Partners – Time Can Get Help To Your Side
Good news - the number of murdered officers is down Year-To-Date this year (2025) when compared to last year (2024). However, it appears from media coverage that "we" are back to seeing attacks on L/E that potentially could have been minimized, if not prevented. Yes, I know there's a media bias. And on "our" end, there are discussions on multiple solutions that could prevent these attacks. Material solutions aren't a bad idea if there is [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]