Your team has a culture whether you like it or not, and if you don't know what it is, then it's probably not a good one.
They were dealing with a tube full of people, with a mix of bad guys and hostages - that is horrifically difficult.
Under-estimating downside risk is common in all fields. It's cognitively easy (and fun) to think about how our mission will end in success. But failure can come in 100 different ways. The route to failure is a murky picture to hold in our heads, so we tend to ignore risks.
Some careers (like mine) simply do not exist in the private sector, and the government employee route is the only way to go. There are no riches to be had, but exciting work, stable employment, good salary & benefits, and a rock solid pension are decent consolation prizes.
The number of innocent people getting arrested is very small. Not zero, but close to it. "Presumption of innocence" is a description of how court procedures work, it isn't a requirement that we force ourselves to be naive and wear rose-coloured glasses.
We had a saying on our team - if something is everyone's responsibility, then it will be nobody's responsibility. Even on high functioning teams, single-person accountability is the way to go.
The most important question in life is how do you choose to suffer. Mark Manson writes a lot about this.
Anyone else notice this in meetings: when people give a verbal resume (without being asked) that sounds impressive, I have NEVER ended up being impressed with them.
100% of the time, my suspicions that they are all talk have been verified.
Why do people do this?
And for the more conscientious people, the short-term impacts of those behaviours (eat whatever = feel like crap / smoking = stinky) outweigh the immediate gratification, anyway. Escaping the long-term consequence wouldn't be the deciding factor.
No change on average. Long-term consequences are rarely factored into short term decisions. Especially when it's not certain you'll suffer those consequences. Current high rates of obesity and excessive consumer debt show that this is the case. People eat whatever already.
One of the guys on our team has a saying:
"You aren't too tired to work out, you're too tired to *feel* like working out. There's a difference. Go work out."
Needless to say, that dude is a beast.
This looks awesome, but it reminds me of @LeifBabin 's 20 minute rule.... everything is cool for about 20 minutes. Then reality kicks in. Wet, cold, rough work. These guys are putting in the work!