Officer John Smith has just spotted a suspicious-looking individual and conducted a field interview. What he doesn't know is that the subject is wanted for felony assault. The field interview quickly becomes a fight and Officer Smith is knocked down. Now his life depends on his ability to fight on the ground. And he probably doesn't know what to do.
Few American law enforcement officers are properly trained in survival ground fighting. In fact the first question that many new officers ask me when I speak to them about survival ground fighting is: What is survival ground fighting?
Let's return to the plight of our fictional Officer John Smith and see how he can turn the tables on his attacker.
Officer Smith has been taken off guard and grounded. The subject is in a top mount position on the officer and in a position to repeatedly strike the officer about the head.
That's the scenario I decided to work out with some new officers that I was training. I—older man not in the best shape ever and in need of repairs to shoulders and knees—positioned myself on the ground and challenged a fit new officer fresh from the academy to assume a mount position. Upon doing so I advised the newby to assume the mindset of a bad guy hell-bent on not going to jail. I then asked him what he thought he should do. His reply was common and consistent; he had the advantage, he would begin striking my face in order to render me incapable of effecting an arrest.
We started the exercise. He punched toward my face, and I deflected the blow. He followed up with another attempted strike to my face. I deflected his second strike, then used his momentum to divert his right arm to the far right hand side of my face. Then with one fast lunge, I had the newby in a full shoulder pin and tapping out in less than three seconds.
The look of astonishment on the young officer's face was indescribable. He asked, "What just happened?"
Then the questions started to flow. What did Officer Smith do wrong? Why don't they teach this at the academy? What liabilities are associated with this technique? How long do I apply the technique? What do I do next?
Stay Standing
Officer Smith likely made a few fundamental errors during his initial contact with his attacker.
One error he probably made was assuming a relaxed stance for a field interview as opposed to a solid aggressive defensive stance. To assume a solid, aggressive stance during a field interview, set your feet shoulder width apart, slightly bent at the knees, body weight shifted slightly forward, hands forward and prepared for defensive counterstrikes.
The second mistake that Officer Smith probably made is that he allowed his attacker to encroach upon his personal space. Officer Smith should have given himself approximately three feet of separation.
Finally, he failed to react by repositioning.