What are your worst fears?

[Bill R]

quote:

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I wouldn't hesitate and think twice about it...what I am trying to say is that my worst fear is taking a person's life by my shot.

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These two statements are contradictory. If your "worst" fear is killing your opponent in a combat situation, you will hesitate. If that is your worst fear, you have placed a higher value on the life of your enemy than on the life of yourself, your partner or another innocent person.

[ZalmanEmmes]

Mrs. Fish, I was VERY moved by your frank openess regarding life in LE and your personal experiences. I know that everyone reacts in a different way to different circumstances. The average joe on the street doesn't realize the dedication, self sacrifice and focus that a LEO has to have despite everything. I'm not in LE however I am always moved by the LEO's on this Forum. I wish you only blessing and you should only go from strength to strength. G-d bless you.

[Sparky]

Mrs. Fish: "I want to share what this officer had gone through before he realized enough is enough."

Thank you for posting that person's story.

However, I'm not really talking about chronic stress. The effects of chronic stress are a completely different ballgame that performance under burst stress.

I'm talking about making decisions and acting on them.

Quote: "I will use deadly force if necessary in any given circumstance. I wouldn't hesitate and think twice about it..."

This is a very telling statement. Unless you have been in this position before, then you have no true idea what you will do or how you will feel.

I felt sure that I knew what I would do and how I would feel before I had my first serious situation.. but when it was over, it was acompletely different story.

And if you have been in this situation before, then you will have realized that you never really and truly know what you are going to do until you have already done it.

No one seriously drilled it into my head that I should maybe seriously consider some things in their stark and ugly light and when the time came and I saw things as they really were.. not a paper target, but some dumb kid pointing a gun at me... and I hesitated.

Afterwards I realized that the only reason that I was not shot was dumb luck.

I don't mean to be rude. But you need to seriously and deeply consider these things. It's the truth and someone needs to tell you because you deserve for someone to be honest with you about this stuff.

[rugbyman]

Mrs Fish,
Whaia te iti kahurangi: ki te tuoho koe, me he maunga teitei
loosely translated means:
Reach for the sky, and if you defer, let it be to the highest mountain.

[Sam]

The scariest times in my life were the times I was searching through the ghetto for a suspect who had shot a cop. Something about it gets to you. Other times things happen so fast you just have to react but knowing this guy has nothing to loose and isn't going to think twice about shooting got me thinking.

[kd5hqd]

My biggest fear, not as an LEO, is having one of my family members die before I get to tell them that I love them.

Yea, that and spiders too.

Tex
KD5HQD

[ 08-23-2002, 10:07 PM: Message edited by: kd5hqd ]

[Evnings]

I know this sounds silly, but my greatest fear is getting hit upside my head ( blindsided) with a solid metal object.

Been my greatest fear all my life.

For a short while, after I was involved in a shooting, I couldn't drive by the place where it happened and I couldn't go into dark alleys. These passed, kinda like kidney stones, but they passed.

I'm also afraid of dying on the pot and having the cops find me on the floor with my pants down around my ankles. Of course, I won't be around. But I feel so bad for the people we find like that.

[ 08-24-2002, 02:39 AM: Message edited by: Evnings ]

[DWHill]

I'm scared out of my mind that I'll end up throwing bags for the rest of my life, that I'll never achieve my goals, and do nothing with my life. It actually keeps me up some nights. I realize that as young as I am, it's a very irrational thing, but then again, a lot of fears are!

[Mrs. Fish]

Sparky,

Thank you for bringing it up to my attention. I don't know what police work is all about. I hear and see on T.V. all the time but that doesn't mean I know what the job is really like. You wouldn't know how it feels to see your house burn down unless it really happened. That happened to me and all I can say is that feeling is a world of difference.

What you wrote it true. You'll never know unless you've been there. I hope I never have to go there. But that's just hope. I know I have to be there and will be there someday.

The person in the article had told me this:

"PLEASE do not take my experience as
the
norm. There are quite a few cops who do not have problems as I did.
My
therapist says that I became disable because I cared too much and
didn't get
help when things went south. I would ask that you keep an eye open for
symptoms of depression and such when you DO become a police officer.
Don't
be afraid to seek help if something is bothering you. If you do this
little
task, you can prevent a living hell."

"I retired three years ago after a 17 year career because I tried to eat
my
gun. This was because of a bad hostage situation where a 7 year old
boy got
his head blown off. I still have flashbacks and problems with that."

Like I said before, what needs to be done will be done. I'm sure I'd be glad to be alive than dead. All I fear for is my sanity after everything happens. Have you been there? Were you okay after you shot someone? Will you be okay? I would be angry to have been put in that position but glad to have saved an innocent life or my partner or myself. Do you get what I'm saying?

[Sparky]

"All I fear for is my sanity after everything happens."

That's perfectly natural and normal.

My main point is that as we prepare for the physical needs of combat, we should also realistically prepare mentally and emotionally for the crucial moment as well as for the aftermath.

Simply recognizing that you would be deeply effected.. and preparing yourself as much as possible for the aftereffects will do a great deal to help you cope when and if that time comes. It will also help in that crucial moment because you will be better prepared for what comes later.

And I am no so much telling you this as putting it up here for all the other folks to see, as well.

[Royce]

What are your worst fears?

Anthrax

Something that, sometimes you can't see, smell or taste could possibly make you sick and kill you.

[Mrs. Fish]

=) Good advice to remember. Thank you. =)

[Yote]

snakes , bats , and spider calls !! I hate those with a passion !!

[Piper]

Things I fear...oy, this is loaded.

I'm afraid that I'll never be a police officer no matter how hard I try.

I'm afraid that I'll never get to tell a certain someone that I love him.

I'm afraid of clowns.

Gee...I now feel kinda exposed.

[ferret]

i am currently in training to be a EMT and my biggest fear right now, is getting to a sence and being able to do nothing for someone , this most likely will not bother me at the time, once i am on my way to the sence my training takes over and i do what i have to do, but afterwards i feel horrible when i realize that there was nothing we could do, for whatever reason there is, i am sure it doesn't help that i am training on a volenter powered rural ambulance so our adverege response time is 6-10 mins.

oh yea, and spiders too... eight legged freaks,

one more fear is that i will talk to much and someone will slap me for it.