The No Hesitation Immediate Problem Solver

How training police officers to view their role as the "world's problem solvers" fails to account for the fact that there are so many problems they are powerless to solve. Not hesitating to jump into any situation may be noble, but it also may be foolish, or worse yet, deadly.

An unarmed man has been shot and killed by the police. His family is devastated. Bystanders captured the event on cell phone video and have uploaded it to YouTube. The video has over three million views and has been picked up by the national media. The killing has sparked protests all over the country and added fuel to an already scorching national debate about law enforcement use of force. The officer was initially placed on leave, then fired, then arrested and criminal prosecuted. The event has far reaching consequences for the officer’s agency and its staff as they have tried to recover. The department’s administration has had to implement new programs aimed at mending relations with the community and avoiding further incidents. The killing then went on to affect every police officer in the country because the public tends to perceive all police officers as one large group as opposed to individuals. Citizens from all over the country saw their local officers as somehow complicit. Although, the actual involved officer shot the man because of a mistake of fact (he thought he saw a gun), the repercussions are irrecoverable for the officer, the dead man and both of their families.

Although the aforementioned event is fictional, it is illustrative of actual and all too familiar events published in headlines on a weekly basis. Officers from agencies big and small and from all over the country have become infamous overnight. While issues of race have been in the forefront of the national conversation, so is how the police use force especially in the context of suspects who are either wanted for a minor crime, mentally ill or disabled. To distill the issue even further, it is basically the individual officer’s decision making processes that are so hotly debated.

Each of the cases in the headlines in the past few years have had their own unique set of challenging circumstances. Without being present on scene none of us can know with certainty what occurred or how we would have reacted. Second guessing an officer’s decision is mostly forbidden in some law enforcement circles because “we weren’t there.” Perhaps though we could all agree we should still try to learn from those events even though we weren’t there. Perhaps we should try to learn what lessons we can and then do whatever is in our power to avoid a repeat of past tragedies.

Trends

I have noticed trends in the countless viral police videos on the internet. The first trend is that of an incident involving the officer trying to impose their will on a person who will not voluntarily cooperate. The viral video shows the officer contacting someone who for whatever reason won’t comply with their directives. Instead of retreating or regrouping, most of the videos then show the officer continuing to press forward and engaging as they try to exert control over the uncooperative person. Often times the officer is alone without any back-up. The second common trend on viral police videos starts with the officer immersing themselves in a problem that they really don’t have the ability to actually solve. The video shows the officer has been called to fix a problem that has been years in the making such as drug addiction, mental illness, family issues and behavioral problems. Even though it’s a problem that the officer cannot realistically solve, the officer immediately jumps in and immerses themselves in the crisis. They are often alone, operating in a tense circumstance and seem to feel they must make an immediate decision and take definitive action right away.

The Police: The World’s Problem Solvers?

Some would no doubt argue that imposing their will and solving everyone’s problems is exactly what the police are supposed to do. The police, it is argued, are the world’s problem solvers. Plus, taking charge and handling business are two basic tenets of police-work, right? The officers in the videos do not shy away from any challenge and instead they jump in head first to take on whatever mess they have found themselves wrapped up in. These officers could be referred to as “No Hesitation Immediate Problem Solvers.” While not hesitating to try to solve a problem is certainly noble, that nobility is often rewarded by the officer being assaulted. The same videos often show things quickly escalating to the point where the officer is killed or kills the suspect. But if these officers were placed in a situation that was largely unwinnable, where they didn’t have the actually ability to solve the problem in the first place, why then were they using force to try to exert their will? If we take a step back and look at the messages we give young police officers during their initial training, we may be able to illuminate the reasons why.

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About Me: My name is Scott Savage and in addition to currently serving as a law enforcement officer in California, I founded the Savage Training Group. Most law enforcement officers are frustrated by a lack of high-quality training classes. That's where the Savage Training Group comes in! Our expert instructors teach advanced courses that help officers advance their careers, become experts and save lives. To see what we've prepared for you, go to https://savagetraininggroup.com/

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