To my fellow police officers.
The Uvalde massacre was a dark day in American history. The events that unfolded showed the world what can happen when you put people in positions of power who are ill-equipped, ill-prepared, and lack the intestinal fortitude to do the job.
The mindset of the officers involved was one of complete and utter failure. They lacked the training and experience to deal with the situation, and they certainly lacked the leadership skills to get the job done. As a result, innocent people died, and families were left shattered. This tragic event should serve as a wake-up call to law enforcement agencies across the country. It’s time to start investing in training and leadership development so that we can avoid such disasters in the future.
We are now seeing police officers getting fired due to their inaction during that incident. Finally, the real issues are coming to light, and the people have a right to know and must demand from their politicians to have highly trained police officers. Now, I’m not painting my fellow officers with a broad brush. But we all must acknowledge the issues within our profession.
Kyle Lamb, a former Delta Force operator and owner of Viking Tactics, told me of a time when he was training a police department. He looked at a sign in the police training room that read, “Get home safe.” Kyle told the officers that it was the wrong mindset, and here is why. The officer’s responsibility is to the community first, and that means doing whatever it takes to keep the citizens safe, even if it means putting their own lives at risk. Second, the officer’s responsibility is to their brothers and sisters in blue. They need to be able to rely on each other and know that they will do whatever it takes to back each other up. Third, the officer’s responsibility is to themselves. They need to be mentally and physically prepared for whatever they may encounter while on duty. If they have the right mindset, they will be better prepared to protect themselves and those around them. By changing the sign to read “Mission First,” Kyle was trying to change the officers’ mindset from one of self-preservation to one of selfless service.
In my opinion, the “Get Home Safe” mentality is self-preservation and does not support the importance of the mission. The Army taught me to put the mission first, the team second, and myself last. I believe this same philosophy should be applied to police work. The victim should be the priority, followed by the officer, and lastly, the suspect or bad guy. By putting the victim first, we are more likely to achieve the mission and get everyone home safe. Law Enforcement officers are taught and trained that way, but it doesn’t really transfer over to real situations. Mostly because officers do not train that way unless they are on a specialized unit. On the patrol level, though, it is forgotten by most.
Kyle asked me once, “How do you train that mindset?” I responded that you can’t really train it. It needs to come from the individual. It lays dormant in their genes and is up to each individual to unlock that warrior spirit from within.
On the patrol level, it turns into writing tickets, responding to calls, dealing with the brass, dealing with thankless citizens, and the typical Karens and Chads of the world. It quickly gets lost as time goes on because it is never reinforced. Patrol officers become fat, lazy, lose their sense of purpose, seek out overtime to live a lifestyle that is not sustainable, and lack training. Most patrol officers forget why they are there, why they took that oath, why they put on that vest, shield, and holster that gun. Complacency sets in, and that’s when those officers put themselves and everyone else in danger.
