Needful Things for Christmas

Nov. 29, 2016
It is absolutely more violent out there. Get all of your ducks in a row and improve your safety and survival.

Recently within the span of one 24-hour period, four officers were shot, one killed.  Detective Benjamin Marconi, a 20 year veteran of the San Antonio Police Department was shot and killed as he was writing out a moving violation citation on the street next to the SAPD headquarters.  The suspect has been taken into custody.

In St. Louis, a police sergeant was shot twice in the face by a 19 year old suspect in ambush.  The suspect pulled up next to the 20 year veteran officer and open fired.  The suspect was killed by police after he fired into an unmarked pick-up truck that was following him.

We pray for the Good Lord’s healing hand on our wounded officers and we are reminded, once again, that we police in a very violent time in our nation’s history.

Ambush!

At this point of this year, police deaths due to gunfire are up 70% from 2015 and ambushes are up somewhere around 170%.

The ambushing of officers on a regular basis and the attack on multiple officers using ambush reminds us to heed the following advice and tactical suggestions:

  • As you are suiting up for work, ratchet up the “Spidey sense” and start paying attention to other vehicles and pedestrians.  If you travel to/from work in uniform or have a take home car, pay attention to your surroundings and other motorists or subjects on foot as you travel.
  • Wear your body armor and duty belt or duty handgun as you commute.
  • If you park in a designated parking area, understand that the public knows about it.  Scan the area where you park as you pull in.
  • Don’t become a creature of habit – parking, getting coffee, traveling the same route, parking in the same place, etc. everyday.  You make an easy and predictable target.
  • Don’t congregate with other officers in the open.  Remember the “one grenade gets them all” attitude of a target rich environment.
  • Use contact/cover when dealing with subjects.  Make sure at least one officer is paying attention to the general area and scanning for additional threats.
  • Even use contact/cover when you are taking your meal break and sitting filling out reports.  If you work with a partner, make sure one of you is scanning the area and aware for threats.
  • Park in a safe area when completing paperwork.  Backing in to a spot which offers a solid wall to your rear prevents attack from your six o’clock.

Additional Counter-Ambush Suggestions

“Rolling” ambushes or attacks from inside vehicles has been increasing.  In these cases, the suspects slow to a roll in their vehicle and then open fire/speed off.  Be prepared to accelerate out of a rolling of stationary ambush.  Leave enough room between you and the car in front to accelerate and drive out of the ambush.  Additionally, pay attention to:

  • Vehicles rolling towards you with windows which are down.  This is especially true in the winter or fall when it is not warm outside.
  • Look for weapon indicators like the muzzles of long-guns.
  • Look for passengers turned towards you with no hands or arms visible above the edge of the window.
  • Do not let vehicles pull up next to you as you are parked.
  • Do not let pedestrians walk up to you in your vehicle.
  • Be cover conscious.  As you go about your business on calls, if possible stay within a step or two of cover.  If you have a defined threat, such as a man with a gun call, then take cover before you challenge the subject.
  • Check the hands!  As subjects move toward you check their hands.  If you are dealing with a subject and they have their hands hidden, i.e. in their pockets, depending on the circumstances, have the person face away from you and slowly remove their hands from their pockets or pin the hands in their pocket and remove with control.  Remember, if you order the person to remove their hands you are giving them permission to move and possibly attack if they have a handgun in their pocket.

Equipment Considerations

Equipment can give you an edge if, and I mean IF, you take the time to train.  If you take two well trained officers and give one newer, better or more advanced equipment which is operationally sound, you can improve performance.  When you consider that pro football teams spend millions on the best and most advance sporting goods equipment to improve performance and protect their players for a ballgame it is bothersome that most police agencies outfit their officers with equipment based on who wins the lowest bid.

That said, I will not be cold, wet, in the dark or in discomfort or pain if my agency will not provide that equipment.  When it comes to safety equipment like weapon-mounted lights or rifle plates, I am willing to plunk down my hard earned cash.  Same too with tourniquets, hemostatic agents such as Quick Clot or battlefield dressings such as an Israeli dressing.

Out of favor since the high-capacity semi-autos came into vogue, BUG’s – Back-Up Guns, still hold tremendous value.  A small revolver carried in a uniform pants pocket (I have a S&W M&P 340 in a DeSantis Nemesis holster as I sit in my living room typing this), or in an ankle holster, or a small version of the duty pistol carried on a body armor holster under the uniform shirt – all are sound options to give you some “Onion Field Insurance” (look it up and learn what our Brothers in Blue of other eras had to deal with if you don’t know of the Onion Field incident in Los Angeles).

Things to put on your Christmas list or to save your pennies:

  • Rifle plates rated to at least Level III with external plate carrier.
  • At least two flashlights (Remember the Navy SEAL saying, “Two is one and one is none!”).  You can carry a back-up light with one or two CR123 batteries which is small in size but very bright.
  • A C.A.T. – Combat Applications Tourniquet carried on your person
  • A Israeli Battlefield Dressing carried on your person
  • Quick Clot available or carried on your person
  • An M-4 carbine and at least three magazines
  • A rapid deployment bag to carry these spare carbine mags and some of the first-aid items listed above

Wrap-Up

“Tough times don’t last, tough people do…” so goes the old saying and the truth behind it.  We are policing in tough times.  Tough and professional officers train like their lives depend on it because it absolutely does!  And, they seek out the best equipment to facilitate their winning a violent encounter.  Further, and more importantly, they strive to improve their mental focus, awareness to what is going on around them, attention to subject’s body language, decision making by way of knowledge of the law and mastery of the skills of law enforcement, and personal attributes such as – strength, stamina, and speed.

These things – mindset, physical skills, and equipment – improve performance by combining software with hardware.  These are the things that you and you alone can practice and perfect.

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