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 they were when they were first pushed out to in-service and recruit classes. That’s true even if they appear to have been forgotten by the [...]
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 [...]
DEVELOPING THE COMBATIVE MIND
Since the early 1980s, the words “survive” and “survival” have been as much a part of cop lingo as hand-cuff, citation and emergency lights. We’ve been bombarded with the phrases Street Survival, Officer Survival, the Will to Survive, Survival Mindset and Ultimate Survivors. The message Chuck Remsberg and Dennis Anderson, [...]
COMPETITION? BENEFICIAL?
In the early 90s, when I was a younger deputy, I shot a fair amount of USPSA - like competitions, both indoor and outdoor matches. And a few years work of my state's police summer games - individual and team stuff. Being a competitive shooter helped me earn an instructor [...]
“I Don’t Need No Stinking Seat Belt”
Playing Crash Test Dummy The atmosphere in the briefing room was jovial and relaxed. Everyone from the rookies to the salty vets were eager to hit the road and begin their shifts. The old guys liked poking fun at the younger ones and the sergeants made sure it didn’t get [...]
Can You Really Function Under Stress?
In my time I’ve seen controversies come and go. Most of them have been sorted out over the years, but I still see a number of longtime controversies refusing to die. These generally revolve around which techniques can be used during a stressful event. For example, the old target-focused shooting [...]
Survival After A Shooting
Ron Barber’s In the Line of Duty training videos have been a tremendous asset to law enforcement for many years. One of his latest is, I submit, a “must see” for working cops. On September 16, 2016, Officer Betty Shelby of the Tulsa, Oklahoma Police Department was enroute to a [...]
Phazzer Enforcer
By Ben Douglas Phiscally-Phriendly Conductive Electrical Weapons. Aagh!” was all I could get out as I seized up and fell to the mat. I had “enthusiastically” volunteered to experience a full 5-second TASER cycle back when my department approved them for carry in 2006. Others in my training group managed [...]