|
Phillips Close Quarter Combat Training News
The Power of Words
By Stanley
 Print  Email
Law enforcement officers and trainers understand the importance of good communication skills. Most training programs address the value of strong verbal and nonverbal communications skills when dealing with all types of subjects. Tactical communication courses have been integrated into many agency’s officer safety and defensive tactics programs. However, do trainers truly appreciate the power of the words they use every day? A power that can set officers up for success or failure. The purpose of this article is to encourage patrol officers and law enforcement trainers to take a close look at the words they use, and the subconscious messages they are implanting. The subconscious mind, not the rational, analytical conscious mind, is the focal point of this discussion. Research and experience have shown that in high stress events, such as deadly force encounters, the conscious mind is bypassed by the effects of survival stress leaving the subconscious mind to control an officer’s reactions. It is important for all officers to understand that the subconscious mind accepts all information it receives literally, affording tremendous power to the words used in training. The following are commonly used words during training and the implications it can have for law enforcement officers. Right and Wrong vs. The Scale of Desirability Most officers grew up in the educational systems where they were taught there is one right answer to every problem. When you got an answer wrong, you were punished in some way. This thinking has unfortunately found its way into officers’ safety and control tactics training. It their response is “wrong”, they are told to do it over, that they are dead, or would have been killed on the street, again punishes them. This often results in officers stopping during training when they think they made a mistake, and leaving the training session with the conscious and subconscious belief that if they ever find themselves in that scenario on the street, they are going to die. The scale of desirability on the other hand, simply teaches officers that all responses fall somewhere on this scale with some responses of actions being less desirable and others are more desirable. Regardless of where their initial response falls, all situations are fixable and winnable. If the initial response is less desirable, officers simply flow into a more desirable response. Once this mind-set is instilled in officers it is unlikely they will stop in training, or in real life. This also highlights the importance of training officer to understand the concepts and principles necessary to be goal oriented as opposed to training them to be technique oriented. Remember to “train the way you want to fight, because you are going to fight the way you train”. Students should always leave training with an enhanced level of confidence and competence. Routine This word should have been purged from the law enforcement vocabulary long ago. However, some trainers and patrol officers still refer to routine traffic stops, routine calls, and routine busts. The word routine endorses an attitude of complacency, and all law enforcement officers know that a complacent attitude is less desirable. Would it not be more desirable to talk about unknown risk traffic stops and active patrol to encourage officers to be vigilant while conducting continual assessments of these situations? Winning vs. Survival For many years law enforcement trainers have encouraged officers to develop the Survival Mind Set, and to believe they can survive any situation. Is it enough for officers to simply survive? Should the mind-set and the goal be to win every confrontation? Survival is defensive in nature. It is common for the officers to continually backup while the subject continues to attack, or curl up in a ball while being violently assaulted. In these cases the officers has adopted the role of the prey while the subject is the predator. If an officer survives but is permanently disabled is that the most desirable outcome? Officers need to be taught that when they find themselves in a confrontation, winning is the only option. They need to be the predator, not the prey. It is not acceptable to tie, or to lose; it may be in the sports arena, but not in law enforcement. Officers need to understand that it is ok to win every time. Officers need to think WINNING – Survival then becomes a by-product of winning. Defensive This is closely linked to the issue of survival vs. winning. The terms defensive tactics and self-defense imply that officers’ use of force is always defensive in nature. In many cases officers are reactive, but that doesn’t mean they have to go into defensive mode. One example of this defensive mind-set is an officer who was attacked by a prisoner in a holding cell area. For approximately eight minutes the prisoner unleashed a violent, unrelenting assault against the officer. The officer was punched, knocked to the ground, his head smashed against the concrete floor, attacked with his own handcuffs, OC spray, and baton. The prisoner also attempted to disarm the officer of his pistol. The officer, who was defensive during the entire attack, eventually drew his sidearm and shot the offender several times. Even while he was shooting, the officer was moving backwards in a defensive posture. I have the utmost respect for this officer for surviving this nightmare, but I also can’t help wonder how differently this would have turned out if the officer had been taught to win by taking the offensive action. Doe’s this mean it should be called offensive tactics? No, but Control Tactics, Subject Control Tactics or Combative Training may be a more desirable terminology. Fatal Funnel The fatal funnel is a term used in relation to building clearing operations. It refers to areas such as stairwells, hallways and doorways which are all generally narrow, confining areas which offer no cover or concealment and can limit the officer’s tactical options if they have to go to combat. The term ‘Fatal Funnel’ implies that officers will die if they are in these locations when the fight breaks out. Would it not be more desirable to call these areas what they are, which is thresholds and transitional areas. Officers must move thought these threshold and transitional areas during clearing operations so they need to be taught tactics to minimize their time in these areas without subconsciously telling them they will die if they are engaged in combat there. Kill Zone Kill zone is another term commonly used in relation to vehicle stops and building approaches. The kill Zone is used to describe open areas where an officer has little or no cover or concealment, and may be exposed to firearms attacks from the subject. In most cases officers must pass through these transitional areas on their approach to the building or vehicle. The term however, implies an officer cannot win a battle that takes place in these areas. While these are less desirable locations for officers, they can still defeat the attacker if they understand the necessary mind-set and tactics. Strong and Weak Hand Officers have a dominant and a non-dominant hand, a dominant hand and a reaction hand, but they do not have a weak hand. This terminology infers to officers that if their dominant hand is occupied or disabled that they are weak and ineffective with their other hand. With a little training, officers can learn to deliver powerful blows with both hands. They must also be able to perform all task with a firearm one handed, with either hand. This means shooting as well as performing all stoppage and reloading drills. With the proper mind set officers will soon learn they have two strong hands. Assertive vs. Aggressive In most police academy’s they stress being aggressive. Assertive means to have a positive influence upon. While Aggressive means to attack, to push ones personality upon another. Should an officer enter my home aggressively, he would meet righteous resistance. Don’t, for example, tell me rudely “Sit down!” I won’t do that for anyone in my own home, and I suspect most people feel the same way. By contrast, an “assertive” officer would have said, “Sir, for your safety and mine could I ask you to have a seat so we can talk about the issue here!” The “aggressive” officer RE-acts to events. The “assertive” officer RE-sponds to events. Sympathy vs. Empathy Sympathy means to share feeling with, to be in accord with. Empathy, (EM from the Latin “to see through,” and “pathy” from the Greek meaning “eye of other”), means to understand as if you stood in the others shoes only momentarily. In police work, we rarely sympathize with anyone, unless it is for a victim, but to maintain the tactical edge we always need to think like those we are dealing with if we are to anticipate their actions. Tactical Empathy is an officer’s greatest skill! Law enforcement training has made significant strides in the quality of training provided to officers over the past twenty years. The transition to terminology focusing on the positive attributes and providing the most desirable mind-set for officers is simply the next progression in that training. The words officers use are one of the most powerful tools they have to prepare to successfully manage conflict and develop the Winning Mind. A mouthful, I know, but words do make a difference, and I urge us all to use the same words the same way when we train officers. Such clarity cuts down on confusion and gives officers a clear idea of how they should perform in the field.
View Comments (0)
|
Sorry, your account does not have access to post comments.