Vacancies should be filled by those looking to make the world a better place.

“In general, this is a really challenging time for law enforcement. Bad judgment needs to be addressed. It’s getting a little tougher to hire good people and, as a result, agencies are dropping their standards just to get people in, which is only going to make things worse. It might solve the vacancy rate, but in the long term, it’s going to be an issue: problem employees create liability, poor community/police relations, bad media and press.

“Agencies need to hire the best and brightest they can – experienced, worldly, mature – those who are looking to make the world a better place.”

There are three events that stick out in my mind as “defining moments.”

“9/11 – the Pentagon is in Arlington, so we [Arlington County PD] were the first responders for that. I was in Miami Beach that day and immediately tried to get back home when it happened, but every travel avenue was booked. So, I ended up driving home in this huge white Cadillac.

“I’ll never forget the feeling of not being there. I was very disappointed I couldn’t be there with my department, helping. By the time I got there a couple of days later, everyone was so exhausted –emotionally, mentally, physically spent. But I was fresh and could take command of the situation, so that was actually a good thing. The first thing I did was walk to the site … and it impacts me still today.

“The second event was a hostage situation that took place when I was evening section commander. A former husband had taken his wife hostage. He was armed. We negotiated all through the night, and it kept getting worse and worse and worse. Finally, I authorized the SWAT team to go in. There were three rounds of shots and officers down. My heart stopped and for a moment I thought I’d sent three officers to their graves. Luckily, they all sustained minor injuries and had killed the hostage-taker – but that was really hard. It’s an awesome responsibility.

“And the third event (actually two events) involved use of deadly force — when I could have used deadly force and didn’t. One was the right call, and one was wrong. In the first event, I was working midnight shift when I came up on two guys breaking into a building. I got one guy on the ground, and he pulled a gun. I thought it was a toy gun and didn’t shoot. But it was real and if the guy had pulled the trigger, I would have been dead.

“The second time was during a burglary in progress. There was a woman screaming and crying on the front lawn. She convinced me that someone was in the basement. I went to investigate, and there was a dark figure in the corner. I started giving orders. But the figure didn’t move. It took me a few minutes, but I finally figured out it was a stuffed gorilla.”

What should people know about us? Cops get scared, too.

“Cops get scared, too. Split-second decisions in the field can be very, very difficult. We’re only human, and sometimes we make a mistake.

“But there are two types of mistakes: mistakes of the head, which are due to a lack of training, poor judgment, etc., and there are mistakes of heart – when you know it was wrong, but you did it anyway. When you make the latter, it’s time to leave.”

–Former Deputy Chief (retired) John Haas, Arlington County Police Department, Arlington, Va.