But I still miss you guys, and I think about topics to blog about all the time.  If only there were 25 hours in each day instead of 24!

That said, I want to bring your attention to an article printed over a PoliceOne.com.  It’s written by Roy Bedard, a consultant qualified in US Federal and State courts in police use of force, defensive tactics, combat stress and police procedures.  The article is about the female warrior and is part two of a three part series.

This article really struck home, as I’ve seen the direct result of a female officer’s mind vs. a male officer’s mind at work.  One is not better than the other, and both are complementary to each other.  To say policing remains a man’s world is to still believe in the Tooth Fairy and the Lock Ness Monster.

If you’re a female officer, and especially if you are not, Bedard’s article is an excellent take on how women officers process threats/situations differently than their counterparts do.

***

I was a little giddy as I went through my regular pre-night-shift-routine during the day and I’m sure Hondo picked up on the anticipation – he was shadow at my heel, his tail was in a constant slow wag, and he kept waiting at the front door with a “Come one! What are we waiting for?” look.

Finally, it was time.

We were at work, dressed and ready (yes, the dogs get ‘dressed’ as well – in their work harnesses), and we hadn’t even left the office parking lot before we got our first call.  When I flipped on the lights and siren and pushed the accelerator to the floor, Hondo did a spin in the back of the truck and let out a woof.  His excitement was obvious as he NEVER barks or stands up in the back of the truck when we drive Code Three, and when I looked in the rear view mirror the silhouette of his ears was a very welcome sight. 

Considering that eight weeks ago I wasn’t sure Hondo was even going to survive, coupled with the knowledge that I may never again work with my faithful K9 partner, last night was a certainly a gift.  Every shift working with Hondo has been a priviledge and is an experience like no other, as all other K9 handlers can attest to. 

The bond between dog and handler runs deep, and these next few years will be spent knowing I am at the pinnacle of my career.  It doesn’t get any better than this.

In the months leading up to my assignment to the K9 section I worked in patrol.  My regular partner was street smart, intelligent, tactical and funny. Looking back, we learned a lot from one another and I’m of the firm belief all good partnerships should be based on a solid friendship. 

This particular partner and I had a fairly set routine.  Go to the squad briefing, get our car and radios, organize our gear, head out on the road, grab a coffee and hopefully grab a good call.  If the radio was hopping it boded well for a busy night, and sometimes the java-to-go was the only reprieve we would see all shift.

One night we headed to our regular coffee shop and were walking back to the car with steaming cups in hand when the call came in.  A man with a gun, in a gravel lot near a busy intersection, shooting at something just out of the witness’s view.  The call taker could hear the shots over the phone, so we knew the gun was real as bbguns typically don’t make much racket.

We got to our car in a flat out sprint and I dropped my coffee into the single cup holder.  My partner dumped his coffee on the sidewalk and barely had time to get his door closed before I put the car in gear and sped off.  As we raced to the scene a single officer broadcast that he was challenging the suspect at gunpoint.  The shooting had stopped, for the moment, but tension was high as the suspect refused to drop his weapon.

We were the next to arrive and I carved the squad car into a tight circle to better afford us and the single officer a position of cover.  At this point, my partner let out a yell.  He had done this before, given a ‘war cry’, but his timing in this case was brutal and the attached high note resulted in me filing the incident away for later discussion.

A short time later the suspect was lying on the gravel, his hands cuffed behind his back, his .9mm handgun unloaded and on the hood of our car.  The gun was real, the single magazine partially empty.  There was a home made target on the far cinder block wall.  Half a dozen holes had ripped through the paper and an equal number of bullet casings were scattered on the ground near the now prone suspect.

The suspect, who was not the most intelligent person I have ever had the opportunity to speak with, purchased the gun on the black market and wanted to see how his marksmanship skills were.  Instead of going to a remote location as would be expected if in possession of an illegally acquired hand gun, this twit decided an empty lot near the epicenter of Vancouver would suffice just fine.  Does this qualify him for a nomination into the Darwin Awards?  I think it might.

The suspect was carted off to jail.  His gun was bagged and tagged.  The scene was secure, no one was hurt.

Actually, let me clarify that.  My partner suffered a minor injury on the way to the call. It seems my coffee cup tipped when I pulled the car into that tight little circle and spilled its excruciatingly hot liquid down the side of my partners leg and across his groin.  Thus, the high pitched yell.  He showed me the side of his leg where the skin had turned a bright pink.  Ouch.

He gingerly sat back in our car, complaining that his ‘boys’ had been parboiled.  Judging by the burn mark on his leg I suspected his twins were in some amount of pain. I drove him back to the station so he could take inventory as to his future ability to father children, and I’m proud to say I held off with any laughter until he limped off to the locker room.

So even though this story has a bit of humour it illustrates the mind set of a person intent on surviving a call.  Even though subjected to a sudden and very nasty jolt to his nether regions, my partner was able to stay on task, deal with a potentially deadly encounter, and see the incident through to a successful conclusion.

Now THAT, my friends, is what I call warrior mind set.

My hubby calls it the ‘Ha Ha Factor’, as in I have none when I’m getting my game face on.

I’ve already mentioned in previous posts about preparing for this job.  It is easy to tell if you are physically able to this job, because you’re either going to pass the physical test or not.  You’re either fit enough to chase after a suspect and take him into custody, or you’re not.  If you’re not, train harder and be prepared to make the permanent life style changes required. It’s pretty simple. 

Mental preparation is different.  You have to ask yourself several questions about your readiness and willingness to take action if called upon, but it’s even more involved than that.

Every day, BEFORE you leave your house to go to work, you should be mentally prepared.  In much the same way an athlete psyches themselves up before a big game, you should be going through the same ritual.  Not to be overly dramatic (okay, maybe I mean to), but you have to be in top mental condition because every time you put a uniform on you are making yourself a target for those who despise law enforcement.  You need to be ever alert, ever watchful, and constantly aware of your surroundings.  You need to find a balance and not become paranoid. You need to go home to your family at the end of your shift.

To illustrate this point I’ll use myself as an example and delve a bit deeper into the ‘Ha Ha Factor’.

When I’m working night shift I usually have the house to myself during the day.  I’m able to go through my pre-work ritual – grocery shopping, prepare meals, have a nap, get up, have coffee, go for a work out, take a shower, eat breakfast while the family eats dinner, go to work.  I’ve a very set routine and have been going through this ritual for years. 

But on the occasions where hubby is around during the day he notices a big difference in my personality.  He says I’m more serious, more focused and less likely to engage in conversation.  He says I have no sense of ‘Ha Ha’ about anything. It’s not that I’m miserable, cranky, or being a you-know-what, it’s just that my ‘Ha Ha’ has taken leave in favour of my ’Game Face’. 

At first, many years ago, hubby thought I was snubbing him and he got upset.  I was a bit flabbergasted as nothing was further from the truth, and during the resulting discussion we came to a few conclusions:

• Being a police officer requires mental alertness at all hours of the day
• A police officer needs to go through the mental ‘What-if’s’ on a regular basis
• A police officer needs to ‘get in the game’ long before it’s time to put on the uniform and get in the squad car 
• Sleep is NOT over rated
• A sleepy officer is not an alert officer
• An officer who is not alert is at a higher risk of getting hurt (for a multitude of reasons)
• The family of an officer should recognize that the officer needs sleep and time to decompress
• The officer needs to realize his/her family also needs attention, love, and understanding

In short, if an officer does not mentally prepare for the shift they may not come home from it. 

When I put it like that, hubby got it.

Now, hubby understands my aloofness before a shift isn’t personal, it’s a necessity.  He understands that in my mind, I am already hunting for the bad guy, already out-thinking the bad guy, already running though the possible scenarios of the upcoming twelve hours.  He knows my well-being counts on it, and he has chosen to understand it and accept it.  For that, I love him dearly.

It can’t be easy being married to a cop.

My colleague, who helps with recruit training, said the following question should be asked of all police hopefuls:

“Why do you want to be a police officer?”

Most will give the appropriate answer of wanting to help people, of wanting to give back to their communities, and of wanting to make a difference.  While all of these answers are just and true, and are all issues any new/prospective recruit should be thinking about, the real answer lies in how the question is answered.

There should be some element of wanting to catch the bad guy.

Yes, you read that correctly.  For all the political correctness in this world, there remains the need to put bad guys in jail.  To do so, a police officer has to think like a bad guy to catch one, and has to educate him/herself on how crooks commit crime, how bad guys flee crime scenes, as well as the patterns and nuances of actual crimes.  I covered this in some detail last year with a post about mind set, but it is important enough to bring up again.

Another question that any new officer or prospect needs to ask themselves is whether or not they are ready/willing/able to use force when it is required.  Much of policing utilizes an officers skill at verbal judo, but there are times when force is a necessity.

So, if you are a police hopeful, ask yourself the following:

• Are you ready to protect yourself and others by using the appropriate level of force to control the situation?
• Are you ready to use lethal force to protect yourself and/or others from grievous bodily harm and/or death?

This means looking at who you are as a person.  Look deep down inside. 

For all it’s job security, policing is a job that requires quite a bit of courage and a readiness to do battle if called upon.  You need to be able to step up and take control of volitile situations, verbally or physically, and you have to have the maturity and where-with-all to explain why you took the action you did.  You have to expect to be challenged, to be confronted, to be physically and verbally assaulted.

If these are questions you can answer in the affirmative, then law enforcement just might be the career for you.

You have to remember even the biggest, toughest cop has limitations – you just have to be aware of what your own limitations are and plan accordingly.   I, for one, am not a little gal.  At 5’10″, I can hold my own, but I am still perfectly aware that I am no match for a goal-oriented male suspect of similar stature. 

That’s why I have a plan (actually, I have many plans…all are situational).  I have the “What-if” conversation with myself on a regular basis, and I go over other officer’s incidents to try and learn something from every source I can. 

Obsessive?  I don’t think so.  I call it having a plan to go home to my family at the end of every shift.

That said, training only takes you so far.  You have to be mentally prepared to step up when you are called into action.  You have to know that you will not hesitate when you really need to do something that scares the crap out of you (or at least makes you very nervous).  I’ve been there.  Almost every cop I know worth his or her salt has been there.  When faced with ‘that’ situation, an officer will know right away if they have what it takes. 

Thankfully, most do.