POOR POLICY CAN KILL | Is It Just Stupidity Or Cost Savings?
On March 2005, in Atlanta, Georgia, a rape suspect being escorted to a courtroom in the Fulton County court-house overpowers a deputy, takes the service weapon from the deputy and then shoots and kills a judge, clerk and a sheriff’s deputy before escaping. Because of this incident, prisoner transport policy is reviewed and stringent changes are made. October 31, 2007, a 25-year veteran police officer in Philadelphia, is on patrol alone, assigned to check businesses [...]
The Behavior Management Psychology Of Patrol
The vast majority of what we do as police officers is to interact with people. So it’s safe to say our inter-personal and communication skills will dictate our effectiveness. Any of us who’ve been on the job for any length of time know an officer who can come into almost [...]
REALITY CHECK II | The 13th Letter
The number 13 is often considered unlucky, as in Friday the 13th, or then again, it could promote something tasty like in the extra doughnut in a baker’s dozen. The 13th letter is “M” and I use Ms already in training in the “M&M” mode and have for years. Following [...]
REALITY CHECK II | Drawing?
If you need the gun just draw it. This sounds simple enough — except for the trouble we get into while just drawing it or just putting it away. Yeah I know; simple — yes — except, I can think of a whole bunch of times cops have shot themselves [...]
SHOOTING WITH X-RAY VISION PART III | Gunfight Realities
A few years ago a cop I trained was involved in a shooting. He shot his opponent twice, center of mass, then lowered his muzzle to assess the effect as his department had trained him to do. Surprisingly, his adversary’s reaction to the 9mm JHP bullets that had shredded his [...]
SHOOTING WITH X-RAY VISION PART II | Ethics Of Deadly Force Training
At a 2007 law enforcement training conference the wife of one of the attendees criticized me sharply for training cops in Tactical Anatomy. She contended, quite rightly, if cops shoot more effectively more felons are going to be killed. “Excuse me,” I replied. “What part of the term “deadly force” [...]
GET A LIFE | Living Large Away From The Job
As cops, we deal with a variety of very scary people in our jobs. Although most of these individuals cross our paths during the course of our duties, sometimes the most frightening individuals we have to deal with are sitting right beside us in the front seat of the patrol [...]
REALITY CHECK II | Target Indicators
From the beginning, there have always been target indicators during conflict. These indicators are a part every cop’s daily routines, whether they realize it or not. Officer’s can’t be in a confrontation without these indicators being present. Think of them as projections of yourself, your location or the actions of [...]
OFFICER SURVIVAL | Contact and Cover
WE DO IT FOR A REASON We’ve been trained in the art of contact and cover for three decades now, since its creation in San Diego following the fateful Grape Street Park incident. On September 14, 1984, San Diego PD Officers Tim Ruopp and Kim Tonahill were murdered near Balboa [...]
E.C.Q.S | You Just Need To Be Willing
You’ve all heard the statistic; 50 percent of all police shootings occur at a distance of 0' to 5' from the suspect. Instructors recite it to students like passing on the Grim Reaper’s phone number. It’s been called “in the hole” and “death’s doorstep” but in reality, it’s where cops [...]
THOUGHTS FOR THIS WEEK
During SHOT, Streamlight gave several of us the new Pocket Mate task light they're offering. It is a mini-USB rechargeable, one-and-a-half-inch LED light with both a hook on it and a pocket clip. The output varies between 45 and 325 lumens – which is impressive when I think back to [...]
