P1 First Person: Division III LE

By Brian Roesti
State Park Officer
Ohio Department of Natural Resources
Division of Parks and Recreation

Call it fate. Call it incredibly good fortune. Call it dumb luck. It’s probably a smattering of all three. Twenty-two years ago as a skinny, fifteen year old, high-school freshman I determined my occupational destiny — a law enforcement career in natural resources. It seemed a likely choice considering my love for fishing, hunting, and trapping. Aristotle would argue that I simply achieved my Telos. Regardless, I am now a law enforcement officer with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

In high school I was a big fish in a small pond. With a graduating class of 83 students, athletes received plenty of playing time. Played football... starting safety, wide receiver, extra point and field goal kicker ...and all other special teams. We had to do a little bit of everything. But it was only Division III.

After graduating from a two-year college of more than 5,000 students I transferred to a small, (less than 1,000 students) private college where I joined the track team. I participated in the long jump, high jump, and triple jump. I threw the javelin, ran the heptathlon and sprint relays. I was the proverbial jack of all trades and the master of none. I was an individual conference champion on a conference championship team. But it was only Division III.

In rural, northwest Ohio that’s life — small schools in small towns with small businesses protected by small police departments and sheriff’s offices. Duties fluctuate daily and can range from motorist assists to sexual assault investigations and the occasional murder/homicide. Officers become generalists with varying degrees of job specific skills and talents.

As an officer with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, I work for a small- to mid-size law enforcement agency. The five divisions with law enforcement responsibility (Wildlife, Watercraft, Forestry, Natural Areas and Preserves, Parks and Recreation) consist of several hundred officers, supervisor, and commissioned managers. The Division of Parks and Recreation (of which I am a member) employs roughly 110 full and part-time officers and an additional 50 commissioned park managers and supervisors. These officers are scattered throughout 73 parks dotting the state. Six person offices? Not likely. We are lucky to work in eight person regions patrolling four or five parks separated by 50 miles of highway or the open water of Lake Erie.

My home office jurisdiction is not measured in population, households, or square miles. It is measured in acres (140 acres of land and 105 acres of water to be precise). It is a peaceful haven in rural Fulton County, Ohio where the elderly sometimes bring their parents to camp, fish, and otherwise enjoy well-deserved rest and relaxation. When on duty, I am generally the only fish in this pond which makes me as big or little as you wish.

Throughout my career I have been called many things: Park Ranger, Park Security, Park Guard, Ranger Rick, Barney Fife, Squirrel Sheriff, Fish Cop, Carp Cop, Yogi Bear. My personal favorite is “young f#@*ing dumb bastard.” The official title is State Park Officer but I answer to the others. My law enforcement authority has been questioned thousands of times…often by those I have arrested for domestic violence, disorderly conduct, driving under the influence, or I have simply picked up on warrants. It is astonishing what people will do in your presence when they know you can not do a thing about it.

I have grown accustomed to the plethora of questions from the general public concerning my law enforcement authority, the reason I carry a gun, and why we drive “police cars.” It provides me with an opportunity to educate and inform an otherwise curious audience.

Unfortunately, at times I find myself defending my job and duties from the insinuations of brother and sister law enforcement officers. I have given up on disclosing my occupation when I teach “tactics” at a basic peace officer academy. It takes too much time to explain why the “park ranger” instructs defensive tactics, emergency vehicle operations, physical fitness, and at times, firearms, and traffic stops (remember, this is a Division III area — we must be well-rounded!). I am fortunate to instruct with many talented officers who have my back and have grown to trust my experience.

Economist Thomas Sowell may have said it best: “Because all things are similar, except for the differences, and different except for similarities, it is always possible to make things look similar verbally, however different they are in the real world.”

With a little creative writing and a few well placed adjectives I could make specific days and particular events I have experienced rival the crime and drudgery seen in Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati. In my case, those are the exceptions, not the rule. I will not BS the more mainstream law enforcement community by comparing my job with yours. Nor can I compare my duties in a rural park setting to those within my own agency who work in parks located near or within metropolitan areas. We experience different activity on a day to day basis.

There has been much discussion in recent weeks on policeone.com regarding small town police officers versus metropolitan officers. I would like to thank those who have defended the small town cop. But, I find it particularly disturbing that some will discount instructors due to the size of their agency.

I encourage anyone to challenge the knowledge and skill of these “park ranger” instructors... Virgil is a defensive tactics and firearms instructor who spends much of his spare time as a high school wrestling coach and instructing Judo for The Ohio State University club team. Kevin has authored a book on water-related death investigation. Mike Y. and Mike S., Brad, and Brian are certifiable gun junkies with knowledge to match the most seasoned metropolitan instructors. Prior to his retirement, John developed and implemented the Division’s first K-9 operation, spent years instructing K-9 tactics to large and small agencies, and represented the Division with honor and humility when called to search the rubble of the World Trade Center. Jason and Fred have brought their past military training and experience to the firearms and rifle instructor squad. Mark and James are certified instructor/trainers in Strategies and Tactics of Patrol Stops and share a broad range of additional tactical instructor skills. I could go on with Russ, Joe, Jeremy, Dan, Gene and so many others.

This is the rule, not the exception. I have been taught by, worked with, and have instructed alongside each of them. I have the utmost respect and admiration for their knowledge, skill, and demeanor. I believe most officers would too. More importantly, we have a wave of young officers with tremendous talent and ambition who will be better than the above mentioned instructors because of those instructors.

Experience is what one receives from the events in ones life. In law enforcement, and with tactics in particular, the best way to gain experience is through actual performance. As part of a cognitive learning process, experiences must be gathered in order to have actions to draw upon the next time a similar situation occurs. Unfortunately, as Mr. Sowell has noted, each similar situation is as different as it is the same.

The next best thing to actual experience in law enforcement is reality based (or force on force) training. In a controlled environment with tightly scripted scenarios officers can gain significant tactical and practical experience. In an ideal world, reality based training would precede an officer confronting the actual experience. We do not live in an ideal world.

Video simulator training follows reality based training. It is a safer and oftentimes more practical means to put officers through a wider range of scenarios and activities. It is a tremendous tool that may increase an officer’s decision making process.

For tactical purposes, the lowest level of experience is gained during lectures, seminars, education in general, and reading. It is not that these are bad. They should simply be the foundation upon which the others are built.

I will not claim to be an expert in the topics I instruct. The experts are those who taught me; from Sam Faulkner, Zane Nickell, and Shawn Chitwood at the Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy to John Benner and Gregg Ellifritz at the Tactical Defense Institute and the many instructors within my agency. I have been trained by Kenneth Murray and Dave Young, attended two of Lt. Col. Grossman’s seminars, have read many of the great survival books (On Combat, On Killing, Training at the Speed of Life, The Gift of Fear, The Art of War, Deadly Force Encounters, Sharpening the Warriors Edge...), and have undoubtedly spent far too much time reading academic journal studies on defensive tactics, firearms training, and instructional methodology.

I do claim to have a level of confidence in what I know. I know I am a generalist; I seem to know less and less about more and more. If I can claim a specialty it would be “potty patrol” but who would claim expertise in restroom rendezvous as a special skill on their resume? I also realize that my general knowledge of tactics was a valuable asset through two years of graduate research. Throughout this research I studied, helped develop, conducted, and evaluated reality based/force on force training scenarios to determine whether tactics differed between those with actual use of force experience and those with training experience during a traffic stop scenario. The research has added nothing to the social science community but it does have implications within my agency and has improved my ability to instruct.

The research was an experience itself. Having the opportunity to interview Dave Young and spending three hours with Lt. Col. Grossman on a foggy January night during a transport from the Detroit Airport to Archbold, Ohio was well worth the four years spent in graduate school. Their expertise, knowledge, and dedication is only surpassed by the professional courtesy and willingness to share their insight with this “small department instructor” conducting research through a Division III school.

Tactics are universal in the sense that all police agencies use them. But they are not absolute. Tactics are often handed down from one generation to the next with the latter improving the skills to meet existing challenges and to keep pace with developing technology. Tactics, knowledge, and skill level are not determined by the size of the agency. I concede that the opportunity to use tactics increases dependant upon the activity one receives. I also concede that the more often one utilizes specific tactics the better equipped that instructor will be to speak with a certain level of expertise as to what has worked for them. But there are no absolutes.

I hope you avoid discrediting those of us who are “small town” instructors. You will find credible, knowledgeable instructors scattered throughout small towns and villages across the United States. Instructors will have differing experiences. The diversity of experience should be viewed as complementary, not conflicting.

I am a proud member of a D III LE agency. I hope my experience is viewed as an asset which complements those with whom I instruct. We do not see eye to eye on all the issues. But I enjoy debating my views, backed by my experience, research, and personal observations, with the outstanding tactical instructors employed by the Division of Parks and Recreation and the many small town instructors I have met or have had the privilege to instruct with over the years.

Continue the outstanding work and never allow anybody to dismiss you because of the size of your agency. Do what you know, know what you do, and allow the audience to make their own decision.