There is Hope

These last couple of weeks have been rough. Eight police officers have been shot and killed in the line of duty, ambushed and executed by what can only be called evil and hate. During that time just short of 20 officers have been wounded, some grievously, by gun fire. Many others have been injured in car wrecks and brawls while they did their absolute best to protect you and carry out their sworn duty to their communities and this nation. Today I read the President's open letter to law enforcement.  Some will say it is too little too late, but I refuse to be that negative.  I am no fan of our current POTUS, but today he did what a leader should do and he took a stand FOR his guardians, for the protectors of us all.  There IS Hope.

There is hope elsewhere too.  As I left my house today and drove to work, I passed several people walking their dogs, jogging, enjoying the gorgeous weather, just doing what Americans do everyday.  But today was different. Usually I, and the big black and white car, get the occasional look, but most times people just go about their business and try to avoid "the cops."  Not today, today I saw hope.  Without fail, everyone of those people smiled and waved.  I stopped for coffee on the way in, when I went to pay, the girl at the window said, "Put your money away, the lady in the other car already paid for you," and before I drove off she said, "Please be safe today." I don't know her or the lady who paid for my small cup of coffee, but their kindness made this day so much better.

While I was headed down the road, I had to stop a driver and discuss his somewhat aggressive driving.  I didn't get attitude, I got an apology and before he left, this man made sure to tell me that he knows we have a tough job and he thanked me for being polite.  There is hope.

I stopped and checked on a car that was stopped on the side of the road. "I'm just sleepy and I didn't want to crash." Well, I got him on his way and as I was walking back to my patrol car with traffic slowly creeping by one gentleman rolled down his window and said, "thank you for what you guys do, we have your back."

Yes, the last few weeks have been brutal. The rhetoric is disheartening and when one of my brothers or sisters is hurt or killed while doing this job, it cuts us to the bone...more than you probably understand. There is an old saying that the night is darkest before the dawn.  It has been dark lately, but today I saw some light.  Today I saw appreciation in small gestures. Not national, breaking news displays, but in the ways that matter most...human beings treating others as human beings.

Yes, there IS hope.  Don't stop America, be what you have always been, a beacon of hope. Be as great as I know you can be.  I saw that potential today.  There was heartbreak today as well with another officer slain in the line of duty in Kansas City.  But we can not, as a nation we can NOT, give into the despair. We are better than that.  Today I saw hope as well.  Let's keep doing this, let's move forward.  THERE IS HOPE.

Stay safe out there.

Original content by Michael McCarthy, posted to his Blog:  The Highway Ranger

I Came To Work Today

I started this little blog project a while ago, but I stopped.  I didn't want to continually deal with the assault on my profession, but after last night, I just can't be silent anymore.  So, I'll re-initiate contact...

I woke up this morning and I came to work.  I was up very late last night, but I still got myself out of bed at 0430 and came to work.  I know, you're thinking, "Good for you buddy, I came to work too." You're right, you did, but it's different.  Last night five of my family members were ruthlessly assassinated while protecting people who were protesting their very existence.  Seven more of my family members were grievously wounded .  This happened while they were protecting a group who despises everything they stand for.  Yet my family protected this group, even when they began receiving gunfire, my family shielded these protesters with their own bodies and ran TOWARDS the gunfire to confront the evil. But we, "The Police," we are the bad guys, right?

Like I said, I came to work today.  I got up, I strapped on my vest, put my very distinctive looking uniform on, and I buckled on my duty belt.  I walked out of the house knowing I was a target, knowing people will hunt me, knowing when they see me they will instantly think, "Ah crap, why are the cops here?"  But this morning I left my wife and my children to go to work.  Because this is who I am, this is who WE are.  We will not be afraid, we will stand the line between you and the evil that you claim doesn't exist.  You will second guess every decision we make, you will spend hours dissecting something we did while reacting in a split second and trying to save our life.  We know this will happen, but we still came to work today.

Yes, I came to work today, I really hope I go home after my shift is done.  I have a family, I have lots of things I still want to do in this world, I'm really not that much different than you.  So, we both went to work today, you know you'll  be home later on.  Me, I'm not so sure, but I came to work anyway.

Stay Safe out there.

Original content by Michael McCarthy, posted to his Blog:  The Highway Ranger.

Stop Left Side Approaches!

I don’t understand left side approaches. Maybe it’s because I was always taught to make my approaches on the right or maybe it’s something else, but I see absolutely ZERO benefit to making them. You may have your opinions about them, but let me be blunt; left side approaches don’t work and they put you in far greater danger. Left side approaches are just plain dumb.

Yes, I said it. If you took offense to it, that is unfortunate, but do I have your attention, because you need to listen. I work for a state wide agency and I make a LOT of traffic stops. In the almost two decades of work I have made literally thousands, I think that qualifies me to know what I am talking about in this particular matter. It still blows my mind when I see officers walking up on the left side of a car during a traffic stop on the freeway (highway, interstate, whatever you call it in your area). To make it worse, many of these officers then stand there conducting business with their back to traffic. It’s enough to send me into convulsions. Why would you stand there, with your back to traffic and not know what the hell is bearing down on you at freeway speeds? (Even if it is slower traffic, do you want to get hit by a vehicle at any speed?!) Why would you put yourself in a position where you have about six inches of space to react to anything the violator does? Why would you give the violator all the space and options to confront you and put yourself at a disadvantage? WHY?

The vast majority of people you stop are going to be looking over their left shoulder for you when you walk up, they are planning on it, and they are waiting for you. Don’t be predictable. Use the right side to make your approach on your traffic stop. The right side will keep you out of traffic and leave you plenty of room to maneuver if you need to make some space between you and the violator. If that person does try to engage you as you walk up, you have their whole car in between you and them for some good cover…whether they get out and try to charge you or a gun fight develops, space and distance are your friend. The right side approach gives you both of these. The left side approach, well you just make yourself a big fat target. Think about this, from the left side of their vehicle they simple have to have their arm folded across their chest (assuming most folks are right handed, and they are), holding a gun pointed out the driver’s side window, you won’t see it until their booger hook is pulling the bang switch, it’s too late at that point. Now, think about the right side, they’re going to have to somehow extend their hand across the passenger compartment of their vehicle, while holding that gun, before they can get a shot off at you. And it will take very long arms indeed for them to get a hold of you from the driver’s seat when you are standing outside the passenger window if they want to go hands on. Right side approach equals advantage YOU.

Since we’re talking about traffic stops, let’s cover the standing with your back to traffic thing. DON’T DO IT. Once you make the contact through the right passenger window and clear the hands of the vehicle’s occupants and the interior, rotate yourself around and face traffic. Your traffic violator may be completely compliant, but if you’re concentrating solely on them and not that 4,000 pound SUV approaching at 70 mph on the shoulder…well, what do you think your chances are? Watch traffic, it will kill you. While were talking about traffic, stay out of the no leg zone.  There is absolutely NO need to conduct your face to face business with the violator (if you need them to get out of the vehicle in the first place) between the trunk of their car and the hood of your car. The no leg zone is no good.

As I wrote this, I started thinking that this is some pretty basic stuff that “everyone” should know. But if everyone knows this, why does it keep happening? Left side approaches have no benefits and many drawbacks, why do we keep doing them? Sure, sometimes there is a reason to make a left side approach, maybe it’s a DUI stop, you’re on a quiet residential street and you need to check out that odor of alcohol on the breath. Yes, there are times and places where I can understand a left side approach. However, those are far and few between and the freeway is almost NEVER a time or place for one. Get off the left side of vehicles, use a right side approach, it’s safer and you’ll have a far longer career. Think about it, I’m right on this one. If you think I’m not, I’d like to understand your reasoning, I just don’t see it.

Stay Safe out there.

Original content by Michael McCarthy, posted to his Blog:  The Highway Ranger. 

The "Drive To Arrive" Broken Record

You’ve heard it repeatedly. It’s the constant, obnoxious drum-beat, “You can’t help unless you get there.” It also happens to be true. A busted and bent patrol car - with you in it – presents a whole different set of problems. Don’t be that knucklehead. Instead, get to where the help is needed and be an asset - not an unnecessary liability.

Have you ever responded to a call and found it to be EXACTLY what is was described as by dispatch? Me either and it's been almost 19 years. The folks who call in or the radio traffic that is broadcast rarely give the full picture. When I started my career in the Los Angeles region, I responded to a call one night of a patrol car collision involving another agency. Since it occurred in our area, we handled the investigation. The officer involved was responding to a burglary call to assist another unit that was already on scene. Reportedly there were possible suspects there as well. The officer was traveling in excess of 120 mph when he either lost control, was lane changed or suffered some other catastrophic event that caused his vehicle to go left, into the center divider, up onto the center divider and take a steel sign post broadside at the midpoint of his vehicle. The patrol car was unrecognizable, as was the officer, we found bullets from the spare magazines on his duty belt over 400 feet away. The burglary suspects were taken into custody with no drama, the responding officer didn’t see another sunrise.

There are incidents on this job that we need to get to right away, but the key is we need to get there. There’s that broken record again and in yet another example…a couple weeks back we had a call come over the radio that one of our officers was in a fight, then he lost his gun, then it was an officer down. Yep, you guessed it, one of the responding officer’s fubar’d his patrol car and crashed into another car by brake fading through a stop sign. But the other officer needed help, right?!?! Once the radio calmed down and everyone took a breath here’s what really happened…the other officer came across a physical fight on the side of the road, there were NO weapons involved and the officer was never physically engaged himself, he simply broke up the fight (and a couple of guys went to jail for drunk in public). So, Mr. “Brake Fade” never got there to help, caused another mess that required resources and now we are down a car. You can’t help if you don’t get there…starting to sink in yet?

Yes, sometimes we need to push the envelope and get somewhere as quick as humanly possibly (or as quick as a modern internal combustible engine will take us). But we need to arrive safely. Your Code 3 lights (and the siren) are not an impenetrable force field. Anticipate the actions of other drivers (you know folks do silly things when they see lights and hear sirens coming). Keep a high visual horizon. Don’t over drive your headlights at night. After a few (very few) hard braking applications during a response or a pursuit, your brakes are going to be shot. Remember high entry and watch for that apex when cornering. SLOW DOWN in the rain. Know your area and how to get places quicker without emergency equipment. Don’t be THAT guy who doesn’t get there and can’t help. Trust me, if you’re the one that needs help, you want it, we want to get there, none of us want to get diverted to clean up an avoidable mess.

Do yourself a favor, take a look at the yearly statistics on officer deaths and injuries. Cars and car wrecks kill and injure more of us than anything else and they are usually avoidable.  You can’t always control what the dirtbag you come across does, you can’t control the out of control vehicle spinning down the freeway towards your traffic stop. You CAN control you and your driving. Take breath, remember what you are doing and how you can’t help if you don’t get there. Drive to arrive people, it’s simple, make it happen. 

Stay Safe out there.

Original content by Michael McCarthy, posted to his Blog: The Highway Ranger. 

Lieutenant Belt Buckle

I was sitting in a training class the other day. It was one of those "required" blocks of training that the good idea fairy thought everyone should go to. You patrol guys will recognize the type, conceived and put on by the desk bound folks who think they need to remind you about how rough things can be. How you are going to be exposed to some pretty nasty scenes and incidents. No kidding, really?! So, yeah, you can tell I wasn't thrilled to be missing a day of trying to catch up at work to sit in a room and let the desk guys tell me how rough it was and give me their one war story as an example.

Well, one of the things that we started talking about in this class was how the vast majority of us had very similar personality traits and experiences. Police officers tend to follow a very typical profile, we are fixers we are helpers and we take control of life and challenges. If you’re married, your spouse has probably vented to you about something and you then went headlong into fixing their dilemma only to hear, "I didn't need help, I just wanted to vent." Hey, we can't help who we are. How about the decompression when we get home? I know you've been there, you work your shift, call after call, pulling decisions out of your butts and making calls by the seat of your pants, only to get home and get this question, "What do you want for dinner? " Ahhhhh! I don't want to make another decision, I want to sit here and just unwind for a minute!  (I have a commute to get home, those of you who have commutes know how good that decompression time is.) Or you get the 30 minute dissertation about the latest drama in the neighborhood in all its glory...meanwhile you're running over in your mind the dead kid you had to pull out of the burned car that was driven by the drunk asshole...which leads to you saying, "No, I don't really want to talk about my day." You know the conversation, we've all been there.

We also discussed the being in charge trait in this class. You know we have this, it is a job requirement, you must take control of a scene when you get there. You are the one to take charge, calm everyone down and start fixing things. Being in control is sometimes a double edged sword in our world. I had a lieutenant once who reported into our office right when we switched from the classic leather Sam Browne duty belt with its brass buckle to a newer, lighter synthetic belt. Now, if you know cops, you understand how this minor change in equipment apparently was a harbinger of the end of the world. Change belts, are you crazy?! Our new lieutenant dutifully did his job and made sure the troops complied with policy, constantly reminding, guiding and moving the troops toward compliance with this new change. For this he became known as "Lieutenant Belt Buckle" and he was constantly lampooned by the troops. The point was though, it wasn't about the belt buckle, it was about having control taken away, and we, the troops, don't like that.

So here lies the heart of the matter, you can't sweat the small things. My office has a patrol car that is old and beat, but it isn't quite at the miles needed to run it out. Last month I started assigning it to be driven every shift.  You would have thought I declared myself dictator of the world and directed that we fight crime with rainbows and hugs. It's a patrol car! We have plenty of legitimate, drive you nuts, overbearing stress issues everyday at work, let's not exacerbate it by focusing on the little things. Don't get so wrapped around the axle by the little, inconsequential things that you choke yourself out and swallow your own tongue. Let it go, worry about the big stuff, like going home safe at the end of your shift. The older, slower patrol car isn't going to effect that, neither is the belt that doesn't look as good as the traditional one. This career isn't a sprint, it's a marathon, make it to the end. That isn't good enough though, we all work hard and have plans for our retirements. Don't get so worked up about the little things that you give yourself some serious medical problems and you make it so you're not able to enjoy that retirement. We have plenty of bad stuff (both physical and psychological) thrown on us as a price of doing business. Don't make it worse by stressing about the little things that don't matter and that we can't control. Take a deep breath, step back and look at the whole picture, let the small things go and get to retirement. You put a lot of your own hard earned money into that retirement account, make sure you live long enough to enjoy your reward. Breathe, don't loose the forest for the trees, you body will thank you, your mind will thank you and your home and family will be much happier. This career we've chosen is one wild ride, sometimes you just have to sit back and go with it.

So, when you hit the beat tomorrow, take a breath, let go of the little things you can't influence, worry about what is truly important, keep your eye on the goal of completing that shift safely and in one piece. As always, I encourage you to leave comments and discuss this, a conversation is always the best way to come to a better understanding of what concerns us. (I'll say thanks here to a friend of mine who has been kicking my ass and pushing me to get another post up, I will do my best to blog more frequently in the future.)

Stay safe out there.

Original content by Michael McCarthy, posted to his Blog: The Highway Ranger. 

I Don't Like Dirty Patrol Cars

I don't. They look sloppy and nobody wants the slob correcting their behavior or giving them a little written "note" for their poor decisions. OK, seriously, dirty patrol cars irk me, but it's bigger than that. Dirty uniforms annoy me, slovenly appearances are an irritant and the fat, out of shape, torn uniform, worn out leather gear wearing cop drives me nuts. I know, you don't care, and I'm good with that. It’s simply my opinion. But you should care, it's not just me, it's everyone. It’s our "customers" that we deal with on a daily basis who notice this too. I'm not talking about the nice elderly lady you came across or the soccer dad. I'm talking about the dude who ISN'T go back to jail and his buddies, he notices your appearance too. Your appearance is an officer safety issue.

"You never get a second chance to make a first impression." Who's heard this before? I think we all have and it's true. For those of you who share my profession, we are judged by our appearances constantly and right from the start of anything we get involved in. The second you step out of your car, you are being watched, just like you are watching. Everyone makes judgements about what they see. They especially do when they deal with those of us in law enforcement. Everything you do and say is watched, remembered and then used by the folks we deal with. You can probably agree with me on this, but how could it possibly be an officer safety issue and how can you appearance make the job safer (or more dangerous)?

Take this scenario; put yourself in the shoes of one of our "customers."  You know you have warrants (or whatever), you know you don't like cops and you know they will probably take your freedom away when they find you. Driving down the road and those red and blue lights come on behind you, crap...there goes your freedom, unless you can get away somehow. So, we stop and you're watching that rear view mirror, who do you want to see getting out of that patrol car? The slovenly, unpolished, scuffed boots, wrinkled uniform wearing officer, or the squared away, polished boots, pressed uniform, clean gear wearing officer? Who do you think you have a better chance besting in a brawl or running away from? The squared away guy probably puts the same effort into his officer safety tactics, his weapons training and his work as he puts into his uniform. The slovenly guy, heck, he looks lazy and probably hasn't arrested anyone or even cleaned his gun in months. Put yourself in the suspect's shoes, which of these officers would you want to deal with?

I know, that sounds silly, not all of that can be based on appearance. Maybe, maybe not, but I'll take any advantage I can to get out in front and maintain control of the situation. I worked, many years ago, with a great group of guys on a graveyard shift, we were all young, new and fired up to go out and find "the bad man." Two of the teams on the shift consisted of drastically different partners. One half of each team was squared away and the other half, well, with about two years on, they had the attitude and appearance of a couple of really senior officers who just didn't care anymore. (Hey, senior guys, I'm not picking on you, the key there was, "just didn't care anymore", we ALL know these guys.) Anyway, both teams split up, the two squared away guys both transferred out to different areas, the other two stayed in the area and partnered up. The rest of us started noticing that these two suddenly had a suspect control issue. It became routine to respond to calls for assistance from them because someone was taking leg bail or fighting with them or whatever. It wasn’t that their activity was going up, all of us maintained pretty much the same level of work, it was that more people they interacted with were willing to challenge them. One night, at the end of shift they pulled into the back lot in their filthy patrol car running with a headlight out.  I pointed out the headlight and the general slovenly appearance. The reply I got…”well, it’s a working man’s car.” No, my friend, it’s not, it’s a lazy slob’s car.

In this profession we should all be aware that what WE do and how WE look represents everyone else who wears the same uniform as us. The public doesn’t see Officer Sloppy, they see all of us in that single person. Take some pride in yourself. We all know that our job occasionally (OK, maybe more often than not) requires us to get scuffed up, bruised and dirty rolling around in the filth with some of the folks we come across. That doesn’t mean you have to report to the next shift looking like a sack of dirty laundry. I don’t know about you, but I look for every advantage to get ahead of what is coming and take control of a situation as opposed to trying to react to what someone else is doing. The next time you lock horns with some predator at work, a professional, squared away appearance and bearing may give you that split second advantage to get control while your adversary thinks, “do I really want to take this guy on?” That puts you on the winning side to carry out your job and, more importantly, successfully complete your most important duty…going home safe and in one piece to your family at the end of your shift. Think about it…your comments and thoughts are always welcome.

Stay safe out there.

Original content by Michael McCarthy, posted to his Blog: The Highway Ranger. 

A New Blog...and A New Experience

So I've started a blog.  I don't know where this will go or what it will lead to, but here it goes. I have opinions (go figure) and my opinions are more often than not longer than what can be expressed on Facebook or a Twitter feed (I should look into getting one of those Twitter deals...).  Many times these thoughts and rants come to me while I'm enjoying a cigar or driving home from work or riding my motorcycle. All are good times to think, some not so good to write...but the thoughts are there.  These thoughts and ideas are, however, imperfect because they are mine, they lack the input or ideas of others. The military has sent me too many schools on leadership and supervision.  The most productive of these have been the ones where a free exchange of ideas took place.  I find value in seeing other people's points of view.  My points of view change and become more meaningful when I am forced to defend them to others.  Thoughts in a vacuum are worthless, they have no context. If you truly believe in something, you have to be able to say “why.”  Beyond that, you have to be able to defend your platform, why you think and feel that way, what do your thoughts and ideas add to the context of the conversation, what do you add to the greater discussion.  I don’t know if my ideas and rants will add anything, but I have them and I’d like to discuss them.

My life has been shaped, by and large, by my two professions.  Law Enforcement and the Military.  Now, both of those have rather rigid procedures, policies and ways of doing things.  Neither are known for their trend setting and new ideas…at least to those viewing them from the outside.  However, if you are involved in either one of these fields, you know that they are forever changing.  Every traffic stop, every radio call and every directive you receive from higher headquarters requires a new way of addressing the problem at hand.  No two situations are ever fully the same and if you don’t adjust your thinking, you are bound to fail before you even begin. Many years ago, when I went to college, I majored in history and one of the famous (or infamous?) sayings in this field has always stuck with me, “those that don’t understand their history are bound to repeat it.”  Of course, that is paraphrasing the saying (and a fairly poor version at that), but you get the point.

I don’t know a whole lot about anything, but I know some things about many issues.  The intent of my blog attempt is to throw ideas out there and hopefully interact with other people, whether of the same mind or of completely different points of view.  By discussing ideas, knowing other points of view and either adjusting my point of view, being forced to defend it or understanding and accepting completely alternate points of view, I hope to be better at what I do. I am a supervisor and a leader in both of my chosen professions, this doesn’t mean that I have all the answers.  I hope it means that I have been recognized as having the thought process and the intelligence to find the better way to get things done.  So, join me, give me your thoughts on things I bring up or give me issues that irk you.  Together we can find a better and more useful way to get through the daily issues that face us and maybe we can spread the understanding as to what we do and why we do it.  Welcome to the ride, I look forward to your thoughts.