Trends in Police Training – Part 2

This second part of three will look at the areas of police combatives, defensive tactics, or arrest & control – whatever it is called in your agency. The material here was part of a Law Enforcement Education Program presentation I gave during this year’s SHOT Show. Part one is here.

It does not take much effort to find videos showing failures. How much of that is how “we” have trained those skills?

How much have we tested the skills to a successful outcome in compliance with the law versus checking off that a given technique was done, regardless of whether it was opposed?

Hands-On

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu-based methods are more frequently used in law enforcement. A significant consideration is that, unlike BBJ competitors, we bring weapons into the environment on the street. The training must consider that. Another concern is when officers should break contact with the suspect and gain distance or transition to another tool.

Research

I referenced two studies during the presentation.

Huntington Beach

One came from Huntington Beach, CA police and was published in a 1/18/2017 article in Police & Security News. It discussed the effectiveness of an idea they called P.E.P. or Platform-Efficiency-Proficiency. Early on, it noted, “Force can look awful but be lawful.” Absolutely.
They documented the following over a few years: pain compliance only worked 30-35% of the time; body-to-body pressure and body control techniques, such as BJJ, were successful 78-82% of the time.
They viewed de-escalation as being reactive and thought that transitioning between tactics or techniques was a proactive method.

The P&S News article addressed the need for training. Specifically, it said that agencies MUST (emphasis mine) train the officers. Additionally, the agency must evaluate each use of force, be prepared to explain it, and then educate those outside of the organization—especially if they are judging. I learned of this study from Adam Haidary with Effective Combatives (@ERCombatives).

National Sheriff’s Association

The second study — Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu-Inspired Tactics Training on Use of Force & Related Outcomes—came from the National Sheriff’s Association. It examined the Marietta, Georgia, and St Paul, Minnesota police departments, among others.

Two of the study questions were:
–       Does BJJ-inspired training have benefits?
–       Will the agency incur more injuries when shifting to this type of training?
Marietta experienced a 53% reduction in hospitalized suspects after beginning BBJ-inspired training. Additionally, they saw a 59% reduction in use-of-force incidents. There could be other factors for that, but the study did not appear to consider that issue.

Meanwhile, St. Paul saw a 39% decrease in the use of force and a 44% reduction in injuries to suspects.

Additionally, both agencies saw improvements in the mental health of the officers.

At one agency, officer injuries were reduced by 48% across the department. None of the BJJ-trained officers were injured.

That was done with just one hour of training a week – Train A Little, A Lot?

The idea of recognizing and rewarding officer performance in these events was cultivated as well.

Tasers

Part of the law enforcement training community perceives two things regarding the Taser. First, there is an over-reliance on them as opposed to being willing to go hands-on with a suspect. The second is that they have a high failure rate in actual use. My final graduate school paper was on the legitimacy and infrequency of police use of force. In discussing Taser usage, I cited the LAPD data from that era. Their effectiveness was 51-52%. However, looking at the other studies, Huntington Beach put theirs at 62-65%, while the National Sheriff’s Association document claimed 82-85%. Is it better training or a better, improved product?

Tools

I come from the era of impact weapons and the carotid. My agency taught us to use our metal flashlights as impact weapons; they were approved, and the office backed their use. However, it appears now that there is a movement away from batons. Not because they don’t work but because their use “looks bad.” As with these other topics, the issue may be how officers are being trained to use them. Is just the number of strikes the determiner of excessiveness, or should it be something else?

Baton-wise, I went from a PR-24 to an expandable stick before finishing with a cocobolo Dymondwood straight stick from Koga.

How is your organization and the community you serve viewing these tools?

Carotid

One of the most frustrating things to watch has been the demonization (and banning) of the lateral vascular neck restraint – also known as the carotid control. It was an extremely effective tool on the road for me the few times I used it. I do not recall any injuries to suspects or officers during encounters once it was applied. And, given the popularity of BJJ, if it were so dangerous – we would be seeing students of that dying regularly.
The event that was the death knell was not even close to an application of the carotid control.

Next

The third and final part will look at firearms training and related considerations.