Types of Resistance encountered by Deputies include: Verbal Assault (verbal abuse, threats), Verbal (unwillingness to follow commands), Contamination (spitting, urine, feces, chemical), Battery (strikes, kicks, biting), Physical (pulling away, clenched hands), Passive (sitting, laying, standing), Psychological Display (stance, fists, stare, flexed) and Deadly (firearms, knife, blunt object). Why do you all want to do this job again???
Types of Control used by Deputies include: Visual Display (baton, oc spray, firearms, taser), Specialty Tools (chemical munitions, taser, SIM), Soft Empty Hand (touch pressure, limb control, oc, directing), Hard Empty Hand (punches, strikes, kicks), Verbal (verbal direction), Diversionary Devices, Lethal (firearms).
We had 3 stations to go through: Hand to Hand Combat, FX Scenarios, Taser
Hand to Hand Combat: This station focused on how a deputy reacts when encountering a combative subject at close range. Again the goal of every officer is to go home at the end of their shift. They have a saying, "Treat everyone like a million bucks but be prepared to kill them if necessary!"
Deputies demonstrated defense tactics such as pressure points that can be used to gain compliance from a subject. When I say class was "hands on" that means we had the option to participate if we wanted to. We practiced a few pressure points on each other.
Deputies then demonstrated how to prevent someone from taking their gun. (Interesting stat... 40% of officers killed by gunfire are killed by their own gun after it was taken by a subject.) If you are a law enforcement officer the last thing you want to happen is for someone to gain control of your gun so deputies showed how to block a subject from taking it while it is in the holster.
Since many deputies work in detention they may encounter a shank or other edge weapon so the next demonstration was how to block an attack from a subject with an edge weapon by creating an angle. You may not necessarily gain control of the weapon by this technique but you gain time to get away from the subject or for backup to arrive to help.
Deputies also demonstrated use of force with empty hand, closed fist (hint... you might break fingers or knuckles if done improperly so open/empty hand is a good alternative) and other body parts such as elbow. Sometimes the only weapon you have is your body but if you know how to use it you can defuse combative situations even if you are out sized by your combative subject.
FX Scenarios: FX refers to use of non-lethal cartridges in firearms during training. FX is just the brand JCSO chose to go with. Again, if we wanted to participate we could. Not everyone chose to participate. I chose to participate. We were given 2 scenarios.
The first scenario was a suicidal subject with a gun. I got killed in this scenario because I didn't have a clue what I was doing. I was dead before I reacted. I guess I thought since there were 2 deputies going in to the garage with me that they were leading the scenario and I was just along for the ride (ie I wasn't listening!). I am a fast learner though!
The second scenario was a domestic disturbance with an individual that was not known for violence. I knew this time that I was the officer responding to the call and it was up to me to control the situation. The deputies talk about using tunnel vision when responding to a call. In other words focusing on the subject and not so much on others that might be there that are not directly involved in the situation. Even though I knew there were 2 deputies going in to the garage with me I used my tunnel vision to ignore them since they weren't actually part of the scenario. (I did manage to revert out of tunnel vision long enough to not shoot them which they probably appreciated!) I walked in to the garage, established a conversation with the subject by saying I was called to the residence for a disturbance. I asked the subject if there was a problem. He engaged in conversation at the beginning by saying, "no officer, there's no problem" (I wonder how many times officers hear that in a day?) but as the conversation continued the subject then said, "come here, I have something to show you." I was smart enough NOT to go to him but instead retreated which was good because the subject then showed a knife and proceeded to charge at me. When the subject refused to drop the knife, I pulled and fired my weapon and to my surprise hit the subject twice in the chest. I am pretty sure the deputies observing were shocked after my colossal fail in the first scenario that I would survive the second scenario much less put the subject down. Hey, I said I'm a fast learner! Afterwards we reviewed the scenario and I asked if I reacted too fast with my gun and they said no. Even though the subject had a knife versus gun, the subject refused to drop the knife and charged at me. I had no choice but to fire my weapon for my safety. This was just a practice scenario. I can't imagine having to shoot someone in real life! I will definitely not be too quick to jump to judgment next time I hear an officer had to shoot a subject!
Taser: Did you know the Taser has been around since 1974? A Taser is an electroshock weapon that uses electrical current to disrupt voluntary control of muscles. The first taser was a 7 watt which was determined not to do very much. Pain compliance tasers (stun guns) are referred to as 1st and 2nd generation tasers. In 2003 the Taser X26 was introduced. It has pain compliance and electro-muscular disruption capabilities (often referred to 3rd and 4th generation tasers). Someone struck by a taser experiences stimulation of his or her sensory nerves and motor nerves, resulting in strong involuntary muscle contractions. Tasers do not rely only on pain compliance, except when used in Drive Stun mode, and are thus preferred by some law enforcement over non-Taser stun guns and other electronic control weapons. JCSO carries the Taser X26. The Taser is a closed loop circuit so it cannot shock anyone not hit by the taser. The Taser fires two small dart-like electrodes, which stay connected to the main unit by conductive wire as they are propelled by small compressed nitrogen charges similar to some air gun or paintball marker propellants. There are a number of cartridges designated by range, with the maximum at 35 feet. The electrodes are pointed to penetrate clothing and barbed to prevent removal once in place. Tasers primarily function by creating neuromuscular incapacitation. This creates an immediate and unavoidable incapacitation that cannot be overcome. Once the electricity stops flowing the subject immediately regains control of his/her body. Most subjects after being Tazed once will comply so as to avoid being Tazed a second time. A taze lasts 5 seconds. It has 19 pulses per second at 0.5 joules per pulse (compare that to an AED which has 150-400 joules per pulse). The voltage varies from 1200V to 50.000V depending on how much resistance it has to overcome. It will only produce as much voltage as necessary to overcome resistance (barrier such as clothing, etc).
Again, I said this was a "hands on" class but participants could choose to participate or not. I chose NOT to get tazed but some of my counterparts weren't quite so smart. Here is video of 2 of my classmates:
This concludes Week 4. Next week is Introduction to Patrol.
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