Recently Lexipol sent out a video on the topic of an ambush. Gordon Graham dramatic spoke to the fact that statistically the number of ambushes on Law Enforcement is up 150 percent. The current political climate has some individuals even more upset, angry, or frustrated at law enforcement. An example of this was Dec 21, 2014 when Officer Rafael Ramos and Officer Wenjian Liu of the New York Police Department were ambushed and killed. The current belief is that more of these type events are going to occur.
There are really three common factors to almost every type of ambush. They are:
1) Officers being caught unaware
2) Attacker’s situational advantage
3) Attacker’s fire/weapon superiority
The surprise factor is a huge advantage that is part of an ambush. Without it the success of an ambush attempt is all but nothing. If you knew that walking into the wash or around a corner there was an ambush waiting for you, you would not go there.
A ploy (read it as a tactic to catch you unaware) to get you into a specific area, so that the ambush can occur, fails if your intuition kicks in — your ‘spidey sense’ goes off or the hair on your neck stands up — and you listen to it. If you see or are aware of the guy walking up to your patrol/squad car and do something before you are in his kill range, his ability to carry out his plan is compromised.
To defeat the element of surprise, be aware! I know that sound so simple, but it is the easiest tactic you can employ. One of the tenants of Below 100 is that “Complacency Kills” and it does. The importance of what Lt. Col. Jeff Cooper stated when he talked about condition “yellow” is still valid today. Officers do not have the luxury of being in condition “white”, they must be vigilant at all times.
Another component of an ambush is situation advantage. This situational advantage is what creates the “kill box” or “kill area.” Situational advantage occurs based on terrain factors such as valleys, walls, narrow roads, vehicles, alleys, etc. The environment you are in is what creates the situational advantage.
The way to defeat it is to get out of that environment or get into a position of strength/advantage. When you move into a location, you should be constantly looking for your escape route. Looking for cover when there are rounds being fired at you is much harder to do effectively. Walking to the door of a residence you must establish where your escape route is or where you can go to create a position of strength/advantage.
When you step into an alley you must be aware that the only escape route you have is forward through the threat or to retreat back the way you came, and decide if it is worth it or not. Where are your escape routes and where are your positions of cover. We understand that cover established between us and the threat works for us and cover that is behind us becomes an obstacle to overcome or fight to get behind.
The one thing that law enforcement must re-solidify in our heads, unless our vehicle is in motion or can be made immediately in motion it is an obstacle we must get out of it to establish mobility. The vehicle is the “kill box” if it is not in motion or immediately in motion and able to get out of the area.
Our history is riddled with officers being shot in vehicles. But we don’t train enough to fight from the vehicles. If you have never shot from inside of a vehicle with the windows up, there is a steep learning curve. The over-pressure and noise is one obstacle to overcome and how glass alters the impact point of a bullet is another. If you have had the fortune of shooting from in a vehicle with the windows up you know how that first round feels.
It is important to address one point. Many officers use the need to get out of a vehicle quickly as the reason they do not wear a seatbelt. I tested this theory with a fellow firearms instructor using the Simunitions products.
I repeatedly tested how long it took to stop the car and fire a round. With a converted pistol and blank rounds, while in uniform with seatbelt on and seatbelt off and at various speeds we found the rate limiting factor. To stop the vehicle, un-seatbelt, draw weapon, exit vehicle and fire one round the rate limiting factor was not the seatbelt for speeds greater than five miles per hour. It was the vehicle slowing to a stop. In our multi-trial (15 trials at each condition) we found that the time to undo the seatbelt was less that the time it took for the vehicle motion to stop. We also found that I got faster at each condition the more I did it for speeds less than 25 mph. Training effects were significant and very apparent.
The final point to consider is firearm/weapon superiority. I mention weapon and not just firearm because an ambush could come from an explosive device, vehicle, or an edged weapon. It is usually that of a firearm but not always. If you cannot get out of the kill box immediately, your only other choice is that of overwhelming fire through the threat. This is not the perfect solution but it is the only other option you have left. You have to bring deadly force to the assailant to stop their behavior. The unfortunate reality is that the only way to immediately stop this violence is with overwhelming violence. It isn’t pretty or politically correct but it is true.
There is an old gunfighter joke that the number one skill for winning a gunfight is to not get shot. There is truth to that statement. We use cover to do this. Cover being that “what stops bullets.” We do this by using the environment (hard cover), wearing our ballistic apparel (soft cover), and we use accurate return fire.