Life Lessons: What I learned during my career in law enforcement… and in life

10 Life Lessons You Can Learn From the Smartest Older People

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I always wanted to go to engineering school however and the skills the EACC has given me have been just as applicable and given me an advantage in my courses at college. My Teachers not only pushed me to better myself in the IT field, but as a member of the workforce, and as a student as well. All of the knowledge and experience I received there lay the foundation of my career. From learning how to read blueprints to building sweet tabletop hot-dog grills, I had a great time at EACC.

Though it is difficult to correlate what I learned at the Career Center to where I am now in the work force, I see definite parallels from then to now. Everyday, I have to problem-solve and work with others to fulfill the demands of customers. Everyday, I weld, read blueprints, and use a variety of machinery. Above all, work ethic is probably the most influential character traits that has been passed on from attending the EACC. If a broom needs to be pushed, it needs to be done. The biggest impact though was the after school hours radio program that I was allowed to have.

It taught me to go for what I want to do. Although the class did not have a direct impact on my career path it did point direction and gave me the confidence I really needed at that time. I did quit school in my Junior year and then went in to the Air Force in electronics. After honorable discharge I worked for an Elkhart telephone interconnect company for 10 years and then started my company, TeleData, Inc. Without the Career Center class my guess is that I would have still quit school but instead of the Air Force I would have just found a local store job. All of my teachers were encouraging and helpful!

The teachers were Professional in their classrooms and taught and lead by example. I learned the skills needed for each individual classroom and age group through hands on experience.

I was given opportunities to Intern with other child care and preschool programs to enhance my experiences and knowledge before I was thrown into the workforce. When I graduated and went looking for a job at Growing Kids my Career Center Counselor sent a recommendation directly to the owner. I used all of my experiences gained at the Career Center in my toddler classroom for 4 years at which point I was promoted to the position of Morning Supervisor.

I have been with Growing Kids for over 7 years and now hold the title of Assistant Director. I was able to be placed in a job during my junior year. Skills I learned then was the foundation for my career in computer networking. Without that experience it would have made my success much more difficult. I will be forever grateful for the opportunities EACC gave me. I had learned a lot about teamwork, brotherhood and discipline, which has been very helpful in all aspects of my life.

The career center also gave us the opportunity to work with other fire departments in the area; allowing us to see some possible employment options and meet people who actually do the job everyday.

Testimonials – Elkhart Area Career Center

Because of these experiences, I was able to get onto a fire department while still a student at EACC. During the application and interview process, it was great to be able to tell people that I would be coming from the career center with several state firefighting certifications and great references. Without this program I would not have the career I do. The program and staff at the EACC and a drive to learn earned me a full ride scholarship to college. Jamie Stith, Zeno Ladis were my 2 biggest influences during my time in the automotive program.

Achieved the goals that I have and provide for my family in the way I can. It showed me more about vehicle repairs.

It landed me jobs in the field that i worked in for 14years. They have leading edge technology that all the big shops have and helps you when you go out into he field. The instructors were extremely knowledgeable in the content but also had connections which helped me become a volunteer fire cadet and attend an emergency medical technician course. I never thought I would look forward to going to school as much as I did for Law Enforcement class.

The life lessons and priceless impact Mr. I know a lot of us students of theirs feel the same way I do. The skill sets and expertise they pass on with so much devotion and selflessness is something that goes far beyond pursing that career in Law Enforcment. I knew that I was going to become a Marine regardless of my decisions of pursing college first or trying to get into the Law Enforcement field right away.

Every minute of every day, this is what you wait for. This is what you think about and this is what you prepare for - the man with the gun. I looked at the gun, then at the dopey grin on his face. And I thought, this guy is going to try and shoot me, and he's pretty F-ing happy about it. All that thinking took about one second.

Then I dropped the radio, grabbed my gun, yanked the door handle and shoved it open with my shoulder all in one move. I jumped out of the car, pointed my gun right in his face and started yelling. Put them up or I'll blow your head off. Again, much to my surprise, he threw his hands right up and did exactly what I told him.

When I threw him on the truck of the car, he was trying to say something, but I couldn't really hear him. I was wound up, and all I could hear was my heart pounding in my ears. I had him spread eagle on the car with my gun screwed in the back of his head while I reached into his waistband and grabbed the gun. While dealing with him, I had to keep one eye on the female in the car. I didn't want her getting out and jumping on my back or trying something else crazy because she wanted to help her man. Out on the street, a woman can be just as nasty and vicious as any guy can be, and a lot of times they're worse.

Then I heard him say it again, but this time he yelled it. I'm on the job. That caught my attention. He was trying to tell me he was a cop. If he had said I'm a police officer, I would have known he was full of it. But in a situation like this, this was the correct and the only response.

OK, so happy ending in that one. He told you - you were a cop. You finally were able to hear that, and all was - all was resolved. But I think that puts you in - that reading puts you in the mindset of how frightening it is for a cop when you see somebody who has a gun or who you think has a gun. Did that happen to you a lot? I mean, over the years - I mean, as a cop and especially as a supervisor, I can't even count - I was involved in thousands and thousands of arrests of some really bad, dangerous individuals.

And just because you see the gun doesn't mean you panic and start shooting. You take control of the situation, and in that situation I didn't panic. You know, I kept my control, and it had a happy ending. I wouldn't say panicking, but this probably - I could tell you out of all of those arrests that I made, there's at least a half a dozen guys that I came very, very close to shooting.

I mean, at the point where I was pulling the trigger. And at the last possible second, they dropped the gun. Or I had one or two instances where the guy pulled the gun on me, and he was pointing it at me and the only thing I could do was wrestle it out of his hands, and that's what I did. I wrestled the gun off of him, and it had a successful conclusion. You know, he got arrested and nobody got killed - me or him. The thing with police work is when these things happen, you've got about a second.

You've really got about one second to make a - to make a life-and-death decision. Your adrenaline's shooting out of your ears. Half the times you're doing it in the dark. It's nighttime, or you're in some darkened hallway or abandoned building, and you've got one second to get it right.

And luckily, over the years, I got it right. Laughter That's, like, one of the most common questions. And when I tell people no, they seem disappointed. It's like, you know, you watch TV, and you think cops are firing their guns every night, but that's not true. And over the course of 20 years, I was involved in thousands and thousands of arrests. And on top of that - you know, I couldn't even possibly count - tens of thousands of, like, you know, civilian interactions.

And no, I never had to fire my gun once, believe it or not. What does that say? I had plenty of opportunities. I could tell you there's at least a half a dozen guys that are still walking around out there that I would've been completely justified using deadly physical force, but at the last possible second, I found another way to resolve it.

But make no mistake about it. If I had to do it, I would do it. I was fully prepared to do it. But luckily for them and luckily for me, always at the last second, I found a way to resolve the situation without having to resort to deadly physical force. And that's what you have to remember.

Like, you have different tools. You've got a night stick. You've got a Taser. You've got a gun. Your gun is your last resort. After everything else fails, that's the last resort. Nobody wants to do that. Nobody wants to fire a shot. Nobody wants to take a life.

Testimonials

When I go out on patrol at night, I mean, the last thing you want to do is take a life. All I want to do is go out, do my job, do it well and go home in one piece. And I'm happy if - when I lock a guy up, you know, and I tell him, turn around, put your hands behind your back and he does it, I'm happy. I would much rather by a guy a hot dog on the way to jail Which I've done - yeah, which I've done - rather than roll around in the street and fight with him.

That's not what I want to do. I want my night to go nice and smooth. So having never fired your gun once in the 20 years that you were a cop in New York City, including being a cop in the anti-crime unit, what's your reaction to seeing the string of police shootings that were captured on cellphone videos and that the rest of us have watched?

You know, Terry, if you're expecting me to defend that guy down in South Carolina, forget about it. It's not going to happen. You know, I saw the video just like everybody else did, and I can't possibly explain what was going on in his head. We don't shoot fleeing felons. I've been in that situation thousands of times, and I never had to resort to deadly physical force. So I can't even explain to you what was going on in his head.

But I mean, I've spoken to guys - buddies of mine - about it, especially about the thing in South Carolina. And it's funny, like, they're angry. I was talking to one of my buddies just the other day, and, like, he's angry. He goes it just makes our job much more difficult. It does, but, you know, you're rank-and-file cop - you're not going to be calling up a reporter and making a statement.

You're not allowed to. They don't want you to. You're not getting on the nightly news to make a statement. But amongst ourselves, yeah, of course guys, you know, talk amongst themselves.

If you're just joining us, my guest is Steve Osborne. He's a former New York City cop who retired in after 20 years on the force and after rising to the position of lieutenant. He's written a new memoir called "The Job: And if you're just joining us, my guest is Steve Osborne. He's a retired New York City cop who retired in after serving 20 years and rising to the rank of lieutenant. He's written a memoir called "The Job: You tell a story at the beginning of your memoir about when you were new, when you were a rookie, and you stopped a fight - two guys, one inch steak knife laughter.

One guy looked like he was on the verge of stabbing the other; that would not have been good for the other guy. I mean, this is a huge knife.

And tell us how you resolved that. I was in a crowded park, and a lady comes walking by and says, you better get over there, pointing to the other side of the park. She goes, they're fighting. So I drove around the other side of the park, and there they were. I saw the two guys fighting.

LEADERSHIP

And as I approached, you could see one guy was in, like, this total complete rage. Like, the veins were popping out of his neck and spit was flying out of his mouth. And he was pointing at the other guy, like, accusing him of something. And as I got closer - you know, I put the lights on on the car, and that didn't seem to get his attention. I tapped the siren. That didn't seem to get his attention either.

He was just in this total all-consuming rage.

Testimonials

And at that moment, he pulls out a inch steak knife out of his back pocket, and he goes to stab the guy. He's going to murder this guy right in front of me, right in front of a police car. And it was another incident where I literally had one second to make a decision, and I would have completely justified jumping out and shooting this guy. He's about to murder a guy right in front of me, so I would've been completely justified shooting him.

But there was no time. There was no time to jump out of the car and get a shot off. So I hit the gas.

And I tapped him with the car, and he went flying. The knife went flying. And just in the nick of time, I kept him from stabbing the other guy and saved his life. I jumped out of the car. You know, I got my perp. And just as I'm feeling a little proud of myself that I prevented a murder, a crowded had gathered. And all of a sudden, the crowd starts chanting, you know, F the police. And somebody else starts yelling, yeah, they ran the brother over. He wasn't doing nothing. Now, nobody actually saw what happened. But because they saw him flying off the hood of the car, everybody just assumed that I was wrong.

Next thing I know, bricks and bottles start flying. Bottles are crashing through the windshield of the car, and a little riot started. And I think what hurt more than anything was I saved this guy's life. He was about to die. And the crowd, their first instinct was - is that the cop was wrong. And their second instinct was to start throwing bricks and bottles at me.

But that's a cop's life, you know? You, I'm sure, worked in neighborhoods where people were especially suspicious of police and didn't see you as someone coming to save them, but saw you rather as somebody who was coming to take away, as you put it, somebody they really cared about. Let me see if I can find this quote.

Here, this is nice. You write reading when the fire department comes to your house, they're coming to save you. But when the police come, that usually means somebody's leaving in handcuffs, somebody they care about, usually a husband, boyfriend, son or baby's daddy is going to jail.

Lesson Plan: Community Policing Practices and Reform

So most of the time, people aren't too happy to see you. So how did that affect you when you had to approach a house? Like, how did you approach a house where the people inside were not going to be happy to see you? It doesn't - you have a job to do, so you do your job. You know, you're not - you're not there - I shouldn't say that you're not there to make friends. You know, I would much rather - whatever the job is, you know, after you're done, if we're all shaking hands and everybody's happy, you know, that was a successful conclusion.

But it's true, everybody loves a fireman. You know, they're coming to your house to save you. But when the cop comes, you know, somebody's usually leaving in handcuffs. Any person who wears a badge must read this book to better understand the climate of the profession. Kevin has hit a home run with Emotional Survival, and will ultimately impact thousands of lives. Reading this book could save your life, your marriage and the lives of your children.

Thank you Kevin for sharing with all of us your insight and strategies for survival. Gilmartin's Emotional Survival training at least twice in my career and I found his lessons on surviving a law enforcement career the most valuable tool to my success and emotional survival both professionally and personally.

This book should be required reading for all new police officers and their loved ones. Law enforcement can be a rewarding career that leaves one fulfilled, not bitter, caring, not isolated, and most important, a survivor, not a victim. It is the first book I have read that describes what really happens to police officers in their careers, with incredible insight into the stress and difficulties of being a police officer. Kevin Gilmartin sets out proactive strategies for police officers and their families to survive the most dangerous profession.

The need to do so is great. We as a profession need to consider emotional survival as a part of officer survival. It could change your life. It might even save your life, your career, your home life. Author Kevin Gilmartin, Ph. Other operational activities during his deputy she rrif career included assisting investigators, criminal profiling, crisis interventions with emotionally disturbed persons, and dealing with extremist groups. A true police psychologist is a rare breed in itself, and Dr.

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