Dave Smith

Officer (Ret.)

Articles•by Dave Smith•December 23, 2013

Who Loves Ya, Baby?

Being overly emotionally committed to your agency only leads to heartbreak. Unrequited love is one of the toughest emotional hits a human can face and therefore I ask you to rethink your relationship with your agency and those who work with you.

Articles•by Dave Smith•November 25, 2013

Guilt, Shame, and the Crimefighter

I can’t have you hesitating in an armed confrontation because of some deep-seated guilt that makes you believe you deserve to lose or should be punished.

Articles•by Dave Smith•October 11, 2013

Make Your Own Luck

I know a lot of crime fighters who begin to wax philosophical after their fifth beer and one of the common axioms I hear is: "I would rather be lucky than good."

Articles•by Dave Smith•September 1, 2013

The Danger List

Over the years I have seen many variations on "deadly errors" officers make to get themselves hurt but the version that is still my favorite is the first one I learned, and I think it is time to do a quick review.

Articles•by Dave Smith•August 4, 2013

Fire Nobody!

Here is the conundrum: When bad things happen it appears Officer Nobody has failed again to do what needs to be done, and when things turn out good, Dep. Somebody is taking all the credit. Something needs to be done.

Articles•by Dave Smith•July 11, 2013

Raise Your Honor High

Ah, but the healing is a wonderful thing to see. Daily, each of you earn more and more and more honor for us all. Your courage, your actions, your compassion, is an hourly ratcheting up of our honor.

Articles•by Dave Smith•June 12, 2013

Cops and Psychology

Cops should be most concerned about flaws in studies involving PTSD. Post-traumatic stress wasn't even recognized as a disorder until 1980, and then suddenly it was everywhere, caused by everything and happening to everyone.

Articles•by Dave Smith•May 14, 2013

The P-Word

Panic has little place in the modern world, and for a crime fighter it can be a killer; action is our mantra, and preparation is our antidote.

Articles•by Dave Smith•April 3, 2013

Instilling Positive Expectations

I have discovered that a trainer has an incredibly powerful role to play in imbuing the trainee with either positive or negative expectations. And our profession demands that we hone skills essential for victory in confrontations.

Articles•by Dave Smith•March 12, 2013

You Said What?

One of the first things that becomes apparent when I review dash cam footage of incidents is how much vulgarity spurts out of our little brains under stress. It has long been said the last two words on the black box recorder from crashed aircraft are "Oh shit!"

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