A training issue that has been with us since the beginning of police academies is choosing one tactic from the wide selection of tactics available. The unlimited selection of techniques, tactics and procedures leave many new recruits, as well as veteran officers, wondering which techniques are the best.
Academy taught techniques are quickly dismissed by FTO’s and new officers are left scratching their heads. We, as trainers, have tried to think of everything that could possibly happen during an encounter. We fine tune our techniques so well, that we have removed the common “reality” from our training programs.
Yes, some well trained, focused criminal may have developed or improvised a way to defeat your techniques, but that doesn’t mean that the we need to relearn and rethink everything we have learned as a police officer. We will always fine tune our training when appropriate, but we should be prudent when we “overthink” a previously learned technique.