Captain Joe Engler’s Message
Residents, Merchants and Visitors,
Time. Space. Distance.
The interplay between these concepts often are discussed and
applied in law enforcement training when it comes to officer safety.
The measurement and assessment of each in any given scenario is
critical in the decision making process. Both positive and negative
outcomes usually align with the presence or absence of each.
Adequate time for critical analysis and assessment allows for decision
makers to carefully weigh options and to apply harm reduction
measures. When facing an emergency or crisis, the lack of time
restricts the decision maker from obtaining consensus from multiple
sources and forces the actor to rely upon his or her training,
experience and best judgment.
Spatial awareness is the ability to understand and interact with the
environment around you. The ability to organize our knowledge of
objects and hazards in relation to oneself in a given space is a critical
life skill which we learn at an early age and often take for granted.
When our environment changes and new dangers arise, we must
adapt and recalibrate our understanding of the world around us.
When facing a threat, the greater the distance between our physical
self and the danger posed typically increases the amount of time
available to find an avenue to protect ourselves. Bomb squad
officers know that the energy from a blast reduces as it travels
through space, with the threat diminishing the farther one travels
away from the blast.
As a community, we are facing a public health threat which will be
measured by future generations in terms of how many died and what
was done to prevent the casualties. Public health and safety decisions
are occurring every day in preparation for how serious the pandemic
may become and what steps can be made to protect everyone.
As your Captain, I ask only for each of you to take heed of the
warnings, physically isolate your self from others and be part of the
solution in reducing the number of persons infected by COVID-19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
-JE<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here’s a link to the full Newsletter<\/p>\n\n\n\n