Experiences in Law Enforcement

¶ … Law Enforcement

The use and control of one's own mental faculties is of the utmost importance when involved in the serious and important business of government work. The word "government" itself literally translates to "controlling the mind" in Latin. Mind control is thus the most important aspect any individual who wishes to earn success and garner respect within governmental agencies may attain. Personal experience is the one true measure of the capability of thought, where the endgame is understanding these experiences and incorporating them into a practical, effective and efficient lifestyle approach both personal and professional.

As a Department of Defense (DOD) Special Agent, the ability to suppress emotion and employ rational and reasonable thought patterns is a skill that must be fully developed and tempered to allow for a suitable outlet for such activities. The purpose of this essay is to explore some personal experiences within my own career to highlight and contextualize the importance of thinking, personal bias and cognitive abilities within law enforcement and public service. This essay will incorporate personal experience to help show the maturing process of the mind and how this process is beneficial to a career and profession within law enforcement.

The Development of Reason

It is impossible to discuss the present day cognitive abilities that I enjoy without describing the processes that have allowed for these skills to develop and flourish. For me, it has been the path taken that has provided me with my own ways and means of thinking and processing information. To understand my present mind functions, it is necessary to discuss the importance of learning and education to fully grasp the idea in its totality.

The critical abilities of my own mind must be identified as the capacity to determine good from bad. Eliminating all that is contradictory and identifying the truth is at the heart of critical thought in my opinion. As a young child, learning came very easy for me and thought patterns and ideas were readily accessible for me to enjoy. Playful interrelation within my own environment projected a world of amazement and wonder.

Education, as one grows older, becomes more prominent in their ability to discern fact from fiction. My public school education demonstrated the importance of not how to think, but what to think. Hard core institutionalization of the American way of life was an important theme in the school system. American history, no doubt distorted through time, provided a picture of the world that clearly defined what was wrong and what was right.

Only many years later would I recognize the strong impact this schooling experience would have on my personal biases. School taught me how to follow and obey. Grading and judging were important qualities in determining success according to my school. Learning was assumed if the grades were good and rewards awaited those who scored the highest. At an early age, the idea of quantity superseded that of the idea of superior quality. An almost nihilistic obsession of pure power and control reflected the role models of this system.

Real world experience soon exposed the weaknesses of the school system in my eyes. Entering the world of government and becoming a DOD Special Agent revealed another world where simple memorization and acceptance of dogmatic ideas do not suffice as acceptable forms of intellectual self-defense. The subjective nature of ethics and morals exposed in this environment, quickly demonstrated the importance of my own ability to rationalize the world in a practical and effective manner.

The Nature of Reality

What is real? The question is sublime that many do not even consider the nature of reality in any meaningful manner. Understanding the answer to this question was imperative for me in my development of my own rational capabilities. The question is challenging and demands deep thought while it is often overlooked in the day-to-day experiences of a Special Agent. Too often, I have relied on my own 5 physical senses to help in determining what is real or not. This approach is not satisfying in any sufficient manner and appears to leave out other, more softer, ways of decoding the universe such as intuition and the incorporation of experience also known as wisdom.

For me, discovering the tools of logic and reasoning were extremely helpful in grasping the idea of reality. Logic cannot be seen and it is intangible, yet, by utilizing this way of thinking a mind can produce material results that align with purpose and will. Deductive and inductive reasoning skills are at the heart of critical thinking. Deductive reasoning, by incorporating specific results and interpolating them to the larger picture, is, in essence, scientific thought and figures prominently in the scientific method. Inductive reasoning, is the reverse process of interoperating one's own experience through the lens of the larger picture.

The results of the this wheel of reasoning produce two different ideals: the subjective and the objective. The subjective is personal and incorporates the more emotional and artistic viewpoints of the mind. The objective is what is understood to be generally a fact or truth. The interplay between these two thought forms is what thinking is to me. The model of brain and the different talents each side provides serves as a microcosmic reminder that nature is bi-polar in many ways. In this case, the two poles of understanding and thought are the subjective and objective. Their interplay and constant movement between the two states of thought is essentially the thinking process.

A thought is no more than a division of mental energy. If my mind identifies an object it is doing nothing more than eliminating a large portion of the environment and focusing on something very fine and particular. If my mind identifies an object such as a lamp, it has temporary chosen to ignore the many other things that this object could be. A lamp could be a weapon, doorstop, piece of art or a million other things. Within the lamp itself is contained millions of smaller particles, which in turn, are composed of millions of more even smaller particles. Thinking and the way we approach the environment is life itself or cognitive understanding manifested. How we divide the universe is how we define reality.

Understanding the scientific interpretation of how the mind works provides some help but does not fully explain bias or human subjectivity. Dreams and other psychic phenomenon are often left unexplained in scientific circles, but yet still have an impactful influence on my own personal cognitive abilities. Are we our own imagination of ourselves or are we something more? I am not sure, but I feel that objectivity is an illusion itself and our minds can only model a small portion of the immense amounts of information stored as energy in the real world.

In the intelligence field, it is mandatory for a special agent to sometimes assume the thinking qualities of the enemy. This is nothing more than practical empathy. Avoiding the temptation to insert bias and predetermined judgment is a difficult task for any human to conduct with constant regularity. Simply noticing and recognizing my own emotional triggers are extremely beneficial in knowing the inner workings of my own mind. This process of knowing myself has given me a strong advantage in uncovering many of the hidden truths in life and in my profession as a DOD special agent.

A Career as A Special Agent: A Practical Example of Critical Thinking

To best demonstrate a test of my proposed means of personal thinking and its value towards a career as a DOD special agent, it is necessary to discuss the career itself, in general and the adopted attitudes that occurred within my career that has helped develop my own philosophical outlook that drives my cognitive faculties. This summation of experiences will give examples of the relative nature of the world and how the dependence on my own intuitive nature helped save lives, and has given me great honor and satisfaction from serving my country in a time when the country needs strong people to lead and shape the future destiny of our American society.

The DOD is a violent and powerful organization that assumes much of the ugly responsibilities that accompany the burdens of defending a nation. Intelligence and intelligence gathering techniques are of great and deep significance in contributing to the much larger picture and developing a successful standard operating procedure that can be simplified and projected throughout the agency. Intelligence is not a tangible item that can be dissected and replaced like parts in a machine. While it would be simple to just pick a replacement part of the shelf and insert it onto the world stage, this is not advisable. This subtle sense of knowledge must be taken with context and judgment in order to maximize its efficiency on the battlefield.

To complicate matters, the very art and nature of warfare is based in the ability of forces to deceive their foe. Confucius once wrote that "all war is deception." The imperative tasks are obvious: determine what is true and what is not true. Understanding once again "how" to think as opposed to "what" to think becomes a useful mental technology that can be employed to best serve the nation and perform at a level that can eliminate the confusion and distortion and bring a sense of clarity and harmony to the complicated and evolving battlefield that threatens the safety of our citizens.

During one phase of my career within the DOD, I was confronted with a situation that tested my cognitive and critical thinking skills quite adequately . To understand the totality of this situation it is first important to understand some of the background information that is related to this experience.

The United States Department of Defense is essentially the guiding force of power and might within the mammoth organization known as the U.S. Federal Government. Essentially, this governmental body supports the war efforts that are conducted by the executive branch of the government. Special agents within this organization are concerned with promoting fairness, integrity and justice towards the inner workings of this organization. This DOD has responsibility to inform the general public and Congress of the detailed accounts of this organization. In some respect we must become our own worst enemy as the job of oversight and accountability are often met with strong resistance and bitter contempt.

Core values have been promoted as guiding forces for Special Agents to refer to as they perform their professional duties in their chosen environment. Integrity is a core value that stresses the importance of eliminating distortion from the truth, even if the truth is unwelcomed or may cause stress. Efficiency, another benchmark value, suggests there is an underlying duty to not waste the public's precious resources and become deliberate and successful at our tasks. Accountability is promoted in the DOD as a core value. Accounting for things is analogous to knowledge. Fervent upkeep on knowledge, and new training measures is essential in becoming an accountable resource within this organization. Excellence is also lauded as a core value within this organization and promotes a sense of pride and determination through accomplishment as a means to success.

A specific incident within my career challenged my ability to make sense of reality and determine not only what is good or bad, but what is right and correct. Only when cognitive dissonance is sublimated by our more rationale attributes of our mind, is when this may be accomplished with any real success. The hierarchical structure of the DOD is not a perfect model, but, when proper purpose and judgment are displayed, can truly serve the nation's needs. In my particular incident, this structure played a large role in my experience in deciphering the truth.

Within the military crimes are committed and it is important for special agents to apply justice and law within these ranks. The Uniform Code of Military Justice is a special set of rules that applies to many of those within the Department of Defense including every single uniformed soldier, sailor, marine and airman. This special set of laws adds another level of confusion and distortion in deciphering out what is actually right and just in any situation. The UCMJ, Constitution and DOD rules and regulations all contribute to this mess of words that gives little assistance without some facts and contextual evidence to test their applicability.

Psychological Processes and Methodology

To understand one's mind, that person must somehow differentiate their true self from their ego consciousness. This is imperative in the experiences of a DOD special agent. This simple meditative tool helps to take things in a holistic manner that helps remind me that I am human and this experience is one of mental processes and cognitive realties, illusionary or not.

Psychology is nothing more than an offshoot subject of philosophy, and with a proper philosophical approach to the many and differing challenges a special agent's career is witness to, can be the lone tool to help navigate the turbulent waves of thought. Thought, like nature comes from within and evolves outward. The metaphysics of the mind are no different. Environmental feedback is helpful in the psychological processes, but material ends should be seen as results and not proper causes for action. Willfulness towards my own inner faculties and trusting my own wisdom and intuition, serves me greatly in this capacity as I navigate through the career path of a DOD special agent.

My methodology is simple and direct. A three step process is at the heart of my rational being and understanding the world in this manner, serves me greatly. The following explanation details "how" I think, rather than "what" I think. This distinction is at the root of my philosophical and psychological approach and is fundamental to achieving reason and comfort in my own way.