When you think about it, we are all lucky to be here. During my eleven years as a police officer I made several mistakes that could have easily resulted in my being injured or killed. I would be willing to bet that every officer who honestly evaluates his or her performance would be in the same boat.

No matter how seasoned we are, we are going to make mistakes. We should, however, strive to not make the same mistake. Analyze your response after every call and ask yourself is there was something you could have done better.

At the risk of embarrassing the hell out of myself, I am going to share with you some of the dumbest things I have ever done while on patrol. Hopefully, this will encourage you to reflect on your own occasional lapses in officer safety or just plain common sense!

Rather than rationalizing mistakes, embrace them and be thankful for the opportunity to redeem yourself on the next call for service. Remember that many of our brothers and sisters never got a second chance.

Dumb Move One: The Gang Fight

On a warm summer night about eleven years ago, I was dispatched to a report of several rival gang members gathering to fight at a park. Not in my beat, I thought, as I hurried to the park. Upon arrival, I realized that I was the only officer on scene (my cover officer was a few minutes out).

Not wanting to lose face in front of the fifty or so "gang members" (turns out they were car club members) I parked and exited my patrol vehicle. I stood tall, stuck out my chest and tried to appear as intimidating as possible. In the manliest voice I could muster, I yelled for everyone to put their hands up. They all sort of looked at each other as if to ask, "Is he serious?"

Sensing their reluctance to respond to my verbal command, I stepped from behind my patrol vehicle and overtly grasped my holstered firearm as I yelled once again, "Put your hands up!" This time, I achieved full compliance. Since I wasn't sure what to do next, I decided to wait for backup.

When my cover officer arrived, he could hardly contain himself at the site of me, a recent graduate of the field training program with fifty gang members - I mean car club members - with their hands raised high in the air.

Luckily, the car club members were cooperative. Can you imagine what the outcome might have been if I had approached an actual gang fight in the manner described above?