Quite a few years ago I went on an operation in one of the oldest communities in Portmore called Naggo Head. It is an informal settlement that predates the 1967 thrust to turn Portmore into a massive housing development.

Naggo Head, Gregory Park, Newland, and Hellshire represent a time in our history when land in Portmore had no value. Much has changed since then. Portmore’s flatlands are a developer’s dream. The original settlements and the descendants of the settlers have been left behind, and still represent the poorest in the municipality.

The housing in the captured zone largely comprise board structures and zinc fences, and power rests in the hands of who controls the guns. Running water exists but is not reliable, and legal electricity is a rare and unnecessary privilege as illegal connections are the order of the day.

This environment creates the backdrop to an incident that best demonstrates that it is ‘where you feel safest that is the space where you will ultimately come under attack’.

I had come from court one day and had joined my team. Because I was coming from court and was in a suit, I had not bothered to put on my bulletproof vest. We were on patrol when we received information that men with guns were on a construction site in the informal settlement, where a church was being built. We decided to respond to the intelligence we had received.

I was not worried in the least. I had ultimate confidence in my team, which was made up of legends such as Sergeant Camendo Thoms, a famous superintendent now; Damion Arnold, who I should soon call inspector; and a few other young warriors who were at their best.

I knew the ground better than anyone, as I had served that division for almost two decades. Not wearing a ballistic vest didn’t bother me. I was just as capable as I am now with a solid group of men, seasoned combatants in a community that I know like the back of my hand.

We arrived on the site and saw the don for the community at the rear of the site. I couldn’t identify any other gang members, but he was wanted for questioning. Based on where the church was being built and the position of the don, I knew the danger of being attacked would come from the community behind him or the houses on his left, as they were under his control.

I wasn’t worried about the community to his right, as they were his enemies and unlikely to engage a police party to save him from being apprehended. This was where I made my near-fatal mistake.

Thoms had the community loyal to the don on his left covered, the rest of us had the community in front of us and the site covered. No one had the community to his right covered. It didn’t seem necessary. Why would anyone who is his enemy engage a police party as well known as ours to save him?

We walked through the site towards the target, not running, because it would alarm him and he would simply run away from us into the sea of zinc. I saw him look in our direction, pull a gun, and run.

I heard gunfire, but to my horror, it was coming from the very place that we had not covered because it was unlikely that they would have got involved in our apprehension of their enemy.

We had no cover, there was nothing between us and the gunfire and all I could see from 30-35 metres away was a gun over a wall consistently firing. I ran forward to get some cover as I could not engage because my colleagues were between the gunman and myself. They could fire back, and they did, but their only target was a hand over a wall and they also had no cover.

The gunman, however, had the cover of the wall. So he fired till his weapon ran dry. While running for cover, I hit a tree root, which put me to the ground, which is where I should have been anyhow. The don escaped, leaving his gun behind.

My reason for detailing this shooting is to point out that it is where you assume you are safest that you ultimately will come under attack. This is because you make decisions based on the facts that you know. But facts change.

Although the community is a rival one to the don and we were known as a group of police that you should not fire at, we did not know that they had imported talent that didn’t know us different from anybody else. They had no respect or fear for us, they did not understand the culture of Portmore gunmen, who tend to fire to avoid apprehension, unlike Spanish Town and Kingston where they routinely attack police without provocation.

So you see, it is where I felt I was safe that the attack came from. This has been my experience when I interview most people who are attacked. It is usually where they feel they are safe. This is not limited to police officers or security professionals, it is a common error made by both of the aforementioned.

If you look at the courier teams that come under attack, you realise that they seemed relaxed when the attack occurred. This is the danger of doing something dangerous every single day and nothing happening. It doesn’t mean that the environment or the function that you are carrying out are safe, it just means that you are doing something dangerous every single day.

You go home, you open your gate, it’s dark. Gunmen live within five minutes’ driving time from every community. It clearly can’t be safe. However, it seems safe because you have done it 1,000 times before.

What you have failed to consider is that you have not done it 1,000 times while under attack. This variable makes the entry to your home a new experience that you have no history of dealing with.

You have not considered the position of your family when you come under attack, where the attack is likely to come from, what is behind the attackers, and can you feel safe to fire without harming your neighbour, or even your family?

What type of weapon do you carry? Will it over penetrate? Does it have the capacity for a sustained gun fight? What type of cover do you have?

There are many other questions that you need to consider, such as: Where are the most vulnerable people positioned as you enter your home?

For those who have considered it, they likely have an electronic gate. OK, you have entered, you lock the gate. So now you have created a battleground that you cannot escape from, that you cannot get assistance from your neighbour, or that armed response team that promised you a maximum of 15 minutes response time.

Have you worked out a protocol as to how they will respond if you are under attack? If not, you really need to. One popular company I know well will not come over your gate, no matter what.

Have you prepared your family for what you need them to do, which I suggest is to stay as low as possible whilst you fire for your life?

Are you willing to surrender? Most of us will, if our family is near us, because we don’t want them to be harmed. It’s a reasonable emotion and a decision I understand. But are you ready for your wife and daughter to be raped? Because that’s going to happen.

You are dealing with brutal, inhuman predators. Forget everything the human rights organisations try to sell to you. They are likely going to kill you. They are definitely going to rob you, and they are definitely going to rape the females.

An analysis of where you are most vulnerable cannot be determined as to how often you have survived coming home or going to work. It needs to be based on logical and rational decision-making.

When I had a young family, I used to tell them to stay right behind me, because if you are between a gunman and me, I am not surrendering my weapon. That is not a possibility for you or me.

Where you think you are safe is where you are most vulnerable. Whether your decision-making is based on knowledge of the ground, as I had at Naggo Head, or repetition and survival. My blunder that day was not putting on a ballistic vest, but rather the fabric one that I am issued with for identification purposes.

My blunder also was not to consider the zone that was least likely to get involved. I found out later all the reasons it happened. I still make mistakes everyday, but I learn from every one of them. You don’t have to learn from your mistakes alone, you can learn from mine.

Treat nowhere as a safe zone. Plan with your family for every possible scenario to survive the customer base of the human rights movement. If you are a police officer and you are feeling safe anywhere where illegal weapons are likely to be, then it may be time to consider taking some leave, because once illegal guns are in the hands of criminals you are never safe.

If you are a security officer and have not planned how to survive an attack at the location you feel safest, then you need to put some thought into it.

Always remember, you are dealing with a threat that puts no value on your life, that will treat your loved ones like common garbage.

Criminals are your enemy and not even the human rights community that tries to protect them is safe from them. Gunmen are the enemies of all of us, and none of us is safe once they have possession of firepower and we are divided in our fight against them.

Feedback: drjasonamckay@gmail.com