Restoring order to the rule of law
IT’S JUST AFTER 8 A.M. inside a drab second-floor classroom two miles from the Seattle airport, and Rex Caldwell is trying to get two dozen cops to talk about their feelings. “This is not meant to be touchy-feely,” he insists, a plea for them to let their guard down and open up. If they can share what keeps them awake at night, what they think about when they’re on patrol, it could help save their lives, he says, maybe even the lives of others. Emotional control, he tells them, can be just as important for a cop as physical dominance.
Slowly, they buy in. Caldwell, a retired police chief and manager at the Washington State criminal-justice training commission, asks them to share the depleting emotions they feel on a daily basis. Rage, one says. Fear, offers another. The whole group commiserates over anxiety about being sued if something goes wrong in the line of duty. By the time Caldwell leads a mindfulness-inspired breathing exercise called 16 Seconds to Clarity, it seems fitting. “This reminds us of why we’re doing the job,” says
