Are You Fit for Duty?
by Greg Bowen, PCI# 1227
Tarrant County College (TX) Police Department
IPMBA Industry Liaison
Are you mentally, emotionally, and physically fit for duty? If you recognize the title, it could be because I wrote a similar article asking the same question for the 2020 IPMBA News Board Issue. The focus was on those who had died from heart attacks, with an emphasis on why public safety personnel traditionally suffer from poor diets, stressful situations, or lead otherwise unhealthy lifestyles that are mostly due to the nature of the job.
The Officer Down Memorial Page (ODMP.org) provides a breakdown of the reasons we lose officers throughout the year. As of November 14, 2022, the ODMP reported that nine officers had died in the line of duty due to heart attacks this year. These heart attacks occurred after the officers had performed “routine” job tasks. The count does not include those lost while not on duty, related to poor health habits or other factors.
After looking at the previous statistics compiled by ODMP, I felt compelled to revisit this topic with a slant on the importance of having a survivor mindset and how leading a healthy lifestyle can improve that mindset. We can be more mentally focused when we participate in a regular exercise program and consume at least a moderately healthy diet.
With the increasing number of tragic, hostile events around our country, the public expects more from first responders to stop threats and to save lives. Call it what you want: warrior mindset, survivor mindset, winning mindset, or guardian mindset. It is a state of mind that we must possess in order to be able to run toward a threat, stop the threat, stop the killing, and save lives.
If we don’t keep ourselves physically fit, our mindsets will suffer. If our mindsets suffer, we will be less motivated to keep ourselves physically fit.
Events such as Sandy Hook, Virginia Tech, Las Vegas, Marjory Stoneman Douglass, and Uvalde should be enough to motivate us to become better, faster, and stronger; to improve our mindsets; and train hard to be able to confront and combat similar threats. Attending one ALERRT class, watching a training video, or attending a conference is not enough. We must train on- and off-duty. We must put ourselves in uncomfortable situations during training to be able to respond to uncomfortable real-life situations. Train so you will not hesitate outside while people are dying inside. Train to have the ability to control your heartrate so you can combat the physiological effects of stress and exertion on your body. Train to have the courage to take command and lead your troops into a hostile situation to save lives.
As you struggle to muster the motivation to go on your next training ride, run, or workout, think of the nineteen children at Uvalde Elementary, the twenty at Sandy Hook Elementary, the seventeen at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the thirty-two at Virginia Tech, and the many others whose lives have been lost to the evil that the public depends on all of us to protect them from.
As IPMBA public safety cyclists, we can set the example for our fellow officers to help them find the motivation to increase their activity level and improve their diet so they, too, can become better, faster, stronger, and better prepared to protect those whom we have sworn to protect.
Greg is a police captain for the Tarrant County College Police Department in Central Texas. He attended the IPMBA Police Cyclist Course in 2001 and started the bike unit for his department. In 2011, he attended the IPMBA Instructor Course in Richmond, Virginia. Over the years he was fortunate to attend several IPMBA Conferences. His department and Fort Worth Police Department co-hosted the 2019 IPMBA Conference in downtown Fort Worth, Texas. In 2020, he was elected to the IPMBA Board of Directors and appointed to the position of Industry Liaison. In 2021, he earned the rank of IIPMBA Instructor Trainer (IT). He can be reached at industry@ipmba.org.
(c) 2022 IPMBA. This article appeared in the 2022 Conference Highlights issue of IPMBA News.