One of the basics which merits a visit every so often is the role of the cover officer — something that very likely had an influence over the “go/no-go decision” for violators in some of the videos we see all too often of officers being assaulted by violent subjects.
Every so often, a team’s discipline on their division of labor in the contact/cover tactics will erode, with the cover officer collapsing in and engaging the subject (or subjects). This does a variety of things, from creating the potential for conflicting commands and questions to be thrown at the individual to opening up possible routes of escape from and/or assault on the contact officer.
The terrain will, to a certain extent, determine your tactics — your exact positioning relative to he subjects, will be affected for example by the need to have visibility around the corner of a building against which the subjects are sitting, for example — but some general rules of thumb always apply.
• First and foremost, the cover officer is there to ensure no attack is made on the contact officer during the encounter.
• The cover officer monitors the subject’s movement, positioning, target glances, and other potential pre-attack indicators.
• The cover officer monitors radio traffic, but it is the contact officer who should be passing along to dispatch whatever information needs to be passed along about the contact. This allows the cover officer to remain focused completely on the subject.
• The cover officer’s positioning should cut off possible escape routes as well as provide a good look at other persons approaching the scene.
You’ll never know how many assaults and problems you may prevent by using sound contact/cover tactics. Check out the image below, and stay safe out there my friends.
