NCJ Number
125125
Journal
State Peace Officers Journal Volume: 39 Issue: 1 Dated: (Spring 1990) Pages: 64-68,124
Date Published
1990
Length
6 pages
Annotation
A police agency's survival training for plainclothes officers must reflect the nature of their tasks and the danger potentially associated with those tasks.
Abstract
Since plainclothes officers are not involved in the numerous risky circumstances associated with uniformed patrol work, there is a tendency of plainclothes officers to become complacent regarding survival techniques. Training should counteract such complacency, perhaps by reviewing shooting incidents involving plainclothes officers. Plainclothes officers should qualify with the weapons they carry, using representations of actual situations, including bystander targets and indoor and night firing. Qualification should always include firing at multiple targets, but should not force officers to empty their weapons. Stress simulation provides realism to instruction in survival techniques. Tactical training, including blackboard sketches and re-enactments, is a vital part of the course. The re-enactment of actual incidents can furnish many scenarios and afford the opportunity to run through the problem repeatedly in search of the best tactics. Investigating teams should train together. Police administrators must recognize the need for survival training for plainclothes officers and arrange schedules, personnel, and facilities, to meet this need.