Have a Plan

This is something that my training officers stressed constantly. I was taught that you should always be getting mentally ready for that moment of danger. While I am approaching a car on a traffic stop I'm judging which direction I am going to throw myself if a gun comes out the window. While I' biking around, I'm planning on where take evasive action towards if a car comes into my lane.

It really becomes second nature after awhile and it works. I've had people try to bolt away while in mid-sentence with me but I was able to snatch them as soon as they started to move. It's not because I have super-human speed. I was just watching them and pre-planning how I would react if they tried to run.

Last night I was dealing with a guy whose car was getting towed. He was very irate and carrying a strange type of shoulder bag that had his hand next to the opening. As he got more and more angry I was scanning objects to use as cover in case he had a weapon or charged me. The incident ended with him calming down and apologizing. As he left I wondered if he had any idea that I had a pretty solid plan on how to kill him if it came to that.

While this may sound horrible and paranoid to the public, very bad things can happen to officers who are caught with their pants down.

For example:



Always have a plan.