Street Smart

I first started writing this column after a discussion with The Ledger’s owner/editor. She felt that my opinions, based on my personal experiences, might make for some interesting reading. I want to make it clear to the readers that this is an opinion column reflecting my spin on different issues. I’m not trying to change anyone’s mind here. Just offering a perspective based on my background and, hopefully, encouraging people to think critically rather than falling into lock step with the media.

This has been a new experience for me and I’m definitely learning as I go. One of the things I’ve learned is that I should have provided specific definitions for some to the terms I regularly use. My use to the term “real world experience” seems to have caused confusion for some, so I thought I should explain my meaning. When I spoke of experts in my last column, I mistakenly believed that term was pretty self-explanatory. I stated that I trusted the experts on the ground working the problem at the border more than I trust statistics. Hopefully, the following will explain my meaning.

Let me start by saying that I don’t believe there is any substitute for valid and confirmed experience…none! Webster’s defines experience as “knowledge gained by actually doing or living through something.” When I use the term “real world experience,” I’m talking about a hands-on, “been there, done that, got the t-shirt” knowledge of a specific topic. I believe that a person with “real world experience” has a perspective on a topic or event that someone with only a theoretical or indirect knowledge does not possess.

Let me try to make my point with an illustration from my personal life that I think everyone will understand and agree with. I have a number of friends who are combat veterans. I don’t have that experience. Now I’ve been in some tight spots during my time as a police officer. I’ve read books about combat, discussed the topic of combat with my friends and watched hundreds of war movies. That said, having read Band of Brothers and watching Audie Murphy movies doesn’t equate to a combat experience! Therefore, my “experience” when discussing combat is what I’d call theoretical or indirect. In short, I can’t have a valid opinion because I don’t have the experience. I can somewhat understand combat on an intellectual level only… not because of any first-hand experience. When I can finally convince my friends to speak of their combat experiences (to the person, each of the people I’m thinking of is a reluctant speaker), all I can do is sit and listen in awe, while valuing their expert opinions.

I should also say that I don’t give much weight to statistics or data. I think everyone would agree that statistics can be manipulated to support any position. In my opinion, we give too much credit to the people keeping or presenting statistics (I call them “bean counters”). People mistakenly believe that we have to be able to count something in order to give it validity (one of my favorite sayings is “bean counters gotta have beans”). I’ll trust “real world experience” over numbers every time. Another example is in order.

When I was a police officer working South Los Angeles, we often “knew” something was going to happen well before it actually did. How? I wish I could explain it…we just knew! There was something in the air that we couldn’t explain, but to us it was very real. Changes in a neighborhood, unusual movement on the street, certain people where they shouldn’t have been, no kids playing in the street, etc. Little pieces of a big puzzle came together and told us something was up (my wife’s former partner called it JDLR! which meant, “just don’t look right!”). We didn’t have any specific information, just experience. When we had that feeling, we didn’t put together a study group and an Excel spreadsheet to figure it out. Instead, we were proactive and deployed to the areas that experience had taught us were most likely and tried to make a difference. Surprisingly (and although bad things clearly did happen), because of that “real world experience,” we were quite often in a position to overwhelm the area with a police presence and prevent a crime. How did we know we prevented a crime? Again…I wish I could explain. We just “knew” from the “vibe” on the street that a bad thing had been averted. That sort of thing drove the bean counters crazy! Why? Because there’s no way to count something that didn’t happen! Remember… bean counters gotta have beans. In the mind of the bean counters, since they couldn’t somehow quantify that bad event, it had no validity for their statistics. We knew we’d made a difference but the guys with the keyboards didn’t get it! As I’ve said in prior columns, don’t just take my word for it. If you have the privilege to know a combat vet, ask them how often they knew something bad was going to happen well before it actually did. If you can get them to talk, I think you’ll be surprised at their answer. That’s the type of experience I value and give credence to!

Blaine Blackstone is a retired Los Angeles Police Sergeant who enjoys the simpler life in Thompson Falls. He can be reached by email at [email protected].