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Get out of the “square range mentality”
This medieval mindset over the course of a generation has left deep psychological and physiological training scars, that which we in the Special Operations and the Law Enforcement community are only now beginning to understand.
Like a bad parent, we dogmatically indoctrinate faulty methodology, reducing our students’ ability to think freely, turning officers into mindless robots with feet made of clay. Ultimately, we cannibalize our young officers and tactical operators, decrying their lack of weapons craft and situational awareness during deadly force encounters, disposing them into the ash bin of public and legal scrutiny.
Perhaps our imperfect solution may be to think out of the square range box. One unique way to accomplish this is to build into firearms training a fluid and flexible, ever-changing firing line. For the earth is not flat…, and on the street… down range does not exist.
For the express purpose of this article, we will use the right side approach tactic during traffic stops to illustrate our non-standard shooting range.
Research
Do the research. Before getting started, we contacted some very experienced firearms professionals who make it their business to provide realistic firearms training each and every day. We had many questions about shooting into a vehicle with live ammunition. Do not rush this process.
Safety briefing
Pay attention to detail, for at the end of the day, the lives of officers and the civilians they serve all hang in the balance. Remember, we do not rise to the occasion, but rather, we will sink to the level of our training. Safety briefs should be the logical beginning to any training operation, for in a moment we will be firing live ammunition into an automobile. We have noticed the thought of firing into a real vehicle rekindled a focus on safety for many, especially those who, sadly, find this part of training to be beneath their level of experience.
Structure of the vehicle
Shooting into an occupied vehicle during a deadly force encounter poses significant challenges to the officer(s). Obstacles like “steel, plastic, rubber, glass (laminated and tempered), leather, upholster, degrees of strength and a wide range of angles, may cause bullet unpredictability. Officers must recognize and work around the construction of any vehicle to deliver justified effective deadly force,” according to Raymond Johansen, Training Director of Progressive F.O.R.C.E Concepts, LLC, www.pfctraining.com
Johansen maintains that the vehicle industry safety standard builds, “the upright portions of the unibody that form the outer shell to be very strong in case of roll-over accidents. Looking front to rear, the vehicle’s A pillar is typically the strongest structure which holds up the roof and triangulates around the windshield protecting the occupants inside.”
As we fix our tactical gaze backward, identifying the other support structures of the roof, the relative strength of the pillars decreases. Essentially, strongest to weakest travels alphabetically from A to B pillar, which we can find behind the front door, followed by the weaker C pillar just behind the rear door or rear side window. In some cases, particularly with station wagons and SUVs, one may find another pillar called the D pillar.
The good, the bad, and the ugly
Knowing a vehicle’s structure and what to expect when shots are fired is an important consideration before one approaches an occupied vehicle.
The good news is that the same structural strength that protects occupants of the vehicle from a rollover collapse also provides varying degrees of cover for officers as they approach and set up during a traffic stop. If we stay home behind pillars A,B,C, and possibly D and do not penetrate too deep into the unprotected panels of the vehicle, these pillars can make it difficult for would-be assailants to fire a handgun and still deliver accurate sustainable fire. Add a right side approach to the mix and we have a tactical position of advantage. Even if he has rehearsed for the event, the shooter / driver would have to turn to his 4 o’clock position while sitting, overcoming seatbelts, headrests, plastic, foam, steel, and glass. Conclusively, from the right side approach, we give ourselves a reactionary gap and a fighting chance to take back the fight and break into the adversary’s decision making cycle.
Here is the bad news: if for any reason the officer’s muzzle does not have pillars framing around the sides (right and left) of the bullet’s path, then we have the increased chance of positive contact to a very strong structure causing unpredictable projectile flight.
So what about the ugly? Well, bullets that ricochet may…
• Hit and/or seriously wound the shooting officer and/or the cover officer.
• Hit and/or seriously wound an innocent person within the general area.
• Hit and/or seriously wound an innocent person within the occupied vehicle.
This degree of ugliness we must never accept.
Build the dance steps backwards from contact to cover.
Now it is time to start the practical dance steps of our course of fire lecturing as questions arise from either a concern of a student, or a teaching point observed through student behavior during this phase of the training. One will need one patrol unit and one donated abandoned vehicle. Demand that all of your students wear threat level III (a) ballistic protection during all phase of the course. Next, think about using frangible rounds to help reduce the risk of ricochet, but a word of caution: clearly frangible ammunition is every bit as dangerous to human flesh as any other bullet.
Repeat the safety briefing and make it the law. Visually and physically clear all weapons and store ammunition in a safe area. Check weapons once and check them twice. Systematically dry fire weapons together on the firing line and repeat the process. Holster the weapon systems. Demonstrate and discuss each evolution and skill (see one - do one method). Leave nothing to chance!
1. Place patrol unit and abandoned vehicle in a traffic stop configuration.
2. Place student 1, the initial contact officer, on the right side of the stopped vehicle (abandoned car) behind the C pillar (if vehicle is a 4 door) performing a right side approach. Explain position of advantage, stance, and the best way to use the ballistic vest as protection against projectiles (weaver verses isosceles).
3. Discuss multiple occupants in the vehicle and the benefits of not pressing too deep into the rear door panels, exposing the student’s back to threats from the backseat.
4. Discuss ways to interview the driver from the position of advantage from the C pillar.
5. Discuss area of responsibility for a one officer right side approach when a deadly force encounter arises.
6. Discuss where the second officer, or cover officer, can best be positioned during the interview phase of the traffic stop.
7. Discuss the strong possibility of a cross fire if the cover officer splits to the suspect’s driver’s side.
8. Position the cover officer on the same side as the contact officer.
9. The contact officer stays behind C pillar while the cover officer splits past the contact officer to the B pillar using that pillar for cover.
• Option : cover officer replaces contact officer at C pillar while contact officer bumps up to B pillar
10. Discuss areas of responsibility and fields of fire.
• Officer at the C pillar maintains back seat security and the fields of fire is back seat area only.
• Officer at the B pillar maintains front seat security and the fields of fire are front seat area only.
11. Discuss threat discrimination, identification of deadly threats, and the importance of scanning entire body first then hands before making positive deadly force decisions.
12. Have officer at the B pillar yell, “Gun!” or “Threat!”
• Pay attention to the smooth presentation of the handgun and where the muzzle is in relation to the vehicle’s pillars.
• Pay attention to finger and muzzle discipline for each officer.
• Is the spatial distance between the contact and cover officer clean? For example, there are no issues with masking of fire and officers have made an imaginary fluid flexible firing line, giving them the tactical advantage.
13. Dry fire into the automobile.
14. Discuss Ken Murray’s, “4 C’s: Cover, Condition of Weapon, Combat Breathe and Communicate.”
15. Discuss the after action drill: Is he down, is he alone, should I be moving, what is the condition of my weapon, and am I hit?
16. Who gives voice commands to move to cover? Is it the officer who made deadly force contact or the initial contact officer?
17. Move back to the best defensible position behind patrol unit and discuss why.
• Patrol unit is police marked
• Patrol unit has working radio
• Patrol unit has greater weapon systems
• Patrol unit has all of the strength and protection that suspect vehicle has such as: pillars, steel, plastic, glass, etc.
18. How close to cover should we be positioned?
• Too close and we lose our 210 degree visual field exposing our flanks
• Too close and bullets ricochet into the officer(s)
• 3 feet back off of cover or more and we increase our vision and reduce ricochets
19. Discuss communication between officers and headquarters.
• With weapons still covering contaminated threat area, make one officer communicate to headquarters using the hand held radio.
• What should be communicated to headquarters?
• Shots fired!
• Whether suspect(s) is down
• Whether officers, civilians, and/or suspects need medical care
• Suspect’s type of vehicle
• Request additional units
• Whether there is a best direction for units to approach the scene
Repeat dance steps as necessary and prepare for live fire!
Live fire forward in real time
Place two full-bodied targets (paper and/or mannequin) on the passenger side front and rear seats of abandoned vehicle. Prepare the threat stimulus (e.g. gun) and attach stimulus to the target in the front passenger side compartment. This ensures the stimulus will not be identified from the C pillar, so that ONLY the student at the B pillar is the shooter. Repeat the safety briefing and answer any questions. Next, the safety officer loads 3 pistol magazines, each with 3 rounds of frangible ammunition for each student. Make weapons ready for combat and holster. Finally, students should perform freely as in any regular traffic stop, using the right side approach.
Socratic debrief and lessons learned
Debrief thoroughly using Ken Murray’s Training at the Speed of Life Socratic Method. Ask open-ended questions, for example: What went well? What were your challenges? What were your thoughts when…? This encourages in-depth, honest discussions.
Observations included:
• Non- shooter students flinching
• Students stepping deep into door panel, leaving pillar cover
• Students failing to perform a comprehensive after action drill (i.e. checking the condition of the weapon, going for long periods of time before reloading, and visually checking in a 360 sphere.)
• Students not communicating with each other
Students Reported:
• Increased heart rate and respiration
• Narrowing of vision and scoping on threat
• Surprise of deadly threat stimulus even though students knew stimulus was systematically put in place
• Out of 80 students approximately 71% reported a strong urge to fire when they heard the shooter yell “Gun!”, although, they received no deadly threat stimulus.
Physical Observations of Vehicle:
• Safety glass shattering and reducing vision of shooter
• Frangible rounds exited through the front passenger seat tearing through foam, plastic, and metal like ballistic tin snips, causing a grave threat to any officer performing the traditional driver’s side approach when cover officer is on the passenger side.
In analysis, the fluid flexible firing line enables students to think freely; successfully, accomplishing the following under stress:
1. Independent action
2. Independent thought
3. Communication skills
4. Spatial awareness
5. Weapons safety
6. Teamwork
7. Freedom of movement
8. Threat discrimination
9. Responsibility
10. Greater understanding of the right side approach
Robert Loughman is a 21 year veteran of the City of Middletown PD and a SWAT Team Leader. Robert has served in the USAF military police and is currently on the Executive Board of Directors for the NYTOA and has written numerous published articles for the New York Tactical Magazine. He is the Defensive Tactics Director of the Orange County Law Enforcement Institute and a certified FBI firearms instructor and trains multiple state agencies in combative firearms. He holds certifications in FBI SWAT, FBI Tactical Shotgun and Carbine Instructor, NTOA advanced SWAT, LAPD advanced SWAT, DEA Tactical Instructor and Active Shooter Response Instructor. Robert holds black belts in Japanese and Okinawan Goju Ryu Karate and has spent 2 tours with the city’s narcotics unit. Robert can be reached at: rloughman@nytoa.org.
