By Ron Martinelli, Ph.D.

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Editor’s note: In an article shared with Street Survival Seminar attendees, longtime trainer and use-of-force expert Dr. Ron Martinelli explains what he calls his 10 Laws of Defensive Tactics.

After reading Ron’s sage advice, feel free to e-mail your own advice for fellow officers to: editor@calibrepress.com. We may share them in an upcoming newsletter.

Here’s Ron:

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In researching incidents of officer-directed violence during the last 15 years and studying legal cases I have consulted on, I found officers who get in trouble and sustain injury or litigation generally fall into two categories: (A) They are confused about their department’s use-of-force policy and are injured when they use too little force against greater force during arrests, or (B) They are confused about their department’s use-of-force policy and when met with unexpected resistance, they use excessive force and find themselves on the losing end of a costly civil suit.

Interestingly, while the majority of officers who use excessive force have been profiled as “aggressive” by their departments, a growing number of officers receive sustained “excessive force” complaints were profiled by their agencies and colleagues as being “very passive” in character.

How can this be? Simple. I have found that many “passive” officers have historically entered law enforcement with unreasonable expectations as to whether they will ever have to use force to effect an arrest or defend themselves. These officers believe their “verbal judo” and personality skills will get them through any potential threat. Additionally, overly passive officers place little value in becoming proficient with various defense force options because they do not believe they will ever have to use them.

A review of FBI officer-directed violence shows that 62% of all officers injured or killed during critical incidents knew three things BEFORE they were victimized: (1) that they were responding to a potentially violent event where the risk of injury or death was significant; (2) the subject(s) they were contacting were possibly armed with some type of weapon; and (3) the subject(s) they were contacting had already demonstrated overt acts of violence against others, including officers.

From this group, it was determined that 19% of the involved officers may have misjudged the dangers associated with their contact and 22% may have been too impatient and took inappropriate risks when making contact with their assailants. It is evident that a lack of performing a pre-contact assessment has accounted for a considerable number of officer casualties.

Basic Laws of Defensive Tactics

I would like to share a few simple “Laws of Defensive Tactics” I have learned over the years. While several are just common sense, all can save your life.

Law #2: Your mouth and your mind are your two greatest weapons.

The best fight is the one you don’t get into. Good verbal skills and sound tactics will keep you out of more critical incidents than any other defensive weapons or tactics you have.

Tactical negotiation is an important component of the Continuum of Control. Tactical negotiation is best employed to buy additional time needed for pre-contact assessment. Whenever possible, use your verbal skills to resolve conflict and generate voluntary compliance. Remember to always negotiate from a position of distance, advantage and cover.

Law #3: What you don’t know about people can injure or kill you.

Pre-contact assessment allows you time to determine additional officer safety information about the subject you are contacting. Important safety concerns would be: What is the subject’s state of mind (angry, enraged, depressed, suicidal, psychotic)? Is the subject under the influence of drugs or alcohol? Is the subject armed? What is the subject’s criminal background (gang member, prior assaults on officers)? What is the subject’s martial arts background (boxer, wrestler, street fighter, karate, judo, weapon arts)?

The last thing you want to discover when you physically take hold of someone is that the subject is a violent, paranoid “crankster” armed with an edged weapon. All too often, officers rush in without performing a pre-contact assessment of their subjects. They then find themselves on the receiving end of an unprepared-for strike, kick, or weapon.

Law #4: Remember the five components of any arrest.

Any successful arrest is actually made up of five separate components: (1) the approach, (2) laying hands on the subject, (3) a control-and-arrest technique, (4) a handcuffing-and-search technique, and (5) transportation of the subject.

PRIOR to physically contacting a subject, take time to consider whether circumstances will allow you to complete ALL FIVE components. If not, DON’T make contact. Does this mean you never make contact? Certainly not! Simply back off until you can safely contact and arrest the subject. This is best accomplished by keeping the subject under surveillance, using available cover, calling for back-up, and developing a tactical plan that will allow for a safer contact and arrest.

Law #5: Remember the “reactionary gap.”

The reactionary gap is a formula that compares the distance between you and a subject with your ability to react to the assailant’s threat.

In other words, the closer you are to your subject, the less time you have to react to the dynamics of his movement, threatening gesture, or weapon. Officers commonly stand far too close to subjects they are contacting before moving in for an arrest. It takes even a well-trained officer approximately one-half second to react to movement and a lot can happen during this “lag time.”

Also, the closer you are to your subject, the less of them and your surroundings you can see. Remember, you have to be able to see movement or weapons to react to them!

Law #6: Control your environment and subjects. Don’t be controlled by them.

Simply put, always try to seek the best possible positioning for your high-risk contact. Try to make the maximum use of lighting, cover, and footing during person and vehicle stops. If you find yourself in a poor position due to circumstances, pull back or back off. Then wait for back-up and re-engage the subject when the odds are in your favor.

Law #7: Remember the six hazards of contact. 

There are generally six recognized hazards of any high-risk contact. These are: (1) the subject’s hands, (2) weapons, (3) the subject’s friends and associates, (4) escape routes (including yours), (5) your environment and footing, and (6) available cover. Your pre-contact assessment should consider all of these hazards. Will they obstruct your ability to perform all five arrest components? Will they obstruct your ability to employee certain defensive tactics, or to deploy various force options?

For example, will wind, rain, bystanders, or an enclosed space obstruct your ability to us OC spray? Will a crowd or a constricted space preclude you from using your impact weapon? These frequent problems bring to mind 2 additional “laws.”

Law #8: Fully understand the use, control and limitations of your weapons.

If you are using a handheld aerosol weapon like OC, make sure you understand its dynamics. OC is an outstanding defensive weapon, but it has several limitations. Officers with limited training on aerosol weapons frequently find themselves the “victims” of direct, cross and residual contamination. Many other officers lacking in unarmed defensive tactics skills have found themselves disarmed and seriously injured by assailants using their batons and sidearms.

Law #9: Be flexible and keep your defensive force options open.

The Continuum of Control is exactly that. It is a flexible, flowing tactical plan involving the management of a variety of control options. The options deployed are dependent upon what is available and appropriate in certain circumstances, as opposed to what is unavailable or inappropriate.

You should never be totally dependent upon only one or two control options (such as only using verbal negotiation or OC), because circumstances may dictate that several options be deployed. The lack of using reasonable, alternative options may cause you to be injured, killed, or successfully litigated on civil court (there are plenty of examples of this).

Law #10: Remember the two limitations to defensive force options.

No matter what defensive force technique, tactics or weapon you use, there are always two limitations: (1) your PROFICIENCY in using that technique, tactics or weapon, and (2) the level of RESISTANCE placed against that technique, tactics or weapon.

And what is LAW #1?

Law #1: Every day you get home safe at the end of watch.

Have additional tips to add to the list of Laws of Defensive Tactics?

SEND THEM IN!

E-mail us at: editor@calibrepress.com and we may share them with officers around the nation in an upcoming newsletter.

About the author

Dr. Ron Martinelli is a retired San Jose (CA) police officer, investigator and Criminal Justice Training Center director who founded Martinelli & Associates, LLC. in 1980 after recognizing the need for more “reality-based” training in law enforcement. Dr. Martinelli, spent over twenty years in active law enforcement and continues to devote his time to advanced education, forensics, police/corrections practices and the training of law enforcement officers in and outside of the United States.