The Good Kind Of Contagious

In a post-COVID world, hearing the word contagious might cause you to suddenly go quiet, your head to tilt to one side, and your eye to start twitching, but that’s a risk we’re going to have to take.

All things contagious are not all bad. No, I don’t want to catch your pink eye or your explosive diarrhea, your bad attitude, your fear, or your panic. And I’m sure you don’t want to be a super-spreader even if you suffer from any one of those problems from time to time. However, there are other things that can be equally contagious and far better for you than an aggressive case of the runs, but they won’t come by accident or because you didn’t wash your hands.

Contagions

Fear is contagious. Panic is contagious. A rotten attitude is contagious. We’ve all seen others have it, spread it, or catch it, and we have all been both givers and receivers at one time or another. It’s not pretty and it’s not fun. In police work — especially out on the street — fear, panic, and attitude carry with them a greater risk. Being that kind of contagious is dangerous because it can influence decisions that can get ourselves or someone else fired or sued at best, or hurt or killed at worst. I don’t think any one of us wants to be the originator of a chain of events that starts with panic and ends with tragedy, yet none of us are immune.

Fear, panic, a bad attitude, and stupid are all contagious. That’s the bad news. But here’s the good news. So is courage. So is calm. So is smart.

Chaos Is Coming

It’s hard to keep your head if even one person is losing theirs, but it can be done. That doesn’t mean that you won’t feel fear or that you’ll always know what to do in any given situation, it just means that your inner turmoil won’t become your outward demeanor. You can feel fear and be courageous at the same time. In fact, you can’t have courage without the presence of fear. You can be in complete chaos but remain calm. You can not know what to do or not know the answer to a problem but also be smart about solving it. You can be both.

One of the great myths is that super high speed operators don’t get scared or always know what to do, like they’re born with some kind of supernatural ability. That’s simply not true. Everyone gets scared and feels fear, the brave ones just do it anyway. Chaos will come for each of us, the calm ones rely on their training and focus on doing their job. It’s impossible to know all the answers to every problem, the smart ones understand principles and how to apply them.

Being brave is a choice. A positive attitude is a choice. Remaining calm is a choice. It will be hard at first, but it will get easier each time you make that choice. With training and experience you can be that solid rock that those around you will need. Chaos is coming, and we need to be ready.

Like A Banshee

I’ll never forget one night when I was working the midnight shift another officer called for assistance on the radio. There was screaming and yelling and what sounded like crashing and banging in the background, but my coworker’s voice was as calm as could be. His volume, his tone, and the pace of his request all told the story that everything was under control, he just needed a hand. When a fellow officer asks for help, you go and you go fast, that’s how it is. But because his voice was calm, I was calm. He didn’t give me a reason to freak out.

I wasn’t far away and arrived in short order. I was expecting to have to leap into action and join the fray but what I found was something rather different. After screeching my cruiser to a halt and popping out of the driver’s seat, I found the other officer standing beneath a street light holding a guy over the hood of a truck who was flailing his arms and kicking his legs, screaming like a banshee. Of course I began to make a beeline to help get this maniac into custody but that’s not what he had called for. Before I could take more than a few steps the other officer looked at me and calmly said, “His pug ran off. Can you try and catch it?” while simultaneously fending off fists and elbows like a Jedi.

I’m sorry…what?

Drugs And Pugs

I stopped in my tracks in the middle of the street as my brain processed this unusual request. As it all sunk in, a tan and black football-shaped flash caught the corner of my eye, and sure enough, it was the pug. So while my partner finished putting this crazy guy into handcuffs by himself I coaxed and wrangled a 20 pound pug named Oliver.

The drug-addled arrestee who was fighting with my partner had been living out of his truck and unfortunately owned a pug. During the encounter and the fight that followed, the pug had run off, and that was why my partner had called for help — to catch the pug. Clearly he had everything under control, even though the guy was acting like a wild animal, he just couldn’t catch both.

Careful What You Spread

Most officers would probably be so consumed with the arrest and their own safety that the last thing on their mind would be a pug on the loose. But this officer, who I have great respect for and who I’ve seen in all kinds of high-stress situations, is one of the most calm and collected people I know. He has an uncanny ability to somehow detach, slow down, communicate, and perform with clarity and self control. He radiates calm.

If you’ve been on the job for any amount of time you have probably heard someone screaming on the radio who sounded like they were getting murdered, prompting everyone and their mothers to go balls-to-the-wall Code 3 risking life and limb to get there only to find that the reports of their death had been greatly exaggerated. Or you’ve responded to help other officers who calmly and clearly ask for assistance when they were actually in a fight or a foot pursuit but they were able to maintain their control and composure the entire time. Everyone still responds to back them up but the emotional content that spreads panic was simply not there. The difference between the two responses is palpable. Why? Because, like fear and panic, calm is contagious.

Be the good kind of contagious. Spread calm, spread courage, have an infectious positive attitude, make smart decisions, and watch as those around you develop symptoms of their own.

__________________________

• Do you realize that you are contagious?
• Are you spreading fear and panic or calm and courage?
• Have you let yourself be infected by negative influences?
• Who are you surrounding yourself with?

__________________________

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