1 Dec 09
WA Incident:
The motive of the suspect who murdered four police officer in WA last
Sunday morning is unclear. It is also unclear whether or not the perpetrator
targeted police officers in general, or these officers in particular.
Nor am I speculating that this incident necessarily represents a new
trend. And, as the prime suspect was shot to death by police early this
morning, we may never have answers to these questions.
What is clear is the fact that it was well known that unformed patrol
officers routinely congregated at this particular restaurant, at a particular
time, on a regular basis.
As a response, I’m suggesting all LEOs, in uniform or not, immediately
reevaluate routines and procedures!
Reminders that follow are, I know, elementary and obvious, but they need
repeating now:
(1) Vary your “routine.” When someone knows for sure that you will be in
a particular place, at a particular time, planning an ambush becomes easy.
We have to continuously practice stealth and variance. It goes with the
territory. Do the unexpected. Don’t be predictable!
(2) When several officers are gathered together, be it at a restaurant or
at roll-call, like a designated-driver, someone needs to be always “on
watch.” Of course, we all need to be alert, but at least one of us needs to be
specifically assigned to keep his head up. Subtle alert signals need to
be worked out between us and routinely rehearsed, so we can all react
quickly, and in a coordinated way, when necessary.
(3) Don’t keep thinking of yourself as the exception! Belief in ”
guardian-angles” is for children. You do not carry pistols in vain, and you bleed
red blood, just like everyone else. When your number is up, only you can
save yourself. Recommit yourself to continuous readiness, or do something
else for a living!
(4) Appearances only go so far. The brazen act of attacking four,
uniformed, armed police officers simultaneously is unusual, but we see that it does
happen. Appearances detour much criminal activity every day, but there
are plenty of genuine desperados running loose who are not impressed with
uniforms and are unafraid to take you on. Again, be ever prepared to go all
the way!
/John
Continue Reading
