Editor’s note: PoliceOne has partnered with the New York Tactical Officers Association (NYTOA) to bring you feature articles from their outstanding publication, NY Tactical magazine. The following article first appeared in NY Tactical and is reprinted by permission of the publisher. Check back on Tuesdays toward the middle of every month for features from NYTOA.
By Larry L. Beresnoy
When we start out as new tactical officers and begin our training we can all agree the learning curve is very high. There is so much to take in; movement, weapons handling, flash bang deployment, chemical munitions, less lethal munitions, warrant service, handling a barricade, hostage rescue, linear assaults, rural operations and much, much more. The list seems almost endless and we often wonder how we can stay proficient in all of these areas, especially for part time teams that train one or two days a month.
As a beginner many of us take what we learn at face value. With limited experience we rarely question what we are being taught. We figure, hey, if this instructor is teaching it, it must be the way things are done. As we attend additional schools, network with other tactical officers and gain more operational experience, we grow as operators and look at what is being taught from a difference perspective. We no longer take what is taught at face value. We look objectively at the tactic, compare it to what we already know, discuss it with our peers, test it with reality based training and then form our own conclusions. If it passes our test (also known as the BS meter) we change our tactic for the better or place the new tactic in our SWAT toolbox for just the right occasion, and if it doesn’t pass, we forget it ever existed.
One of the areas that our team has changed completely from what we were initially taught is how to approach a breach point on a warrant service. Here are some of the places in which our team has made modifications to the lessons we were taught:
THE LINE OF DUCKS
Everyone knows it and most are still doing it on operations. It’s the hallmark of SWAT. The high speed low drag conga line of operators all in one line ready for anything that comes there way. But are they really ready? As a tactic, what are the benefits of being in a straight line with limited space between each operator? The longer on SWAT the more I felt that this was not the best approach to a breach point. If compromised upon our approach, a suspect would only have one area to direct his fire, and with our luck, shoot about half of us before we started spreading out, directing fire on the suspect and moving towards cover. Also, when in a line, I see many operators looking down or at the back of the person in front of them and not keeping their head up where it belongs.
THE THUMBS UP, TAP UP, WE ARE ALL READY, MOVE
Another common practice that really makes little practical sense is what I call the thumbs up, tap up, we are all ready, move syndrome. Some of you may know this painful procedure; this is where you approach the target location by vehicle, stop a few houses short of the target location, get out, stack in a line, then the point guy gives a thumbs up, then the guy behind him gives the thumbs up, and so on all the way to the last guy. If this wasn’t painful enough, before you move to the breach point the last operator then taps or squeezes up the operator in front of him, and so on until the point man gets a tap or squeeze. Once this occurs the team moves. We actually used to do this and many teams I know still follow this ritual. The upside to this approach is that we all feel warm and fuzzy that everyone is here and everyone is ready. My thought is that everyone should already be ready. The team just exited the raid van, why wouldn’t everyone be ready? The reality is that you could loose any of your operators while moving towards the breach from a myriad of ways, such as tripping and hurting an ankle. Your, “we are all ready” thumbs up, tap up will not prevent this. In addition, we are always concerned with being compromised. The longer on the ground, the higher the probability we will be compromised, which in turn increases our risk.
Based on these evaluations our team has decided to change the way we approach a breach point on a warrant service. We now deploy our team off the skids of our raid vehicle and no longer stack or do the thumbs up, tap up ritual. The skids allow for rapid offloading of the team and limit our time exiting the vehicle, which in turn limits the time we could be compromised. If you don’t have the luxury of skids on your raid vehicle, you can tap into a local welder or in our case we had a welder that works for the City’s Department of Public Works build them for us. The steel will run you about $450.00 in materials and is well worth the investment.
Upon approach the team immediately spreads out and each member has a specific area they are responsible for covering (See diagram).
 |
PRIMARY COVER OFFICER: The primary cover officer stages on an angle off the hinge side of the door (inward opening) so that as the door opens after breach he immediately gets a view into the structure.
BREACHER SECURITY: The number two man is the breacher security position. He approaches the breach point and stages on the opposite side of the entry point from the primary cover officer (knob side on an inward opening) off on an angle and allows enough space for the breacher to work. His job, upon approach, is to provide cover for the breacher who does not have a weapon out. In addition, having officers on each side of the breach point allows for greater visual clearance and threshold assessment after the breach.
BREACHER: The number three man is the breacher. The breacher works on the door without standing in front of the door (whenever possible). This will increase his safety if rounds start flying through the door if the first hit isn’t successful. As always, look to breach multiple doors when possible in case your primary breach point fails.
RIGHT SIDE SECURITY (LEVEL 1): The number four man is our right side security for level l (lower level). He will position himself with his back to the primary cover officer facing the right side of the structure and covering anything on the right side (window, door, etc.). His job is protecting the primary cover officer. Make sure that you are on the same angle as the primary cover officer.
LEFT SIDE SECURITY (LEVEL 1): The number 5 man has the same job as the right side security. He protects the breacher security on the left side of the structure.
TEAM LEADER: Positions himself where he can view the operation, make an alternate breach point call or get the team into a surround and call out positions should the breaches fail, or officers take fire. He also makes sure he is not in direct fire of the front door or windows.
RIGHT SIDE SECURITY (LEVEL 2): Covers the right side of the structure, level 2, upon approach.
LEFT SIDE SECURITY (LEVEL 2): Covers the left side of the structure, level 2, upon approach.
Once the door is breached, the team folds into the structure in the following order; primary cover officer, breacher security, right side cover (level 1), left side cover (level 1), team leader, right side cover (level 2), right side cover (level 2), the breacher takes a rear security position.
There are obviously numerous ways to approach a breach point, this is only one way. This technique works well for our team and the benefits of spreading out, everyone keeping their heads up and covering each other during the breach works well or us. I only suggest trying this approach or something similar to it and see how it works for your team.
Larry L. Beresnoy has been a police officer for the City of Middletown Police Department (NY) since 1993 and is currently assigned as the Assistant Commander for the department’s Tactical Response Team. Larry is the Executive Director of the New York Tactical Officers Association. He welcomes your comments and can be reached via e-mail at larry@nytoa.org.
