Mind-Set Is Preparation, Not Paranoia : Police: Critics sometimes interpret an officer’s attitude as a propensity toward violence. It isn’t; it’s the will to live.

The Rodney King incident in Los Angeles and the fatal shootings by police last year in San Diego have raised many questions about police officers’ attitudes toward their jobs and whether training and supervision can set a tone that either encourages or discourages excessive force.

Attitude, or mind-set, can affect officers’ use of force; it can also affect how they protect themselves. But mind-set is not as simple as a recent commentary writer claimed, when he criticized San Diego Police Chief Bob Burgreen for saying that police officers are “going to shoot 10 to 12 people a year.” Burgreen was not sending his officers a contradictory message. He was just stating the reality of police work in a big city with big-city problems. And his officers knew that.

Hundreds of violent people, armed with weapons, on dope, mad and crazy, are taken into custody each year with force and tactics that do not result in serious injury or death.

In the last few weeks alone, I and the officers I work with have controlled, captured and taken into custody-- without injury to anyone--a man stabbing his wife on their living room floor; an armed, mentally disturbed man barricaded in a bathroom, and a man who had his wife in a chokehold and was shooting at us.

But these situations went unnoticed because they had no publicity or controversy value. Taking a violent, armed suspect into custody without injury is like trying to report good news. No one is interested.

I have spent 20 years with the San Diego Police Department, most of it working patrol beats, as an officer and as a sergeant. I have also trained officers in the field and at the Police Academy, where I teach a class called “Mind-Set, the Will to Survive and Live.”

Mind-set is based on preparation, not paranoia. Mind-set is how an officer thinks about police work. And it can determine the outcome of any situation.

But mind-set does not mean anticipating every situation to be violent. Police critics sometimes misinterpret a survival mind-set as a propensity toward violence. It isn’t; it’s the will to live.

Mind-set begins in the academy as new officers watch and listen to veteran officers. The professionalism and credibility of veteran officers sets the tone. “War stories” abound.

There are pluses to this. New officers must have realistic expectations about the violence on the street if they are to survive.

But whether a police officer uses excessive force or dangerously insufficient force can depend on how the officer thinks about surviving.

An officer must know the best ways to defuse situations, and this takes training and retraining.

Ninety percent of our work is verbal. The first thing that comes out of an officer’s mouth can determine the whole outcome of a situation. If an officer is called to a home where a very macho man is threatening his wife, the worst thing an officer could do would be to start ordering the man around in his own living room.

When called to the scene of an argument about to turn violent, the first thing the officer should do is be a real good listener. You get them to tell you their story, vent at you rather than at each other. There’s a reason God made you with two ears and one mouth.

When violence is already occurring, it’s harder to avoid using force. But an officer should be prepared with a plan of increasing levels of force. For instance, recently we were called to a home where a large man was beating family members. It was a small house with lots of people. The man was big enough to have thrown us all through a window. I decided I was going to use a Taser. But I knew that if the Taser didn’t work, I was going to get pummeled, so I told the other officers, “If the Taser doesn’t work, everybody pick a body part and tackle.” But the Taser stopped the man immediately. So we could hold him until he calmed down.

Not every situation can be defused without force, however. So, mind-set training also includes the reality of what violent people are capable of when armed with various objects or weapons. Much criticism occurs when an officer shoots a suspect armed with a seemingly harmless object, such as a trowel. But any object is a potentially lethal weapon. Homicide units have records of people stabbed to death with ink pens, clubbed to death with ashtrays, slashed with broken wine glasses.

I’ve found that officers take the most pride in being able to talk a guy down without a fight. The smart cop can learn to talk the biggest, meanest guy into giving up. Veteran officers remember these incidents with more detail than when they had to fight. The macho image, the big arrest, the big fight, is momentarily thrilling or exciting. But the professional police officer receives satisfaction over the long run by learning to solve problems.

Maintaining a positive mind-set requires mental and physical practice. But, after the academy, officers are on their own to practice and rehearse these skills. There is no quarterly or annual qualification for mind-set or thinking or problem-solving ability. Police agencies traditionally test only the hard skills--firearms, driving, first aid.

Our work is 98% people-oriented, but probably less than 10% of our training is in people skills and problem solving. I’ve never seen a problem-solving course for patrol officers, and problem solving is what police work is all about.

Ongoing training in problem-solving skills, mind-set and professionalism falls on front-line sergeants. It’s not the fault of police administration when a patrol officer performs badly. The sergeant closest to the officer is responsible. A sergeant must lead by example, constant training and making expectations clear. But ultimately, every action, from words to physical force, is each officer’s own responsibility.

The incident in Los Angeles is an embarrassment to all of law enforcement. It is equally shameful when San Diego police officers violate law or department policy.

We ask young officers to do a lot with minimal training. They encounter situations and violent people under circumstances that would cause ordinary citizens to run or freeze. There is no time to get a mind-set once a fast-moving, violent or potentially dangerous incident is in progress.

Training is the key--constant training in people skills, mind-set, attitude and problem resolution. Only with proper training and retraining will officers be able to think ahead, think on their feet and solve problems in ways that minimize danger and the use of force.