ON PATROL
Surviving the Myth
By
Dave Spaulding
If you are not subscribing to the Blackwater Tactical Weekly then you are missing out on one of the best training and tactical information outlets currently available. This free internet bulletin comes from one of the worlds most famous security contractors and the best equipped public firearms training facility in the world. I have had the good fortune to attend Blackwater on several occasions and look forward to when I can go back. As many readers may remember, it was Blackwater who lost four operators in Fallujah, Iraq in the Spring of 2004. These men were betrayed by locals and set up for an ambush that resulted in their death in a very public fashion. This one incident gives the reader an idea of how dangerous the missions that Blackwater operatives take on really are. The training courses that Blackwater provides and the information their bulletin discusses reflects this high level of risk.
While reading a recent edition of the Tactical Weekly, I came across an article entitled ONE SHOT DROPS: Surviving the Myth by Anthony Pinizzotto, Harry Kern and Edward Davis, all assigned to the FBI National Academy. The article was originally written for the October 2004 edition of the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin and had been included in the Blackwater bulletin. The authors have been studying officer involved shootings for over a decade in an effort to determine if police officers had died due to any of the following factors:
- The type of weapon issued by the officer.
- The type of ammunition issued to the officer.
- The lack of quality self-defense training provided to the officer
- Overconfidence due to the wearing of a bullet resistant vest, took unnecessary risks
- The officer’s own preparation for a violent encounter, such as wearing a vest or remaining in good physical condition.
- The officer’s choice to notify dispatch of the location of incident.
- Other circumstances
-
One factor that the authors found across the board is hesitancy by police officers to use deadly force. I, too, have found officers quite hesitant to shoot, even when the need for deadly force is readily apparent. After talking with police officers from across the country, I feel this hesitancy is due to administrators over emphasizing the legal liability they and their agency will face following a shooting. Some officers are afraid they will go to jail for attempting to defend their own life. One officer told me that his chief stated, “If you shoot somebody, you better be right or I will see to it your ass is thrown in jail!” I guess it is cheaper to bury a cop than it is to fight a lawsuit. When I hear stories like this one, and I hear more than I would like, I tell these officers to document the incident with both their union and their spouse with instructions to sue the chief if they are killed in the line of duty. This type of attitude by police administrators has got to stop…
The author’s research into multiple shootings has led them to proclaim that there is no such thing as a “one shot drop” and that any police officer who thinks that one round from their issue handgun will immediately incapacitate an attacker is likely to be met with great disappointment…which is something that could get them hurt or killed. The fact is, few actual shooting incidents end with a one shot stop by any handgun, regardless of caliber or ammunition style used. “Realistic and regular training must counter balance and mentally and emotionally over ride the fallacy of the one-shot drop still promoted by some media. Short of disrupting the brain or severing the spinal column, immediate incapacitation does not occur. Therefore the threat remains to the officer. Yet, implicit in the media presentations of law enforcement encounters is the belief that with the “proper handgun” and the “proper ammunition” , officers will inflict immediate incapacitation if they shoot offenders anywhere in the torso. Varied and multiple real-life law enforcement experiences contradict this false and dangerous belief.”
During the author’s decade long study of actual shooting events, they did not find a real correlation between caliber or bullet style with an “ultimate” level of effectiveness. They offered several examples in the article:
“In one case, the subject attacked the officer with a knife. The officer shot the individual four times in the chest; then, his weapon malfunctioned. The offender continued to walk towards the officer. After the officer cleared his weapon, he fired again and struck the subject in the chest. Only then did the offender drop the knife. This individual was hit five times with 230 grain .45 caliber hollow point ammunition and never fell to the ground. The offender later stated, “The wounds felt like bee stings.”
“In another case, officers fired six .40 caliber, hollow point rounds at a subject who pointed a gun at them. Each of the six rounds hit the individual with no visible effect. The seventh round severed his spinal cord, and the offender fell to the ground, dropping his weapon.”
Expecting any handgun, with its short barrel and limited ability to generate high velocity and energy, to drop someone with one shot is not practical. At the same time, officers should realize that just because they are shot, they will not necessarily be incapacitated, let alone die! Officers should continue to fight until they cannot physically do so. Handguns, regardless of caliber or bullet style, are not reliable manstoppers. They are carried because they are portable and concealable. They are the hardest of firearms to shoot accurately due to the shooter’s inability to get a forward grip on the weapon like that on a long gun. This is particularly true in the fast and fluid environment that is the handgun fight. Anyone that stands still when they are being shot at is either caught of guard or is real stupid. Worrying about the type of gun you have or what type of bullet is in it is a waste of time…time that is better spent training and getting good with what you have. The best gun and ammo is the one you have in your hand when the fight starts…provided you know how to use it!
They took the opportunity to look at what the suspects thought and did. Their major reason for picking a particular gun was availability. The offenders did not care about bullet weight or velocity. The majority of offenders had been involved in shooting incidents prior to their fight with the officer, making them less trained but more experienced in the “art” of gunfighting. Their major concern was being “fast on the trigger” and delivering the bullet to its intended target. One offender stated, “There’s no time to sight up on the gun. If you hesitate, you’re dead.” What police officers should understand is that while it is true the majority of suspects do not train with their guns, they think about gun fighting…and apparently they think about it a lot! This is in direct contradiction to most law enforcement officers who feel that a gun fight will never happen to them, hate going to the range and consider their firearm the hammer or screwdriver of their profession.
The authors finally concluded that neither the gun nor ammo used was a factor in the outcome of any of the gunfights they studied. Ultimately, the outcome was a result of the attitude and training of the officer involved. The officer who has a solid understanding of what may happen in a gunfight has a distinct advantage over one who has never given any thought. Training to help officers raise their individual awareness and the ability to create a combative mindset when needed is essential. The authors talk about the need for survival training; however, as I stated in a previous column, we need to think of such training as Training to Prevail. To survive means to remain in existence while prevailing means to win! There is a huge difference…
Firearms’ training needs to change and this change is not happening fast enough. Far too many agencies are still going to the range and shooting static qualification courses that do nothing more than measure an officer’s marksmanship ability. Often times, this training does not even take into account proper weapon handling as needed skills like trigger control, speed loading, chamber checking and holster skills are often atrocious. The authors recommended the following be included in a solid police training package:
- Strengthen officer confidence in skills and equipment
- A working knowledge of ballistics and human anatomy
- What their ammo will penetrate and what it will not
- Ammo performance at varied distances
- Shooting long distance shots
- Marksmanship fundamentals
- Courses of fire unfamiliar to the officer(s)
- Combat courses that require the officers to think and make decisions
- Targets that require the officer to shoot until it is “incapacitated” visually.
- The use of three dimensional targets and shooting at them from all angles.
- If available, simulators like the FATS machine should be used.
- Force on force training using Simunitions or Airsoft which make the officer, think, shoot, communicate and all things related to an actual fight.
This article did an excellent job of outlining what needs to be included in a quality police firearms training program. Everyone involved in police defensive training should read it. Officers need to be able to hit fairly small areas of the body while moving and being shot at. They need to understand that regardless of what “wonder blaster” or high technology ammo they are using, that handguns are not reliable manstoppers and that the human body is capable of receiving a great deal of abuse before it is stopped. You need to shoot the suspect until they think they are dead, your opinion on the matter does not count. After all, they may not have read the same stopping power study you did.
Train to Win!
Blackwater
PO Box 1029
Moyock, NC 27958
www.blackwaterusa.com