Lt. Richard Goerling, Mindfulness in Police Work

1. Mindfulness for Performance & Safety

Use mindfulness to reduce stress, make better tactical decisions, combat prejudice, and reduce unnecessary force, ultimately improving performance and safety by fostering awareness and compassion.

2. Regulate Emotions, Don’t Suppress

Learn to regulate emotions like frustration, anger, and fear by becoming aware of them, rather than ignoring or compartmentalizing, which can lead to negative outbursts.

3. Combat Implicit Bias with Awareness

Employ mindfulness as a pathway to become aware of implicit biases, and then mitigate them through increased awareness and compassion, leading to fairer interactions.

4. Officer Demeanor Impacts Outcomes

Understand that an officer’s demeanor (e.g., authoritative, ‘asshole’ approach) can escalate situations, leading to a greater incidence of force or enforcement, while compassion improves safety and performance.

5. Recognize and Reduce Judgment

Be aware of the tendency to judge others, especially in stressful environments, as this coping mechanism fosters negativity and cynicism, which is unhealthy for individuals and community relations.

6. Tailor Mindfulness Training Culturally

When implementing mindfulness training in specific cultures (e.g., law enforcement), modify content by removing ’touchy-feely’ elements, adding ‘gritty’ aspects, and incorporating relevant practices like movement and a ‘warrior ethos’.

7. Socialize New Ideas with Science

To gain acceptance for new initiatives like mindfulness, spend time socializing the scientific basis (neuroscience) with peers and key leaders, establishing a groundwork for understanding and buy-in.

8. Embrace Fluid Personal Meditation

Adopt a flexible and varied personal meditation practice, which can include short formal sits (10-15 minutes), intentional walking, or integrating mindfulness into daily activities like swimming, making it realistic and sustainable.

9. Seek Intensive Mindfulness Retreats

Supplement daily practice with formal intensive retreats (e.g., a 5-day or weekend retreat annually) as these provide profound benefits and can be ’life-saving’ for sustained well-being.

10. Step Outside System for Change

If internal criticism or new ideas are not accepted within an institution, consider finding external platforms (e.g., adjunct faculty) to present alternative perspectives and drive change, operating with one foot inside and one foot outside the system.

11. Be a Bridge Builder for Change

When advocating for systemic change, position yourself as a bridge between diverse communities (e.g., academia, law enforcement, community activists) to foster conversation and build relationships, even if it’s a challenging and lonely path.

12. Combine Top-Down & Bottom-Up Change

For effective transformation of attitudes, culture, and behavior, implement both grassroots, bottom-up efforts (individual skills training) and top-down political and organizational changes simultaneously.

13. Focus on Skills for Resilience

Shift from merely discussing stress and trauma to providing actionable skills training in resilience, enabling individuals to navigate traumatic situations, regulate stress, and achieve post-traumatic growth.

14. Individual Power in Systemic Issues

Recognize that individual changes, such as a police officer’s shift in awareness and compassion through mindfulness, can radically alter encounters and, over time, ‘infect’ teams and cultures, making a significant difference even within challenging systems.

15. Integrate Warrior Ethos with Compassion

Cultivate a ‘fierce compassion’ that allows one to be a ‘badass warrior’ (someone who runs to crisis and acts meaningfully without creating more harm) without being unkind or judgmental.