Recently, while speaking with a fellow officer and martial artist, the conversation took an interesting course. We surmised that the main reason police officers so often win violent encounters is because they truly believe that's how it's meant to be. Everyone knows the good guy is supposed to win, right? It sounded like a reasonable explanation since we were both aware of several officers who consistently used poor tactics and never trained on their own yet somehow these officers prevailed, in some cases against seemingly overwhelming odds.
Was it the officers' will to win that helped them rise to the occasion and achieve victory despite their presumed lack of tactical knowledge and skill? It could be argued that since these officers naively assumed they would always win, they failed to adhere to basic officer safety protocol which subsequently lead to them being assaulted in the first place. Could the will to win have negative connotations?
We discussed how an officer's programmed will to win could actually breed complacency. I know what you're thinking, How can the will to win be a be a bad thing? After all, that mantra has been drilled into our heads since the first day of the academy. In fact, the will to win is the very cornerstone of officer survival!
What's wrong with the will to win?
Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting that the will to win is inherently evil. I'm simply asking you to consider the possibility of there being a downside to believing that we will win every encounter. Think about it, if we are absolutely confident that our mindset will enable us to achieve victory, what is the motivation to train in defensive tactics or shooting? Why work out? Why wait for cover to arrive or broadcast the location of our traffic stop to dispatch. Our will to win will keep us going home at the end of each shift, right? Over confidence is one of the ten deadly errors we are taught.
Complacency - The deadliest word in law enforcement
Complacency kills is a commonly used phrase in law enforcement. It's often uttered as a reminder that we should not be overconfident in our own ability nor should we take anything for granted.
The fact that we have responded to dozens of bogus 9-1-1 calls received from the payphone at the local high school is no guarantee that the next call won't be in response to an active shooter situation reminiscent of the one that occurred at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado on April 20, 1999.
According to L.E.O.K.A. (Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted), the average age of officers feloniously killed in 2007 was 37 years. The slain officers' average length of service was 10 years. These statistics may be surprising to some but they are consistent with years past.
Statistically, it's not the rookie fresh out of the academy who is killed. The rookie is too scared to cut corners or underestimate anyone. The academy scenarios are fresh in the rookie's mind and he recognizes that he is not yet skilled enough to take any aspect of police work for granted. Essentially, the rookie's hyper vigilance helps keep him out of trouble.
Another factor worth considering is that the rookie is likely younger and in much better physical condition than older, more experienced officers, who might not have engaged in any type of physical training since the academy. Of course, physical prowess is beneficial in a fight, be it with fists or guns. In addition, a well conditioned physique will better withstand the type of trauma associated with gunshot wounds, stabbings, etc. As such, the rookie is better suited to survive after sustaining a life threatening injury.
"It's not the will to win, but the will to prepare to win that makes the difference."
-Bear Bryant
The few non-cop friends I have are amazed to discover how little training officers receive in defensive tactics and shooting. What they find even more perplexing is that despite the fact that a police officer could engage in a life and death confrontation at a moment's notice, many are not motivated to regularly train on their own dime. Granted, these non-cop friends aren't working graveyard shift Thursday through Sunday or attending court when they should be catching up on sleep. However, when you get right down to it, you can either make excuses for not training or you can simply train.
Many instructors more knowledgeable and skilled than I, have pointed out the fact that if you knew you would be involved in a life or death confrontation on a specific date, you would invariably find time to train. In fact, everything else in your life would take a back seat to training. Things that seemed so important before would be all but forgotten. The most important thing in the world would be preparing for the inevitable encounter because if you did not win, everything else would be irrelevant.
Unfortunately, since we don't know when or even if we will be involved in a critical incident, it's easy to rationalize not training. We never consider the possibility that we may be put to the ultimate test before our next training session. You know, the session where we were really going to fine tune our defensive tactics and firearms skills.
Conclusion
Hopefully this overly simplistic, somewhat tongue in cheek rant has in some small way helped reaffirm the notion that there is more to staying safe than the will to win. The will to win is an integral component of officer survival but it is only one cog in the wheel. Don't bastardize the will to win mentality to rationalize not training! The will to win should be the impetus for continued training and improved officer safety.
Always have a Plan B and never give up.
Richard Nance
Richard Nance is a veteran police officer and former SWAT team leader. He is the co-owner of WARTAC, a company that provides training in firearms, tactics, and personal defense. Nance cohosts Handguns & Defensive Weapons, a new television series on the Sportsman Channel.
