Gordon Graham
Category: Law Enforcement

Gordon Graham here with today’s tip from Lexipol. And today’s tip deals with identifying the stakeholders in our officer-safety efforts.

It’s important to understand that there are many stakeholders in your safety and the steps you take to be safe, besides you.

What you do and what you DON’T do to protect yourself is not just about you!

Here at Lexipol, it’s no secret that we take training seriously. In fact, it’s one of the reasons why we even exist at all. One of our top priorities is to help all of you out there on the front lines go home safely at the end of each shift. But what about those times when that doesn’t happen? An average of 150 of us each year won’t go home at all. It’s bad enough when things happen that we’ve had little control over. It’s even worse though when things happen that we have control over, but we don’t take advantage of and it ended up costing us dearly. I’m talking of things such as wearing your vest, your seatbelt, keeping complacency at bay and/or using good tactics and solid officer safety principles.

Taking shortcuts in officer safety can cause needless injury, death and the accompanying emotional devastation that goes with it. Not wearing your vest not only puts your life at risk, but those of other officers who may have to risk their own lives to save you should you be shot and wounded; an injury that may have otherwise been spared by simply wearing your vest.

It’s important to understand that there are many stakeholders in your safety and the steps you take to be safe, besides you. There are a lot of people out there counting on you to do things right and to come home at the end of your shift. EVERY shift. When we lose an officer, the affect is widespread and the sadness widely felt. Children lose a parent; a spouse loses a husband, wife or significant other. Parents lose a son or daughter and siblings a brother or sister. Fellow officers lose a colleague and in many cases, a good friend as well. The loss of an officer has a ripple effect that carries on, touching many lives. We owe it to everyone in our lives to do our best to come home every day; and not only to survive but to thrive.

And that is Today’s Tip from Lexipol. Gordon Graham signing off.