Managing Personal Risk
Expert Witnesses are the people who get to tell the triers of fact why things happened the way they did. Why what you did was reasonable and in line with your training. Or it wasn’t. All sides use them – prosecution and defense, plaintiff and respondent. You might have been in court with them on a variety of cases – I testified as an expert in several areas. However, this article looks at use-of-force events. [...]
Understanding the Terrain – Your Brain
Recently, I had the opportunity to take Understanding the Terrain: An Overview of Brain-Based Tactical Training Design from Dustin Salomon. It is focused on developing training that works better with our brains. The shooting portion uses the NUROs that Salomon designed. They were mentioned in a previous article HERE.. Essentially, [...]
Cop Culture – Where We Fail
Lately, I’ve been reflecting on the shifts happening within modern police culture. As we seem to be emerging from yet another intense anti-law-enforcement cycle, one that drove historic staffing shortages, we now have the opportunity to look at the officers who chose to step forward during that crisis and see [...]
Communicating Down
I’ll admit “we” get too focused on material things – gear – and training while neglecting fundamental skills. One of which is communication. There are a tremendous number of facets to that. On the radio, in person to victims/witnesses/suspects, with our peers. One that really stands out, because of the [...]
Training for the Small Town
Small departments are the norm. How do you provide the ongoing, recurrent training every cop needs? The best number I have seen indicates that there are over 18,000 law enforcement agencies in the country. Police departments, sheriff's offices, state police, parole/probation, and specialized agencies. It becomes interesting when you examine [...]
Verbalizing – Thinking Out Loud
“I’m going to use a number 2 guard on your beard.” That was my barber, Audrey, yesterday when I was getting a haircut and beard clean-up. When I realized she was thinking out loud, rather than telling me, it reminded me of training, of teaching. After a laugh, I told [...]
Carrying? When Impaired?
When do you carry? When don't you? What is impaired? Throughout the training community, regardless of where one gets their paycheck, there is a tremendous emphasis on shooting, followed by how to do so quickly. Accuracy concerns follow that to various degrees. Interestingly, in the research I look at, there [...]
Familiarity Breeds Contempt — We Must Do Better
I stopped at my local gun store recently to check what they had in inventory. There was a newly released pistol underneath the glass; the guy behind the counter asked if I wanted to handle it. I said yes, so he bent down and retrieved it. He locked the slide [...]
Tactical — Not A Dirty Word
The word "tactical" has been co-opted by the sales industry and has largely lost its meaning. Tactical is not just a word you attach to something to sell; its meaning has driven success for as long as humans have been around. It has nothing to do with your clothes or [...]
The Creeper In The Woods — A Lesson In Situational Awareness
After a recent run in the woods, I got to practice my self-defense skills. Here is what happened. Pulling into the parking lot, I looked around and noticed a man by himself. He was moving around aimlessly. Besides him, a young couple at the boat launch were making lovey eyes [...]
Giving Commands
Recently, body-worn camera (BWC) footage from a police department on the West Coast was sent to me. While the sender wanted to discuss something else, the commands given were of interest to me. Or, I should say, how they were given. (Note: this is not a criticism of the officers, [...]