This article is part of a year-long series for Police1 registered members from Todd Fletcher titled “Police Firearms: Discussion, Drills & Demos.” Todd will write about current hot topics related to police firearms training, outline firearms training drills and demonstrate shooting techniques on video. If you have a topic you would like Todd to cover, or a training problem you need to solve, email editor@police1.com.
In over 25 years of law enforcement experience with 24 years as a firearms and defensive tactics instructor, I have attended a great number of training classes. I have also taught classes all over the nation to a variety of skill levels, and I have seen firsthand how the best techniques are the simple ones. If a technique is simple, it can be learned quickly and retained as a usable skill set for a long time. Ultimately, these are the techniques that will help you win a fight.
Occasionally, someone will come up with a new technique to shoot a handgun, rifle, or shotgun faster and more accurately, but for the most part, it’s already been invented. Most of the defensive tactic techniques used today were discovered centuries ago. Unfortunately, there are many officers and instructors who don’t understand this fact. There is a metric ton of online videos and training courses marketed as “the latest and greatest” in shooting, knife fighting and defensive tactics. Most of the time, this is slick marketing of old ideas.
Instead of falling for the marketing campaigns, police officers and police trainers should focus on the skills that have decades of documented history that show they will enable an officer to prevail in a fight. These simple skills will build the competence, awareness and weapon handling proficiency that officers need.
Since simple skills can be learned quickly and retained for use later, our limited training time and money is best spent focusing on these areas.
1. Stable fighting platform
Whether you’re shooting, trying to wrestle someone into handcuffs, or simply conducting a field interview, a stable fighting platform is a must. You need to be balanced and capable of moving in any direction. Most instructors call this body position your “stance.” But this term focuses people on the position of their feet. I refer to it as your platform because it’s about the position of your body not just your feet.
If you’re standing, a stable fighting platform keeps your upper body slightly forward of center. When you’re shooting, this helps control recoil. In a hand-to-hand fight, this allows you to act and move quickly in different directions. If you’re conducting a field interview, you are in a position to react if needed and your body language indicates you are aware and interested in what is being said. That’s a nice side benefit. If kneeling, the same rules apply.
In a prone position or laying on your side, a stable fighting platform keeps you grounded well enough to maintain balance and control of your opponent. Think of the sprawl in ground fighting, and you have a good idea what I mean. If you’re shooting from the ground, a wide, stable fighting platform will keep your firearm steady, and you won’t need to worry about recoil moving your body.
2. Threat recognition
Quite possibly the single most underappreciated skill in law enforcement is the ability to quickly recognize threat indicators. Too many officers have learned through the school of hard knocks, and we owe it to them to learn from their mistakes.
Threat indicators can be obvious things like someone saying they’re going to kick your butt, or it can be something subtle like a target glance at an officer’s holster. Even less obvious are the suspects with non-blinking eyes, clenched jaws, or other signs of pre-fight tension.
3. Quick, smooth draw
Contrary to most training programs, this isn’t just for your duty handgun. To get on target quickly and accurately, officers need to know how to draw all their tools quickly while maintaining a stable fighting platform.
When we study human conflict, generally the winner is the person who gets the first solid hit on their opponent. Whether it’s a punch, a shot, or a strike with an impact weapon, the first solid hit usually seals the deal. This isn’t always true, but more often than not, the person who strikes hardest first, wins.
Most firearms training addresses the draw and presentation of the duty handgun, but most officers are less than competent when trying to quickly and smoothly draw and fire. The same is true with officers drawing their TASERs, pepper spray, or collapsible batons. Too many officers lack the required skill level to get their equipment off their belt and into a position to utilize their tools effectively.
Whether you’re drawing your handgun, TASER, or pepper spray, a quick draw does not come from trying to be fast. Rushing results in muscle tension and jerky movements. Officers should work toward a smooth and consistent draw that consists of one continuous motion from the holster to the target. Any “robotic” movement should be eliminated. Don’t forget to practice drawing all your tools from different body positions such as standing, kneeling, prone and supine.
4. Accuracy
Hitting what you are shooting at as quickly as possible is a critical skill in a gunfight. This is also true of punching, kicking, spraying, or using your TASER to take someone into custody. Officers must be competent in applying all their tools to resistant subjects.
Accuracy comes down to applying the fundamentals of a stable fighting platform, weapon alignment and trigger control. All the fundamentals must be applied to achieve an accurate shot, spray, punch, or dart. Accuracy can be improved through quality training and repetition, but it takes work and effort. If your platform is compromised, your weapon/sights aren’t aligned, or you spastically jerk the trigger, accuracy suffers, and the fight continues.
The longer the fight, the more risk there is to the officer, the suspect and bystanders. It’s incumbent upon officers to overcome a resistant suspect quickly to minimize the risk of injury to everyone. The only way to do this is to be accurate.
5. recognizing cover
The best place to be during a fight is behind cover. In a gunfight, cover is something that will stop bullets. Remember, cover is caliber dependent. Just because it will stop a handgun round doesn’t mean it’s cover from a .300 Win Mag.
Learning to recognize cover doesn’t just apply to deadly threats. Cover from a punch or kick could be something as simple as putting an obstacle between you and a suspect. A chair, table, or the hood of your patrol vehicle could be cover from an empty-hand attack.
One of the best ways to learn how to recognize cover is to constantly look for it during your regular duties. As you approach a vehicle, think about what you could put between yourself and a threat. When you’re doing a burglary investigation, look at the surroundings to see what could be used as cover from different threats. And when you go into your favorite coffee shop, take a glance around and record in your mind the cover available in case something goes awry.
6. Becoming invisible
Closely related to recognizing cover is becoming invisible by appreciating the value of concealment. A threat can’t fight with someone they cannot see. Concealment allows you to see the threat even though they can’t see you. If you work in low-light environments, learn how to use dark areas to move effectively without being seen. Search for those areas because they often contain cover as well as concealment.
By no means is this a complete list of skills and tactics for prevailing in a fight. However, an officer who is skilled in each of these areas will be skilled in many others. If an officer has a quick and smooth draw, can accurately deploy all their tools, understands how to maintain a stable platform to move effectively, and recognizes threats, cover and concealment, they will also be competent in handling each of their different weapon systems. These skills go hand in hand with prevailing in a fight.
NEXT: 4 steps to incorporate Jiu-Jitsu into your department’s use of force training
