OFFICER SAFETY Given the nature of police work, can we call any-


It’s Time to Remove the Word “Routine” From Police Work By John Bouthillette


thing that we do routine? The only thing that we should be doing on a routine basis is reducing risk. This is an important factor to consider, especially as it pertains to officer safety. Here are some examples of seemingly routine calls for service that resulted in tragic outcomes: • February 2, 2018: A Caldwell County, Texas, sher- iff’s deputy was shot multiple times while re- sponding to a theft report at a home. (PoliceOne.com, February 2018)


• September 26, 2017: A Yonkers, New York, officer was shot in the jaw as she responded to a report of a suspicious vehicle. (Officer.com, September 2017


• July 27, 2017: A police officer died after being shot multiple times while responding to a traffic crash on the south side of Indianapolis. (ODMP, July 2017)


So, what can law enforcement leaders do to stop


these kinds of tragedies? The first question that we must ask is: How does the concept of responding to a “routine” call for service override our need to identify and reduce risk? The simple answer is that there are points and times in our careers when complacency overrides our ability to focus on safety. I define the term complacency as “an officer’s failure to recognize the danger signs” or “the false sense of security that develops when law enforcement officers perform dai- ly tasks.” We do not become complacent on purpose; it just happens over time. The natural progression in each officer’s career is


that, with each and every call, we increase our on-the -job experience; therefore, we tend to become more confident in our abilities. The dark side of this pro- gression is that, over time, we also tend to lose our cautious, beginner mentality, and we become com- fortable in our positions in the law enforcement pro- fession. We lose sight of our training and begin to rely on our experiences, calls become routine, and we drop our guard. Confidence is an important aspect of law enforcement; however, overconfidence is one of several factors that leads to complacency and the de- velopment of a “routine call” mind-set, which can get


you seriously injured or killed. The next factor to consider is that officers rarely


receive all the information that they need prior to ar- riving on calls for service. So, if we never receive all the necessary information, how do we reduce any potential risks? We often hear in training that the key to officer safety involves maintaining a constant state of “situational awareness.” But how is this term de- fined? The answer that I hear most frequently during the hundreds of VALOR training classes that I have facilitated is “keeping your head on a swivel.” I will argue that this is not the answer. What law enforce- ment leaders need to do is train officers on a concept that we call informed awareness. Informed awareness involves training officers on


the concept of information hunting versus infor- mation hoping. So, how do we define the term infor- mation hunting? It is the process of obtaining as much information as possible prior to arriving on- scene. We must train our officers to ask questions, coordinate their response, and maintain a high level of tactical awareness. In addition to focusing on re- sponse times, law enforcement leaders should place equal emphasis on officer safety. The phrase that we use in the VALOR Program is “Be quick, but don’t hur- ry.” Getting on-scene quickly is the goal; however, what we want to avoid is being in a hurry. Quick is tactical, quick is prepared, and quick is being ready. When we find ourselves in a hurry, we tend to be reckless and unprepared, two things that we should avoid at all times in law enforcement. Once on-scene, the concept of information hunting


does not end. We need to train officers to be con- stantly scanning their environment in order to identi- fy potential threats while on-scene. This means main- taining a tactical advantage at all times, on every call, and avoiding the pitfalls associated with developing the ’routine call’ mind set. Now this does not mean being hypervigilant or paranoid; it is actually the exact opposite. Officers need to be aware, prepared, and mentally present on every call.


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