Editor’s note: This article is part of Police1’s Officer Safety Week, which examines how everyday habits like communication, situational awareness, positioning, backup and clearly defined roles help officers stay a step ahead when a routine call becomes anything but routine. Thanks to our Officer Safety Week sponsor, Safariland.
“Watch their hands.”
That advice appeared repeatedly when Police1 asked readers on Facebook: “What’s one officer safety lesson you learned from a veteran that you still use today?”
The question drew about 200 responses. Readers shared warnings passed down by training officers, lessons reinforced on calls and habits they still follow years into retirement.
Here’s the advice readers said has stayed with them.
| DOWNLOAD: 5 officer safety conversations to have with your team
Watching hands and maintaining awareness
The top comment put it bluntly: “Hands kill… Watch. Their. Hands!!!”
Others shared similar advice, including watching body language, maintaining distance and continuing to look for weapons after finding one.
“Watch the hands and if you find one gun, look for another,” one reader wrote.
Another recalled being taught to locate a driver’s hands quickly during a traffic stop and remain behind the driver’s side window post.
“Keep your head on a swivel and watch your six,” another reader wrote.
For some, those habits continued after retirement. One reader, retired for 10 years, described scanning buildings before entering, facing the door and locating exits.
Positioning at doors and on traffic stops
One reader who retired after 44 years on the job said an early lesson was to never stand directly in front of the door being knocked on.
Other responses focused on traffic stops. One reader recommended approaching from the passenger side. Another warned against stepping between the patrol car and the stopped vehicle.
“Never turn your back on a moving lane of traffic,” one reader wrote, recalling advice received from an LAPD officer in 1966 while the reader was a police explorer.
Another questioned touching a vehicle’s trunk lid during an approach, saying officers should instead adjust their approach to give themselves the best tactical advantage.
Keeping backup and a way out
“Don’t cancel your backup,” one reader wrote.
For another, a warning from an older trooper still applied: “Don’t get yourself into anything you can’t get yourself out of.”
The reader said the advice concerned rural areas where backup could feel “3 to 5 business days away.”
Other commenters described leaving enough room to pull out from behind another vehicle and avoiding getting cornered inside a house. One offered a warning about remaining in the patrol car: “Never make your car your coffin, be ready to get out.”
Readers also discussed making sure responding officers can find them. One recommended parking on the road rather than in a driveway, concerned that backup rushing to help could miss the cruiser.
“Location! If you don’t know where you are call out a nearby landmark!” another wrote.
Keeping your hands free
One reader advised keeping flashlights, notebooks and other items out of the gun hand when approaching a vehicle, and keeping both hands free when walking up to a disturbance.
The reader recalled responding as backup to a domestic call when an FTO ordered them to retrieve a clipboard and notebook from the patrol car because the officer inside had reported that everything was calm.
Before the reader reached the door, that officer began screaming for help. The reader threw the items aside and ran inside to assist.
Afterward, the reader told the FTO they would never again approach with their hands full.
Talking to people and leaving them their dignity
Several commenters said lessons about communication were just as memorable.
“Understand the difference between talking with someone and talking to someone,” one wrote.
Another recalled learning verbal judo alongside advice about working without nearby backup.
“Much easier to talk someone into a pair of handcuffs than it is to wrestle someone into them!!” the reader wrote.
Others emphasized staying composed when someone becomes insulting.
“Your badge is your shield. Let words bounce off of it and remain in control,” one reader wrote.
Another offered advice with the next encounter in mind: “Always leave people with their dignity. You’ll probably see them again, and they will remember how you treated them.”
