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.
I’m not a fan of New Year’s resolutions. I’ve been around long enough to know gyms are crowded in January and February but empty by March. Don’t get me wrong. If you can stick to your resolutions, then more power to you. However, there are some simple things every police officer can do to improve their skills and outlook going into 2022. Share your top tips in the comment box below.
1. Dry fire practice
In the quest to become better shooters, we all have that nagging problem we’re struggling to fix. Some of us, me included, have more than one problem to correct. A tried-and-true way to develop our skills is the use of dry fire practice drills. Dry fire drills are inexpensive, and when done correctly, can greatly improve our skills.
Dry fire drills improve hand/eye coordination, which translates to improved weapons handling and marksmanship skills. Compare these types of drills to a professional baseball player hitting balls off a tee. The baseball player uses the tee to refine their hand/eye coordination and improve their focus on a particular spot on the baseball. Similarly, dry fire drills help refine our own hand/eye coordination and ability to focus on making good hits.
I’ve heard all the excuses for not doing dry fire practice, and I’ve made up several creative excuses of my own. The bottom line is all of us have time to dry fire. We simply choose to do something else with that time like watching television or surfing the internet. This is time that could be used to dry fire. Keep dry fire practice short and efficient to maintain your attention and you will benefit from the effort.
2. Don’t forget empty hand skills
My passion is firearms training, but my history as an instructor starts with defensive tactics. I understand the importance of empty-hand skills. Police officers use empty hand skills far more often than any firearm skill, so, we need to practice and hone our skills in this area.
The empty hand skills I’m referring to run the gamut from handcuffing to strikes, and takedowns to ground defenses. Most of the officers I’ve worked with over the years do a pretty good job handcuffing cooperative suspects, but how are your skills when handcuffing a prone suspect?
Once you think you’re good-to-go handcuffing a variety of suspects, the next step is to start working on your takedowns. In the realm of empty hand tactics, takedowns are the one glaring weakness. I’ve seen too many officers square dancing and playing do-si-do with suspects. Being able to apply a quick and effective takedown technique on a resistant suspect is vital to officer safety. It’s also important to the safety of the resistant suspect. The longer an officer allows a suspect to resist, the greater the chance of injury to the suspect and the officer.
Officers also need to improve their ground game. I’m not talking about what happens after you take a suspect to the ground. I’m talking about what happens when you’re knocked on your keester and need to defend yourself and retain your handgun. Defending yourself from the YouTube and MMA fanboys is one thing, but it’s arguably more important to be able to defend ourselves from the criminals who practice on their own. These are the guys who, in their attempt to escape, will take you to the ground and attempt to disarm you.
3. Find a training buddy
Most people fail to meet their training goals because they aren’t held accountable. One way to avoid this pitfall is to find a training buddy. Think about it. It’s easy to convince yourself to sleep in rather than go to the gym. But if you have a training buddy counting on you to show up on time, it’s harder to stay in bed knowing you would be letting them down if you failed to show up. The same is true when it comes to improving your firearm skills. I have a shooting partner that counts on me to show up, so it makes it hard to rationalize skipping a training session or match just because I’m lazy.
A training buddy makes showing up easier, and it makes training more fun. When you have someone to train with, you get a better idea of your skill level and improvement. A trustworthy training buddy can offer much-needed feedback. On the range, a training buddy can video your performance during a course of fire or drill providing an external perspective on your performance. On the mats, your training buddy is an opponent that can improve your ability to make quick tactical decisions and provides an opportunity to counter a resistive suspect’s actions.
In the end, a training buddy just makes training a lot more effective and enjoyable. Your training buddy could be your best friend, a trusted co-worker, or your spouse. No matter who it is, training and skill development will be far more effective and valuable with a training buddy.
4. Find the fun
This is one area where we could all be a little more mindful. Find the fun in what you do each day. In this job, it’s easy to become jaded, bitter and cynical. There’s a lot of negative feedback from the media, command staff and some people in the communities we serve. But the truth is, the majority of people appreciate the effort and sacrifice we make to keep our communities safe. We wouldn’t know it by the way the media reports the news, but it’s a fact that is well documented in a variety of surveys. Try to keep this in mind throughout your shift.
If you work dayshift and see a kid selling lemonade, make it a point to stop and buy a cup. Then, make sure every single officer in that area knows where to stop and buy a cup. You will make the kid’s day and give them something to remember for the rest of their lives. Bonus, you get a short break from the non-stop calls for service and other demands while enjoying a nice cup of lemonade. Find the fun.
It’s also important to enjoy the time you spend with the people you work with on a regular basis. At the end of your career, you will be no different than most retired cops. You won’t miss the job one bit, but you will miss the comradery of your team. I don’t miss the calls for service, the criminal investigations, the report writing or reviews, or the incessant noise from the radio. I don’t miss meetings where nothing gets accomplished, unrealistic expectations from command staff and political appointees, or being at the courthouse all day while working nightshift. The only thing I do miss is the time spent during shift briefing with my teams. Take advantage of those times and find the fun.
