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 was unabashed support for law enforcement. While most of my time in Vegas focused on our industry, I can never visit without reflecting on the [...]
DEADLY DEA
As an FBI agent, I was fortunate to be “loaned” to the DEA for three years in a training capacity. My tactical training and survival unit was supervised and populated by some of the finest agents I’ve ever known. Three of its members, Chuck Franklin, Victor Cortez and Frank White [...]
OFFICER SURVIVAL | The Value Of The FTO
We need good cops now more than ever. Unfortunately, with budgets and the political climate being what they are, it’s getting harder than ever to attract quality people to our line of work. Every time agencies are under attack and budgets cut, it becomes that much more difficult to recruit [...]
STREET LEVEL | Not If, But When: Will You Be Ready?
On Aug. 27, 2011, Hurricane Irene made landfall over North Carolina’s Outer Banks and began a trail of destruction stretching all the way to Canada’s eastern seaboard. Irene impacted almost 100 million people, with over 50 million suffering the brunt of her effects. Tens of millions went without electric power [...]
STREET LEVEL | The Moving Shooter: Everybody’s Nightmare — A Sergeant’s Role
Scene 1: Just as you pull up and slam the gear lever into park, 40-50 screaming, sobbing, panicked people pour out of the north double doors of Sunrise Mall, and with them, the unmistakable staccato popping of gunshots. The instant the apex of the stampeding mob sees you; they wheel [...]
Luck of the Draw – First Responder Wellness
By Alicea Reddy “I’m fine.” Ask any Cop how they are doing and that is the answer you will get. Because they are conditioned to turn off normal reactions and emotions in order to do their job. Because they are conditioned to simply suck it up and show no weakness. [...]
THE BEST BAD CHOICE | When Is Something Tactically Unsound?
Is it tactically sound or unsound to draw with a weak hand? Is it wrong to call it your “weak” hand? If you get your gun into the fight, does that make the draw tactically sound? The notion of tactical soundness is one permeating the discipline [...]
Our History – Are There Lessons?
Our History – Are There Lessons? The United States Marine Corp excels at instilling its history into every Marine. What about the police and our history? Now, I understand there are about 800,000 cops in various assignments, from corrections to the Presidential protective detail. And that those cops are [...]
REALITY CHECK II | Dangerous People
Sacrifice is the surrender of something for the sake of gaining something else. At a firearm’s instructor development school here in Oregon a regional law enforcement officer and lead instructor of the class said, “we might need to sacrifice safety for realism in firearms training.” WE MIGHT? I got an [...]
BAD GUYS DON’T COME WITH SCORING RINGS | Targets Online
Over my last 20 years in law enforcement, I’ve seen a wide variety of training philosophies and targets come and go. Some techniques look really cool on a sterile gun range; yet have no application under the real-world stress on the street. Most of what my agency uses are plain [...]
STREET LEVEL | Rules Of Engagement The War On Veterans
Early in the Cenozoic Era, back in 1968 when cops walked the beat barefoot with stone clubs, I was aggressively recruited for the San Diego police Academy. It wasn’t because of my looks, charm or amazing physical prowess. In fact, the chief officer who recruited me had to do a [...]