Complacency in Policing: The Silent Killer of Officer Safety

By: Chief Scott Hughes

It seems complacent to say complacency in law enforcement. We’ve all heard the warning: “Don’t be complacent.” Yet look around, and you’ll see how quickly complacency creeps into this profession, often starting almost as soon as officers graduate from the academy.

The academy drills fundamentals into recruits: watch the hands, wear your vest, call for backup, and maintain a safe distance. But once the badge is pinned on and the routines of the job take over, the sharp edges of those lessons can begin to dull. The longer officers are on the job, the easier it becomes to fall into habits that cut corners. That’s when complacency, the silent killer of policing, starts to take root.

The Comfort of Routine

Policing is full of repetition: traffic stops, domestic disputes, suspicious persons, and alarms. Over time, routine creates comfort. And comfort can create complacency.

The officer who has made a thousand “routine” traffic stops may start walking up to cars casually, flashlight down, with the weapon side exposed. The officer who has answered dozens of domestic calls may forget how volatile they can become. The result? When danger appears, it often catches us flat-footed.

The further away you are from violence, the more you think it won’t happen to you.

Officers working in jurisdictions that rarely experience violent crime can develop a false sense of security. But the reality is that violence can happen anywhere, at any time. In fact, those who “think it can’t happen here” may be the most vulnerable when it does.

Take domestics as an example. How many times have you been dispatched to that house or that address where nothing ever happens? As soon as the call is dispatched, some officers immediately think, “Here we go again.” Those addresses, the ones everyone assumes are predictable, can sometimes prove to be the most dangerous. All it takes is one call, where the situation is no longer the same as before.

Complacency doesn’t discriminate. It affects both rookies and veterans, as well as patrol officers and supervisors. It’s the silent killer that waits for the moment we let our guard down.

Preventable Losses

How many officer injuries and deaths are truly preventable each year? Be honest, and you’ll find the answer is quite a few.

• Seatbelts not worn.

• Backups not requested.

• Searches skipped.

• Hands not watched.

• An officer standing with their hands shoved behind their outer vest cover, unprepared for an attack.

These aren’t dramatic failures of courage or skill. They’re lapses in fundamentals, the things we know we should do but sometimes don’t.

That’s why complacency is so dangerous: it convinces us we’re safe right up until the moment we’re not.

The Role of Accountability

This is where accountability intersects with officer safety. Accountability isn’t about punishment; it’s about course correction.

Leaders and peers who call out unsafe habits aren’t nitpicking; they’re keeping each other alive.

At our agency, one way we combat complacency is through monthly reviews of body-worn cameras. Sergeants review common calls, such as traffic stops, domestic disputes, and suspicious persons, with their officers. The point isn’t to hand out discipline, it’s to highlight the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Every agency should be doing these reviews at least monthly. Supervisors need to sit down with their officers, review footage, and specifically look for officer safety issues. Are officers watching hands? Are they maintaining a safe distance? Are they calling for backup when needed? These reviews don’t just identify problems; they spark conversations that can prevent tragedy down the road.

Additionally, these reviews foster an open dialogue between the sergeant and the officer. They build trust, reinforce standards, and show the officer that their supervisor cares for them not just as an employee, but as a person. And when people know their leaders genuinely care about them, they are more likely to work harder, stay engaged, and hold themselves to a higher standard.

Finally, by constantly discussing officer safety, supervisors keep it at the forefront of their minds. The repetition helps to reduce complacency, reminding officers that safety isn’t just a checklist, it’s a mindset.

Leadership’s Responsibility

Here’s the reality: you don’t get promoted to do less, you get promoted to do more. Leaders are not removed from the dangers of complacency; they have a duty to confront it head-on.

That means:

• Reinforcing officer safety standards, even when they feel repetitive.

• Having the hard conversations when unsafe behavior is observed.

• Modeling vigilance in their own work.

Leaders who genuinely care about their people will have willing followers.

Officers accept correction more readily when they know it comes from a place of care, from someone who would rather have an uncomfortable conversation than attend a funeral.

Trust: The Foundation of Accountability

Accountability without trust doesn’t work. If officers don’t trust their leaders — or if leaders don’t trust their officers — every attempt at accountability will feel like punishment, no matter how well-intentioned.

Inside a healthy agency, accountability is understood as a form of care. Officers know that when a sergeant corrects them, it’s not about writing them up; it’s about ensuring they return home safely. Leaders know that when officers raise concerns, it comes from a place of professionalism, not defiance.

Without trust, the system breaks down. With it, accountability becomes a shared responsibility, where everyone, from rookies to chiefs, holds each other to a standard that keeps people alive.

The Hard Truth

Having hard conversations is difficult. But burying an officer who made a mistake that could have been corrected? That’s far harder to live with.

Final Thought

Complacency is the silent killer of policing. It lulls us into a false sense of security, convinces us that “routine” calls are safe, and tempts us to skip the basics that keep us alive.

The solution isn’t fear, it’s vigilance. It’s accountability rooted in trust. It’s leaders who care enough to do more, not less, as they rise in rank. And it’s peers who refuse to let each other slide into unsafe habits.

We can’t stop every tragedy in policing. But we can prevent many of them if we treat complacency as the threat it truly is.