Tag: Reality-Based Training: Page 6

Outgunned

There is a tendency among all law enforcement to believe that no matter the odds, their bravery and training can save the day. It’s an instinct that a good SWAT officer must overcome. Because believe it or not, there are times when even a SWAT team may be outgunned or otherwise need help.

February 28, 2003

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Countering Canine Attacks

You have no choice. You draw your service weapon and fire three rounds into the dog. Two find their mark in its chest cavity, while the third rips through one of its front legs. It takes a few more paces, collapses, and dies.

February 28, 2003

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How to...Start a K-9 Unit

Initiating your agency’s first K-9 unit is a daunting task. If you’re willing to accept this challenge, then the first thing you need is the support of your department.

January 31, 2003

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Improving the Odds

For some reason, most officers have a vision of a gunfight as being one shooter against another. The reality of such incidents is much different and even deadlier. An alarming number of police gunfights involve more than one bad guy against a single cop.

August 31, 2002

In this training scenario, the officer is at a disadvantage because he can’t draw his weapon until the bad guys make their moves.

TWO if by Sea: Tactical Waterborne Units

The lesson of the Baltimore exercise is quite clear: police agencies can't just arbitrarily decide that their jurisdictions end at the water's edge and assume that anything on the water will be handled by the Coast Guard, the Navy, or somebody else.

July 31, 2002

Police waterborne training includes swimmer casts from high-speed boats. Tactical officers say observers from the shore are much more likely to notice a stationary boat than one that rips by and leaves swimmers in the water. This gives a surveillance or assault team the element of surprise.

Centers of Higher Learning

Although most agencies supply their officers with basic firearms training, there are reasons that law enforcement officers are some of the most active attendees of specialized gun training academies.

March 31, 2002

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Teamwork

When a terrorist attack really happens, these men need to know how to work together, or people will get killed. This is not a game.

February 28, 2002

A Capital Success Story

According to media accounts, nearly 100 officers who joined the force during a 1989-90 recruitment drive-when background screening and standards were all but non-existent-were later charged with criminal wrongdoing.

January 31, 2002

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Simulated Use-of-Force Training

Simulated training devices exercise those decision-making muscles; when it comes down to it, what you learn from them just might keep you alive.

December 31, 2001

Cops on Bikes

It might look easy, but you better be ready for training and lots of exercise before you trade in your cruiser for two wheels.

November 30, 2001

The ability to maintain balance and navigate tight circles is an important patrol skill, and part of the qualification test.

Euro Counter-Terrorism

Conventional police forces deployed in large and normally slow-to-react formations were not capable of dealing with small, clandestine terrorist cells, striking swiftly and melting into the civil scenery.

March 31, 2001

A member of the Italian “GIS” armed with the 9mm H&K MP5 SMG. Note the special flashlight/foregrip combination used on this specific weapon.

Death’s Dogs: Cadaver Search Canines

Any officer who has been involved in a search for a missing victim knows that law enforcement needs every possible break. Cadaver dogs, though not likely to become widely known or ever be the subject of a television series, give cops just the break they need when searching for human remains.

November 30, 2000

Missy clears a canyon where accused cop killers Jason McVean and “Monte” Pilon may be hiding.

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