S.W.A.T. December 2007 - McKeesport Police Department

LE
Now what?
ample above, if the fi rst bad guy is three
feet away and pulls out a gun, there’s
one response that’s probably “best.” On
the other hand, if we were to tweak two
variables—let’s say you are alone, without
family, and the bad guy is menacing
but empty-handed—there’s another response
that’s probably “best.”
Who knows what will happen, should
these hypothetical scenarios ever become
reality for you? Louis Awerbuck
is fond of reminding students that the
outcome of a fi ght is 95% dependent
on things outside of your control, no
matter how cool your tools are and
no matter how honed your skills are.
This is not to say that it’s pointless to
prepare and train. It’s just a reminder
that you had better be right with God
if you get into a fi ght, even if you can
RESPONSE
THEORY
OPTIONS FOR
MEETING AN
ATTACK AT
VARIOUS RANGES
shoot and move with the best of them.
We’re going to limit ourselves to examining
the following variations of the
problem: Your mobility, your range to
the bad guy and the immediate nature
of the threat. Mobility refers to your
ability to put physical distance between
yourself and the confrontation. It may be
hindered by environmental factors: Are
you with children? Are you in a narrow
hallway, blocked in? Are the bad guys
aggressively charging? These and other
factors may prevent you from being mobile
and increasing the distance between
you and the confrontation. Range to the
bad guy refers to the distance between
you and the bad guy. It could be six
inches or it could be 26 yards, but it’s
not likely to remain static throughout
the confrontation! Finally, the immediate
nature of the threat refers to how the
bad guy is intending harm—is he empty-handed,
or is he wielding a knife or a
gun? Whatever you see or don’t see in
the bad guy’s hands, assume that he has
something.
Dividing the problem into distances is
the easiest way to get a handle on it. I
propose that the following three circles
or zones be used to defi ne the problem.
THE INNER CIRCLE:
GRAPPLING DISTANCE
Let’s start with the closest distance—
grappling distance. We’ll call this the
Inner Circle. At this range, the bad guy
has his hands on you or can take a step
and be on you. This is arm’s length plus
one step.
In some ways this is the worst case,
but it is also a simple case. Look at the
nine options listed above. At this range,
there are only two things that make
sense as default responses. Remembering
that you don’t know how the bad
guy is armed, stop reading for a minute
and decide what you would default to at
this range. Your gun? Your knife?
Here’s my answer: The default response
at this range should be to run—
get away! If the bad guy is attacking
with empty hands or a knife, this may be
the preferred response.
However, this may not be possible if
the mobility factor is limiting you (e.g.,
you’re with your two toddlers, or you’re
physically blocked in). Alternately, the
default response at this range should be
to close the distance and go to hand-tohand
combatives. By combatives, I’m
talking about fending off blows and
knives, disarming the bad guy, kicking,
striking, stomping, etc. If the bad guy
has a ranged weapon (i.e., a gun), this
response may be preferable to running.
Surprised? Let’s run through the problems
with the other options:
• Problem with employing your gun
at this range: you cannot get it out fast
enough. If you don’t believe me, get a
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