The Convocation of Combat Arts
Best of the martial arts on the Web!
Defensive Tactics: Defined
I was going to post something original to open up this group, but I find that I cannot do better than what Bernard Lau defines as Defensive tactics:
Police defensive tactics are NOT the same as self-defense. The role of defensive tactics in law enforcement and corrections is to assist the officer in performance of arrest and restraint, and to increase the margin of safety for both the officer and the suspect. Defensive tactics charge the officer with protecting others as well as themselves. The definition of "defend" as used here is neither punitive nor passive, but instead "to repel danger or harm while serving and protecting." Meanwhile, self-defense encompasses any and all means of protecting oneself. Self-defense techniques are not meant to apprehend an assailant. Indeed, there is no regard for the safety of the attacker whatsoever. So obviously self-defense and defensive tactics are not synonymous.
Defensive tactics are not martial arts, either. While martial arts provide a technical basis for defensive tactics, they are generally not suitable for use on the street. That said, martial arts training offers many benefits to officers, including fitness, strength and agility, balance and flexibility, stress reduction, recreation, etc. Indeed, the benefits for self-perfection inherent in long-term practice are enormous. Therefore, without denying that martial arts training can benefit officers, it is not necessary.
On the other hand, training in defensive tactics is more than simply issuing officers a nightstick and saying, "Don’t hit anybody in the head." It only takes a few seconds to be issued a tool, but learning to use it is a never-ending process.
Furthermore, you don’t always have the right tool in your hand. It may be on your belt or in your car, and while it just takes a few seconds to get it, that may be more than you have. Therefore another purpose of defensive tactics training is to give you a few seconds. You can use those seconds to get a tool or to plan a better response or simply to breathe and therefore regain mind control.
Finally, once you learn the techniques, you can’t forget to bring them with you, either. Sure, you can lose the skills if you panic, or if you refuse to practice them, but there is no way anyone can take them away from you short of rendering you unconscious.
The only way I depart from Mr. Lau is in a slight redefinition of the role of Martial Arts in defensive tactics. I have found that in many departments that there is little motivation to maintain any sort of regular DT training. As a matter of fact, the issues of on-duty injury, mandating DT training, unions and workmans-comp tend to make departments lean away from forming a regular DT program. That being said, officers concerned with maintaining their skills may be better advised to find training on the civillian side. However, the officer needs to be careful in what he is being taught. Not all arts teach techniques that can be directly translated to the various levels of force one finds necessary in performing the LE mission.
Police defensive tactics are NOT the same as self-defense. The role of defensive tactics in law enforcement and corrections is to assist the officer in performance of arrest and restraint, and to increase the margin of safety for both the officer and the suspect. Defensive tactics charge the officer with protecting others as well as themselves. The definition of "defend" as used here is neither punitive nor passive, but instead "to repel danger or harm while serving and protecting." Meanwhile, self-defense encompasses any and all means of protecting oneself. Self-defense techniques are not meant to apprehend an assailant. Indeed, there is no regard for the safety of the attacker whatsoever. So obviously self-defense and defensive tactics are not synonymous.
Defensive tactics are not martial arts, either. While martial arts provide a technical basis for defensive tactics, they are generally not suitable for use on the street. That said, martial arts training offers many benefits to officers, including fitness, strength and agility, balance and flexibility, stress reduction, recreation, etc. Indeed, the benefits for self-perfection inherent in long-term practice are enormous. Therefore, without denying that martial arts training can benefit officers, it is not necessary.
On the other hand, training in defensive tactics is more than simply issuing officers a nightstick and saying, "Don’t hit anybody in the head." It only takes a few seconds to be issued a tool, but learning to use it is a never-ending process.
Furthermore, you don’t always have the right tool in your hand. It may be on your belt or in your car, and while it just takes a few seconds to get it, that may be more than you have. Therefore another purpose of defensive tactics training is to give you a few seconds. You can use those seconds to get a tool or to plan a better response or simply to breathe and therefore regain mind control.
Finally, once you learn the techniques, you can’t forget to bring them with you, either. Sure, you can lose the skills if you panic, or if you refuse to practice them, but there is no way anyone can take them away from you short of rendering you unconscious.
The only way I depart from Mr. Lau is in a slight redefinition of the role of Martial Arts in defensive tactics. I have found that in many departments that there is little motivation to maintain any sort of regular DT training. As a matter of fact, the issues of on-duty injury, mandating DT training, unions and workmans-comp tend to make departments lean away from forming a regular DT program. That being said, officers concerned with maintaining their skills may be better advised to find training on the civillian side. However, the officer needs to be careful in what he is being taught. Not all arts teach techniques that can be directly translated to the various levels of force one finds necessary in performing the LE mission.
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Nathan Teodoro on -
I'm reposting this at TDA, and pointing all commenters here. I will cross-post my response here too immediately after this reply.
-
Permalink Reply by Nathan Teodoro on
-
My response:
"...self-defense techniques are not meant to apprehend an assailant. Indeed, there is no regard for the safety of the attacker whatsoever. So obviously self-defense and defensive tactics are not synonymous." This is true, and encompasses the problem, to me, for a law enforcement officer: he or she is so focused on, and hamstrung by the rules which protect the suspect, that the officer is more likely to get hurt or die. As Mr. Gerace says, most department I've trained, worked with, or surveyed, have no qualification to maintain DT training once the officer completes his academy training. To me, the problem goes even further with a reliance on techniques which assume someone's on the way to back them up, and the removal of effective techniques which can save their lives (e.g. the lateral vascular restraint/blood choke).
Further, Gerace is right on, in my humble opinion, that civilian MA techniques don't mesh well with DT, in many cases, but mostly because they would open the department up to excessive/unnecessary force suits.
To me, one of the best uses of an officer's time is to learn a street-effective art such as Aikido, Krav Maga, Jeet Kune Do, Jiu-Jitsu, or BJJ (I know, they all need modifications), in addition to a weapon art effective in teaching responses to clubs or knives. Filipino MA fit the bill perfectly (Arnis/Escrima/Kali).
-
Permalink Reply by Nathan Teodoro on
-
The post is here: Definition of Defensive Tactics
-
Permalink Reply by Thomas Gerace on -
When I was at the FBI National Academy I was speaking to a brother LEO about defensive tactics training. The SPEAR system in particular. He stated that his department started a program but almost immediately was faced with numerous officers claiming workmans comp injuries. Which raises the issue of administering such a program. Do you go as far as to spar or "roll" in a dept. program? Or do you just do "walkthrough"/classroom training? As distatsteful as this may sound, some cops may look at this as the opportunity to visit "Dr. Summer-off" and claim an injury so they can take a little paid vacation.
Another issue. Can you make this manditory training? If an officer doesn't want to participate but is mandadted to..and subsequently gets injured...what sort of comp/union/legal issues will it result in?
These are all issues a LE administrator must consider.
-
Permalink Reply by Bob Patterson on -
"That being said, officers concerned with maintaining their skills may be better advised to find training on the civillian side. However, the officer needs to be careful in what he is being taught. Not all arts teach techniques that can be directly translated to the various levels of force one finds necessary in performing the LE mission."
I'm 15 years removed from having worked in two prisons. We certified annually in Pressure Point Control Tactics (PPCT) aka the PPCT system.
http://ppct.us/
To be frank it was not enough. Members of CERT (Correctional Emergency Response Team) and SORT (Special Operations & Tactics) had far more training than the annual in-service certification that line staff had.
I'm far from an expert on this but did have experience trying to use it. As Lt. Locus would tell the newbies: Forget half of what they teach at the academy because it will get your ass kicked.
One of the things the trainers preached was that we could not use civilian martial arts because they did not fit within the use-of-force continuum. That having been said, many officers had experience in boxing, wrestling, judo, karate, taekwondo, etc. And there was an unwritten rule that if it came to life-or-death all bets were off. In fact, my first boxing lessons were a result of being scared of getting my ass kicked. In prison officers typically do not get weapons when among the general population. The reason being the outnumbered guards could have the weapons taken away. Tower guards and high perimeter guards all had firearms but not so on ground. (unless CERT or SORT got activated)
I've since left that career path. However, I have a lot of respect for law enforcement and corrections officers. The public has no idea what they have to put up with or the disadvantage they are often in.
Your post is sad and true. 15 years removed things still appear to be the same.
About
© 2010 Created by Nathan Teodoro on Ning. Create a Ning Network!
