Stephenie Slahor, Ph.D. Do you spend your shift in a vehicle? Aboard a motorcycle? A bike? A horse? Actually, you are still likely to spend a good part of your shift as a “pedestrian.” So says Tim Burrows of the National Law Enforcement Liaison Program, and he states that’s why you need to plan how to keep safe when you’re away from that metal barrier. Nick Breul, National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund Senior Project Manager, agrees. He participated in…
John G. Peters, Jr., Ph.D. ©2022. A.R.R. Critical thinking skills enable law enforcement personnel to analyze information and process it wisely in order to help determine the value of that information and make a decision. There are too many documented instances of a suspect telling an officer, “I can’t breathe,” only to hear the officer say, “If you’re talking, you’re breathing.” Another example is a handcuffed suspect who tells an officer, “These handcuffs are too tight,” only to be told…
Ralph Mroz “Not possible,” you say? In fact, I think you can, due to confusion between static square range competition-influenced training and training for the real world of the street. Before you start sending hate mail, let me clearly say that I’ve come to believe that people training for the real world have a lot more to learn from competitive shooters than I had ever believed possible prior to several years ago. But, shooting at speed is one area where…
Mike Boyle History has shown that police gunfights typically unfold at very short range. Approximately 90% occur inside of seven yards and a great many take place inside of double arm’s length. Within close quarters, there is precious little time to react and no special skill is needed to inflict a serious injury or even death. In 2019, the FBI reported that 48 law enforcement officers were feloniously slain in the line of duty. Of that total, 14 were…
Ray Casillas, EMT-Paramedic, and John G. Peters, Jr., CLS, Ph.D. ©2022. A.R.R. “It’s not fair, I’m telling you, it’s not fair!” “Officer, calm down! Calm down!” said the Internal Affairs investigator in a loud voice. “How can I calm down when the department didn’t train me about what to look for and you guys are now trying to hold me and my backup officers responsible for his death,” replied the officer. Historically, many defensive tactics and/or restraint instructors have taught…
John G. Peters, Jr., CLS, Ph.D. ©2021. A.R.R. Your partner, Officer Don, arrested and fought a resisting male, wrestled him to the ground, applied metallic handcuffs, and then rolled the facedown person onto his side. A few moments later, the male barely muttered, “I’m having difficulty breathing,” and then suddenly, without making sounds or movements, became nonresponsive and died. You and others question how this could have happened. After all, he had remembered to use the Recovery Position to improve…
Todd Fletcher Since March of 2020, ammunition has been in short supply for shooters, police academies and law enforcement agencies. The situation has improved a little bit as of late, but don’t fool yourself into thinking the shortage has ended. The demand for ammunition is still high – especially for training ammunition. Add in the cloud of gun and ammunition control legislation at the federal level and demand may continue unabated into the foreseeable future. For most departments, the ammunition…
Michael T. Rayburn The firearm you carry on your hip is a handgun, not a hand(s)gun. It was originally designed and built to be shot with one hand. I know what you’re thinking, “Two hands are better than one,” and you’re absolutely correct, but one-handed shooting is always going to be faster. If you have the opportunity, go ahead and use two hands for your grip. It’s certainly going to be more stable, but chances are you’re not going to…
THE CONTROVERSIAL USE OF SPIT MASKS BY LAW ENFORCEMENT – PART II John G. Peters, Jr., CLS, Ph.D. and A. David Berman, CLS, M.S. ©2021. A.R.R. The second part of this two part series discusses how to increase your safety using spit masks. The focus is on spit mask application, removal and storage guidelines, policy, training, and competency-based testing. Recall from Part I of this series that there are no scientific data to support spit masks stopping the spread of…
Mike Boyle A harsh reality of gun fighting is the fact that you may be hit by an incoming round. A hit doesn’t necessarily mean stop, nor does down mean out. Approximately 88% of people struck with handgun rounds survive, but to tip the odds back in your favor, you can’t give up and you have to immediately take the fight back to your assailant. Learning how to fight after sustaining a hit should be a part of every officer’s…