Issue link: http://lawandordermag.epubxp.com/i/144260
SPECIAL REPORT Command and Tactical Awareness hand that in urban areas that's not always practical and sometimes you will get approached before you have enough time to exit the vehicle. Furthermore, when a middle-aged non-threatening person comes alongside your cruiser asking for directions, you may be in a certain phase, level or code as taught in the past that may require you to move to the next phase. Once you realize you're in an ambush, whatever time it takes for you to transition to different phases, codes or levels dictates the outcome of the ambush. Don't make that mistake—learn to maintain a tactical state of situational awareness in all you do after you leave roll call and enter the battlefeld of law enforcement. Tactical Situational Awareness Train as you will fight. Tactical situational awareness as it applies to law enforcement is defned as the "knowledge and understanding of the current situation which promotes timely, relevant and accurate assessment of surroundings, threats and the tactical environment in which the offcer is working that facilitates quick, decisive decision-making and provides an informational perspective and skill that fosters an ability to determine quickly the context and relevance of events that are unfolding." Understanding the various philosophies of different systems that condition offcers to maintain certain levels of awareness may help to improve the offcer's threat recognition in tactical environments and active threat situations. However, I am a frm believer that we need to anticipate and recognize our adversary's next move, quickly, so we are not slowed to respond to a deadly threat. Train As You Will Fight and Master Your Response Train fundamentals first. part of police work. All of a sudden, my situational awareness was at the highest state no matter what I did when I had that uniform on. Seeing Red, Always Ready for the Fight The smallest of actions from an offcer can possibly change the outcome of an ambush. I have never allowed any person to approach my squad car without my handgun getting drawn out of my holster and positioned at the ready without the person ever detecting that my gun was drawn and available to battle. I have had many encounters with ordinary people asking the simplest questions on the street and my professional demeanor responded as I sat in the car speaking with them through the window, with my gun out of sight and ready in anticipation of a threat. Usually, I will get a polite "thank you offcer" as they walk away, but what they didn't observe was my tactical situational awareness provided me the ability to anticipate an ambush. I understand that many of you are thinking "I will never allow people to approach my patrol car" but I can say frst 40 LAW and ORDER I July 2013 Training provides opportunities to develop profciency by simulating conditions that refect a full spectrum of threat environments. Training supervisors should develop creative training plans that train offcers in situational awareness in various tactical threat environments. "Train" means training for the fght under conditions of expected and anticipated threat environments where combat is likely. It also means changing the threats and environments during training to better prepare the offcers for adaptability on the streets when faced with varying tactical challenges. This will prepare the offcer for the unexpected and unanticipated threat environments, which offcers work in every day. Mastering the "Fight" requires the offcer to train in lethal and non-lethal skills, through various stressful conditions, until failure is achieved. Then analyzing the failures through critiques and suggesting favorable changes to the failures to the point of mastering the training objective. Once the proper response is achieved through repetitive attempts, focus on the response time. Tactical situational awareness training will challenge offcers with various uncertain conditions, requiring them to adapt to evolving tactical challenges. Command staff and trainers should create training conditions that force offcers to assess situations quickly and use critical and creative thinking to develop innovative and creative solutions to these tactical challenges. Offcers should learn to anticipate various levels of threats.