There is an email note racing around in cyberspace about the alleged general availability of a new, high-velocity, armor-defeating type ammunition that is a potential / perceived threat to police officers.
You probably got it. In fact, if you’re like me, you got it more than once — it arrived to my inbox from no fewer than 15 of my Police1 pen pals.
The very first thing to cross my mind when I read this email was the importance of quickly identifying and using cover, regardless of the body armor you’re wearing (and you should always be wearing your armor!).
Before I get into that, here are a couple of quick “highlights” from that widely-circulating email.
The email making the rounds was originally sent by Thomas Sabo of Dana Safety Supply. The ammo getting all the attention from Liberty Ammunition is called “Ultra Defense USM4" and is apparently available in 9mm and .40 Cal.
I’ve personally communicated with both companies in the past 24 hours, and I’m quite confident in emphatically stating that each is tremendously supportive of our law enforcement brothers and sisters.
In his note, Sabo stated that an “unscientific test” was performed on “a non-expired, NIJ 0101.05 Interim Standard Level II vest” and of 12 total rounds fired into the vest panel, six allegedly penetrated. Sabo stated further that an armor manufacturer tested it (in laboratory conditions) against a NIJ 0101.06 Standard Level II vest. The email said that the .06 vest stopped all of the 9mm ammunition, but “four out of eight rounds of USM4 .40 Cal penetrated the armor.”
We’ll leave it to the good folks at ATF and/or NIJ to advise us officially on their own findings at some time down the road.
Now, today’s tip: No matter what rounds the bad guys are shooting in your direction, make tactical use of whatever cover is available.
Tactical Use of Cover
We all know that the people sleep safe in their beds because rough men and women “stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm.”
Those men and women (you!) need to be aware — from the very beginning of an encounter — what type of cover is available to you, and have a plan to get there in a hurry when the need arises.
I liken this mindset to flying an airplane — from the minute you take off, until the minute you land, you’re looking for and prioritizing the best places ditch (ask Captain Sullenberger about that one). Because your airplane is constantly moving, so too are those ditch spots.
Like “good” places to ditch your airplane (no such thing), cover comes in a spectrum — it’s not a dialectic, on/off, have/don’t have type of thing. Some cover is really, really good (like behind an M1A1 Abrams tank), but some “cover” is really just concealment (a car’s front door, a house’s front door).
Engine blocks are generally good for cover, but another part of the vehicle not frequently thought of is behind the wheels (and in line with the axle). The tires themselves are nothing more than concealment, but those wheels supporting them are big strong hunks of metal.
Another oft-forgotten but almost always available (on the street, anyway) is the curb/gutter. Sure, prone is not an ideal place to be in some cases, but if you’re pinned down, that curb is a lot better than no cover at all.
Other items that make for pretty good cover are trees, phone poles, and fire hydrants.
Someone in the lane next to me at a range a while back told me that the metal walls of a US Postal Service mailbox are surprisingly thick, but this is not the case. According to a Police1 Member who sent me an email this weekend, tests done by LAPD showed mailboxes are sketchy for stopping handgun rounds, totally non-effective for stopping rifle rounds. The same applied to large, metal rolling dumpsters. According to my newfound Police1 pen pal, LAPD tested various handgun calibers, as well as .223, 7.62x39 and .308 rounds.
All of this being said, I’d be remiss if I failed to mention that you don’t necessarily want hug your cover.
Consider the fact that bullets glancing off the hood of a vehicle are far more likely to strike you if you’re close to the car (as opposed to several feet away from it). I once tested this with my friend and Police1 colleague Ken Hardesty, in one of the pistol trainings he presented via his company, Spartan Concepts and Consulting.
This brings me to my final — and most important — point.
Train, train, train! The more dialed in you are — physically, tactically, mentally, emotionally, and ethically — the more likely you are to prevail in a deadly force encounter.
Stay safe my friends.
