Two quick thoughts on maintaining situational awareness in your squad — this stuff is not new, but two different conversations I’ve had in the past week have led me to ponder these reminders.
1.) Just because you’re not moving, doesn’t mean you’re not driving.
2.) A pursuit is actually a potentially deadly ‘game’ of follow the leader.
Heads Up!
Cops spend so much time in their squad that it has created — in some officers, at least — a false sense of security. In essence, the marked unit (and let’s face it, most unmarked units are about as obvious as your average black-and-white) is a mobile bulls-eye. It’s a moving target, unless of course, that car’s not moving, in which case the target becomes even easier to hit. Altogether too often I see a cop stopped at a traffic signal, focused so intently on that infernal MDT that they’d almost certainly never see someone approach them in an ambush attack.
Yes, you have to look at the MDT, and yes, that’s most safely done when you’re stopped, but don’t forget to regularly look up and scan your surroundings.
Scan from a stopped vehicle as vigilantly — if not more so! — as you would from a moving one.
Bait Chase!
You’ve had enough contacts with truly knuckleheaded offenders that you may get lulled into a belief that they’re all knuckleheads, and this simply is not the case. Some offenders are sneaky-smart, and may try tactics they’ve learned from events around the country and around the world. Here’s one I want you to be aware of, especially if you have in your jurisdiction anyone who might be associated with Sovereign Citizens, Mexican drug cartels, or nascent terrorist cells. Don’t let them lead you into an ambush.
In the small hours of October 20th in Monterrey, Mexico, a vehicle reportedly “filled with cartel gunmen” rapidly pulled in front of a military patrol vehicle, drawing the military patrol into a pursuit. The bad guy vehicle turned at an intersection, and as those pursuers began to negotiate the turn, “an improvised explosive device (IED) concealed in a parked car at the intersection detonated,” according to a report from my friends at STRATFOR. Clearly, these guys intended to draw those law enforcers into an ambush. Happily, no one was injured or killed in that attempt.
This tactical tip is “secure, LEO-only” on Police1, but don’t think for a minute that this tactic has not come to the attention of nefarious parties here in our country. In fact, I would not be at all surprised if this concept has already been widely discussed on various bad-guy message boards or in the pages of Inspire Magazine.
As always, stay safe my friends...
