Good Tactics are a Win / Win

Jan. 29, 2015
By learning and using sound tactical strategies and concepts, you can reduce the likelihood of an attack as well as reduce allegations that you created the jeopardy which led to the force application.

Question: What difference can 20 feet make?

This is not a discussion of the “21 foot rule” or the “Tueller Drill.”  What Dennis Tueller did for law enforcement in 1983 with the publication of his article How Close is Too Close? in the March issue of S.W.A.T. magazine was to question our beliefs of time, distance and what constitutes a deadly threat.

The answer about what difference 20 feet can make is: Life or death in some cases.

Question: Can a man with gun in hand or in his belt be a deadly threat?

Dr. Bill Lewinski of Force Science has examined the motions and movements suspects can make prior to an attack and LE’s whole notion of reaction, movement and response times.

Answer: In many cases a suspect can draw and fire, or raise and fire a firearm before an officer can react and respond.

Taking into account the research done by Tueller and Lewinski we can reduce our risks by applying sound tactical decisions and deployment strategies.

Tactical concepts such as:

  • Slowing things down and allowing for a proper assessment of subjects or calls
  • Breathing to reduce your SNS – sympathetic nervous system response
  • Formulating a simple plan
  • Waiting for back-up
  • Maintaining distance instead of rushing up on a suspect or location
  • Using Contact / Cover
  • Proper positioning behind cover
  • Communications with the subject or suspect, your partner and other officers

...Can and should be incorporated in all manner of calls and suspect encounters.  All of these and other tactics can reduce and help control the risk to you and other officers and give you more options. 

For instance, knowing that a man can draw and fire before you react and respond, why place yourself or your partner in a position where an emergency decision is necessary when responding to a man with gun call?  Why not keep a safe distance behind cover and challenge the suspect?  Yes, in many cases the suspect may run (which leads to other tactical decisions) but it gives you and your partner more time and intervening cover should the incident result in gunfire.  Rushing into situations and up to a suspect(s) limits your options because at close distance everything is perceived as an emergency, since distance equals time.  So much of tactical decision making is the avoidance of decisions made in haste under the perceptual distortions of fight or flight.  Yes, that movement maybe the suspect drawing a concealed firearm.  It may also be a completely innocuous movement.

So much of sound tactical decision making is controlling the conditions whenever possible and controlling your SNS or fight or flight response.

Now more than ever a police officer’s tactics are under the microscope and we need to:

            A) Make the best decisions possible, and

            B) Understand and control our response to fear

So much of the political and public outcry nowadays are really tactical critiques of what officers could or should have done differently.  Although we can and should argue that use of force is not to be judged in 20/20 hindsight, as the SCOTUS Graham v. Connor decision tells us, the truth is that we are constantly being judged both internally by our agency, as well as externally from the public, media and even the Department of Justice.  The DOJ, through the improper application of case law, has coined the term “segmentation” or the “decision point approach” to the evaluation of an officer’s decisions and points where they believe, if the officer had done something differently, possibly the use of force may not have happened.  Of course, this is only speculation on their part since the DOJ is unwilling to offer up their version of what are sound tactics.

Training is the Key

Have we not learned that call backs or passenger side approaches during traffic stops are not safer than the standard driver’s door approach?  Both the call back and passenger side approach tactics put the occupants of the vehicle at a disadvantage.  Yet we still have officers who insist on walking up to the driver’s door on a busy road or highway.  When attacked they have limited options and movement directions to avoid gunfire, oftentimes leaving them out in the open and vulnerable.

Approaching a suspect on foot with hands secreted in their jacket or pants pocket, have we not learned that asking the person to, “Show me your hands!” can lead to the suspect producing a handgun and firing?  Taking a position of cover while ordering the suspect to face away and show his hands or physically maneuvering them while removing the hand under control offers a safer option.

Sound tactics for both of these scenarios can be learned in basic and in-service training programs and reinforced by FTO’s – Field Training Officers and supervisors in the field so they become second nature.

Training must offer up and reinforce the use of the previously mentioned tactical concepts in scenario based training.  It is one thing to talk about how to control and frisk a suspect, but quite another for the officer/student to use those tactics with role-players.  Far too often in LE we lecture and demonstrate a tactic, technique or protocol but we don’t give the officer enough repetitions or place them in a situation or scenario where they not only have to select the best tactic but also download it from short-term memory.  We also don’t offer up regular training opportunities so that the skill is reviewed and retrained.  One time in time is not meaningful police training.  Solid police training must be: relevant, realistic, and repeated on a regular basis.

Win / Win

By training on tactics and techniques on a regular basis our skills and abilities are fresh and competent.  By being competent we increase our confidence and that helps control our SNS response.  We reduce our risk which is Win #1.  Win #2 is that if/when a shooting or other use of force happens and we exercised the best tactics possible, we can more properly defend our actions and reduce allegations that we created the jeopardy which led to the shooting or use of force, or that we didn’t have enough control of the suspect and situation.  Sound tactical concepts are and should be simple and easily applied.  They offer the winning edge against suspects and those so willing to second guess and criticize an officer’s decisions. 

Sponsored Recommendations

Whitepaper: A New Paradigm in Digital Investigations

July 28, 2023
Modernize your agency’s approach to get ahead of the digital evidence challenge

A New Paradigm in Digital Investigations

June 6, 2023
Modernize your agency’s approach to get ahead of the digital evidence challenge.

Listen to Real-Time Emergency 911 Calls in the Field

Feb. 8, 2023
Discover advanced technology that allows officers in the field to listen to emergency calls from their vehicles in real time and immediately identify the precise location of the...

2022 Transparency and Trust Report - Public Safety & Community Relationships

Nov. 16, 2022
Veritone releases its 2022 Law Enforcement Transparency and Trust Report delivering Five Key Findings of Community Sentiment on Policing

Voice your opinion!

To join the conversation, and become an exclusive member of Officer, create an account today!