16Dec05

Shooting in Iowa:

A suspect was convicted today of shooting and wounding a special agent with

Iowa's Division of Narcotics Enforcement. The incident took place b ack in May.

The officer confronted the suspect on a stairway. The suspect then produce d a revolver and pointed it directly at the officer. In response, the office r put up both his hands, holding his cell phone in one of them. He made a useful target! The suspect fired. The single bullet struck the cell phone and continued on through the officer's hand. The suspect was arrested a short time later, without further incident, by other officers. The wounded offic er survived but suffers from some permanent disability.

Lesson: Pilots have a saying: "In a mid-air emergency, (1) AVIATE, ( 2) NAVIGATE, (3) COMMUNICATE." The sequence of events is more importan t than the actual activities. What the saying emphasizes is FIRST THINGS FIRST! One needs to aviate first, getting control of the aircraft. Then, he can worry about

where he is and with whom he needs to communicate. Sequence is critical! Transposing steps is a recipe for disaster!

Likewise, in a personal security emergency, we need to: (1) MOVE, (2) EVALUATE, (3) DECIDE, (4) ACT. Communicating via cell phone is way down th e list! I'm not sure what putting up one=80=99s hands is designed to acc omplish.

In this business, whatever else we are, we must be decisive and courageous. Hesitant ditherers need not apply. We see what happens when they do!

/John