Gordon Graham
Category: Law Enforcement, Public Safety

Gordon Graham here with Today’s Tip from Lexipol and Today’s Tip is for custody and law enforcement officers. Most of it also applies to anyone who keeps a gun at home. Today’s Tip deals with the idea of teaching our friends and family members not to try to scare us. 

Imagine that you are at home, relaxing in your favorite chair. It’s dark. Everything is quiet. Your spouse is asleep in the bedroom. You assume that no one else is around. You’re winding down after a long shift. Suddenly, you hear the sound of the locked back door opening and you hear slow deliberate footsteps. Your heart skips a beat. You grab your service weapon and prepare to confront the intruder. 

You’re startled when you hear, “Boo!” Your daughter emerges from the darkness. Her laughter turns to shock when she sees the gun in your hand. You both let out a deep breath.  

She thought that she would surprise you and come home from college a day early. She thought it would be funny to play a prank and sneak up on you. Funny? Far from it. 

This is not an entirely fictional scenario. Tragically, some pranks like these don’t have such a happy ending. I can’t imagine many things worse than hurting or killing someone you love because of a prank.  

Please take the time to speak to those closest to you. Explain that you might be more defensive than the average citizen because you face real bad guys who might want to cause you real harm. Tell them that pranks like this one are not a good idea. Not because you are a prude or a fuddy-duddy. But because they could lead to tragedy.  

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