How To Stop a Time Bomb

   I wanted to talk with you all today about something that's been rolling in my head for a little while. There's been alot of anger and emotion floating around as of late and it seems to be getting worse. I see alot more cop bashing than what I used to see. I also see alot more cops losing it. Things seem to be building towards something ominous if we don't get a handle in it. We all seem to be losing a little perspective and with emotions at an all time high something is bound to explode.
   First of all I want to talk about anger. Anger is a natural emotion and anyone that says otherwise is delusional, there is nothing wrong with being angry about something. It's very common to want to hurt someone badly. We all have those thoughts no matter if we admit them or not. We all have that tipping point in my experience it seems to be usually caused in some form or other by a lack of respect or perceived lack of respect but that's another article. Sometimes it can get pretty deep and you'll shock yourself but I promise you that you aren't the only one who has had those thoughts its just in our society we seem to be so repressed about everything and deny everything that doesn't conform to some social protocol.
   Years ago I was struggling and decided to get a roommate so I'd could have cheap rent. Seemed like a pretty good idea at the time and the guy seemed easy to get along with so I didn't see a problem. Well after this dude moved in and I got to know this person better...there was a problem. He was one of these wannabe "hustlas" that thought he could bullshit his way out of anything and rip people off. He was incredibly immature and irresponsible for his age. My main beef is that the bills didn't get paid on time but he always had money to party and buy video games. There was always a bullshit excuse that was obviously crap and I was insulted that someone thought I'd believe it. I'd always paid my stuff on time I wasn't going to let this jerk mess up my credit simply because he was an idiot. Over time I found myself getting angrier and angrier and I was always an even tempered person. Even when I worked in the strip clubs bouncing and had to toss a guy I wasn't angry when I did it. It was just another fun part of the job. But I was pissed. I was tired of the excuses. At the same time I was starting a business and beating this guy senseless and putting him in ICU was a charge I didn't need especially if I was going to be training police I had to hold myself to a higher standard. I would sit around sometimes and just think about where and how I was going to take him out. I even picked out a spot in the hall where his body would fall. I thought often about would I just break a finger or his entire arm. For a short time I even thought about after he was beaten so bad he couldn't move I'd cut off part of his tongue so I'd never have to hear him talk again. Even thought about taking pictures of his bruised and battered body and posting it on facebook so others could see him being humiliated.
   Sounds pretty messed up doesn't it? It is but you've probably thought something similar. In the end I realized how crazy that was because this was a worthless insignificant person and I had a future. I always say, "Don't let someone who has nothing to lose take away everything you have to gain." What I decided to do was tell a mutual friend my plan to break his legs knowing he'd go blab it. I told several people actually. They told the guy and scared the hell outta him and he started paying everything on time until I broke the lease and had him kicked out on his ass. Sure it was manipulation but he deserved it and I didn't break a law.
   The point is everyone gets pissed and thinks messed up stuff but there's a big difference between thinking about it and actually doing it. When your a police officer dealing with the public the first trick is you can't personalize anything. You represent a department and you wear a badge you are not the badge. People are going to provoke you all the time and they'll probably be ignorant when they do it. Screaming about a constitution they've never read. Yelling about how they pay your salary. How they know their rights when it's obvious they don't. There's a special place in hell for the ones that do know there rights but don't think anyone else has them. You see some disgusting things that bother you and they should. If you go to a domestic violence call and see a woman beat half to death by some jerk that doesn't care and you aren't upset about it then you need to take a vacation or find another line of work. At the same time you have to have control of your emotions because in the end it isn't about you. When you've lost your humanity you've lost something far more than a job. Being an officer is a hard job very few will ever understand. We see the worst the world has to offer everyday. It's hard to shake it when you clock out which is why police have a very high divorce and suicide rate. Sometimes it's like your a time bomb just waiting to explode. Some people just don't get it. I was on a police site awhile back and was watching a video about an incident in Oakland where it appeared an officer shot a cameraman with a beanbag for the hell of it. Now from my understanding since then there may have been some editing done on that video similar to what was done in the UC Davis incident where protestors attempted to kidnap police and threaten them then edited a video to make it look like  police where pepper spraying "peaceful" protestors for no reason. However you couldn't tell that from the Oakland video at the time. Some of the officers posting on the thread about it didn't sound much different than the protestors that were bashing them. They were saying things like," Those protestors are scumbags they deserve whatever they get kill them all." An friend of mine that retired from the FBI always used to tell me, " Be careful in your pursuit of the monsters lest you become one." These officers posting on that board were well on their way you could tell it was beyond thinking about it. If you allow those dorks to provoke you into becoming just like them then they win. Remember you have to uphold a higher standard. But we all get angry and that isn't as easy as it sounds is it?
   Remember you can't personalize or politicize things. When someone provokes you they aren't provoking you they are trying to provoke an ideal or displace responsibility for something that they've done maybe they are just really ignorant and immature. Do you really want to let a childish idiot beat you? Take your job and damage your department's credibility? That doesn't just hurt you it hurts all good cops because at that moment you are the face of police everywhere and how you behave affects them as well.
   Being a cop may be who you are but it isn't all that you are it isn't the sum of every part of you. You need to find unrelated things to do to keep perspective. If your on all the time it'll drive you nuts. I've already mentioned divorce and suicide rates. If the occupational stress becomes a problem get help don't let it mess up your family as well. Remember when a bomb goes off that bomb is also destroyed and a big enough bomb not only destroys it's target but everything around it. I encourage you to find other things to focus on. Personally I write short stories as well as music. There are times when I'm calling departments  to try to get a course set up and it's like they are delusional or just don't give a damn about officer safety. Usually after about 3 calls I have to take a break and I pick up the guitar by the bed and play a few songs until I feel better then go back at it. Remember these things I've said and remember your not the only one going through them. Continue to be a solution to the problems don't become a part of them

Instructor Fun vs Your Development

    You know I was sitting around with a friend today and we were talking about instructors and how they teach and such. I'd had something on my mind for a few days that had been bugging me and he was a good enough guy to dig it out. There had been a recent incident with another friend at a dojo that he attended and it had been bothering me. I'm sure this has been around a long time but lately I've realized it more and more and I wanted to talk about it in this blog.
    There are too many instructors out there today that care more about having fun for themselves than  actually helping their own students develop. most don't realize they are doing it and they aren't bad people...just unaware. Now my friend likes to go to this dojo and train and they spar all the time. Now before I move on I want to explain something. If you do a sport martial art then sparring is very important. You need to spar and get those reps in the last thing you want is ring rust. However studies in this field shows that if your in it for self defense that too much sparring can be a detriment and harm your development. For example let's say your a Tae Kwon Do guy. If all you do is constantly spar TKD guys then all you have really learned is how to defend yourself against other TKD guys because most likely you won't be attacked that way. The consensus is that scenario based training is much better for self defense regardless of the art. Let's say your a knife guy and you spar the same guy all the time. You pretty much know what he'll do before he does it and at that point it loses relevance. Now the instructor over this dojo knows all this and has been shown the data and knows what he's doing is counter productive but he does it anyway. Now sparring isn't the only example of this issue it's just the first one that came to mind when I sat down. To spar or not or how much is not the point of this article. The point is this guy is supposed to be teaching Jujitsu not kickboxing. So why does he make his students spar so much. Easy.. because he likes to spar and just wants to do it. He punched one of his students on the ear and caused the guy to have to go and have it drained. So I taught the guy how to use a shell better and upturned elbows so he went back and when the instructor tried that crap again he got his hands hurt and couldn't hit the guy he couldn't get past his guard. Guess what he did? Yep he banned his students from using the shell during sparring so he could hit them. This my friends is a shitty instructor.
     This is an example of how some guys like to teach but what they teach isn't always to your benefit and even when they know it they don't care. When it gets down to it they care more about their enjoyment of teaching than they do your learning so you need to beware of these people. When your an instructor it isn't about you. It's about helping and educating others for their benefit not your own. Everyone wants to be a black belt and be an instructor because they think it's prestigious and all that crap. Well...it is if you do it right and have the right attitude. Too many today open dojos just so they'll have training partners it's ridiculous. When your a teacher it's about giving and helping others. Your enjoyment should come from helping your students and see them grow and benefit it isn't about you anymore. If your one of these instructors that's all about your ego and your prestige and seeing your name in magazines please stop teaching because you are probably not doing anyone any good. If you put your students first ironically you'll still end up with all that stuff anyway but you got it the right way. Get over yourself and help someone and be somebody.

Cops: Good or Bad? Can Meditation Tip the Scales

Interesting perceptive from someone who treats officers.

Lisa Wimberger

Considering that Occupy Wall Street has put our nation’s law enforcement ethics on center stage, it seems more relevant now than ever, to address this topic. I am not an officer, but because I consult for many agencies as a stress-management practitioner, I do have the benefit of a unique perspective to offer you.

I am not interested in consensus on whether cops are good or bad.

Admittedly, it’s a loaded question. Those in the profession will defend its honor, and those on the civilian side of its sometimes-misguided force, might say that cops are bad.

I’m interested in giving you an insider’s glimpse into some of the insidious nuances of the profession so that you, too, will never again look at this topic as having a black-and-white answer.

Here is a very basic distillation of some of the most recent statistics in the profession.

• Cops have the highest rate of divorce, alcohol abuse, substance abuse and clinical depression out of any profession.

• One in three cops suffers Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which is more than the statistics for the military.

• The life spans of cops are, on average, 10 years shorter than in any other profession.

• A cop’s risk of depression and suicide increases drastically after retirement.

• Four times more cops die from suicide than in the line of duty.

• According to the Badge of Life organization, cops have the next highest rate of suicide after the Marines. With an estimated 450 officer suicides a year, even if that number were reduced by half, that would still mean twice as many officers die from suicide than from felons.

Why is this?

My experience over the last five years of working with law-enforcement agencies has revealed to me a very ailing and desperate industry. Cops see, experience and hear about more traumas on a daily basis than most individuals. Potential and perpetual exposure to theft, domestic abuse, substance abuse, rape, incest, drug trafficking, human trafficking, crimes against children, homicide, serial killing, and mental neglect and disease permeates each and every workday.

As this becomes the norm, a cop is primed to function at a high state of alert at all times.

This mental state is the prime function of the limbic brain. When the limbic brain is active it floods our bodies with adrenaline and cortisol. If an individual doesn’t have an opportunity to discharge these hormones, or have ample time to regulate them (which can take up to 18 hours of rest and sleep), they begin to create a very disturbing physiological and neurological response.

Physiologically, these hormones increase an individual’s predisposition to cardiac arrest, type II diabetes, immune dysfunction, inflammation, cognitive impairment, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, depression and even suicide.

The human body was never meant to sustain excessive daily levels of these hormones. Chronic exposure to these factors neurologically increases the thickness of the cortex in the limbic brain, making the fight-or-flight response stronger and more apt to engage, even erroneously. This also shrinks the prefrontal cortex, reducing one’s ability to feel empathy, see the big picture, creatively problem solve, see things from a different perspective, be creative, have insights and/or experience joy.

With most of our law-enforcement agencies’ money going towards tactical trainings, there’s little time and resources left to address the debilitating stress cycles inherent in the industry.

Most agencies have an Employee Assistance Program, where a psychologist offers confidential treatments. However, I’ve trained over 600 officers – very few of whom have been willing to even talk to a psychologist. Typically, this is viewed as a weakness and job risk to admit vulnerability and the need for help. Many cops would rather not talk about it at all, than risk being labeled as weak. So, this service often goes unused, even as suicide rates increase.

We have an industry that breeds a masculine façade who then has to deal with the civilian expectation that they should perform above and beyond any ethical reproach. Within 10 years on the force, a typical cop can go from being an idealistic person who believes they can make a positive change in the world, to a cynical, jaded, depressed and broken individual who’s encouraged to hide their emotions, bury their fears, and slowly recede into a shell.

PTSD is a debilitating disease if untreated. Individuals under the best care often struggle with this disease. Cops perceive they don’t have the luxury to seek treatment.

So many of our nation’s law-enforcement agents are walking time-bombs, which are made worse by the constant pressure to meet our highest expectations.

Mindfulness and meditation has the potential to change all of that. The meditation techniques I teach to law-enforcement agencies seem to be a way around this dilemma. They give officers preventative techniques to help mitigate some of their debilitating cycles. Cops who devote regular and consistent time to practicing the techniques are able to identify patterns attributed to their limbic brain, and renegotiate their responses. The result of overriding the limbic brain is nothing short of miraculous.

Black-and-white thinking opens up to new possibilities as the prefrontal cortex becomes active. States of happiness and joy become accessible. Individuals begin to think outside of the box to find new solutions or approaches to life. As the prefrontal cortex strengthens, individuals develop the ability to override biases and prejudices, which are typically hardwired in to the limbic system. Empathy takes center stage once the limbic brain is quieted. What could the industry culture be like if all agencies offered these types of preventative well-being services to their officers? Would we see a type of officer emerge?

I have seen cops break down in tears as they’ve told me that nothing is what they hoped it would be. I have heard personal tales of drunken cops with loaded guns, waiting with their fingers on the trigger for their spouse to get home. I have witnessed high levels of trauma turn good-hearted men and women into callous and confused masochists. I have watched cops alienate themselves from their families, friends and society as they slip into downward spirals of depression. In those moments, the very question of whether they’re good or bad seems preposterous.

What would I be like if that were my reality? What would you be like if that were your reality?

There are some that sail through their careers unscathed, content, fulfilled and heroic. I know some of them and they are a rare breed. But for the most part, they are individuals lost in a thick mire of our society’s darkest forces.

My stomach turns when I hear about:

• Stories of excessive police abuse against innocent people…

• Stories of civilians wrongfully treated…

• Tales of the deviants a cop must deal with when investigating child homicides…

• Stories of graphic suicides…

• Stories of teenagers wrongfully killed…

And because of this, I no longer can separate cop from civilian, or “us” from “them.”

Albert Einstein said that it was our sacred human responsibility to help where we can. I think he meant that for all of us.

As I continue my life’s work to teach neuro-sculpting and meditation to those in need, I cannot draw a line in the sand and stand on one side of it. I often find myself walking a tightrope between worlds that outwardly seem conflicting. I am committed to looking at individuals as mirrors, regardless of their ideologies, political beliefs, economic status or religious affiliation. When I take this view, then I can’t answer the question of whether cops are good or bad. I can only notice individuals in pain who need help.

How different would our lives be if we could truly put ourselves in one another’s shoes?

I leave you with my mantra: We are the storytellers and this life is our story.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Lisa Wimberger holds a Masters Degree in Education from the University of Stonybrook, NY. She is a certified MBTI consultant and a private healing and psychic practitioner, teaching clients who suffer from stress disorders. Lisa studied Ascension training for four years with Ishaya monks. She completed two and a half years of psychic awareness training at ICI, applying the tools of the Berkeley Psychic Institute. She spent a year and a half in post-graduate studies and is certified in the Foundations of Neuro Leadership. Feel free to tell her your story and visit her website to learn more about how these techniques are targeted to First Responders.

Lisa is the Founder of the Trance Personnel Consulting Group. Lisa has created and facilitated leadership trainings for executive teams in Fortune 500 companies, the Colorado State Department and worked individually with international management. She has created and facilitated Emotional Survival programs for Colorado Law Enforcement Agencies and peer counsel groups. Over the last two years, 500 police officers have attended her workshops. Lisa writes for CopsAlive and partners with the Law Enforcement Survival Institute. Additionally, Lisa’s services are sought on a national level by individuals in law enforcement looking to find a new way to navigate through their stress patterns. Lisa is a member of the National Center for Crisis Management and ILEETA (International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association

Good vs Bad Liars

Earlier this year the nation was transfixed by the trial of Casey Anthony, a young woman accused of murdering her two-year-old daughter Caylee. During the course of the investigation Casey was interviewed on several occasions and she told many confirmed lies. The recorded interviews showed an apparently distraught but credible woman who revealed no specific cues of deception while fabricating explanations to account for her missing daughter. She explained away incriminating circumstantial evidence and blatantly lied to specific questions concerning her daughter’s disappearance with ease and confidence.

Casey was described by experts as being “comfortable” lying. While her detached affect, inappropriate attitudes and uncorroborated explanations accounting for Caylee’s disappearance certainly raised suspicions, she exhibited minimal nonverbal or paralinguistic symptoms of anxiety, fear, guilt or decreased confidence normally observed when a person tells a significant lie. In detection of deception jargon, Casey would be described as a “good” liar.

The average person is not a good liar. Typically when someone tells an important lie they will reveal symptoms such as averting eye contact or altering their posture. They may engage in grooming gestures like dusting imaginary lint from their clothing or fidgeting with an article of jewelry. A person guilty of wrong-doing usually displays particular attitudes like being unconcerned (“This is not important to me), unhelpful (“I have no idea what happened and have no information to help you”), unrealistic (“I don’t think that fire was intentionally started”) or guarded: (Q: “Tell me everything you did last Friday night.” R: “Nothing at all.”). The bad liar may qualify his response (“to the best of my knowledge”) or delay his response when answering a direct question.

To understand why some individuals are able to fabricate convincing stories and tell lies seemingly at will without revealing any observable symptoms of fear, guilt or decreased confidence it is first necessary to understand what causes the various “behavior symptoms” normally associated with lying. It is important to realize that these behavior symptoms are not caused by lying.

Actors who read scripted lies such as, “I’m a doctor, you must not move him!” do not display any behavior symptoms of deception. To the contrary, on the big screen they look absolutely credible. Even a lay person, relying on common sense and instincts, is able to make many false statements without revealing any signs of deception, e.g., “Johnny, you really played well today.” (Johnny played awful;) “Honey, that dress makes you look so young.” (The wife still does not look “so young”;) “I did not steal that money.” (The student, participating in a laboratory study, was instructed to lie when asked if he stole any money from the professor’s desk.)

The observable behaviors associated with lying result from the liar experiencing some internal emotional or cognitive state caused by the lie. These fall into three categories:

• Fear from having to face the consequences they are trying to avoid by telling the lie;
• Guilt or shame experienced from violating social mores or disappointing others, and
• Affected cognitive processes such as having “mental blocks” or inconsistent recollections, offering irrational explanations for evidence, etc.

In short, a “good liar” does not experience these internal changes when they lie (or does so in a diminished capacity). Listed below are common factors that may decrease behavior symptoms of deception when a person lies:

1. The suspect’s level of social responsibility. Suspects with low levels of social responsibility may not exhibit typical symptoms of deception when they lie. Individuals who fall within this category include drug, alcohol or gambling addicts, suspects who are homeless or individuals who are largely dependent on social services, parents or others to provide food, shelter, health care and basic survival. The absence of social commitment or responsibility to others causes these individuals to essentially live in their own world where they act impulsively and only for their own needs.

Individuals with low social responsibility tend to live in the immediate “here and now”; they have learned that it is not necessary to plan for the future because their future will be taken care of (or they simply don’t care about their future). This explains why such individuals sometimes get caught telling lies that are easily proven to be untrue. As an example, a suspect while under the influence of cocaine, threw his children off a balcony of his apartment resulting in their death. Upon initial questioning the suspect told the police that he had no children. After the investigator pointed to a photograph depicting the suspect with his children, the suspect confessed. Blatant, obvious lies of this nature are typical of suspects with diminished social responsibility and yet, when the lie is being told, specific symptoms of deception may be absent.

2. The suspect’s intelligence. Individuals with a lower IQ (below 65) often do not appreciate potential consequences of committing a crime, e.g., what life is like in prison; how a false allegation affects the accused, etc. As a result, when they lie, their fear of detection is decreased. Very simply, they are not highly motivated to avoid detection, and therefore, may not display symptoms of deception when they lie. For the same reason, they do not develop typical attitudes associated with deceptive suspects, e.g., being unhelpful, unconcerned or unrealistic.

3. Immaturity. This factor includes both youthful suspects (under the age of 9) and older suspects with an arrested social development. These individuals have little awareness or concern of serious consequences of wrong-doing and intellectually operate only in the here and now. In their minds they believe that the worst thing that could happen to them is having some restriction placed on their life (being sent to their room, being placed on probation) or other minor inconvenience (a verbal reprimand, paying a fine) when in truth, they could be facing life in prison. As a result, these suspects often lie impulsively and they may not display specific behavior symptoms of deception. Fortunately, with a little investigation, these lies are frequently detected through contradictory evidence.

4. Success at lying. A suspect who has experienced prior success at telling a lie may experience greater confidence and less fear of detection when repeating the same lie. After a lie is initially told and has been accepted as the truth, the liar not only has greater confidence of being able to get away with the lie a second time, but also has had practice at presenting the lie in a convincing manner. With each re-telling of the lie, the liar experiences greater confidence in their ability to fool others.1

6. Interview environment and format. It is not an uncommon occurrence for a person to address an audience, at a media press release for example, and tell blatant lies without exhibiting any symptoms of deception. There are two reasons for this. First, the liar is in total control of their statements. Under this circumstance the liar can carefully craft statements that are comfortable and can be delivered in a convincing manner. It is a one-way communication which the liar totally controls – they experience no fear of having statements challenged, expanded upon or otherwise scrutinized – in other words, the liar feels comfortable, confident and in control.

Second, psychologically lying to a group of reporters or millions of viewers on camera generates much less fear of detection than having to lie to a single person, sitting four or five feet in front of the subject, in a private environment. In this private environment the liar recognizes that the investigator is actively assessing his credibility, has control of the content of the interview through the questions being asked and, most importantly, has the ability to ask follow-up questions. Each of these factors increases the liar’s fear of detection.

7. Mental illness. There is a wide spectrum of diagnoses involving mental illness ranging from personality disorders through anxiety and affect disorders and finally disorders that cause loss of touch with reality such as bi-polar or schizophrenia. Within personality disorders, the histrionic and anti-social personalities tend not to experience significant guilt or fear when they lie and, therefore, may come across as good liars. The intermediate anxiety and affect disorders are much more likely to cause false positive errors (not believing a truthful person). Finally, suspects who have delusions or experience hallucinations will not exhibit meaningful behavior symptoms because their mind has created a new reality, and they have accepted what they are saying as the truth.

In summary, behavior symptom analysis involves making inferences about another person’s credibility and will never be a perfect science. Because of this, opinions of truth or deception should never be based solely upon a person’s behavior. Behavior symptoms should be considered along with evidence and other investigative findings. Finally, training in behavior symptom analysis should include not only information regarding truthful or deceptive behavior symptoms but also emphasize the factors that may lead to a mis-diagnosis of a person’s credibility – both false positive and false negative errors. This tip has focused on factors that may cause a liar to appear as credible. While some of these factors can be controlled by the investigator, e.g., interviewing a person in a private environment using a structured interview format, many of them are intrinsic within the suspect. Suffice it to say that before rendering any opinion of another person’s credibility it is important to evaluate factors that may affect the validity of that assessment and, whenever possible, attempt to verify a suspect’s verbal statements through standard investigative procedures.

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Credit and Permission Statement: This Investigator Tip was developed by John E. Reid and Associates Inc. Permission is hereby granted to those who wish to share or copy the article. For additional 'tips' visit www.reid.com; select 'Educational Information' and 'Investigator Tip'. Inquiries regarding Investigator Tips should be directed to Janet Finnerty johnreid@htc.net. For more information regarding Reid seminars and training products, contact John E. Reid and Associates, Inc. at 800-255-5747 or www.reid.com.

Sound Situational Awareness Plays A Vital Role In Law Enforcement

BY KEVIN CALDER, PRESIDENT, K CALDER & ASSOCIATES

Reprinted from the Virginia Center for Policing Innovation

IN TODAY’S COMPLICATED WORLD, it is critical that public-safety professionals recognize that a wide range of factors impact how they handle both mundane and critical situations in the field. Recognition of the risk of violence and situational awareness allow officers to choose appropriate strategies that enhance their safety, as well as that of co-workers, protectees, and the public. Usually in law enforcement when we hear the term “situational awareness” we often think of the concept within a tactical application or context. However, having sound situational awareness is vital in every law-enforcement role. Situational awareness is the ongoing recognition of internal and external factors and influences that form the foundation of an officer’s decision making. It is a comprehensive thought process that ultimately leads to effective decisions resulting in minimized risk and liability.

As a Deputy Sheriff, I was regularly challenged to articulate and in some cases defend my tactical and operational decisions. As a young officer, I would focus on the external information available to me: individuals involved, factors related to the scene and environment, and my goals and objectives. As my operational experience grew, I realized that my decisions were increasingly influenced by personal and organizational influences. By practicing situational awareness I believe officers can enhance safety, make more defensible decisions, and in the long run reduce personal and organizational liability. Take the following scenario, for example.

One cold blustery morning in December, my partner and I were dispatched at 4:00 a.m. to a maximum-security institution to transport a prisoner to court. The normally one-hour drive from our local courthouse, took over three hours due to a heavy snowstorm that dropped over 9 inches of snow. Many roads were impassable but our supervisor was adamant that we make our way there. The potential for violence was always high when picking up prisoners from this prison but the potential was escalated on this day as the prisoner was refusing to leave his cell and attend court. A cell extraction team had to be called to bring the prisoner to us in the admissions and discharge area.

As we waited, I mentally ran through the variety of scenarios that might play out. A combination of situational awareness and training would form the basis for my subsequent decision making. My situational awareness was not limited to tactical issues or just to the prisoner and task at hand. On that snowy morning, I ran through the four facets of an officer’s situational awareness: informational, environmental, personal, and organizational.

Informational factors available to me included the name of the prisoner, his history of violence, physical description, and reason for not wanting to attend court. In this case, he claimed he was concerned with being transported in the snowstorm. He had a history of institutional violence, and was very muscular and fit.

Environmental factors included working in a controlled environment with additional back up, a small area in which to conduct the required prisoner search, the physical layout of the admissions and discharge area, and the lack of proximity to other prisoners.

Personal factors that I considered included my previous experience dealing with violent prisoners, my concern that I may be injured during an altercation, my personal expectations related to managing the situation effectively, and my fatigue from the three-hour drive through the snowstorm.

Organizational factors included the expectations of the department to meet my operational objective of maintaining safe and secure custody of the prisoner and transporting him to court, the effectiveness of current procedures for dealing with violent prisoners, the level of support from my peers as well as the correctional staff with whom I had not previously worked, and the chance of a formal complaint from the prisoner along with the accompanying stress related to such an investigation.

Thirty minutes after we arrived, the prisoner was brought down in restraints to the admissions and discharge area. He had been extracted forcibly from his cell and was extremely angry and non-compliant with our instructions. In hope of avoiding violence, we articulated the legal requirements for attending court and followed with a cooling-off period. We were able to achieve our goal of searching, securing, and transporting the prisoner to court without incident. This is just one example demonstrating the “background noise” that public-safety professionals encounter on a daily basis. Situational awareness provides a platform to recognize and adapt an approach to not only what law enforcement “sees” but also what other factors are playing out in the background, allowing for informed decision making with minimal risk and liability, leading to a positive outcome. Have you encountered a scenario where improved situational awareness would have changed the outcome?

In your role as an officer, supervisor or command staff, do you see a benefit to situational awareness training? Please contact VCPI’s Training Manager, Sheila Gunderman at sgunderman@vcpionline.org to schedule Rapid Kevin Calder is one of North America’s most knowledgeable and well-respected workplace violence prevention and threat management specialists. His practical approach to violence prevention, conflict resolution and threat assessment is founded on 20 years of comprehensive experience in law enforcement, security management, and performance-based training.

Kevin was a founding member of the British Columbia Sheriff Services Integrated Threat Assessment Unit. In his position as lead threat analyst, he was responsible for assessing violence risk and developing violence prevention strategies to mitigate threats posed from a variety of sources. He also played a key role in the development of the Threat Management Centre of Excellence at the Justice Institute of British Columbia.

Kevin holds an Associate Certificate in Leadership and Conflict Resolution from the Justice Institute of British Columbia and is Board Certified in security management from ASIS. He has trained law enforcement, public and private sector managers and investigators, safety and security professionals, victim service workers and others involved in violence risk reduction. Kevin currently serves as President of the North West chapter of the Association of Threat Assessment Professionals.