NCJ Number
177454
Journal
Law and Order Volume: 47 Issue: 3 Dated: March 1999 Pages: 65-71
Date Published
1999
Length
7 pages
Annotation
Based on analyses of incidents of peace officers being assaulted, killed, or involved in shootings, this article draws implications for police firearms training.
Abstract
The information for this analysis was obtained from several surveys conducted by the California Commission on Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST) and the FBI. The FBI has collected data on officers killed and assaulted since 1945, and POST started collecting such data in 1980. The surveys cited in this study encompass those conducted by the FBI or POST from 1974 through 1997. After summarizing these studies, lessons are drawn for police firearms training. First, prepare officers for spontaneous attacks. Second, develop training scenarios that incorporate assaults by uninvolved subjects. Third, develop tactics designed for an officer facing an immediate lethal threat. Fourth, emphasize skills training in arrest and control, searching and handcuffing. Fifth, performance objectives for firearms training must recognize that most officers are killed at short distances, and only gross motor skills will be available. Sixth, skills training should include two-person contact and cover teams involved in scenario testing. Seventh, emphasize the will to live in all skills training. Eighth, firearms training should emphasize dim or no light situations as much as daylight training. Ninth, dynamic training shots should be placed to the head and sides of the upper torso of the officer, since many criminals aim for body sites unprotected by body armor. This article also outlines some of the reasons why much of the skills training for officers does not prepare them to survive a lethal attack.