I am still really involved in Police Training and I get to see a lot of interesting results in the officer's skills. I often see that depending on what they think the problem is, they will put on a hat that fits only that situation. This becomes confusing to all involved and can cause someone to be injured or killed. I feel that all training should be integrated so that people do not have to operate under a different system for each problem that they face. Whether it is a firearms, edged weapon, hand to hand or other question. You do not want your officers having to change systems under combat stress. It can cause them to hesitate or react inappropriately. The can be burdened with the fear of making the wrong move or decision.
It is often extremely hard to get all of the Instructors in a Department on the same page. In my last job, there was concern that you were encroaching on someone's feudal territory if you even suggested that everything be brought under one umbrella. The only people that could discuss firearms, where the firearms instructors, the only people to be allowed to discuss any other weapon systems were those Instructors. This type of feudal land protection does nothing but hurt the line officer.
The line officer needs to have skills and plans that fit together like Legos. Each specific part needs to be a seamless continuation of the other parts of the equation. It makes no sense to have Empty Hand Control Tactics be separated from Firearms or any other Combative Skill. By keeping each skill as a separate part of the equation the Officer has to decide what system to use at each change of resistance or attack. What combative mode are they in? Are they in their firearms stance, hand to hand combat position or in their ground fighting position? The position they need to be in is a total combatives one. Every skill, tool and tactic they use should fit under one combative system.
I personally think that everyone should be trained to fight like they walk. What I mean is that everyone needs to be trained to function as they normally would. They do not need to have to move from a convoluted physical platform that each skill set might demand. they need to be able to move naturally and freely. If you watch a lot of Police Involved Shooting clips, the Weaver stance is not very prevalent. Base everything off the way the body moves and you free up the Officer to respond correctly and more quickly. Everyone can walk and the body works well in normal positions.
The training needs to be based on a reality based system that allows the Officer to be able to flow from one skill set to the next within the context of a real incident. The firearms stance, hand to hand stance and every other "system" they are trained in needs to be the same. Tony Blauer opened my eyes to this with his SPEAR System. Every stance you are in, every position you find yourself in, is a fighting position. Every tool works from the same platform, whether it is firearms, edged weapons defense or straight hand to hand combat.
Your training must include situations that force you to use each of your tools or skills in ways that are not usually covered in training environments. Most people do not train to use their firearms in the middle of a hand to hand fight where the bad guy produces a weapon. Very few trainers will run drills where in the same scenario, the firearm fails and they have to go to edged weapons or other tools. Why not? Is it protecting feudal lands? Do not cheat yourself or those that you are responsible for teaching. Open your eyes to doing the best possible training for your people and integrate everything under one umbrella. Your troops will be safer and make better decisions, which is the reason for training to start with.
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