Are enjoying life and preparing for the worst mutually exclusive?

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The Street Survival Newsline with Calibre Press

A Street Survival Seminar Instructor Responds

By Lt. Jim Glennon, PoliceOne columnist 

On Tuesday, January 30th, 2007 two convicted felons followed the wife of Jackson County Florida Sheriff, John McDaniel, home from the grocery store. Knowing that she was being followed she contacted her husband who raced to the scene as did other deputies. The gruesome and sad reality of this story is that before the Sheriff made it home the two felons murdered the Sheriff’s wife and the first responding Deputy, Harold Michael Altman.

Newsline #819 related the events to talk about the realities of violence on and off-duty.

Newsline pointed out:

“When we talk about and train for "off duty survival," we have to include our family members in many aspects. Let your family know that you have an obligation to keep yourself, your family, and the community safe on or off-duty. More importantly, teach them that as members of a police family, they also share this obligation. Talk to them about good v. evil, about being part of a "warrior family,' and how they can help you AND each other. Keep it simple, keep it age appropriate, and talk about this more than once! These discussions should be a regular part of your life as a crimefighter's family.”

As usual, Calibre Press received great feedback from our readers, but we had a couple of responses to the effect that life is too valuable and family time too important to waste with worry and training about such things as attacks or off-duty critical incidents. That planning for bad things to happen, instead of focusing on the positive things in the world, was not healthy or constructive for law enforcement officers and their loved ones!

It is with this we must take exception. The reality of our occupation is that there is violence all around us. This absolutely does not preclude us from living life to the fullest and loving our families. Enjoying your life and preparing yourself and those you love for possible violence are not mutually exclusive. You can, and should, do both. And we as trainers do not recommend worrying yourself silly.

As a lieutenant and commander of a group of people who all have families, I trust them enough to know the difference between paranoia and preparation. Dave and Betsy Smith made excellent points in their articles, and these are the same points that are discussed in the Street Survival seminar, which is where we learn about the true realities of life. The attacks on off-duty officers and their families, while not routine are also certainly not anomalies. We have countless examples of officers being stalked off-duty, below are a few of the most tragic:

• Sergeant Carl Dewayne Graham Jr. of the Missouri State Highway Patrol was stalked and murdered in the driveway of his home in 2005 by a subject he was investigating for a fatal traffic accident.

• Detective Thomas G. Newman of the Baltimore City Police Department in Maryland was stalked and killed in 2002 by friends of a man Newman put in prison.

• Officer Michael Garbarino and Detective Vicky Armel, of Fairfax County, Virginia was gunned down in the police department parking lot in 2006.

These are merely a small number of samples of the “True Reality” we as members of the law enforcement profession, and our families, must be prepared for.

Absolutely love your family. Spend time with them. We agree that we should not spend a great deal of time focusing on negative possibilities, and that it is even hard to ponder your loved ones being at risk with you when you are together off-duty, but we do need to be reminded that we must love them enough to teach them about the reality of violence. This is not an act that hurts family time, it reinforces how much you care about them and with give them tools to deal with threats when you are not with them!

Feedback from Newsline 820

Note from Dave Smith:

We have received a ton of responses from our readers following the recent off-duty incidents and the Newslines following them. Below are some examples of the wisdom of our readers and tips they have to share:

One off duty tip I learned, among many…has stuck with me since my academy days more than eighteen years ago… Officer Safety in traffic.

I constantly see people of all walks of life pull right up on the bumper of people in traffic. I even see on duty officers in marked police cars do it. It's a bad habit and one you need to break, NOW!

The question is... Where do you go if something breaks bad? You have left yourself no room to drive out of the situation, leaving you with a choice of ducking down in the seat or trying to exit the vehicle for the fight.

ALWAYS leave enough room between your car and the car in front of you to make a turn-out to safety.

What does that mean? Well, if you have to, you drive over the curb, up on the sidewalk, anywhere... Just get out of harms way!

ALWAYS look around at the people stopped next to you in traffic. Most of us have that gift on "instinct" that tells us when something isn't right.

When you look around and get that gut-wrenching feeling, I hope you've left yourself room to react!

Sgt. Cameron Burke
Firearms Instructor
College Park (GA) Police Department

One of the things I learned early in my Law Enforcement career was when I was on my way home I should vary my routes when possible, a common sense tactic but one we forget when we get complacent. Another tactic I use, especially since I drive a government vehicle, is to drive past a turn off and quickly but safely make an abrupt U-turn and then watch the traffic following me. If I see something I don’t think is right, I’ll drive for a longer period than normal while more closely observing the vehicles following me.

Steve Weathersby
Deputy US Marshal
FL/N-Pensacola
Warrant Coordinator

Here are a couple of tips I've picked up along the way for off duty survival:

Many officers wear clothing, hats, etc. that identify them as cops such as police logo shirts or union emblems but still go unarmed. I advise my guys that if you're wearing something that says to the public “I am a cop,” wear a weapon.

In my department off duty carry is not mandatory. I try to point out things from Calibre Press and Police One such as the recent shooting in Utah to my people to try to reinforce carrying off duty.

At a seminar I attended years ago the instructor said there were three kinds of off duty carry, always, sometimes and never…the theory was that if you carry all the time you should be prepared and ready to act, if you never carry that too is understandable as someone consistent and knowing what his reaction would be, IE “be a good witness.” The one he said was puzzling was the sometimes carry.

What is the criteria to carry off duty? A coin toss, a feeling? This is likely to be someone that has not thought out what type of action to take if confronted and not practiced with his weapon. Unfortunately this has been my experience. There are people who carry all the time and practice, those that don't even have an off duty gun and those that have one but rarely carry it and even less practice with it. These are the people I try to get to carry and practice more consistently.

I believe with the current world and national situation and the recent legislation allowing police to carry country wide it is a shame that more officers don't do it .

Thanks for your column and the newsletter it is a great help in my firearms program.

Joe Sferruzza

This is a very real part of my day as an Orange County, California Deputy Sheriff. I am currently assigned to the corrections division, and we have had several incidents of former inmates or friends of inmates trying to follow Deputies home from work.

My jail is conveniently situated near various freeways, so I make it a point to take different route every night leaving work. I also try not to telegraph my exits from the freeway. I usually hang out in the #2 lane and only move over to exit in the last 1/4 mile. That way anyone trying to follow me will be pretty easy to spot.

My neighborhood is pretty dark so as I enter, I use my high beams and drive slowly so I can see anything out of the ordinary. I have motion sensor light installed around the perimeter of my house, so I have a early warning if something is moving around the house.

I have also made it a point to walk my dogs around the neighborhood several times a week so I can get a feel for the vehicles that "belong". I know better than to say my way is the best, but anything you do will make it harder on the dirtbag waiting for you! To all my brothers and sisters wearing the badge, stay safe and watch those hands!

Deputy Marc Young
Orange County Sheriff's Department

As illustrated by the tragedy and heroics in Utah this past week, when off duty make sure you have extra ammunition ON YOUR PERSON if you are carrying your off duty weapon.

While gun and survival enthusiasts will debate for hours over semi-auto vs. revolver, the point is irrelevant so long as you HAVE a weapon to defend yourself, your loved ones and society. Equally important is to HAVE ENOUGH ammunition on you for at least ONE FULL RELOAD.

Once your gun is empty and the suspect is still a threat, you have no additional ammunition on your person to reload; you are bringing a paperweight to a gunfight. An off duty officer should carry either a "speedy loader", "quick clips" or even (though not personally recommended) loose rounds in your pockets for a revolver. If you carry an autoloader, you should have at a minimum one to two extra magazines in your pockets or on your belt.

Respectfully,

Sean Carrion, Deputy Sheriff, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

And finally:

1) Be a professional witness not superman.

2) If officers carry off duty, carry an extra mag or speedloader, cuffs, badge and in a perfect world, wear their vest.

2007 ILEETA Training Conference and Expo
April 17 - 21, 2007
Chicago Area

The International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association (ILEETA) will conduct its 2007 International Training Conference and Expo at the new Westin Chicago North Shore, located at 601 North Milwaukee Avenue, in Wheeling, Illinois in the Greater Chicago Area, April 17 through April 21, 2007.

Developed for criminal justice instructors, this conference has a two-pronged focus; keeping officers alive and safe from harm, and improving instructional delivery to criminal justice professionals. There will be a multitude of valuable topic offerings for instructors, training officers, and training administrators.

Additionally, the ILEETA Expo will offer a forum where criminal justice professionals can interact with manufacturers and distributors to gain information and learn about cutting edge technology affecting the products and programs used in the criminal justice training field.

For more information and to register, please visit the 2007 ILEETA Conference registration and information page

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