Issue link: http://lawandordermag.epubxp.com/i/144260
SPECIAL REPORT Command and Tactical Awareness SUMMARY Recent stats indicate that officer ambush could be a long-term problem. The ambush is tough to counter since the element of surprise is with your adversary. A semi-relaxed state of awareness can have a deadly consequence in your recognition and reaction time to the ambush. MORE INFORMATION www.tacticallifesaver.org Seeing red— always ready for the fight. COMMAND & TACTICAL SITUATIONALAWARENESS SYSTEM AWARENESS HAVE WE TAUGHT AN THAT SLOWS OUR RESPONSE? By Glenn French W hen I started my career, I was broken in by veteran cops of the Vietnam era. Their advice was, "always be ready, no matter what you are doing." They taught me that sometimes any situation we are dealing with could go south faster than we can react to it, and that puts us behind in the response curve. They taught me that to be a safe cop, you had to anticipate your adversary's actions before he/she acted upon them. They called it "instincts" and "gut feeling." Today, offcers with 20 or more years on 38 LAW and ORDER I July 2013 the job refer to these cops as "old school." Twenty years later, I ask myself why did we leave this style of tactical awareness? Recognition of a threat and the resulting course of action are the keys to survival in law enforcement. The course of action will come from the offcer's knowledge, training and experience. Time and time again, offcers involved in lethal-force encounters frequently say, "All I remember is that my training kicked in and then it was over." The tactical response we choose and the time it takes to "recognize" the threat may make the difference in surviving an en-