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Mental Attitude – The
Survival Factor
By Jack C. Perritt and George F. Wiley
Strike International, Inc.
It is the single greatest survival factor for an officer when he or she is
involved in a deadly force confrontation. Nothing can account more for pure
instinct, reaction, sheer tenacity, and the ability to endure bodily damage
than…Mental Attitude!
You can be an Olympic marksman or a world class martial artist, and these are
great achievements of personal technical skills that help build confidence in an
individual. However, in the arena of street fighting or facing a potential
lethal encounter, these skills are worthless unless the individual has developed
the mental mindset to Survive Not Die! What is the point of being a great
shooter or martial artist if you are suddenly overcome with stress induced
paralysis? What if you should take a hit or some other form of bodily injury and
start thinking to yourself, “I’m hurt too bad, I can’t do anything!” What is the
point of having these skills if you mind won’t let you initiate, endure, and
follow through?
Make no mistake, the will to live is strong…but at what point does that will
kick in and take over? Do you decide to fight after you have allowed your body
to sustain too much damage? Do you start fighting back only when the cold
darkness begins to surround you? Can you even respond at that point? Let me say
this, at whatever point you decide to start fighting back, it is better than
doing nothing at all. However, your chances are higher of surviving the
confrontation and sustaining less bodily damage should you choose to initiate
and fight hard at the outset of the confrontation. Often the most difficult
thing to do is to take that first step, to initiate action and then follow
through until the threat is eliminated. The easiest thing to do is nothing!
Throwing yourself on the mercy of the one attacking you and praying that they
won’t harm you further or worse, they wind up taking your life from you. As an
officer, that is a statistical margin which you should find unacceptable.
Fighting at CQB ranges is fast, lethal and savage! Remember, the vast majority
of deadly force confrontations take place at CQB. At these ranges, reactionary
time becomes compressed and sensory overload rapidly develops thereby impairing
you further. Your mind and body start reacting as one, and begin to accelerate
at a confusing speed. In mere seconds or fractions of seconds your mind must
overcome if you are to survive! A good mental mindset can help you do this.
Negative Vs. Positive
How do we begin to develop that good mental mindset? We first begin by either
eliminating negative influences in our lives or by reducing their ability to
affect us personally. Negativity can be a debilitating factor to an officer when
he or she is fighting for their life. Remember, mental distress can be a
blockage which dulls awareness. Negative thoughts will develop into negative
actions. Since you think you can’t do it, you will not do it! Your instinctual
actions become impaired and you become a mental cripple!
It is difficult to maintain a positive attitude in the face of poor physical
health or dealing with the distraction of chronic pain from an injury. Fatigue
from working long hours or extra jobs can prevent you from being as mentally
sharp and alert as you could be. Other serious factors to consider are personal
problems at home, preoccupation at work with peers, the administration or
supervisors. All of these things when taken either singularly or in their
combined totality could lead to a bout of mental depression.
The effects of depression on an officer can be mentally debilitating and lethal
in the arena of survival thinking. It can cause a lack of confidence, low self
esteem, a disregard for safety or worst – complete apathy. This can lead to
paralyzed indecision. To put it another way, you realize that a time has come
when you must act but you hesitate too long, you second guess yourself, doubts
creep in, and this turns to fear which restricts your ability to react at all.
Positive Factors:
Acquire positive thinking and positive direction in your life if you want to
develop that winning mental mindset! How is this accomplished? By developing
and honing your skills until they become second nature to you. Physically taking
car e of yourself and that means; body and mind! Develop good eating habits and
establish a regular workout program for yourself. When you feel good your
reaction time is quicker, you are more alert and your self confidence increases.
Have a deliberate attitude toward safety and never let your guard down. Another
positive influence in this profession is your continuing education. Sign up for
schools, attend survival seminars and spend time perfecting your tactical
training with departmental weapons. In this job don’t settle for mediocrity,
always strive for perfection and settle for nothing less.\
Some things in life we control and others we can’t. As police officers this can
be a difficult concept to learn. We like to control everything! But by
understanding this you will learn better how to deal more directly with the
things you can control and influence. Examples of this are our action,
attitudes, habits, skills, and our job assignment. Start surrounding yourself
with positive people in life. If you are around negative people you can’t help
but be negative too. There is no one to encourage you, to edify you or provide
positive thought processing. Remove yourself from negative people. To your
peers, family and friends, be a servant leader not a self serving leader. Make
time for yourself and your family, Hobbies, sports, activities with family and
friends are important. It should be something you enjoy doing and something that
is capable of making you relax as well. “Remember, each of us has the capacity
to live each day a little better, but we need to focus on both purpose and goals
and set into action a realistic daily plan to help us achieve them.” (1)
THE MINDSET OF FIGHTING TO WIN!
“A good fighting attitude means that your own mentality is so trained that the
aggressor becomes the victim in your mind. Either the suspect controls the fight
or you will.” (2) Make the suspect feel that you are the aggressor. Initiate
explosively and follow through until the threat has been eliminated.
If you hesitate, act unsure or initiate a weak attack against the aggressor, it
will in all probability be too late.
If you miss your chance to win, you might not get a second chance. It has been
said, Victory is measure by the courage of action and the determination to win.
You should mentally role play and develop in your mind scenarios on how you
would respond or react to a challenge or crisis. By practicing these role
playing techniques, you are helping yourself to recognize them. Be mentally
tough! Mental toughness means that you are willing to stand tall and persevere.
Tough means when your mind and body is starting to cave in and telling you to
give it up, that it just isn’t worth it, you are able to reach deep down and
drag up that last ounce of ferocity that tell you…to go on!
Remember, a good mental mind-set will help you deal with the surprise of a
sudden threat. When the threat or attack happens you won’t be asking, “My God,
what is happening here?” but rather, “I knew this would happen and I am ready
and willing to do something about it!” Instead of meeting the threat with
astonishment, meet it with contempt.
CONCLUSION
Modernization of police work combined with other technological advances has
greatly improved the law enforcement profession. As an example, we see where
today’s education, equipment and training, has helped officers be safer and more
effective in their fight against criminal activity. Unfortunately, the law
enforcement profession has not become any easier to perform even with these
advances. The very nature of this type of business is often violent, explosive
and risky. Officers will be killed and seriously wounded no matter how careful
they are. In the performance of their duties, the officer is often forced into
dangerous situations. It is not by choice that they do it but rather by the
obliged sense of responsibility that the officer has assumed. They cannot allow
the murderer to walk away or the armed robber to make his escape. Often it is
the officer who is forced into this position. In other words, the risk factor
cannot be eliminated but it can be minimized.
By far the greatest factor in ensuring that risks are minimized is by first
developing a good mental attitude and the survival mindset. Once an officer has
done this and continues to work on it, they have a far greater chance of
surviving a lethal encounter, reducing the chance of serious bodily injury and
staying mentally sharp through their career.
With respect and courtesy to the following for source reference material:
(1) Dr. Ernest H. Rosenbaum
(2) Gabriel Suarez
San Allred
Page Wise, Inc.
American Success Institute
Singleton International
Emanuel Kapelsohn
Chief David James, Carrollton, Texas
About the Authors
Jack C. Perritt
Dallas Police Department
30 years service
Present: Departmental Firearms Instructor, Basic, In-Service, Special Weapons
Response Team Instructor
Prior: Firearms Instructor for Narcotic Division, Dynamic Search Warrante – Buy
Bust Operations
Professional Associations:
IALEFI
NRA
Texas Narcotic Officers Association
National Tactical Officers Association
National Military Intelligence Assoc.
George F. Wiley
Dallas Police Department
28 years service
Present:
Departmental Firearms Instructor, Basic, In Service, Special Weapons Response
Team Instructor
Prior: SWAT – Squad Firearms Instructor, Dynamic Search Warrants – Hostage
Rescue
Professional Associations:
IALEFI
NRA
Texas Tactical Police Officers Association
Owners of
Strike International Inc.
A Tactical Firearms Training Company for Military and Law Enforcement
Dallas, Texas
This article appeared in Issue 39 (August 2005) of The
Firearms Instructor the official publication of
The International Association of Law Enforcement
Firearms Instructors
and the Spring 2005 edition of Tactical Edge Magazine
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