Keep Your Head Up, Eyes Open, and Stay the Course

This first appeared in The Havok Journal on April 23, 2021. Its message is timeless.

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Some upcoming events will no doubt cause a flurry of social media and media coverage. News agencies, politicians, and others will use these events and make them 100 times more inflammatory for the sake of ratings, money, and whatever other motivations they have.

To my brothers and sisters out there, be calm and vigilant. In due time, we will have calm waters. There is no need for knee-jerk reactions. We know real victims out there need us. They look to us for help. We are in a profession that demands our finest people in our society to step up and answer the call.

We have answered numerous calls. Whether it’s going to war in some foreign country, or having coffee with a concerned citizen of the community you serve, we answer the call. We were there when a life was born before our eyes and we were there holding a victim’s hands to comfort them as life leaves their bodies. We brush it off and we answer the call.

This profession isn’t for everyone. You don’t choose this profession, this profession chooses you. You were chosen because of the burdens you can bear. You were chosen for your mindset. You were chosen because of your drive.

Keep your head up, eyes open, and stay the course.

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Ayman is an Army Veteran who was deployed during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2005 and became a police officer in 2007 after 8 years of military service. He has worked in the patrol division, in a plainclothes anti-crime unit, as a Metro-SWAT operator, and as a detective in a major crimes unit, as a narcotics task force detective with the DEA, and as an operator with the DEA Special Response Team (SRT). He also helped organize SRT operations in Southern New England.

As an assistant team leader, he assisted and coordinated the planning of operations as well as conducted various aspects of training. He has investigated high-level drug traffickers, gang members, and conducted numerous operations. He is currently the Officer in Charge of the Problem-Oriented Policing Unit. Ayman is a law enforcement firearms instructor, a less-than-lethal weapons instructor, a certified use of force instructor at his police department Ayman’s hands-on experience with law enforcement operations at many different levels coupled with his compassion to save lives has brought him to coordinate “Project Sapient.”

This initiative is a joint effort comprised of law enforcement professionals of all levels combined with the Special Forces philosophy of winning hearts and minds. Ayman has found that to reach more officers and departments, it is important to share his experience with media outlets that reach law enforcement.

He regularly contributes to The Havok Journal, writing articles that provide insight into current law enforcement trends and methodologies to help officers become better equipped to handle an ever-changing work environment.

Project Sapient is currently a Podcast. Ayman’s vision of Project Sapient is to eventually train other law enforcement officers and civilians alike in stress inoculation. Something that is sorely needed in the Law Enforcement profession. In his writing, Ayman draws from his hands-on experience as both a law enforcement professional and his military service.

For years, Ayman has seen the trend in lack of training policing. Whether it’s budget cuts, political enemies, or ineffective policy, Ayman has made it his mission to bring innovation, unconventional policing methods, and to have those tough conversations and instruction to assist law enforcement to better relate with and advise communities.

He sees firsthand the need for better training and tools for law enforcement to serve their communities most effectively. A better-trained officer is what policing a free society requires.