Go", I said, holding the button down the whole conversation. "That other scene you're headed to. It's Gloria". I sighed, said "10'4" and turned off the radio in frustration.



With only the sound of the siren filling the car, the rookie knew better than to ask me who Gloria was, but he deserved to know. "She's a hooker. My best snitch. We had a thing once - don't ask. She knew something was wrong - tried to call - I didn't get back with her". And now she was dead and somehow I felt responsible. We'd left one dead body behind, with no suspects, and the clock already had burned up 17 precious minutes.



We roared up to the scene. It was almost a carbon copy of the one we had left, and like a million alleys of a million hookers and strippers who'd been murdered on my watch. Crime scene tape, uniformed officers, hordes of reporters and curious onlookers - one of whom may be the killer. Silently and as if on cue, my partner and I removed our Glocks, racked the slide back to see if there was a bullet in there, re-holstered and got out of the car. Unsure of the danger ahead, we nodded at each other, held our pistols vertical and up close to our faces, then thrust them around each corner like a periscope until we got to Gloria's body.



To my surprise I sensed the slightest pulse of life, leaned over, and heard her final raspy whisper. I thought at first she said "I love you", but when my head cleared and I said it out loud I glanced at my rookie with a flash of revelation and said "By Bellview!" I laid the hand I was holding back down to her now lifeless body and hustled back to the car. "Give me the keys!", I ordered, and the rookie tossed them to me without hesitation as we jogged to the car, our trench coats flapping behind us.



Again the rookie's cell phone buzzed against his pocket. He answered, looked at me, nodded, said "Right. Thanks", hung up and announced to me that the fingerprints and DNA on the gun from the liquor store had matched to Big Tater, a perp that I had put in prison the first year I had my gold shield. He left the state prison two days ago on an early release.



At Bellview Apartments, I ran up three flights of stairs, gun drawn, rookie slobbering like a puppy on his first rabbit hunt, and we stood to either side of apartment 45 - the same number as the caliber of the gun found a the liquor store! - and I rocked my head back and forth three times to signal to the rookie that we were going in on three. Standing center of the door I made one swift kick with the sole of my loafer and the door crashed down. The occupant, an ugly gang member of some nameless ethnic minority, was startled but still tried to fight. I slammed him against the wall while reciting the Miranda warning from memory. I looked at the clock on the wall. We'd been on the case almost fifty minutes, not counting commercials. I had just enough time to sit in the captain's glass enclosed office and explain how I had managed to solve the crimes without taking notes, writing a report, or collecting any evidence.



It was easy. It always is when you're a television cop.

Survival Mindset

I know I’m going to get letters on this one. Nasty letters. Letters that say I don’t know what I’m talking about because I’m:




A.) an administrator

B.) not a big city cop

C.) just an academic out of touch with reality

D.) old

E.) not a true warrior

F.) etc, what-have-you, and so on



Misunderstood, Misapplied, and Misdirected

What I’m about to say may burst your bubble and make you so ticked off you can’t even finish the article through your angry eyes. I’m going to meddle with our collective and perhaps necessary cultural mythology. I’ll be branded a heretic to the religion of officer survival because I’m going to rail against cheap thinking that replaces reality in the minds of many of our police officers today. And I’ll even throw in a Bible verse to make the atheists and agnostics think I’m narrow minded and exclusive. All ready on the firing line?



The survival mindset is overrated.



Hold your fire. Maybe what I really mean is that survival mindset is misunderstood, misapplied, and misdirected.



Let’s do a little thinking about what sometimes passes for a survival mindset.



Are you overweight, out of shape, and full of junk food? Then you don’t have a survival mindset, you have a good luck charm. Your positive attitude isn’t going to push more oxygen through that extra few miles of blood vessels you’ve got weaving through your fat cells. If you had a genuine survival mindset you’d go for a walk every once in a while and stop popping buttons off your shirt.



Is your personal life a mess? Then you don’t have a survival mindset, you have paranoia and control issues. Your so-called will to survive is limited to not getting killed on any given day. A genuine survival mindset comes with a lot of reality checks and life balance.



“For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he,” says Proverbs 23:7.



How can you be a survivor in one area of your life and not all? Real confidence applies to every facet of your life, not just your swagger in uniform.



Are you as ready to sacrifice your life for a heroic cause as you are to survive combat? If not, then you have a strong sense of self-preservation, not a survival mindset. If you are quick to criticize officers who have died in the line of duty by spouting off that they just didn’t have a survival mindset that’s usually a sign that you’re whistling in the dark in denial about the realities of dynamic lethal encounters that you just can’t process. A deep survival mindset accepts death as a reality that does not deter what you have to do.



Do you approach your duties casually because you can handle anything that comes up? Overconfidence is not a survival mindset. It’s just cocky and stupid. Are you afraid of what other officers will think if you ask for a back-up? Do you rush in to prove you’re not afraid of anything? That’s posturing for your buddies, not solid police work.



Do you ignore advice of senior officers or cops from other agencies because you think you have the best, newest training? The survival mindset wastes no information. It seeks out small nuggets and puts together bits and pieces from every person, every trainer, every offender, and even people you don’t like. The officer who thinks they have arrived at their peak of knowledge and proficiency is not survival minded, but small minded. The true warrior is a humble learner.



Do you make light of death, tragedy, sorrow, and see emotion as a weakness? Then you’ve got a light-weight coping skill, not a tough survival mindset. Survival deals with reality and processes in a slow, mature way. Survival does mean suppressing your emotions appropriately — not ignoring them in yourself or others.



I recognize that I haven’t given a good definition of what a survival mindset is — just a few examples of what it isn’t. My goal is to start a discussion about whether we are really training today’s officers in that attitude, or merely brainwashing them to think that mindset trumps discipline and training.



It does not.



Bravado, posturing, boasting, pretending, and ignoring our fears are useful tools. Sometimes we do have to fake it until we make it. But as a lifestyle, they are poor substitutes for a survival mindset that will rise to any occasion, yields to learning, and balances the will to live with the will to live well, and with the courage to die.