Assuming you carry off duty, do your family members all know how to respond if you are forced to act while they’re with you?
If not, they could become a complicating — and potentially fatal — factor when you need to focus fully on responding to and defeating a threat to life.
Part of your family action plan should involve the establishment and rehearsal of quick signals among you in case of perceived danger.
One officer explains: “I have three children — eleven, nine, and five years old. We have code words we train with at home and in public.
“‘Close’ means to move in tight on Mom and Dad. ‘Tight’ means they all hold hands together and with Mom if she is with us. ‘Away’ means they move away from me and go for help/cover. If Mom is not with them, my oldest child has a cell phone — he finds the closest adult and calls 911 if something jumps off. We have one imminent danger word that only the five of us know. If they hear that word, it means urgent evacuation, take cover, get on the floor in the backseat, etc.
“We run a ‘fire drill’ every so often. The kids have never failed. In case of an off-duty event, I always try to be a good witness with my kids in the picture, but when action is needed, then who will deal with the problem if not me?”
Thanks to Chief Jeff Chudwin, president of the Illinois Tactical Officers’ Assn., for passing along this tip from a survey he conducted on off-duty practices. Chudwin tells officers he trains: “You may be off duty but you are not off watch. Be a good witness and a bad victim.”
