OFFICER SURVIVAL

Trends in Police Training – Part 3

Here are parts One and Two covering the Law Enforcement Education Program presentation at this year's SHOT Show. Good Enough? How good do you have to be? No one will argue that you should not [...]

Trends In Police Training — Part 1

This was the second year that AmericanCop has been a co-sponsor for the Law Enforcement Education Program (LEEP) during the SHOT Show. LEEP is a long-running, law enforcement-centric version of SHOT Show University, focused on [...]

Train To Win The Fight, Not a Contest

One of the most difficult things for police firearms trainers to do is stay focused on practical training.  Too often, training is focused on what will win contests.  It's one reason why I cringe when [...]

Tactical — Not A Dirty Word

The word "tactical" has been co-opted by the sales industry and has largely lost its meaning.  Tactical is not just a word you attach to something to sell; its meaning has driven success for as [...]

SOFT SKILLS

Giving Commands

Recently, body-worn camera (BWC) footage from a police department on the West Coast was sent to me. While the sender wanted to discuss something else, the commands given were of interest to me. Or, I [...]

Where Did These Words Hurt You?

Anytime two or more shooters get together, there will be disagreements, discussions, or differences on something, just like with any other group. The discussions between those shooters can be more spirited because of their emotional [...]

The Significance Of S.H.I.T.T.

Perhaps the most gratifying thing a police supervisor can hear is one of his officers telling another, “Yeah, the sarge really has his shit together,” or any of those other scatological allusions which convey the [...]

STREET TACTICS

It Has Happened Before — Norco

Today, patrol rifles are common in patrol cars. They are routinely issued to patrol, and often, most officers in an agency have a rifle. This was not the case in the 1980s. Back then, most [...]

Making Ready

There was an interesting confluence of events over the weekend. The first was the anniversary of Patrick Rogers' death. A good number of experienced private sector trainers were influenced by Rogers and likely connected to [...]

The Danger of Higher Ready Positions

There’s a balance to maintain between safety and acceptable risk We can agree that there's room for a variety of techniques in firearms training and law enforcement tactics. However, we must also honor fundamental principles. [...]

Target Selection

What targets do you use for practice, qualification, and teaching classes? Does it matter? I believe so.  Saying that it doesn’t discount a lot of research, experience, and anatomical factors in defensive shootings.  These are [...]

TAC-MED

Tactical Anatomy

In recent years, tactical anatomy has had a renaissance. Some instructors are again emphasizing it while integrating it into their coursework. Others (like this author) make it a primary focus. What we have lacked is [...]

Emergency Medical Response Is In Your Hands

In a world where uncertainty is the only certainty, medical emergencies occur without warning. Preparedness can be the difference between life and death. This is where the importance of first aid kits, trauma kits, and [...]

WEAPONS

Focusing on Manual Safeties

As a trainer, I work with cops from a wide variety of agencies, and it’s always interesting to me when students from diverse backgrounds make the same mistakes in training. One example that I see [...]

Shifting From One Side To The Other

Lateral Transitions - No, not Literal. Lateral - moving side to side, sideways. Why? Two-fold. 1st, BadGuys move. Few people will stand there and not move once gunshots begin to be fired. You see it [...]

On Target: Reading Wind and Trajectory

Understanding the impact of wind on a projectile's trajectory is crucial for precision shooting. Trajectory refers to the path that a projectile or object follows through space because of external forces acting upon it. For [...]

Dry Practicing Safely

It's good to see that there is a solid consensus on the importance of dry practice. Trainers of all backgrounds are recommending it to their students. There is a lot of discussion about what to [...]