- Supply The Why: Difficult Conversations Season 4 Episode 3 Policing, Leadership and the Future
- Project Sapient Podcast E13: Leader or Boss?
- Embedding Our Values: Never a Better Time Than Now
- Difficult Conversations by Supply The Why Season 3 Episode 3 Warriors, Guardians or Are They One and The Same?
- Wellness for Warriors - Two amazing human beings who have been through so much, and go above and Beyond
- When One of us is Murdered: The Darkness A Project Sapient Podcast
- Project Sapient Podcast: Sheepdogs. HybridWolves. Crybabies | A Predator Hunting Predators
- "Supply The Why" Great Podcast Episode on Police Reform, Use of Force, Training and Development Discussed by a Great Panel
- Police Leadership: On Humility and the Dangers of Hubris
- Be You: Humility, Strength of Character and Swallowing Our Ego and Being Authentic Is Crucial To Sound Leadership
- Been Away From My Blog For a While...Time to Get Back At It!
- Supply The Why Doing Great Work Be Sure to Check Out This Episode
- Introduction to Scenario Learning: Guest Post Series with Michael Barr
- Auftragstaktik in One Simple Diagram by Chet Richards
- "Leaders Are Teachers": Great Insights on Leadership and Developing Your People from The Mentorship Forum
- Great Review Over at the The Mentorship Forum of My Favorite Resource on Developing Adaptability "Raising The Bar"
- Rethinking the Traditional Teacher-Student Relationship in Conflicts
- Command and Control During a Disaster: Podcast
- The Evolving Warfighter Sits Down with Don Vandergriff and Talks Mission Command
- Developing and Preparing Cops for the Adaptive Challenges of The Street: Instructors Roundtable Podcast Episode
- Unreflective Speed of Action...Do You Think Its Time Policing Reflects on the Tactical Influence of Time?
- Break It Down Show Podcast: Don Vandergriff - Mission Command, Trusting Your People, To Win
- I See You...Back Up! On The Call to Win in Crisis and in the Aftermath to Win in Life
- Technological Negation of Human Sexual Dimorphism: A Guest Post by Franklin C. Annis, EdD
- Guest Post Home Security Guide from Bank Rate
- Commonwealth Police Legacy Program of Instruction: Sound Decision Making for Cops
- Outstanding In Your Face and Much Needed Book Policing and It's Leaders Can Learn From
- THE TRUTH BEHIND RACIAL DISPARITIES IN FATAL POLICE SHOOTINGS: Great Research Every Cop and Every Citizen Should Read.
- Thought on Discipline: A Great Podcast Series from All Marine Radio, Every Police Leader Should Listen To
- Gary Klein – Cognitive Psychologist, Studies Decision Making in Crisis on The Break It Down Show..Outstanding Episode
- Tactical Decision Making Facilitation Guide Maj McBreen: The Lessons Transfer to Police Instruction as Well
- 4th Generation Warfare Interview and Yes There Are Lessons for Policing
- Keys to Training Excellence: Evidence Based Research Policing Can Use
- Adopting Mission Command: Developing Leaders for a Superior Command Culture by Don Vandergriff
- Lead Yourself First: Inspiring Leadership Through Solitude: Book Review
- PODCAST: Tactical Decision Games with Bruce Gudmundsson and Don Vandergriff
- Podcast: Human Factors and Officer-Involved Shootings
- Donald Robertson - Stoicism and Thinking Like a Roman Emperor
- Dr John Sullivan and MAJ John Spencer - The Complexity of Modern Urban War
- Great Podcast: The Courageous Police Leader – Combating Cowards, Chaos, and Lies
- Recommended Reading: Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World
- Another Approach to Tactics Guest Post by Bert DuVernay
- LYNCH & KENNEY: react to clips of LtGen Van Riper’s “On Discipline” interview on All Marine Radio
- Outstanding Interview: ON DISCIPLINE: LtGen Paul K. Van Riper, USMC (ret)
- The Learning Insurgency: It’s an Evolution, not a Revolution By Donald E. Vandergriff
- On Policing a Free Society Episode 3: Toxic Bosses
- On Policing a Free Society Episode 2: Repairing Dysfunction in Police Organizations
- On Policing a Free Society Podcast: Episode 1 Dysfunctional Organizations and Their Impact On Response
- On Policing a Free Society with Fred Leland A New Podcast Coming in 2019
- Making Police Training Stick...and Learning How to Learn
- A New Conception of War: John Boyd The U.S. Marines and Maneuver Warfare
- Utilizing The Case Method: Some articles by Bruce Gudmundsson to Help Shed Some Light on How Too
- Use of Force Policy: Dispelling the Myths by Lexipol
- How to Make a Small Unit Decision Forcing Cases by Bruce Gudmundsson
- Facilitating Learning a Hybrid Of Methods to Effective Police Officer Development
- Why The OODA Loop Is Forever By Dan Grazier
- 15 Tips to Remember when Promoting a Growth Mindset in the Classroom: A Guest Post from USA Test Prep
- New Edition of Boyd’s Discourse on Winning and Losing by Grant Hammond
- My Book Review: On Tactics by B. A. Friedman
- Of Garbage Cans and Paradox: Reflexively Reviewing Design, Mission Command, and the Gray Zone:
- On Tactics: An Interview with B.A. Friedman
- Podcast Part 2 from Professional Military Education: John Boyd, Maneuver Warfare, and Marine Corps Doctrinal Publication-1
- Podcast from Professional Military Education: John Boyd, Maneuver Warfare, and Marine Corps Doctrinal Publication-1
- Walk,Sacrafice, Work ...Always Hungry Never Satified! What it Takes to Fight Complacency
- The Ten Deadly Errors, Plus...Failure to Learn, Failure to Anticipate and Failure to Adapt
- Turning Tragedy into Victory...We Must Start APPLYING LESSONS LEARNED
- Police Responses Demands Constant and Repeated Action...Throughout the Tactical Encounter
- All Police Actions Take Place in an Atmosphere of Uncertainty
- Adapt or Die: The Call for Police Reform...Is It Reasonable or Necessary?
- Force Science Assesses Proposed “Necessary” Deadly Force Standard
- Special Tactics Online Course Intro
- LESC is Honored to be Part of Special Tactics New Online Training Academy and Full-Featured, Professional Networking Site
- Leading Discussions and Facilitating Better Training Outcomes
- Police Leaders Mentoring and Coaching Their People: the Cornerstone to Top Performance in Crises
- Research: Adaptive Skill as the Conditio Sine Qua Non of Expertise
- Developing Adaptive Expertise: A Synthesis of Literature and Implications for Training
- How the Germans Defined Auftragstaktik: What Mission Command is - AND - is Not by Don Vandergriff
- Avioding Hostilities is the Goal But Sometimes to Gain The Advantage Reasonable Force Must Be Used
- Navigating Chaos: How to Find Certainty in Uncertain Situations
- The Protector Ethic: Morality, Virtue, and Ethics in the Martial Way
- Police Ethos:The Warrior and Guardian Mindset Are They Not One In the Same?
- Neighborhood Watch is Homeland Security at the Most Local Level
- Developing Police Sergeants: Getting the Outcomes and Measures of Effectiveness Right
- Col John Boyd's Patterns of Conflict Expanded to Policing Part 3: Disrupting an Adversary Using Soft and Hard Tactics
- Col John Boyd's Patterns of Conflict Expanded to Policing Part 2: Don't Just Be a Reactor..Be a Shaper Too!
- Col John Boyd's Patterns of Conflict Expanded to Policing Part 1
- Smart Tactics Takes Thinking Police Leaders...Leading Thinking Cops
- Wrestling With Delayed and Immediate Entry, Solo and Team Tactics...Are We Really Expecting All to Go as Rehersed?
- Guardian Joe: How Less Force Helps The Warrior
- Making It Safer: A Study of Law Enforement Fatalities Between 2010-2016
- Professional Reading and Development: It Doesn’t Give All the Answers, But It Lights What Is Often a Uncertain Path Ahead
- What Are The Force Multipliers That Allow Police Organizations to Operate at Rapid OODA Loop Tempos?
- Why Frontline Employees Should Make All Decisions:Lessons Police Can Learn From The Corporate Rebels
- What was Boyd Thinking and...What Can Policing Learn From It?
- Proper Mindset, Situational Awareness, Skill Proficiency and Physical Fitness: Force Multipliers of Great Value to Police
- Recognizing The Signs and Signals That Lead To Violent Acts At Our Schools and Making Collaborative Efforts to Prevent Them
- Adaptive Leader Program: Developing Thinking Leaders Who Lead Thinking Officers
- What Are Mission-Type Orders and How Do They Influence a More Effective Crisis Response?
- Tactics Are They More High Diddle, Diddle Straight Up the Middle the Devil Be Damned or Maneuver and Boyd Cycling an Adversary?
- There Are No School Solutions, Formulas or Recipes to School Shootings, so How Can We Develop Better Courses of Action?
- Great Break It Down Show Focus on School Shootings
- Developing Critically Needed Leadership: A Podcast on Mission Command Building Trust and Cohesion
- Powerful Facilitation: Two Critical Approaches
- Powerful Facilitation: Three Critical Competencies
- STARTING AND GROWING A NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH
- Adaptive Action: Leveraging Uncertainty In Your Organization a Book Review
- The Case Method In Developing Police: "Cold Calling" Will Have to Be Unambiguous
- The Biggest Obstacle to Tactical Progress… and How to Beat It
- Pete’s Combat Wish List Pt 2: Mental Models, Mistakes, Reflection and Learning on the Fly
- Pete’s Wish List for Combat Warriors. Perhaps Some Lessons for Poliicng as Well?
- What Affect Does the Human Dimension and Human Bias Have on Policing?
- What virtues are the most essential for a warrior to live by in order to prepare for, protect against and prevent violence?
- Exploring Criminal Justice Careers Check Out the Community for Accredited Online Schools
- A Great Break It Down Show Podcast on Interview and Interrogation: A Candid Straight Up Discussion
- Experiential Learning a Big Part of The New Recruit Officer Course In Massachusetts: Looks Promising!
- Run Out and Buy: Anatomy of a Warrior: The 7 Virtues All Warriors Must Live by to Successfully Protect and Serve
- Devising Solutions to Complex Police Problems: How Can We Get Better?
- Podcast with the Break It Down Show A Candid Discussion on Policing a Free Society, Mission Command and More
- Understanding Problems Range in Complexity and Designing Police Operations
- When it comes to Police Training, When is Good Enough, Not Good Enough?
- On The Job Training and Deliberately Framing Experience
- Police Officer Discretion…and Focusing Our Efforts on Better Outcomes
- Strength of Character: The Foundation of Working Together and Getting Things Done
- A free chapter from our new book now available on Amazon
- A Major Problem We Must Confront as Police Trainers and Students: How To Improve Performance?
- MISSION COMMAND THE WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN AND WHY An Anthology
- Conflict and Crisis are Full of Friction: The Force That Makes the Apparently Easy so Difficult
- PODCAST: Don Vandergriff on Military Personnel Reform: The Ideas Discussed Can (SHOULD) be Adapted to Policing As Well!
- Fire Nobody! by Dave Smith
- Teaching United States Marine Instructors New Tricks: Developing Adaptability Through Experiential Learning
- The Why was born out of pain
- Inspiring People to Lifelong Learning & Impacting Their Ability to Make Sound Decisions
- We Can't Just Use the Same Mental Recipes Over and Over Again: In Police Training We Must Challenge The Prevailing Mindset
- Reflection Leads to Deeper Learning...Put Each Day Up For Review
- We Must Train and Educate Within an Uncertain Environment to Prepare to Adapt
- Defining Policing 's Training & Education Challenge...Some Ideas On Achieving High Levels of Professionalism
- Defensive Tactics for Today's Law Enforcement
- Uploading John Boyd: The Legend Delivering His Opus is Online...and is as Relevant as Ever
- Make Many Mistakes and Learn
- Is Your Purpose in Life Based on Self Awareness and Strength of Character or Are You Just Following the Crowd?
- An Officer’s Principal Weapon is His Mind: Professional Development In Policing
- Outstanding Manual: Law Enforcement Close Quarter Battle: Urban Tactics for Individuals, Teams and Tactical Units
- The Art of Police Training is the Ability to Move Officers Through the Fog and Complexity of Human Interaction
- Brian Willis Interviews Yours Truly on Teaching Adaptive Leadership
- The Police Leader's True Work: Train Them, Trust Them, Let Them Do Their Job
- Sir William Slim on His Leadership Motto: No Details, No Paper, And No Regrets
- The Grid: Is There Better Ways to Approach Police Interactions?
- Teaching Officers How to Think verses Telling Them What To Think
- Develop a Philosophy and Understanding of Crime Fighting and Problem Solving That Considers Complexities of Policing
- Unwarranted: Policing Without Permission Book Review
- Thinking Leaders, Leading Thinking People is the Adaptive Leaders Focus
- Take Policing From a Training Culture to a Learning Culture
- Are You Serving Those You Lead?
- Vehicle Stops Strategies and Tactics: Being Safe and Effective Is About Options, Not Best Practices
- Teaching Adaptability and Making Marines More Effective Trainers
- Break It Down Show Podcast: Better Understanding Policing and Why it Matters
- The Last 100 Yards Series: High Diddle, Diddle Straight Up the Middle or Maneuver: How Are Your Tactics, Officer?
- Police officers I beg you to please run out and buy this book! What a great tactical resource!
- Second Episode in This Podcast Series with Complete Emergency Managment: Leadership in Public Safety
- Podcast: I sit down with George Whitney of Complete EM and discuss: Active Shooters and After Actions
- Sir Robert Peels, Nine Key Principles of Policing: Fair and Impartial Policing Defined Back In 1829!
- Herman Goldstein, Fundamental Objectives of Policing: Are They Relevant Today? I Say Yes!
- Shaping and Adapting: Using the Environment (The Last Hundred Yards) To Unlock the Power of Colonel John Boyd’s OODA Loop
- Informative Fair and Impartial Podcast: Do the legal rules for using deadly force, still make sense?
- Crisis Intervention Teams & Police Interactions with People with Mental Illness: Evolving Tactics That Make a Difference
- How Does The Last Hundred Yards, Enhance Tactical Responses to Crises?
- Complacency and False Sense of Urgency: Why We Fail to Take Advantage of The Last Hundred Yards?
- The Last Hundred Yards: Operate On Blind Luck or Win Consistently?
- My Good Friend Coach Kevin Kearns talks with 5th & 6th graders about Vision
- Keeping The Peace in a Free Society Let Us Not Forget Why We Do What We Do
- How Do We Better Assess and Grade Decision Making and Adaptability in Those We Train?
- Types of Cases
- Report: Deadly Calls And Fatal Encounters
- Developing Individuals with the Ability to Work Together Solving Real World Problems
- Five-Year Study of Police Officer Deaths: RoboCops or Guardians?
- The role of humility in the Socratic method by Bruce Ivar Gudmundsson
- Keeping the Peace
- Experiential Learning Defined
- How We Learn Versus How We Think We Learn
- Reducing Violence is About Not Grabbing a Gun
- Boston PD & Boston Red Sox: Full Scale Complex Operating Environment Training Exercise
- Scouts in Contact Tactical Vignettes for Cavalry Leaders A Book of Tactical Decison Exercises for Cavalry Leaders
- What is the Mission and Intent of Policing a Free Society?
- Sound of Silence A Tribute to Policing and All Those Who Serve The Homeland
- Problem-Oriented Policing: Where Social Work Meets Law Enforcement
- Thoughts on Policing a Free Society: Altering Public Expectations
- Thoughts on Policing a Free Society: Rethinking Widely Held Assumptions Regarding Police Fuction
- Thoughts on Policing a Free Society: Our Failure to Concern Ourselves...
- Thoughts on Policing a Free Society
- Simon Sinek: Why Leaders Eat Last
- 8 Tips to Keep Your Home Wireless Network Secure From Hackers: a guest post from Wichly Cazeau
- John Boyd's Patterns of Conflict Part 3
- Engaging The Community and Making Meaningful and Lasting Change
- The Pre-Class Preparation Pyramid By Bruce Ivar Gudmundsson
- We All Lose When it's Us Verses Them!
- Facilatating The Adaptive Leader Program at The Army ROTC Leadership Conference at Harvard University
- A Break It Down Show Pod Cast: Paying Criminal Not to Commit Crimes or is There Something More to The Story?
- Harvard ROTC Leadership Conference
- A Discourse on Policing a Free Society
- We Made the Mandatory Reading for the US Army MPs
- Patterns of Conflict Pt 2
- Hand in Hand Project, a new initiative promoting dialogue and interaction between local police officers and young people
- How May We…Rebuild the Bridge Between The People and The Police?
- Why Adaptability Trumps Hierarchy?
- Military Reform Through Education: From The Straus Military Reform Project, Something We In Policing Can Learn From
- In Building Trust, Actions…Speak Louder Than Words!
- Somewhere Along the Way
- Taking It Personally
- The Facts of the Case By Bruce Ivar Gudmundsson
- J.J. DID TIE BUCKLE Traits I live By
- On Fitness: Learn from my weakness, my mistakes, and my bad habits
- Don’t Do It Alone: Developing a Shared Sense of Destiny Requires We’re all on the Same Sheet of Music
- Recommended Reading List From The California Association of Tactical Officers
- Values For A New Millennium: A Book That Will Help Bridge the Gap Between People and The Police
- Teaching Adaptability…and Firearms Training
- Simon Sinek: Why Reciprocity Improves Mentor Mentee Relationships
- Felix Nader Discusses The Value of Workplace Violence Prevention
- Breaking Down Police Work and How To Win at Low Cost: Part 2 Podcast Break It Down Show
- Boyd: Adapting Isn't Good Enough
- Simon Sinek on the responsibility that leaders have to create environments where people are more productive,and inspired
- The Hunting Story - the meaning of human equality
- Ethical Warriors with Jack Hoban
- Emotional Intelligence: Re-Thinking Police Community Relations by Mark Bond
- Approaching LE with the 'What's important now?' perspective
- Staying in control when a suspect is aggressive
- 10 Overlooked Truths About Taking Action
- Warriors vs. Praetorian Guard – Which Mindset Fits You Best? By Mike Ox
- ITOA News: Articles By John Farnam, Patrick Van Horne, Jeff Chudwin, Don Vandergriff, Yours Truly and More
- The importance of mindset in policing with Chip Huth
- A Discussion on Police Work and How to Win At Low Cost, Connecting The People and Police Gap
- Be Passionate, Back Up and Empower Your People, and You Will Get The Culture Right
- Why Are Shared Visions So Important?
- Technical Skill as a Component of Creativity by Bruce I. Gudmundsson
- I Am Spartacus…No I Am Spartacus: Is Your Police Organization United?
- The Demand For Autodidacts – The Self-Taught in an Age of Shrinking Budgets by Patrick Van Horne
- It’s How You Say What You Saw by Patrick Van Horne
- The Path of Don Vandergriff: A Discussion On Leadership, Learning organizations and Adaptability
- The Newhall Incident: Failure, Adaptation and Success…Or Lost Opportunity? Published in the latest ITOA News
- NYPD’s New Strategy for Dealing with Stressful Interactions, Absurd or Realistic?
- The Mind Can Be Convinced But The Heart Must Be Won
- Imagine a Police Culture Where People Wake Up Every Day Inspired to Go to Work
- Open Letter to President's Task Force on Policing by Louis Hayes
- The Blame Game: Who @#$%ed This Up?
- Breaking Down the Stranglehold of Formality
- Boyd and Beyond: From Marine Corps University to FBI National Academy Boyd' Ideas are Expanding
- From The Art of Manliness: John Boyd’s Roll Call: Do You Want to Be Someone or Do Something?
- Pamela Meyer: How to spot a liar
- The Case Method Increasing the Efficiency and Effectiveness of Marine Education by Captain Paul Tremblay Jr USMC
- Simon Sinek: If You Don't Understand People, You Don't Understand...
- Using Official Histories as Quarries for Case Materials By Bruce I. Gudmundsson
- Left of Bang By Patrick Van Horne and Jason Riley
- The Most Dangerous Weapon in Law Enforcement by Brian Willis
- Sizing Up Situations Is A Skill, We Need To Develop
- Change the Culture If I could Only Change One Thing by Don Vandergriff
- The Five Learning Disciplines
- Using Complete Stories in Decision Forcing Cases by Dr. Bruce I. Gudmundsson
- Newhall Shooting: A Tactical Analysis
- Tactical Decision Games, Obscure Information and Generating New Ways to Thrive in the Climate of Chaos and Uncertainty
- Calling on Cops in Class: An Anecdote for Developing Character, Confidence and Sound Tactical Decision Makers
- Solving Tactical Dilemmas with Indirect Experience (Education & Training) and White Castle Cases
- Ugly Police Force: Misunderstandings of Law & Human Factors by Lou Hayes
- Design and Facilitate, Decision Making Exercises Using The Sandwich Metaphor
- Strategic Rifleman: Key to More Moral Warfare by H. John Poole
- Developing Teamwork, Leadership Skills and Decision Makers with Case Study's "Washington's Crossing"
- FBI Report: A Study of Active Shooter Incidents in the United States
- The Art of Manliness Discusses...The Tao of Boyd: How to Master the OODA Loop
- Courage: The Backbone of Leadership by Gus Lee
- A Police Officers thoughts on the “Militarization” of our police forces.
- Cops With War Toys: Militarizing police is the worst way to fight crime.
- “Just the facts Ma’am”
- Re-Imagine the Way We Lead!
- A Milestone in Boydian Theory at the Tactical Level
- CASE STUDY: Ferguson Missouri shooting incident and aftermath by Louis Hayes
- What is Leadership?
- Use of Force Investigations: a Manual for Law Enforcement
- Do You Know How to Get Fullfillment?
- How Great Leaders Inspire Action
- Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don't
- Adaptive Leadership Handbook, Reviewed [by Mark Safranski, a.k.a. "zen"]
- Have We Not Learned Anything From History? Don Vandergriff's Book Review on American Spartan
- How Do We Inspire Action?
- Book Review: Rubicon: The Poetry of War
- Book Review: American Spartan
- Command Culture: Officer Education in the U.S. Army and the German Armed Forces, 1901-1940, and the Consequences for WWII
- What are the Basics? Developing for Mission Command by Donald E. Vandergriff
- IN COMMAND AND OUT OF CONTROL
- Adaptive Leadership By Charles “Sid” Heal and John R. Engbeck
- Why good leaders make you feel safe
- Guardians vs. Warriors: What it Takes to Win at Low Cost
- After Action Review on The Christopher Dorner Incident
- Adaptive Leader Program
- Crisis Meta-Leadership Lessons From the Boston Marathon Bombings Response: The Ingenuity of Swarm Intelligence
- Outstanding piece! The Myth of Mission Command by Don Vandergriff
- Cops or Soldiers?
- Situational Assessments: Being Mindful of What’s Important Now!
- Convinced or Committed?
- Discipline: The Lost Art of Leadership
- How Do We Develop Adaptability?
- Improve the Work…Develop the People
- Incident Strategy and Tactics: The Baby Diaper Analogy
- Adaptive Leaders …Develop Strength of Character
- How About Some Empathy, Please?
- Get Into the Sandbox, Think and Play and Let’s Inspire… Adaptability
- Stoning The Gatekeepers: Is It Not Time Society Attempts To Better Understand Police Use of Force?
- First-Line Supervisors Do The Most Important Training
- Why Tactical Decision Games? Because They Challenge The Status Quo & Emphasize Tactical Options In Developing Courses of Action.
- Why Does Understanding The OODA Loop Matter to Cops?
- How Do You Develop Strength of Character and Adaptive Leaders?
- Adaptive Leadership Handbook: Innovative Ways to Teach and Develop Your People
- Don’t Fear Failure; Instead Make Failure Your Classroom
- In Forging Adaptability…Distinguish Technical Problems from Adaptive Challenges
- The Doctor in SWAT School (and What His Performance Says About Police Culture)
- Designing Law Enforcement: Adaptive Strategies for the Complex Environment by John A. Bertetto
- Guest Post: Toward a Police Ethos: Defining Our Values as a Call to Action by John Bertetto
- Adaptability is Key in Handling Crisis Situations…Be In Command and Out Of Control
- For Meaningful Lasting Results, Get Into the Weeds…and Identify Root Causes
- Want to get better and be safer? Debrief!
- How to Forge Adaptability in Police Leaders and Culture
- Adaptive Leadership is Purposeful Learning in Real Time
- Book Review: The Practice of Adaptive Leadership: Tools and Tactics for Changing Your Organization and The World
- Growing Leaders Who Practice Mission Command and Win the Peace, Lt. Col. Douglas A. Pryer, U.S. Army
- Achieving Greatness by Giving Control and Creating Leaders
- Choosing Adaptability by Gary Gagliardi and The Science of Strategy Institute
- The Review of Boyd & Beyond 2013…..
- Have You Thought About Why You Choose To Lead?
- Incident Command: the big picture by Louis Hayes
- Understanding the OODA Loop by Derek Stephens
- The Cops Amaze Me by Bob Lonsberry
- I Am An Optimist. It Does Not Seem Too Much Use Being Anything Else!
- Mike Rayburn Asks...What Makes A Good Street Cop?
- Fighting the good fight with moral clarity by Lt. Dan Marcou
- Are Gated Communities Really Secure?
- Top 25 Criminal Justice Blogs We made the list at # 3
- Incident Command: the team cohesion aspect of the SitRep
- Book Review: Always Picked Last: Conquering the Bullies: A Guide To Finding Your Way in Life…
- To Continuously Improve We Must Set Boundaries and Expectations
- Elite Performance...Takes WORK? Say it ain't so!
- Create Your Fantasy Island Organizational Culture by Tracey Richardson
- Have You Stopped a Car Today? Improving Patrols Tactical Effectiveness with Vehicle Stops
- Incident Command: Communicating the Situation and Location By Louis Hayes
- Incident Command: a problem-solving approach By Louis Hayes
- SWAT Cop Says American Neighborhoods Are 'Battlefields,' Claims Cops Face Same Dangers As Soldiers In Afghanistan
- Overmilitarization: Why Law Enforcement Needs to Scale Down Its Use of Military Hardware and Tactics By Evan Bernick
- John Boyd’s Art of War Why our greatest military theorist only made colonel. By William S. Lind
- Police militarization and rise of the warrior journalist by Lance Eldridge
- Strategic Studies Institute: Cartel Car Bombings in Mexico Authored by Dr. Robert J. Bunker, Mr. John P. Sullivan
- To Strengthen And Preserve Cohesion Your Values...Equal Their Values
- Another Must Read Book From Don Vandergriff: "The Path To Victory" Revised Kindle Version with a new foreword
- Safe Streets, Overruled By Heather McDonald of the City Journal
- Must Read Book On Leader Development, Updated Kindle Addition: Don Vandergriff's, Raising The Bar:
- Brian Willis Offers Great Info on Defeating...The Enemy Of Innovation
- Police militarization and the Ethical Warrior By Jack E. Hoban & Bruce J. Gourlie
- “A Way” To Develop a Toxic Leader: How We as Leaders Create Our Own Monsters
- The Guy Behind the Guy, Behind the Guy: A Case for Taking our Roles More Seriously
- Flatenning the Decision Cycle in Tactical Units
- Tactical Supervision: Coaches and Chessplayers: Guest Post By Louis Hayes
- To effectively function in the initial, chaotic stages of a crisis, develop adaptive leaders
- FEAR VS COURAGE: IT'S YOUR CHOICE By Danny Cox
- Skid Row Terrorist
- Col John Boyd: Question and Answer Video
- Great Piece on Adaptability by Brian Willis: The Dinosaur versus The Cockroach Training Model
- The Psychotic Militarization of Law Enforcement
- The Missing Piece of NIMS: Teaching Incident Commanders How to Function in the Edge of Chaos by Police Chief, Cynthia Renaud
- The Human Problem? by Frank Borelli an Officer.com article
- From Police One 3 techniques for controlling your brain with Chief Joel F. Shults, Ed.D.
- Great Article From Police One with Val Van Brocklin: How to create 'fierce followers' in law enforcement
- Deadly Force: Have We Lost Our Senses? Guest Post by Louis Hayes
- Tactical Philosophy 101 A Guest Post by Louis Hayes
- Leadership in Unconventional Crises
- Unconventional Crises, Unconventional Responses: Reforming Leadership in the Age of Catastrophic Crises and “Hyper complexity”
- JOHN BOYD WAS A PATRIOT, A MORAL LEADER, AND A BONAFIDE VISIONARY. AND YES, HE WAS A MAVERICK.
- Force Science Research Study: The Influence of Officer Positioning on Movement During a Threatening Traffic Stop Scenario
- Guest Post: Adaptive Decision-Making by Sid Heal
- “More Better,” Ideals, and To Be or To Do: Guest Post by Scott Shipman
- Learning Like an Expert: A Guest Post by Marshall Wallace
- What Represents a High Level of Professionalism?
- This Memorial Day Remember: The Path of The Warrior
- School Security: Sharing and Enhancing Best Practices
- Guest Post by Michael G. Moore: Boyd's Snowmobile ...or what made Alexander “The Great”
- Coffee Pots and Baseball Bats: Household Items Offer Protection
- Learning to Adapt With A Professional Reading Program
- Boyd and Beyond 2013
- Guest Post by Tyana Daley: Developing Law Enforcement Leaders and Nurturing Smart Thinkers
- Somewhere Between Born and Made: Where Good Leaders Come From
- Is Today Your Day?
- Guest Post by John Demand: “You look for the bomb…we look for the bomber”
- What Do OODA Loop’s Mean to the Street Cop, Wanting To Become “World Class” Tacticians?
- The Psychology of a Boston Marathon Terrorist: 10 Questions for a Retired Marine
- Watching Boston “Work Together” Made Me Proud to Be a Police Officer
- What Makes a "World Class" Tactically Proficient Peacekeeper?
- Tactical Decision Games to Increase Speed and Maturity of Problem Solving: The Lessons Learned
- The Path to Better Execution in Seeing, Understanding and Solving Complex Problems is a Learning Organization
- A Systemic Concept for Operational Design: a Robust Tool Law Enforcement Should Use in Preparing for Chaotic Crisis
- How shift debriefings can improve officer safety Published at P1
- Boyd and Beyond Boston 2013: Balancing Pursuasion and Force in The Moral, Mental and Physical Dimensions of Conflict
- Don Vandergriff, Discusses: Misinterpretation and Confusion: What is Mission Command?
- Huddling-Up To Acheive Successful Law Enforcement Outcomes
- Building Cohesive Law Enforcement Agencies That Can Decide In Crisis Situations
- Mistakes ultimately ended ex-LA cop's rampage
- Red Teaming The Workplace Violence Shooter and The "MR. Uncomfortable Factor"
- Top 30 Criminal Justice Blogs of 2012 : LESC is Number 5!
- Showing Up Is Overrated. Necessary But Not Nearly Sufficient. Can Taking An "Interest" In What You Do Enhance Performance?
- Handling Dynamic Encounters...Go Get Him, Or Set Him Up To Get Him...With An Adaptable Response
- Shift Debriefings: How Can We Be More Deliberate, More Disciplined, and More Thorough in our Approach to Learning?
- AOW Card Deck Lesson 6: Provoke Your Adversary’s Reaction
- Does Mass Violence Unfold Randomly and Chaotic or is There Hidden Order We Can Leverage in Our Prevention Efforts?
- Police One Column: 13 questions to answer in 2013: What has 2012 taught you about officer safety and effectiveness?
- Take Small Steps, Towards, Lifelong Learning In 2013
- Positive Adaptive Leadership...Tools and Tips and Critical Questions To Explore in 2013 Inspired by Many Of Those I Follow
- AOW Card Deck Lesson 5: Sheath Your Sword
- AOW Card Deck Lesson 4: Score A Small Victory Along The Way
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Winning at Low Cost: No better friend, no better role model, no better diplomat and, no worse enemy
Submitted by Fred on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 10:48am.
“Carved on these walls is the story of America of a continuing quest to preserve both democracy and decency and to protect a national treasure that we call the American dream.” ~President George Bush
A couple of weeks ago I wrote a blog “The Anatomy of Victory: What does it take to win at low cost?” In this post I discussed, winning on the street comes in many forms and means different things to different people. Winning to the cop means one thing while to an adversary winning on his terms is quite another. What about winning in the eyes of the public? How important is public support or decent when we cops use force? What outcomes can we expect during a dynamic encounter, what about in the aftermath, with public support, without it? Does winning at low cost effect our safety and effectiveness in a positive or negative way? Is winning at any cost verses winning at low cost something we should consider more frequently?
Since the post I received mainly positive feedback to the ideas discussed. However I also received some negative feedback, from law enforcement as well, which I expected and quite frankly I looked forward to. Questions such as; how are we cops suppose to do this? It’s tough enough to survive on the street, why should we be worried about the moral, mental and physical ramifications while handling dynamic encounters? Fred, this sounds like politically correct, public relations “BS” that's soft on crime and puts cops more in jeopardy, why would a tactical guy such as you be touting this stuff? Why are you trying to teach cops about strategy and tactical science, how is this going to help us on the street? Answer is; I have asked myself all these questions and more and I have researched case after case of police encounters and find that many of the lessons learned and mistakes being made are continuously being repeated day in and day out. History has taught us that a lack of a strategy and sound tactics has created much of the havoc and loss of life on all sides when the deadly mix of offender, officer and circumstances collide. I believe this way of thinking and approaching dynamic encounters will make a positive difference in how effective and safe we are as we execute and handle dynamic encounters, as well as getting the people we protect and serve to better understand why we do what we do so that we gain their trust and support at higher levels than we see currently.
I understand the decent in our ranks, over the term “winning at low cost.” Our law enforcement culture is heavily focused on controlling bad situations and the physical dimension is the main focus traditionally of how we handle situations and it’s how we conduct most of our training. In my view therein lays the problem. We have neglected the mental and the most powerful the moral dimension of conflict in our training. Due to this fact we lose cops who are responding emotionally to calls versus thinking and acting tactically. We lose the hearts and minds of those we serve as they observe an incident and wonder what the hell are these guys doing? Be it the right or wrong perception we are distrusted by many and this includes those who are pro-cop and includes confusion and debate on how to police, within our ranks as well. We can do better, more than this, we have got to do better!
Secondly I write, mainly for cops and security professionals in an effort to get us all thinking more deeply about what we do and how we do it, with the focus of making cops safer and more effective so we all can uphold the number one rule in policing “to go home at the end of your shift.” My intent is as well, to engage the public in an effort to help them gain more knowledge into our noble profession and the noble people who are drawn to the calling of being a cop. There is a lot of confusion and misunderstandings throughout society as to what cops do, how and why we do it. Most cops get into policing because they want to help people. As I write that last sentence I envision the eye rolls from cops with their “is he kidding me” and “this guy has drunk the Kool-Aid” thinking and the “come on are you for real” statements from the people we serve. I say this as idealistic as it sounds; COPS BECOME COPS TO HELP OTHERS not to hurt them! Although as we’ll see, there, lays another paradox of policing; to help others sometimes despite our best efforts, people get hurt. Protecting and serving is both a positive and negative business, positive in the sense of saving lives and helping others in numerous ways that often go unnoticed. Negative in the sense, that at times and on rare occasions to help others we must get down and dirty and deal in circumstances that involve life saving, life altering, and life taking tactics that do not have pretty outcomes and have a profound effect on the people involved, society and the cops who serve society. Protecting and serving can be very confusing. People confused and debating is what we cops wallow in, so let’s explore the idea of winning at low cost more deeply.
Winning at low cost is not just about gaining public support. It is also very much about doing things better when it comes to execution of our strategy, operations and tactics and how they affect the moral, mental and physical dimensions of conflict on the street. This includes leadership as well as frontline personnel. As tactical expert John Poole says; winning at low cost involves some controversial tradeoffs.
“First there is the tradeoff between “control” and “tactical knowledge.” Whenever a military/law enforcement organization endorses and particular set of tactical maneuvers as doctrine, it discourages common sense in tactical decision making and sanctions a status quo in tactical knowledge. Standardized tactics cannot even keep pace with weapons technology, much less rapidly changing contingency situation. After memorizing tactical doctrine, a novice decision maker may be tempted to discount any situational variable that doesn’t mesh precisely with his perception of the “book solution.” If his subordinates subsequently risk telling him that his decision violates common sense, he may feel his authority threatened. At this point he will only compound the problem by tightening his control.”
These paradoxes fly in the face of logic, controlling every move an officer makes actually leads to less control? Yes, standardizing tactics and training and then expecting officers to follow strict protocols and checklists in dynamic and uncertain circumstances actually slows down decision making cycle as they search for the text book answer and/or the tactical formation and techniques to utilize endorsed by the profession. If we are going to win at low cost we must do better than what we have been taught. Yes there are sound tactical principles to be taught and learned but situations dictate tactics, not the book thrown at the situation. We must never lose sight of the fact that tactics are both an art and science and that there is no one scientific solution to a tactical problem. This means we need more tactical thinkers and problem solvers on the streets, full spectrum cops who explore the situation in an effort to learn what’s going on and then make decisions and take actions based on their observations and how the perceive or orient to a situation in real time as the circumstances are unfolding. John Poole offers more sound advice.
“Tactical knowledge is best served by continual study and experimentation, under loose control. Knowledge and training are inseparably linked. Tactical knowledge does not drive training, tactical knowledge derives from training. For this reason, training cannot be controlled through standardization without limiting the growth of tactical knowledge. Only when small units are allowed to experiment in the field (or on the street), can they experience the full range of situational variables and their greatest growth in their tactical expertise.”
Winning at low cost is a collective approach considering the safety of cops due to their improved tactical thinking and effectiveness as well as the necessary public support as they begin to understand that the balance of persuasion and force are always weighed and considered by those who protect and serve. It is very important that we all do not lose sight of this as we attempt to control the tempo of situations and make rapid decisions under pressure. When things go wrong the people will know they went wrong despite our best efforts tactically not because of poor tactics. There are consequences for poor tactics not only in losing public support but in losing brother and sister officers in the line of duty to death and injuries as well as innocents.
I know from experience and from the statistics what most cops’ intentions are. The vast majority of cops go out in an effort to protect and serve and most, do it honorably, with dedication and integrity, yet despite this honorable effort we lose many of the people as they question our approach. The gap becomes greater between the police and the public.
- Why is closing the gap important and how do we close the disconnect that is apparent?
- Also and probably weighing heavily most on a cops mind is, will closing this gap put us at more risk to life and limb or will it make us safer and more effective?
I happen to believe that understanding the meaning behind winning at low cost will make us safer and more effective as well as help us win those we serve over.
First and foremost closing the gap and winning at low cost does not mean we give up advantageous positioning and life saving tactics when handling dynamic encounters. We consider the safety of the public, ourselves and then the person(s) who have disrupted the community and required our attention. Law enforcement strategy is in simple terms to protect and serve. The holistic realm of protect and serve includes all we in law enforcement do to ensure that our strategy is met. The tactics we use must be in accord with that strategy and affect the moral, mental and physical dimensions, if we are to have a complete victory.
Complete victory means we win on the street in the physical dimension, by resolving a situation with persuasion or force in accord with our strategy to protect and serve and the ongoing situation. We win in the mental dimension by affecting the minds of cops who handled the situation and know they resolved a situation legally and morally and with tactical skill. We win mentally in the minds of the adversary and others like him who reconsider the terms they live life by. And we win mentally in the public’s eye as they weigh our actions verses the adversary we faced. Morally we win as cops because we know ethically we did all we could do and our adversaries reconsider their own moral code. We win morally with the public as they weigh both sides and determine we cops have taken the moral high ground with our approach and how we resolved the situation.
Make no mistake a completed victory is fleeting and the sense of it ebbs and flows as mistakes are made and they will be made in the complex world off conflict where people and emotions collide and rapid and life changing decisions must be made. The reality is conflict is not deterministic and predictable. Conflict is probabilistic and unpredictable as we attempt to understand the situation and the motives and intent of an adversary. It’s important to understand the distinctions between deterministic and probabilistic views as they drive the choices we make. The essence of conflict is a struggle between two hostile, independent, and irreconcilable wills, trying to impose itself on the other. Conflict is fundamentally an interactive social process. Conflict is thus a process of continuous mutual adaptation, of give and take, move and counter move. It is critical to keep in mind that the adversary is not an inanimate object to be acted upon but an independent and animate force with its own objectives and plans. While we try to impose our will on the adversary, he resists us and seeks to impose his own will on us. Appreciating this dynamic interplay between opposing human wills is essential to understanding the fundamental nature of conflict.
Mark Gerzon in his book “Leading through Conflict” gives great definition of conflict that should give a better understanding to all cops, potential adversaries and the public just how deep routed it is in our culture and the realities surrounding it resolution in the real world, not the romanticized version from television and the movies but the one that we live in;
“Every one of us leads life with conflict. It is everywhere: from organizations that are divided about their strategy and roles to local communities that are divided by race, economics, religion, or politics; from homes torn apart by chronic feuds between parents and children, siblings, or in-laws to countries that are torn apart by civil strife. If we add to these “hot” conflicts (strong emotions, loud voices, and visible tension) the many others that are “cold” (suppressed emotions, tense silence, invisible stress) we must admit to ourselves that conflict is part of our lives.”
Conflict is a clash between complex adaptive systems attempting to survive on their own terms. Harnessing the power of the moral, mental and physical dimensions of conflict is difficult, yet necessary if we seek to win completely.
Now, this does not mean we have to automatically change our tactics for vehicle stops, entry techniques, and warrant service, stop and frisk, etc, etc, etc. It does mean we have to consider other tactical options both orthodox (traditional) and unorthodox (innovative) for example; where and when we stop a car and how do we approach it once it’s stopped. Do we use the walk up or the walk back approach? Maybe a felony stop is the method we chose using the standardized approach taught throughout law enforcement or maybe the circumstances dictate we use the indirect/direct approach and swarm the vehicle? When we respond to a home or building, do we need to enter and search or serve the warrant? Is there another more viable option to consider that may suit us better? When the patrol cop responds to let’s say a domestic disturbance does he pull up out front and run to the front door or does he check his emotions, slow down, park down the street a bit, pay attention to his surroundings using all his god given senses and possibly lure the players outside with some sort t of ruse, or should we negotiate a solution from outside the home? When conducting street encounter does the cop automatically respond to profanity with profanity or does he attempt to understand the emotions involved and make a tactical and tactful attempt to deescalate? Do the patrol tactics we use every day encourage engagement and interaction with the public or are we standoffish and possessing an, us versus them mentality that keeps the public distant and untrusting, intimidated and hence questioning or every move with suspicion? A big cause of this problem Sid Heal discusses in his latest book Field Command;
“…Likewise tactical science is and “applied science” in that the major contribution is not merely identifying the principles and precepts in play, but rather in applying that knowledge to forecast and influence behaviors and outcomes to enhance a more satisfactory outcome. In this manner, law enforcement tacticians more closely resemble engineers than scientists. The problem, however, is that unlike the military services which teach these subjects as part of an officers education, no such requirement exists for law enforcement leadership.
Most law enforcement tacticians practice strategy and tactics as a “skill set” rather than an intuitive application of doctrinal principles and precepts. Skills are far easier to teach and understand than knowledge. As long as the situation encountered resembles those for which these officers were trained they worked just fine. A problem occurs; however, when some permutation results in a deviation from the norm and a commander attempts to impose a solution which has been successful in the past but is not suitable for the new problem. Failures in tactical operations occur when a plan collapses, and this happens because a commander fails to recognize the influence of some indispensable factor (like the loss of the element of surprise in the raid on the Branch Dravidians in Waco, TX), or because the strategy was fundamentally flawed (as in attempts to surround and negotiate with active shooter at columbine high school).”
We in law enforcement continue in our attempts to jam square pegs into round holes by applying checklists to encounters that require thinking and problem solving and an understanding as to WHY we are approaching the problem the way we are. Another big part of the problem in my view is in the aftermath of events. Is the department open and transparent about the methods used or does the department close out the public and fall back on the standard line ‘we are investigating and reviewing the case and looking at our policies and procedures? What affect do you think this has on the people we police?
This type of thinking has been discussed throughout our ranks for years, hell much of it is taught in police academy and in-service training. What’s new here Fred? Problem is in many law enforcement locations across the country TALK is where the action stops. This type of thinking and problem solving does not get implemented on the street and we continue to rapidly respond and randomly patrol accomplishing little in winning the moral, mental and physical dimensions. What’s new is, we need to start doing what we know and talk about out on the street where it matters and will make a difference.
The actions we take on the street do affect all three dimensions and we have a say in how all will perceive our response, or at least we can influence them in a positive direction. Police should be happy they won based on sound tactics verses sheer emotion, the criminals should stop and think about the life they have chosen and the law abiding people we serve should be on our side and should be happy to say so. I could go on here but instead I want to give you an example of a police department that has seen its share of violent crime and walk their talk to officer safety, effectiveness and winning the people over because they are affecting the moral, mental and physical dimensions of conflict with a sound strategy and the methods and tactics they are using to implement.
An outstanding example of how to train and implement “winning at low cost” in law enforcement
The Baltimore Police Department which is the 8th largest police department in the country have developed what they call diamond standard training. A member of the Baltimore Police Department was nice enough to send me a briefing on the ‘diamond standard and I feel it’s an example worth sharing and one we in law enforcement should strive for as it considers strategy, operations and tactics with the moral, mental and physical dimensions of conflict (crime, crime problems and quality of life) and violence. They are making headway with the program through hard work and dedication.
Diamond Standard Training (DST) is an intense and cohesive four week training program that was developed by the Baltimore Police Department to polish its officers into gleaming examples of exemplary police work. The goal is to foster a complete police officer into being no better friend, no better role model, no better diplomat, and no worse enemy. Rookie officers, having recently graduated from the police academy, have the benefit of that recent training still fresh in their minds, a strongly motivated work ethic, and the lack of workplace monotony that can damper a seasoned officers enthusiasm over time. To promote and continue this new-hire mentality, DST was constructed to allow officers of all longevity levels to possess the skill set necessary to work within and with the community, meaningfully and safely overcoming barriers that have been established over time, giving life to the police mantra of “Protect & Serve.”
Over the course of four weeks, the following training is given to patrol officers; Advanced Firearms Techniques, Contact and Cover, Active Shooter, Arrest and Control, Citizen Communications, Juvenile Encounters, Crime Scene Investigation, Shift Work Plans, and Self Evaluations. The overall theme of the training focuses on a particular shift’s ability to solve problems through post management. That is to say, teaching squads how to manage their sector and the entire shift on how to manage its district. An intrinsically intertwined component is stressing police community relations. The overwhelming majority of interaction between the police and the public is non-confrontational. For the most part, the community and the police are trying diligently to work in concert to solve problems that affect them both. For anyone to be able to work effectively together, communication must be clear, open, and constant. A main thrust of the Diamond Standard Training is to equip the officers with the tools to communicate effectively so that the problems may be addressed rather than the breakdown of discussions.
The following is a breakdown of each section and what is being taught:
Citizen communication: This section of training works with the officers and instructs how to effectively communicate with the communities they serve. As the most visible representation of local government, police officers must master this section in order to be “…no better friend…no better diplomat.” Not every encounter with citizens on the street requires enforcement. Participants will received focused instructions on how to openly engage the members of the post they work in order to solve community problems. Initially, classroom training on how to communicate with people within their post is conducted. After this classroom training, community members from the officers’ district are brought into the training environment. Officers and citizens then discuss the needs in their particular area and openly discuss issues that cause animosity between police and citizens. Then the officer is taught that they must be a friend and diplomat to the communities they serve. When a person calls the police for help the officer must be able to work past any communication problems to reach the core issue and solve it. Whether it’s to help the person out with a problem, negotiate a solution to neighborhood disputes, or build community trust, all must be done with effective communication.
Juvenile encounters: Mentoring juveniles is one of the most important tasks befalling an officer. Officers routinely identify at-risk juveniles, enforce infractions of law they commit, and, perhaps most importantly, simply positively interacting with kids in the neighborhoods they serve. Because of this, officers have a responsibility to make the most of these encounters and be “…no better role model…” During this section of the training, the officers work with elementary school children. A relationship was established with Outward Bound to implement a program where officers and kids work together and discuss issues that inhibit or hinder communication. The officers are introduced to the concept of being a positive role model to the children on their post. Discussions are held about how police are viewed by the children where they work and how this impacts the perception of police as a whole. The Outward Bound Staff works with the officers and children during a one day program and develops a relationship between them. The children are picked from an at-risk middle school within the officer’s district. Each officer is paired up with a child and they work together throughout the day where they complete teambuilding exercise, high element courses, and talk about Baltimore City’s youths perception of the police and how we can work together to change any negative perception. Subsequently, the officers spend an additional day at the school, reinforcing the models taught by Outward Bound. We also have a company called New Lens, a youth mentoring group, who comes in and provides training on communication with youth. This training is provided to both recruit and veteran officers.
Contact and Cover: This program is used to show officers a safe way to approach citizens during street encounters. This tactical training will deal with encounters on foot, in vehicles, and in houses. By teaching the officers these safer methods of approach, it is hoped that confidence will build and thereby limit the chance for a situation to escalate into unnecessary force. It also deals with the concept of dealing with violent offenders that are on the officer’s post. It is wholly unacceptable that citizens are scared to come out of their houses or are afraid to let their children play in the community where they live. By giving the officers the tactical and legal knowledge to deal with these violent individuals, we hope to make the streets safer for law-abiding citizens that live here. The Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office is collaborating to teach legal updates, as they relate to field interviews, pat-downs, searches, and the like. These legal updates will give the officers the foundation to address crime efficiently, effectively, and legally.
Arrest and Control: Although self defense and the accompanying arrest techniques are integral to an officer’s training, the ability to communicate with the community, while basing decisions on the moral and ethical considerations, is vastly more important. As the overwhelming interaction between the police and the public is verbal and problem solving related, the Arrest and Control program is focused heavily on this type of communication. This at times aggressively verbal training allows officers to feel as though they have the appropriate tools to deal with a wide variety of circumstances that may present themselves. Moreover, when words fail, this program teaches officers how to use the appropriate level of controlled, articulated force necessary to respond to and effectively handle any type of physically dynamic situation, making the officer truly “…no worse enemy…” The system trains police officers to work in any environment or situation that arises, with the ability to adapt and meet changing circumstances and apply the correct response, use of force, control, or restraint that is necessary. Also addressed are moral and ethical dilemmas, sound judgment, critical thinking and decision making. These themes are threaded throughout the training and inculcate these ideals in every aspect of police training and work.
Crime scene investigation: Officers work with homicide detectives developing the skills needed to investigate serious crime scenes. This training addresses every aspect of the crime scene investigation and thus aids in the development of the necessary skills needed to preserve evidence and work within the community to deal with tragic events. Homicide detectives have developed a training practicum where the officers work a crime scene. During these scenarios the officer handles a crime scene and uses the newly develop communications skills to better interact with the impacted community, aiding in increased evidence preservation, witness cultivation, and community relations.
Firearms techniques: The Department has developed a program to teach officers how to simultaneously move and shoot. This training deals with situations where an officer is required to use deadly force; whether it’s the more typical street encounter or increasingly occurring “active shooter” situation. When this level of force is necessary, officers must be able to react swiftly, appropriately and with discipline so that the situation is resolved without any unnecessary uses of force or gunfire. The quick resolution of these incidents will save lives and thus allow officers an increased probability of safeguarding citizens. These techniques have been designed keeping in mind that the overall safety of the community is the officer’s first concern. The Baltimore Police Firearms Training range instructors develop the concept of continually moving and shooting and looking-through the weapons system during encounters. This ability is developed through intensive classroom instruction, multiple practice drills, and live-fire shooting at the police range.
Active Shooter: Active Shooter deals with one of the most difficult situations a police officer can encounter. If Baltimore City ever has a situation like Columbine, where committed persons are actively shooting people, the ‘standard’ patrol officer must do something. Minutes count, and it is the police officer’s job to go into these situations if necessary and put their life on the line to save lives. Bunkering down and awaiting a SWAT response is no longer acceptable. This training gives the officers effective and appropriate tactics to engage the shooter in an attempt to quickly end the situation.
Shift work plans: Throughout the entire training a constant theme is stressed. It is based on the Diamond Standard Training concept of no better friend, no better role model, no better diplomat, and no worse enemy, each and all with the singular purpose of creating a truly complete police officer. As stated previously, an intense focus of the training is how an officer can have a positive impact in community they serve and build relationships by reducing violent crime, building community partnerships, and using effective communication. Therefore, at the end of the training, the officers and supervisors are required to develop a work plan that addresses each of these issues. Each squad will be given the resources in their district that they can use to address everything from the basic trash complaints to violent crime. The Mayor’s office has provided people that the officers can contact for non-enforcement issues in hopes that community issues can be resolved faster. Likewise, the police department is providing additional deployment resources to address crime issues within the district thereby making the effort truly collaborative.
Self evaluations: Self evaluation will be done at the end of the training where officers and supervisors will be able to evaluate what was effective from the training and talk about issues that will arise when they go back out to the streets.
The diamond standard, no better friend, no better role model, no better diplomat and when all else fails no worse enemy is the epitome of what a complete or full spectrum police officer and winning at low cost is all about. Yes it takes rethinking our law enforcement culture. Yes it takes hard work through training and harnessing every lesson we learn on the street. Yes it takes a willingness on the part of law enforcement to engage the community in an effort to win their trust and hence their support. In short it takes re-imagining the way we police, not for the sake of change or some politically correct reason but instead for the sake of those who serve and those whom they serve may live in the unpredictable, uncertain and complicated world on terms of their choosing, centered on strength of character, mutual trust, fairness and justice for all.
“A culture not willing to think hard and test itself does not augur well for the future.” ~Lt Gen Paul van Riper, USMC (Ret.)
Stay Oriented!
Fred
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