Do We Have An Epidemic of Hesitation?
Training Is Woefully Adequate For Many
While I spend most of my writing and training on leadership issues, there is an elephant in the room that we need to start discussing. For a decade I have been teaching a seminar called “Seconds For Survival” and while it may seem vastly different than Courageous Leadership, it is not for a very important reason.
The most important role of a leader in law enforcement is to focus on the mission and as long as that mission is crime, our personnel will continue to be placed in positions of risk and leaders must do all they can to mitigate that risk.
“Seconds For Survival” is a seminar that uses the science behind human behavior and provides law enforcement with the tools to predict, with a high probability, if an attack is imminent. The information is not new and there are mounds of peer reviewed research and studies that go back close to a century. What is new, is the level of hesitation we are seeing in the profession. Over the last several years, the LEOKA Studies have pointed out that when a police officer is murdered, just 21% fired a shot back.
I was first exposed to this philosophy in 1995 when a street sergeant made it a point every year to expose officers to the training but a decade ago I noticed that fewer and fewer cops were aware of it and many tell me today they have never heard of these concepts.
Like I said, this is a leadership issue.
That drove me to start studying the issue and I eventually launched a course on it. While I’ve considered putting it on the shelf to spend more time on leadership, I can’t in good conscience do that.
I am seeing an epidemic in hesitation like I have never seen before in the profession and that hesitation is killing law enforcement officers at a rate that we have not seen in many years.
What’s Next
I have some decisions to make in the coming months. There is a greater need than ever for leadership in law enforcement and advocating for that, including teaching and writing is my calling from God but at the same time, I know that “Seconds For Survival” has saved lives and will continue to do so. Here is just one testimony that claims that.
I’m considering an online training portal to expose as many law enforcement professionals as I can to this training while continuing on ground seminars and train the trainer courses. Let me know in the comments what you think and watch and share the below example of the skills this training can provide below.
I explained some of the terms in this follow up video.
Dr. Travis Yates retired as a commander with a large municipal police department after 30 years of service. He is the author of “The Courageous Police Leader: A Survival Guide for Combating Cowards, Chaos & Lies.” His risk management and leadership seminars have been taught to thousands of professionals across the world. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy with a Doctorate Degree in Strategic Leadership and the CEO of the Courageous Police Leadership Alliance.
This is important subject matter. In light of all the negativity against police and all the unfair malicious prosecutions I think there is definitely officer hesitation. I would recommend to you to do the online training and do your best to continue to get the information out there. Perfect? Nope, but better than not doing it. I am sure you discuss it but before I retired in 2015 I also saw the opposite impact. Much of it centered around the "Tueller Rule," which I even hesitate to write. Not a rule at all! Many times called the "21ft rule". I saw it in Dallas, young instructors literally teaching the 21ft as the the only decision that goes into deadly force. We all know that is not true. And Tueller made the point in his 21ft demonstration of action/reaction. Many factors go into a critical decision just as in the scenario you used here. Body language, verbal communication, distance, cover, concealment, weapons, cover officers, etc. Great discussion keep up the good work!
I love it! I was angry that “staffing“ prevented me from attending the course you just put on in Phoenix, brother. However, one of my close friends attended and explained that you’re looking for a train to trainer type set up, which I would be very much infavor of! I recognize you only have 168 hours every week that God wants to use for some purpose for his glory. I pray that some of that is devoted to this very important topic for the safety of the officers on the street! Whatever you choose, please know that I support you and look forward to partnering with you to find success!