WHAT IF...
is a mind exercise that all Peace Keepers should play through possible
scenarios they could face while on duty. It should be used to
evaluate situations being approached... and past situations already
concluded. The questions, "What could I do if...?"
and "What else could I or should I have done for a better result?"
Because of the type of duty in which I am involved I practice this
procedure often. This helps me to think through and reach conclusions
that keep my mind and reactions sharp in case emergencies arise.
Preparation is the name of the effort...
Being alert, watchful, suspicious and wary is the attitude that we
must practice if we are going to be effective, successful and survive
this profession.
Be sure to ever be aware that AMBUSH is one of the methods used
to take the lives of Peace Keepers every year.
This attitude must also be accompanied by an effort to maintain physical
fitness to a degree that supports stamina and perseverance.
In a neighboring city and officer became engaged in an effort to arrest
a perpetrator. The action lasted about eleven minutes of chasing
and trying to physically subdue a man who was young and
strong and who did not want to submit to arrest. The action
took place in the presence of numerous other people who either stood
and watched or cheered for the resister. The officer's radio
would not work, he had no backup and no one volunteered to assist
him. I am very thankful that a bystander made a call to get
assistance for him... but over eleven minutes of strenuous, chasing,
grappling activity with a man on whom the expandable baton seemed
to have little or no affect... what an ordeal!!!
The officer lasted but was obviously very tired when help arrived
and the resister was secured. The perp is fortunate to be alive
and not severely injured. The officer is alive and well also
and this was the best possible outcome, given all the details for
this specific incident... The pertinent question here is how
many of us would
have lasted through the same incident and gotten the same results?
I have read of these type of situations happening to officers in many
places and they are seldom resolved without death or serious injury
to either or both the officer and/or the perpetrator.
You may never face one of these situations... Then again it could
happen to you on the first tour of duty that you work alone... and
anytime during your career... and at a time when you least expect
it if you do not have the attitude of being alert, watchful, suspicious,
wary and physically prepared.
One of the articles from PoliceOne.com today reports of an incident
involving a traffic stop where one man attacked an officer and took
the officer's firearm, shot the officer several times, shot another
officer on scene and then ran away... It took several hours
and a large manhunt to find and secure the shooter after he exchanged
shots with another officer. When found and unarmed he still
refused to submit and had to be subdued with a K9. Two officers
injured... one was shot critically below the armor... the other officer
not so seriously because he was saved by the armor... We face a world
that can explode at any moment. When it explodes the violence
is usually directed at us. These explosive incidents happen
even to chaplains. We are not immune just because we wear collars
and our ID says "CHAPLAIN." In thirty years of chaplain
assignment there have been numerous incidents that increased the pucker
factor and demanded quick, decisive response. It can and does
happen to proactive chaplains just as quickly as it can happen to
military and police officers... and we must be as thoroughly prepared
as all Peace Keepers must be prepared. I hear it often from
many of my Compadres and always from Survival
Instructors... TRAIN... TRAIN... TRAIN... PRACTICE... PRACTICE...
PRACTICE.
This morning I did something that I try often to do... after awakening
I lay there relaxed and alert and replayed several recent incidents
through my imagination... evaluating what I did... what the results
were... what I could have done differently... and what I should have
done in follow-up if my duty had not been so demanding immediately
after the incidents... if time and demand had allowed me a different
course.
I learned this way of dealing with life and emergencies as a young
motorcycle rider.
Then I had to practice it often in order to survive. Four wheelers
seldom see a motorcycle even when it is close to them. Afterwards
it carried over into my life as a Trooper and it served me well there
when I was almost always alone and far from assistance. It has
been my constant companion here for the past thirty years of very
active duty as a police officer assigned to chaplain duties... and
now as a retired police officer still assigned to chaplain duties.
As I meditate on it I realize that this attitude came into being for
me when I learned to play chess. I shall always be thankful to the
young acquaintance who taught me the ways of thinking out strategy
of attack and response to an opponent.
Planning strategy, implementing the plan and responding to the opponent
is more useful to me today than when it was imparted to me as a teen.
Interest in the history of war, warriors and strategy has given to
me a serious survival attitude. Then I found the same information
outlined in the Bible when I became a student of Christianity and
its history... especially in the history of the wars engaged in by
the Hebrews.
Survival and success in peace keeping is best grounded in a very serious
attitude of being prepared... and being prepared in the most efficient
manner involves the practice of mental evaluation and preparation
that is called "WHAT IF?" The reason that we need
to be thus prepared is vividly confirmed by the statistics that we
may read whenever we want a wakeup call such as the following.
I represent, write for... and give the credit to:
God the Father (my Commander-in-Chief),
Jesus Christ the Son (the Eternal Captain of my life) and
the Holy Spirit of God (my Eternal Teacher, Keeper and Guide).
In Christ I live... with Him and for you I serve...
D. R. (Don) Staton, Chaplain to Peace Keepers,
VIRGINIA STATE POLICE ALUMNI,
RETIRED Police Officer, Certified Police Instructor,
757-431-2190, chpln1@verizon.net
3709 Beacon Lane, Virginia Beach, VA 23452
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