The Police Officer Poker Face

May 7, 2017
It takes some planning and forethought to keep our advantage on the street. Here are a few tips and tricks I've learned across the span of my career and some interesting "poker" tricks that can help as well.

Every cop knows how to “cop.”   Just as every truck driver knows how to “drive trucks,” every bartender knows how to “bartend,” and every teacher knows how to “teach.”  But what makes one better than the other? What gets you the best possible product or experience?  How is one person more effective than another?  It’s the little things.  Police work is very much a customer service based job.  The difference being, the customer is NOT always right.  But we are sworn to protect our customers and serve our customers.  So we might as well do it as best we can.

The way we learn our job is the same as most other professions.  The employer gives us the training they are required and mandated to give, and they meet the basic requirements to get us started on an entry level.  The training we receive that propels us into higher level positions or just to make us good at what we do comes from OJT (on the job training).  The best resource to a newbie is someone who has been doing the newbie's job for a long time.  They have the wealth of knowledge and can propel an entry level employee out of newbie-ship better than any powerpoint presentation or text book can.  They know the tricks of the trade and how to do things in the most efficient way.  These are the people that CEO's, management, front line supervisors, and even low level colleagues depend on to keep their machine running smooth.  Public safety jobs are no exception.  I surmise they are one of the biggest entities that survive off of OJT to keep their employees effective, knowledgeable and safe.

In the regular world of going to a “job”, you can get disciplined for lack of performance or not doing your job well.  As a Police Officer you can get disciplined for the same.   Or quite possibly, you can lose your life.  Not many “jobs” have this in their entry level training class.  Unfortunately, it’s a nasty truth that we have to deal with.  This is why it is absolutely crucial that we do our job the best way it can be done - every time. We are always on the reactive side of a threat.  The advantage is seldom ours.  We have all seen what action vs. reaction looks like.  It’s not pretty.

There is no collegiate level class to teach what comes with good old fashioned experience.  I have no post graduate degree or higher learning college paraphernalia to display on my wall at home.  All of my higher education has come from people who have done this job before me or from doing it wrong myself and learning the hard way.  That moment when you realize your prospective prisoner knows YOUR ten codes and signals better than you.  Oh boy.  That’s a bad day.  You see him halfway across that busy roadway on his way to freedom at a smooth 15mph on a hot summer day and your stomach drops to your knees as you try to make up that huge head start he just got.  Is there any better learning experience?  Any better negative reinforcement?  I don't think so!  Now here's the beauty that comes from that mess.  Someone else doesn't have to experience that blunder to avoid the mistake. You are now the best teacher there is - whether teaching is your “thing” or not.  You are now a possessor of vital information that you must pass on.  You might save someone’s life, career, or at minimum their dignity.

Now let’s say that same offender got smacked by an eighteen wheeler and killed while fleeing.  Is that the officer's fault?  No.  Not according to the law.  But now let’s ask a different question: could it have been avoided? Absolutely.  And so often, we get wrapped up in making fun of or criticizing our colleagues that we lose sight of the mission.  The mission is to perform our professional function and then go home safe every night and to ensure our brothers and sisters do too.  Part of going home safe is to have a clear head and clear heart.  I know that if I did something dumb and it got someone killed, I would feel horrible - whether it was a fellow officer, an innocent bystander or the offender.  Even if the law says I'm innocent.  That baggage isn't what needs to go home with us.  It’s the little things that make the difference!

Most of the work I do is in a uniform capacity driving a marked cruiser.  I do, however, work on a team that is tasked with targeted enforcement, buy busts, surveillance, high risk stops, team tactics and a myriad of other odd jobs.

Patrol is very much an individual sport when chasing radio calls all day.  The pace can be fast and the attention to detail can dull as we try to clear the screen of calls.  This is a fact of life when keeping up with the demands of the public and the expectations of the supervisors that don't want calls stacking up.  I get it.  But sometimes we MUST slow down.  For the 1 out of 100 traffic stops we make, or for that subject stop where our hair stands up on the back of our neck, we have to slow down and focus on the little things.   Keeping a good poker face is not just important at a casino.  Psychological warfare is employed by the military as a tactic to sway groups of people in one way or another.  This is a tactic that we can use on a much smaller scale to achieve the same result.  Swaying someone with our words, actions, and disposition can gain us those small advantages of time, distance and surprise.  I would like to share with you some of the little things that I've learned and adopted to keep the ball in my court as much as possible.  Hopefully, I am covering things that all of you currently do (which might make me sound condescending and full of myself, but if one person gains a new tool for their toolbox, or one little tip that they keep in the back of their head to be used when necessary, I have succeeded.)

Subject stops and making an arrest

You’re a bad guy/girl.  An officer stops you.  You are seated on the ground.  You have done a very bad thing.  The officer just checked you for warrants and walks away while his partner watches you... Suddenly, he acknowledges a radio return from the dispatcher and walks back to you very quickly.  The officer says, “Stand up and put your hands behind your back.”  What would you do?  Comply? Maybe.  Fight, run, something else? Probably!

I have literally had to yell at suspects to stay down while an officer is mid-sentence telling them to stand up.  And so must you.  This is a horrible tactic.  You’re a coach and you just walked the playbook over to the other team.  And now you expect to win the game? We have to hold our plays close to the vest.  Projecting our moves is something that we can get out of the habit of doing pretty easily.  It just takes a little thinking outside the box.  To help avoid this projection, let’s adopt some tactics that get us away from it.  For example, avoid handcuffing people on their feet.  If they are seated, leave them there.  Handcuffing someone in a seated position is not hard.  If they are seated and leaning against a wall or tire or some other backrest of sorts, have them scoot forward on their bum until you can get behind them.  If they are standing, have them kneel.  It is much harder to run or fight when you first have to stand up, and it gives the officer time to react.  We avoid projecting by staying away from tactics that induce it and by making a conscious effort to keep the suspect in a reactive state as much as possible.

Traffic stops and deciding to search

You make the stop and approach the vehicle.  You’re talking to the driver and notice either the smell of CDS, the open alcoholic beverage, etc.  You know you are going to search the car.  But you are alone and have to call for backup first.  DO NOT comment on your observations.  Don't ask them when the last time they smoked marijuana in the car was.  All you’re doing is telling the bad guy/girl that you are on to them.  If you have probable cause already, there’s no need to alert the driver that a search is coming.  Our inquisitive nature and crime detecting persona is going to fight this at every turn.  But don't give in.  Just get the driver's credentials and keep it light.  Put them at ease with a misdirecting comment if you must.  Say something like “Hey if your license is good, I'll have you out of here in just a minute”.  Now as you return to your car and call for backup for the vehicle search, the suspect is waiting for his warning or citation because you “missed” the contraband in plain view or the odor of CDS pouring out of the car. 

Working toward the search

When you’re backup gets there and you re-approach you absolutely must get that car TURNED OFF!  They may comply immediately or they may challenge it.  You might have to lie again or just ask them a few more times to let it sink in. If they refuse to turn the car off, odds are, they are going to refuse to exit the vehicle for the search.  This is how the “world’s wildest police videos” start.  Officers struggling with drivers as the car drags them down the road makes for high ratings on TV.  So if they refuse to shut the car off, we have a few options.  We can have a backup officer pin the suspect's front bumper with a cruiser's bumper.  We can pin the rear bumper in the same fashion.  The contact officer must ensure it is safe to do so by covering the driver while this is accomplished.  Another option, depending on departmental guidelines is to deflate the tires.  A property damage and impound report beats getting dragged.  If these options are not available, consider distracting the driver while a backup officer gets the key out of the car from the passenger side.  This is the least favorable option (as it puts the backup officer inside the car briefly), but it’s effective when executed well.

The vehicle search

Don't place contraband on the roof of a car for everyone to see - ESPECIALLY WEAPONS.  Unless the contraband is an illegal exotic animal, it is not going anywhere.  And if you put a weapon out in the open, it’s now in play for anyone to grab, plus it has now become the elephant in the room.  Everyone knows you found it.  Leave it in the car you are searching.  If it’s serious enough to make an arrest, SECURE IT and make the arrest.  If not, you can recover it later.  When searching, consider this. The suspect knows where their contraband is located.  And they know you just stopped searching their car as soon as you got to said contraband.  So now guess what they know you are about to do as you walk back to them?  As long as it’s safe to do so, ignore it.  Now I don't mean pretend it isn't there and let the guy go.  I simply mean, pass over it briefly and maybe move to a different part of the car.  Put the suspect's mind at ease.  Then after a few moments, find a reason to casually walk back to the suspect while engaging them in some completely off topic conversation like, “Hey what year is this car again? It’s in great shape.”  This gives them reason to believe you missed the contraband and also redirects their brain to a place it didn't expect to be in.  Now who's acting and who's reacting?  The officer has a plan and the suspect is playing defense.  When you get back to the suspect and you ask him if the car is registered to Irene, he will have no idea why multiple officers are grabbing his arms and throwing cuffs on him.  “Who the hell is Irene??” he will ask.   At which point he will be in handcuffs and you can explain that you found the loaded handgun under the driver seat.  And Irene is nobody.  In all actuality, Irene is the code word for “arrest” that you and your squad made up.  Irene is my team’s code word.  We didn't make it up.  It came from prior teams and got passed down over the years.  But it’s super effective.  We are fooling ourselves if we think that suspects don't know our codes inside and out.  Or at least the ones they need to know.

Let’s face it.  The “good ole days” we have all heard about and some have had the fortune to experience, are over.  We are breaking new ground and the face of policing has changed with the advent of social media and cameras on every blade of grass.  Even though force will still be warranted on a regular basis, we know it will have to go through the “social media court.”  We have to challenge ourselves to think outside the box to stay safe and get the tactical advantage whenever possible.  Hopefully some of these tips will help to do just that.  Stay safe and see you out there!

Sponsored Recommendations

Build Your Real-Time Crime Center

March 19, 2024
A checklist for success

Whitepaper: A New Paradigm in Digital Investigations

July 28, 2023
Modernize your agency’s approach to get ahead of the digital evidence challenge

A New Paradigm in Digital Investigations

June 6, 2023
Modernize your agency’s approach to get ahead of the digital evidence challenge.

Listen to Real-Time Emergency 911 Calls in the Field

Feb. 8, 2023
Discover advanced technology that allows officers in the field to listen to emergency calls from their vehicles in real time and immediately identify the precise location of the...

Voice your opinion!

To join the conversation, and become an exclusive member of Officer, create an account today!