From One To The Next — Some Handheld Light Techniques
We are far more likely to use and need a hand-held flashlight than we are a pistol-mounted light. Never mind lights mounted on shotguns and carbines. Those are for another discussion. Before we get into the meat of the discussion, there are two things to address. First, none of these techniques should be locked in one specific spot, aka – Set In Stone. You should be capable of flowing with them, from one to another [...]
Tactical Anatomy
In recent years, tactical anatomy has had a renaissance. Some instructors are again emphasizing it while integrating it into their coursework. Others (like this author) make it a primary focus. What we have lacked is someone with the authoritative background—medical, tactical, and instructional—to teach it. This is where Dr. Andy [...]
Pepper & Sticks
Change "The only thing cops hate more than change is the way things are." I don't know where to attribute that quote because I've heard it so much over the years. We tend to complain about the "that's how we've always done it" excuse but then don't do our part [...]
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, [...]
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 [...]
Making Ready
There was an interesting confluence of events over the weekend. The first was the anniversary of Patrick Rogers' death. A good number of experienced private sector trainers were influenced by Rogers and likely connected to each other by him. The other was an email question early Sunday morning about the [...]
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. [...]
Target Selection
What targets do you use for practice, qualification, and teaching classes? Does it matter? I believe so. Saying that it doesn’t discount a lot of research, experience, and anatomical factors in defensive shootings. These are a few of the studies I thought were particularly relevant, but there are dozens more [...]
Large Scale Event Prep For The Individual Officer
Most communities have hosted a festival, Fourth Of July weekend, a car show, or a marathon race - some multi-day event. Many bigger cities that have major league or college sports teams that have won a major championship have experienced a large-scale event at which its officers have needed to [...]
Code 3 vs. Pursuit Driving: Is There A Difference?
I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty sure most of us became cops so we could drive fast legally. Who can deny the attraction of having droves of people get out of your way while burying the gas pedal into the floor in conjunction with the bright lights a-flashin’ [...]
Competitive Shooting — Dangerous Diversion or Practical Pastime?
Nothing says training can’t be fun. Action-based competitive shooting is both derided as the province of silk pajama-wearing game players, and praised as the single most important exercise you can do to improve your shooting. They’re damned as a superb way to ingrain habits that will most surely get you [...]