July 2021 End of Watch Monthly Update
June 2021 - 16 Officers Down
Asset
VS
Liability
I learned early on in my law enforcement career that when you are part of a team, you are one of two things; an ASSET or a LIABILITY. There is no middle ground.. I know this seems like a harsh black and white concept but when you are operating on a high performance team, skating by as the “grey man” is not an option. The concept of “Asset vs Liability” branches off as a new topic but also as a sequel to the last series on “Teamwork is Key.” So stay tuned as this initial letter is only scratching the surface…
To kick off this new series on “Asset vs Liability '' I am going to start by how this concept came to me, and then move into how it is applicable to the EOWMR. Later, I will dive deeper into how you can apply it in work, life, or as an officer.
When I say I learned this concept early on in my career, I mean very early. So early in fact I had not even technically started my career yet as I was still in the academy as a student or recruit. I still vividly remember the moment in the academy when this concept hit me like a ton of bricks. Let's start this story off like any good war story… “So there I was, knee deep in simunition rounds...” At this point in the academy we were conducting the high liability training portions of our curriculum. This is where we start training in active shooter scenarios, acting out traffic stops, conducting Emergency Vehicle Operations Course(EVOC) training and so on.
On this night we were to participate in active shooter training. The instructors took us to an old abandoned high school that hadn’t been used in years. It was mostly left unsecure so the place was trashed. Tables, chairs, and file cabinets were strewn haphazardly in every hallway and classroom. There was graffiti on the walls and other signs that the homeless had found refuge in random hall closets and bathrooms. The building still had power in some rooms since it was used for training from time to time, but no running water, heat, or air.
The class wasn’t given much information on the evening's activities other than the address and time to arrive. Prior to this we were given instruction on basic tactics such as slicing the pie, team movements and communications. It was February and by the time we arrived, it was well after dark and the temperature had already dropped a good bit. The students were being staged in the old library while the instructors had to pre-clear the building due to the signs of very recent homeless activities. The instructors came back, conducted a safety brief and went over the equipment. We are split into teams and while some of us were happy with the selections, others were not. We were not given any information about the scenarios until moments before entering the training zone. Prior teams are told not to discuss their scenarios and given vague threats of what may or may not happen if they talk about it. Either way, our instructors were pretty intimidating at the time so no one tested them.
As I’m sitting with my team in the corner we try to start discussing tactics. Like most academy students, you want to be the one to wow the instructors in a good way. Suddenly we are called up next and the adrenaline rush hits as this is the first time I’ve ever done anything like this. The four of us leave the well lit library and immediately take a right then a left into the dark ominous hallway of this creepy old school. The only light being provided is street lamps through windows, the random functioning ceiling light, and our small flashlights. The instructor walked us down the hallway and said that once we passed the dumped over file cabinet, we were now “in play.” So here we go, into the darkness. To get shot a bunch of times by these ruthless instructors bent on bringing the pain. As we move down the hallway, every door and every flipped over desk is a potential hidden threat. Eventually a shooter pops out of a classroom and starts firing blanks in an attempt to draw us into what we call “a suck.” We were warned about getting tunnel vision on the first shooter because a second shooter can get us from behind. As the team begins moving to address the threat, we are keeping decent formation and communicating pretty well all things considered. I noticed I wasn’t hearing one of our teammates so I scan left and right to find he is nowhere to be found. “What in the world? Where is our guy? Did he get lost or did an instructor snatch him up like an alien from the movies?” I notify my team and we stop moving toward the threat who is still actively shooting victim roleplayers. Suddenly our lone wolf teammate pops out of a room yelling “ALL CLEAR” at the top of his lungs. The team quickly addresses the issue reminding him to communicate and move as a team. He nods in acknowledgment and we start moving again. He disappears a second time. Now the team is getting frustrated and ready to just pop him once in the leg and leave him behind. But we don’t. We play nice and try our best to work through it. Needless to say, we get demolished and catch a hard tongue lashing from the instructors in the debrief. All part of the learning process.
During that scenario was when it hit me, “You are either an asset to the team, or a liability. No in between.” That lone wolf teammate was a liability that would have gotten us all hurt or killed in a real life critical incident. With all four of us needing to be on our fully focused “A” game, we couldn’t afford to have someone making stupid mistakes. In scenarios like the one above that I experienced you can’t even afford to have a tag along or “grey man”. An extra person not actively adding to the team, being an ASSET, is drawing attention from the task at hand, thus being a LIABILITY. This isn’t to say that we all have to be star players as not all assets look the same or have the same skill sets After all, star quarterbacks can’t do their job without support roles of defense. But everyone has to be actively involved in the mission if you want to dominate and win.
To help kick off this series let’s apply this principle of “Asset vs Liability'' to the upcoming annual End of Watch Memorial Ruck. We need you to sign up as an ASSET to the team and help us ruck miles for the fallen officers of 2020. In 2020 we lost 368 officers in the line of duty and we plan to honor them at our annual event. So for the next 60 EOWMR registrations, we will send a FREE “ASSET vs LIABILITY '' velcro patch as a thank you and as a reminder to always self-assess whether you are being an asset or a liability to the team.
Visit eowf.org/2021 to sign up.
Take Care,
Caleb Cook
June 2021 Honor Wall
Detective Ryan Park
End of Watch:
Friday, June 4, 2021
San Diego Police Department, California
Detective Jamie Huntley-Park
End of Watch:
Friday, June 4, 2021
San Diego Police Department, California
Police Officer Enmanuel Familia
End of Watch:
Friday, June 4, 2021
Worcester Police Department, Massachusetts
Deputy Sheriff William H. Smith
End of Watch:
Sunday, June 6, 2021
Baldwin County Sheriff's Office, Alabama
Sergeant Erasmo García-Torres
End of Watch:
Thursday, June 10, 2021
Puerto Rico Police Department, Puerto Rico
Police Officer Alexandra Brenneman Harris
End of Watch:
Sunday, June 13, 2021
Seattle Police Department, Washington
Sergeant Paul Keith Mooney
End of Watch:
Monday, June 14, 2021
Texas Department of Public Safety - Texas Highway Patrol, Texas
Police Officer Joseph William Burson
End of Watch:
Wednesday, June 16, 2021
Holly Springs Police Department, Georgia
