Why Do Cops Always Feel Like Friends?
As I mapped out the plans for this year’s Police and Security Expo on June 27 - 28, I started looking forward to seeing some of the extraordinary policemen and policewomen who I have had the privilege to meet at the last several conferences. Each summer, NJNBI treks to beautiful Atlantic City to serve and protect those emergency personnel and first responders who in turn serve and protect our communities and us.
It's one of my favorite outings of the year for many reasons. It's always amazing to see new developments in police technology - brilliant minds are working to invent better equipment, create innovative strategies, and make policing safer. I expect this year will be no different than past shows, all of which saw a constant stream of active and retired police at NJNBI’s booth volunteering their experience with neck and back trouble and how it impacted their jobs and quality of life. Last year was illuminating and I wrote about some of the barriers police face when considering or needing surgery.
As their stories unfolded, inside I felt some elements in my world as a surgeon. The world of policing felt very familiar. The injuries and experiences discussed were situations I deal with on a daily basis, yet they seemed consolidated into this one profession more than others. But there was another familiarity that I couldn’t quite put my finger on or explain until planning this past year’s visit. With the warm smile we freely adopt when we feel understood, I reflected on what the reasons could be.
Surgeons and police operate under many of the same workplace dynamics, hold the same convictions, and each adopts cooperative professionalism while solving problems that impact people in the most direct ways possible.
Here are a few things I have observed that surgeons and cops have in common:
A surgeon is constantly re-certifying their skills for better surgical technique as well as new technology. Protocols are updated, research is always revealing and informing our strategy, and surgical candidacy criteria make decisions safer every day.
Similarly, police must recertify and stay up to date with firearms safety and practice. Police are constantly adapting to changing laws and policies while trying to incorporate new research findings into law enforcement strategies. Much like surgery, certain things about police work are fundamental and will never change, yet each could list huge changes in doctrine over the decades with an eye toward safety.
Surgeons, like police officers, are also first responders. We either treat those who police have rescued in some fashion or we treat the police so they can continue responding. Either way, we are often both the first to arrive and deal with a severe problem, usually with lives at stake.
Both Medicine and Police are self-correcting. By this I mean each profession is constantly researching itself to determine trends, patterns, outcomes, and relationships to various factors. It wouldn’t occur to a surgeon or police officer to NOT study what we do to make it safer, better, and most cost-effective.
Both medicine and police work are designed to serve the general public and both assume a certain level of public trust. As a result, each job gets thoroughly reviewed, is subject to government oversight, systematically documents procedures and outcomes, and answers to an industry set of standards and guidelines that are regularly updated.
A police officer's job and a surgeon’s job are never routine. Neither of us knows what is going to happen when we arrive at work each day or what emergency phone calls we may get during off-duty hours. Both our jobs can change mid-event despite the best preparation and decades of experience. We come to expect it though, and usually, cops and surgeons with years of experience can thrive amid chaos and make the right decisions.
Few careers offer the kind of solidarity with coworkers and peers that exists inside most police departments and operating rooms. Surgeons and police have each other's backs in a way that's not required in other professions, often in life-or-death moments. There are very few professions where encountering death is a routine (even daily) occurrence. That changes you and forces you to adopt a mindset and outlook that is very tough to relate to until you’ve experienced it.
Police officers and surgeons have a unique level of cooperation with peers because we hold someone’s life in our hands every day we go to work. Surgeons have a bond with one another and everyone that scrubs in because of their responsibility to that vulnerable life. The innate cooperation needed isn't found in most jobs. Cops bond with one another for this reason - they are directly responsible for one another’s lives and others in the course of carrying out their work. It's a hard feeling to internalize until you find yourself there.
And finally…
Both of us took an oath. We said it out loud. We live it. Others can see it and hold us to it. It means something to us and we carry that oath with deep, unshakable conviction. Only those who take an oath can fully comprehend the implications of that responsibility.
The public assumes we will both be on the job, ready to go when needed, and flawless at what we do. Failure or incompetence in either surgery or police work can cost a life. And that is why we at NJNBI see ourselves as your professional associates. I do not mean direct co-workers, but we are here for the same reasons with the same responsibilities, obligations, accountability, and criticisms.
Perhaps that is why every hand I shake at the Police Security Expo feels like a distant friend in some way. Perhaps these similarities are why I look forward so much to coming down every year and smelling the sea salt spray under the neon blur of the boardwalk. There is safety and comfort in it, and if you choose NJNBI for your neck and back surgery journey, that familiar hand of friendship and comfort will be there for you. A hand extended in mutual RESPECT.
I look forward to seeing you all in June. Please stop by our booth and start your healing journey by making an appointment with NJNBI.