Will You Have Courage Under Fire?

In the wake of the recent assassination attempt on the former President and current Presidential nominee, Donald J. Trump, there has been an increasing focus on the security failures that led to this event as well as much finger pointing for who was at fault.? The pundits are coming from the left and the right, former military and law enforcement personnel, and keyboard warriors alike.? While some of these folks may have institutional knowledge on security measure's best practices, I posit that most do not, and have no idea what they are talking about.

I want to first address that all fault and responsibility for this egregious act of violence and intent for national instability to our political system lies in the mind, heart and trigger finger of the shooter.? The security failures can be debated, and certainly will be, but it is important to identify that the violence of action lies at the feet of only one person.? We must condemn any act of political violence and violent political speech that can lead an individual to act in a violent way.

While I could certainly add harmony to the chorus of the many folks talking about tactics, timing, conspiracies, and even the heroics of the agents and other law enforcement officers, I am going to refrain.? What I would like to do is highlight the psychology behind some of the actions of the law enforcement officers involved.? This is not to speak in judgment of those actions, but rather as an explanation of them.

I will start with the obvious, those that literally ran into the gunfire to protect the principal, in this case former President Trump.? I have developed the theory of Courageous Optimism?, an idea that I am calling Coptimism?. Where courage is defined not by the absence of fear, but rather action in spite of that fear, and optimism is defined through self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000) and self-efficacy theory (Bandura, 1977; 1997).? The idea where both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations (Brown & Ryan 2015) combine to form a moral will and a moral skill (Schwartz, 2022) that drives an individual to act courageously with the confidence that they can reduce or eliminate the threat and render the principal and environment safe through their actions.? This Coptimism? was on full display by the Secret Service Agents that instinctively used their bodies to “make themselves big” and shield President Trump, the tactical response officers that came forward beyond the ballistic barrier into the line of fire to potentially return fire as needed, and the precision rifle operators who eliminated the threat of the shooter from their overwatch position.? All of these individuals operated with courage in the face of fear to effect positive change in the situation.

The opposite of courageous optimism is simply cowardice or pessimistic cowardice. In psychology, cowardice is often defined as the tendency to avoid or retreat from situations perceived as threatening or challenging, often due to fear, anxiety, or a lack of confidence. It involves a failure to confront or address difficult situations or responsibilities, which may result in negative outcomes, like personal injury or death. While there isn't a specific term or concept called pessimistic cowardice, pessimism generally refers to a tendency to expect negative outcomes or to focus on the downside of situations. It can involve a lack of hope or confidence in the outcome of one’s actions.? Unfortunately, this was also on full display on July 13th before and after the violent actions of the shooter.? From the police officers who failed to confront the shooter after recognizing the threat prior to him shooting at President Trump, to the Secret Service Agent who “made herself small” and failed to instinctively use her body to shield President Trump and whose stress response even prevented her from the ability to holster her weapon as she was in full panic mode and not able to control her fine motor skills.?

Whether one acts with Courageous Optimism? or Pessimistic Cowardice, these are visceral reactions that are innate in us as individuals (fight, flight, freeze).? While intensive training, which most law enforcement officers like Secret Service Agents and Police Officers have, can certainly support courageous optimism and reduce pessimistic cowardice, there is no way to know how an individual will act in crisis until they are tested in real time, when it counts the most.? Training is regularly a controlled exercise, and while 100% necessary, will never be a substitute for real life incidents.? In the field of law enforcement, unlike other environments, we don’t only train until we get it right, we train until we can’t get it wrong.? However, what you cannot train for is your Courageous Optimism?, your will to act in spite of fear, one’s visceral reaction when their own life is a stake.

When discussing hiring and retention of law enforcement officers, there is no room for any discussion other than hiring the best person for the job.?This incident has raised into question the Secret Service hiring initiative of “30 in 30,” creating an agency of 30% women by 2030 as well as other DEI hiring across throughout the law enforcement spectrum.? Law enforcement needs to hire on the individual abilities of the candidate, that looks at their moral will and moral skill, their intrinsic and extrinsic motivations, their ability to run towards the gunfire when others are running away, their Coptimism?.?

Editor's note: 12 hours after the publishing of this article, Donald Trump, Jr. spoke at the 2024 Republican National Convention and highlighted the courage of his father to get back up in the face the threat and his optimism to look towards the future by telling the crowd he is a fighter and will power on. Courageous Optimism? can be embodies by all of us, and Former President Trump has certainly displayed the Coptimism? mindset.

David Berez is a retired Police Officer and Drug Recognition Expert, having served more than 20 years with the East Windsor Police Department and a total of 33 years in Emergency Services, including EMS and OEM. Following his retirement, Mr. Berez is now the President and Founder of Six4 Consultants, a Public Safety Consulting Firm. Mr. Berez is the author of A Resilient Life: A Cops Journey in Pursuit of Purpose, co-author of Wounds to Wisdom, featured columnist, guest speaker, and panelist on a variety of Public Safety discussions. In September of 2020, Mr. Berez was trained as a Resiliency Program Officer and Master Master Resiliency Trainer. He is a facilitator for Resilient Minds on the Front Lines, The Power of our Story, and is working to grow Resiliency for Law Enforcement Retirees in NJ with the State's Resilience Program. In 2022, Mr. Berez was named to the Law Enforcement Advisory Counsel for Citizens Behind the Badge. Mr. Berez is a Positive Psychology practitioner, having earned his Masters of Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) from the University of Pennsylvania, and works with police officers to be the best version of themselves and increase their overall well-being.

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References:

Bandura, A. (1977). Self-Efficay: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological Review, 84(2), 191-215.

Bandura, A. (1997). Self-Efficacy: The Exercise of Control. W.H. Freeman.

Brown, K. W., & Ryan, R. M. (2015). A self‐determination theory perspective on fostering healthy self‐regulation from within and without.?Positive psychology in practice: Promoting human flourishing in work, health, education, and everyday life, 139-158.

Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55 (1), 68-78.

Schwartz, B. (2022). Practical wisdom: What philosophy and literature can add to psychology. In?The Oxford handbook of the positive humanities?(p. 406). Oxford University Press.