One evening years ago, one of my deputies arrested a man in a stolen car. Now, you might think that was a common occurrence for law enforcement, but let me explain. You see this vehicle was emblazoned with bold lettering describing it as a Kansas City taxicab, and my deputy apprehended it in our county, located in far West Texas. Now I have no idea how many different police jurisdictions that stolen cab was driven through before my deputy saw it, but it was a lot. Too often we see things without taking the time to analyze what we are seeing. And that, my friends, is how crooks often get so close to us.
The second part of that is that, while we may see people and activities that look unusual, we don’t really have any sort of plan for dealing with it should things get bad. Our kind of folks can get pretty caught up in just making a living and taking care of our families. And all of us, even retired sheriffs, need a reminder that we need to pay attention to what is going on around us.
It really is not a bad idea to take the position that suspicious activity is dangerous activity until the facts overwhelmingly indicate that it isn’t. Now, that doesn’t mean that we draw guns and go to shooting. But, it certainly means that we don’t approach closer until we are satisfied that there is no problem. In fact, when you are out in public, the best move is often to just leave the immediate area as quickly as possible.
If people were actually alert to looking for suspicious activity, fewer people would walk into their local convenience store right in the middle of an armed robbery. Instead, they would be mindful that such things happen and would be observing the place and its people as they approached. Seeing suspicious activity, they would back off, leave and call the police.
At home, when we keep the doors locked, our defensive firearm nearby, and don’t open the door to strangers, we are in a pretty solid tactical position. So when we see strangers out in our driveway or front lawn, it is extremely foolish to just go out and investigate. To do so is to give up a great tactical advantage. It is much smarter to stay right where we are, observe and prepare to defend. And, of course, once we determine that the strangers are up to no good, call the police and let them handle it.
So it is not just enough to be alert, we also have to recognize suspicious activity for what it is and have a plan for dealing with it. And, of course, the worst mistake of all is to wait until we are right in the middle of a criminal confrontation to try to make that defensive plan.
Your cliché for day: “Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance”
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