Discuss philosophy.
Discuss climate.
Discuss ground.
Discuss  leadership.
Discuss military methods

This stanza is the first in Sun Tzu’s classic book The Art of War.

The topic is war, but from the law enforcement and security perspective its how conflict and strategic positioning works in helping resolve conventional and unconventional problems of crime, crime problems and violence , “winning” without escalating conflict.

A critical starting point in understanding tactical response and approaches to calls which starts with your philosophy.

Sun Tzu says; “It starts with your military philosophy. Command your people with a higher shared purpose. You can lead them to death. You can lead them to life.”

Is your philosophy centered on understanding people and conflict and the best practices to resolve the competitive environment we find ourselves in through situational awareness, positioning and good decision making?

Or is it a hurry up, lets get there and get him mentality based on nothing more than  bravado and the cowboy mentality?

To be successful and win with as little conflict as possible our philosophy must be organizationally based, but individually practiced.

It must attract support and unify those responding to calls so that “life safety” is the priority and goal of our responses.

This ensures we are not mistaking “good luck” for good strategy and tactics.

Sun Tzu’s principles apply to all we do in law enforcement and security.

All front-line personnel and leaders in our professions wishing to handle themselves professionally, so they apply the proper strategy and tactics too any given situation, need to understand these time tested adaptive theories (2500 years old) for enhancing survival, resolving conflict, and winning on the street .

Before I continue on the purpose “my philosophy”  in  posting information on the topic of the Art of War is to bring and understanding to those in law enforcement and security of how, Sun Tzu’s theories, help us win without escalating conflict.

After all our goal is to resolve conflict.  I want to assure readers this is not about another feel good way of handling bad situations, not another back covering set of principles.

It is clearly a way of teaching adaptability in competitive situations so “we” seize the initiative and take advantage when opportunities present themselves. Not the other way around!

Good Strategy and tactics in an effort to avoid direct confrontation which, Sun Tzu discusses in Chapter seven of the Art of War: “Undertake armed conflict when you have an advantage. Seeking armed conflict for its own sake is dangerous.”

Some of the greatest military leaders currently and throughout history have practiced Sun Tzu’s strategic principles: Napoleon, T.E Lawrence, Powell, and Schwartzkov, to name just a few, have studied Sun Tzu and attribute their success to his principles.

COL John Boyd who has been called by some, the greatest military strategist since Sun Tzu was greatly influenced by The Art of War and the concept of winning without fighting.

Sun Tzu’s theories are for the tactically minded professional wanting to secure every possible advantage - for the professional who wants to understand the mental, moral, and physical realms of conflict.

WHY? Because that’s how we win on the street.

Next post in this series on Sun Tzu will Discuss Climate.

Sun Tzu: Climate and Situational Awareness

Sun Tzu Part 3: Understanding Your Terrain

Sun Tzu Part 4: Defining True Leadership

Sun Tzu Part 5: Methods and Sound Tactics

Sun Tzu Part 6: Art and Science of Methods

Sun Tzu Part 7: Tactical Communication

Fred Leland is an active Lieutenant with the Walpole PD and a former United States Marine. He is an accomplished and accredited trainer with more than 28 years experience teaching Law Enforcement, and security professionals. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy Class 216, where he specialized in terrorism related topics, leadership and management. He is currently an instructor for the Massachusetts Municipal Police Training Committee where he teaches decision making, use of force, terrorism, leadership and incident command to veteran law enforcement officers. His specialties are handling dynamic encounters, threat assessment, use of force, and decision making. Fred is a student of the late modern day Strategist COL John Boyd and the Ancient Strategist Sun Tzu. He founded Law Enforcement and Security Consulting, Inc (LESC) in 2006 with the focus of bringing these principles to law enforcement and security. Contact Fred here.

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