“Ultimately, whatever is in your reality is your responsibility.”
—Nisandeh Neta
by Loren W. Christensen
One of the unique aspects of my 29 years in law enforcement is that I saw so many victims of brutal crimes. Cops and ambulance crews see the end result of man’s inhumanity to man, often just moments after they have been beaten, knifed, shot, burned, tortured, raped, abused, or suffered a host of other inventive ways that violate human flesh and spirit. Only the first responders see victims where they fall, where loved ones wail, and where the perpetrator resists arrest with rage, fists, knives, and guns.
Experiencing that for 29 years does something to a person. In short, it gives the individual great compassion for victims, especially innocent ones, and a detestation for those who cause such pain and suffering. I learned early that most perpetrators are cowards, sickos, bullies, and simple-minded criminals who enjoy giving others pain. I never tired of putting such vermin behind bars.
Portland, Oregon, where I served as a police officer, is a city considered medium-large with all the crime problems that go with so many people stuffed into its boundaries. Our 911 center is typical of most large police departments. Officers are dispatched based on priority ranking. A Priority 1 call is considered hot, such as a shooting, knifing, or an armed robbery in progress. A Priority 5 is a cold call, such as a stolen lawn mower or a bad check. Clearly, a Priority 1 gets an officer now—at least it should.
Although my police bureau’s response time is top notch, some shifts are so busy that Priority 1 calls get backed up. You call 911 on a busy night to report that someone is getting attacked on the corner by a gangbanger, and you get a “please hold” message. Or if you do get an operator, you’re told it’s going to be a while because all police units are on other Priority 1 calls, and there are 10 more in the system waiting to be dispatched as soon as an officer is free.
There are other causes of a seemingly slow police response. The closest police officer to you might be a long way from where you are. One of the largest beats in Portland is 35 blocks long. If the officer responsible for it gets a Priority 1 call at its far end at 5 p.m. during heavy going-home traffic, even racing with overhead lights and siren could take several minutes. It takes even longer when he is at the far end of a neighboring police beat helping an officer there with one of his problems, as he now has to drive across that beat and then across the length of his beat to reach the Priority 1. Sometimes he can’t respond to the hot call because he has a prisoner in custody or because he has been waved over by someone regarding a problem. In that case, the officer working the next beat over would be sent, which means he would have to drive across two beats to get to the priority call.
In short, there are any number of reasons why the police aren’t always going to be instantly available when you want them. Some people huff and puff about this and accuse the police, their local government, and the current U.S. president of all kinds of things. That’s fine, but what remains is the fact that sometimes the police are just a block away when you call and other times it will take them awhile to get to where you need them.
What this means is that you have to be responsible for your safety and that of your family’s. Some people don’t like this bit of reality. If you’re one of them, think of it this way: It’s your life — do you really want to leave it up to the way things ought to be?
As a guy who has spent much of his life witnessing the cruel street dance of ugly predator and helpless prey, I can sadly report that the world can be an extraordinarily brutal place. To borrow from author Ray Bradbury, you never know when suddenly “something wicked this way comes.” Your day is full of innocent, routine activities: you take your spouse to a movie or your kids to the park, or you stop at a coffee joint for a latte. You’ve done these things hundreds of times, but on this occasion you come face to face with a predator. Maybe he wants your car, your money, or your kid. Maybe he doesn’t want anything tangible; he just wants to hurt you. While you never know for sure what a predator wants or is going to do, you do know that your life and the lives of your loved ones need to be protected.
When I was a cop, there were times when I could see that a situation with someone was rapidly deteriorating and would soon turn physical. Though I have always practiced my martial arts four or five days a week, I would nonetheless have a fleeting thought that I should have practiced harder. While illogical, it was still an uncomfortable feeling to experience.
So right here, right now, pause to determine your weaknesses. It might be your:
- fitness
- hand-to-hand skills
- blade skills
- firearm skills
- improvised weapons skill
- home security
- office security
- school security
- wilderness skills
Paladin Press offers books and DVDs in all of these categories that will quickly get you on the right path to greater confidence in your ability to handle any situation. Don’t get caught unprepared. It’s not a good feeling.
Loren Christensen is the author of two dozen Paladin books and videos, including Deadly Force Encounters, Restraint and Control Strategies, and Warriors. Loren was a military policeman in Saigon during the Vietnam War and retired from the Portland, Oregon, Police Department after more than two decades of service. He can be contacted through his website at www.lwcbooks.com.