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 be as good as you can be. However, it is equally unrealistic to expect every officer to be a master-class shooter. When do you address other skills? AmericanCop writer John Hearne has tried to codify this. He looked at performance [...]
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 police officers only had a revolver with a total of 18 rounds and, possibly, a [...]
Police Week — Our Losses From 2023
This is the yearly Police Week, which includes honoring those officers we have lost. Across the country, there are countless events commemorating officers who have died on duty or were murdered because of their chosen profession, their uniform. Some of these events are local, at an agency that has lost [...]
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. One of these is safety—an important consideration in all law enforcement operations we cannot ignore. [...]
Taser Weapon Confusion
You’ve probably seen videos of officers in stressful confrontations mistaking their pistols for their Taser (Electronic Control Weapon-ECW), causing them to shoot the suspect. There have been at least 18 incidents of weapon confusion in the U.S. between 2001 and 2021. Many of the officers involved were convicted and served [...]
Press Checking The Trunk
"Now listen here, rookie. When yer makin' a traffic stop, you gotta push down on the trunk lid when you walk by, see? Or you'll get killed in the streets!" You've called out the location, description, and license plate of the vehicle and now you are approaching it. [...]
Contact & Cover Re-Visited
Our profession – policing – has had some hard-earned lessons. Lessons that were caused by the deaths of or serious injuries to officers. Some of those lessons might be considered “old,” but their validity should not be based on their age. They are just as important and viable today as [...]
Lessons Learned, Forgotten, And Ignored
It’s disappointing that we don’t pay better attention to our own history I am writing this just after returning from Las Vegas and the SHOT Show. An outstanding trip, a much-needed reunion with friends, and a celebration of the shooting, hunting, and outdoor culture. For American COP readers, throughout the show, there [...]
Christmas Stories From Patrol
Coming up on Christmas, I’m reminded of the ones I worked over the years. That got me thinking about good Christmas stories. Two stand out, one of which I’ll share here: a cautionary cop tale that eventually came to be. The others are from friends of mine who are still [...]
Set It & Forget It
Where do I set the dot? Is it like lights? Can it be too bright? Can you, or should you, tailor the dot's setting to the current lighting conditions? What about the situation? That dot is all the way up. Even at this distance, it is difficult to see [...]
From Familiar To Fatal In One Critical Second
A recent winter was a dark and bitter one for law enforcement, and the freezing cold had little to do with it. In Washington State, still mourning the murders of a Seattle cop on Halloween night and a Pierce County deputy the week before Christmas, four officers were shot to [...]