NCJ Number
157557
Journal
Law Enforcement Technology Volume: 22 Issue: 1 Dated: (January 1995) Pages: 36-38,52-53
Date Published
1995
Length
5 pages
Annotation
Because Federal Bureau of Investigation statistics indicate that 15 percent of all police officers killed in 1990 and 1991 were killed by ambush, police officers need adequate training in surprise attack tactics.
Abstract
Many police officers and police trainers believe there is no way to prevent ambush killings, and this may be true to an extent. Police officers, however, can take certain steps to guard against ambushes. They should always assume every contact or call they respond to is potentially fatal. Police officers should work in pairs, recognize that the most vulnerable area of the police vehicle is the rear, and scan their surroundings every few seconds. Various other safety precautions to prevent police ambushes are described, including the evasive driving technique to deal with terrorist roadblocks, the use of ramming speed if an attacker blocks the police officer's path with a car, and the importance of making a quiet arrival to a reported crime scene. 1 photograph