![]() 7 So narrowly defined, the concept is difficult for anyone to criticize. In this context, the warrior mindset refers to a bone-deep commitment to survive a bad situation no matter the odds or difficulty, to not give up even when it is mentally and physically easier to do so. What is the warrior mindset? In its most restrictive sense, it refers to the mental tenacity and attitude that officers, like soldiers, are taught to adopt in the face of a life-threatening struggle. 6 Drawing on that principle, I offer two practical changes to police training that have the potential to advance the ultimate police mission - promoting public security - in a way that fosters, rather than thwarts, public trust: requiring non-enforcement contacts and emphasizing tactical restraint. I join a growing chorus of voices contending that it is the Guardian, not the Warrior, that offers the appropriate metaphor for modern officers. In this Commentary, I first describe how law enforcement training and tactics reflect the warrior concept, identifying aspects of modern policing that, if not addressed, will continue to prevent or undermine efforts to improve public perceptions of police legitimacy. ![]() In short, law enforcement has developed a “warrior” problem. ![]() Though adopted with the best of intentions, the warrior concept has created substantial obstacles to improving police/community relations. An article in Police Magazine opens with a sentence that demonstrates with notable nonchalance just how ubiquitous the concept is: “ probably hear about needing to have a warrior mindset almost daily.” 4 Modern policing has so thoroughly assimilated the warrior mythos that, at some law enforcement agencies, it has become a point of professional pride to refer to the “police warrior.” 5 This is more than a relatively minor change in terminology. Officers are trained to cultivate a “warrior mindset,” the virtues of which are extolled in books, articles, 1 interviews, 2 and seminars 3 intended for a law enforcement audience. Within law enforcement, few things are more venerated than the concept of the Warrior.
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