offi cer down: Overwhelming Physical Force: The Carl Everett/Linda Mason Incident
Body Armor T is incident illustrates the eff ectiveness of body armor against threats other than bullets and edged weapons. Everett’s vest was credited with saving him from several fractured ribs, and possibly severe internal injuries as well. T e wisdom of using body armor cannot be overemphasized. It is also interesting—and signifi cant—to note that Everett made good use of his body armor in an unconventional, yet innovative way when it appeared to him that he had been disarmed. Instead of just giving up and wait- ing to be shot, he worked his head in behind Roper’s legs, thereby maximizing the chances that the man would shoot into an area pro- tected by the vest instead of his head. Like- wise, if similarly threatened from the front, your best option may be to redirect your adversary’s weapon into your chest or mid- section and hold it there. If all else fails, this action, though far from ideal, may be your only option. By limiting your assailant’s abil- ity to target your head and neck, it can buy you time to draw your backup gun or initiate other countermeasures.
SUMMARY When drawn into an emotionally
charged situation, it is easy to become so focused on the emotions that we shift
our attention away from proper risk as- sessment. T e best way to ensure that this doesn’t happen is to develop the habit of always focusing on safety as our top priority.
Always take control tactics training seriously, practice often to maintain your profi ciency, and be ready to ex- ecute every technique decisively and with full force.
OC spray cannot be relied upon to be 100 percent eff ective. Instead, view it more as a distraction device, and al- ways be ready to shift to another force option if it fails.
In an attempted disarming that does not allow for the proper application of con- ventional weapon retention techniques, lock your gun into an iron grip with your gun hand, whether in the hand or still in the holster, and counterattack. At- tack key targets that will cause your op- ponent to instinctively react to protect them, such as the eyes, throat, or groin, and then follow up with another and yet another until he is no longer a threat.4
PM
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Footnotes 1. The incident recounted here is true, but the names
of persons and places were changed to ensure the privacy of those personally involved. Likewise, in order to preserve confi dentiality and clarity, some facts may have been altered slightly, but the es- sential elements of the story remain unchanged.
2. This principle applies to other essential safety equipment as well. For example, though rather rare, some offi cers have been known to carry their backup gun in their briefcase or somewhere else inside their cruiser, which not only risks not having it when needed but also leaves the weapon vulner- able to theft. However, a far more common example is the failure to carry a tourniquet and other Self Aid/Buddy Aid supplies on the offi cer’s person. Ob- viously, we can’t take a full trauma kit with us every time we leave our car, but tourniquets and other trauma supplies (compress, chest seals, etc.) can easily be carried on body armor, or elsewhere on our persons. There are even ankle holsters specifi - cally designed for this purpose that are now avail- able from various suppliers.
3. Remsberg, C. (May 5, 2015). TASER vs. OC: And the winner is.... Force Science News. p. 1.
4. This article originally appeared the Jan/Feb 1999 issue of The Police Marksman. The analysis has been extensively revised and updated with new information for the new Police Marksman.
Tell Us About It! Police Marksman intends to run an “Offi cer Down”
article every few months. In order to obtain incidents that provide clear and relevant case studies, we would like to draw from our largest available resource—you, the reader. If you have, or can obtain, factual informa- tion on actual incidents you think we can use, please contact Brian at:
7412 Lynn Grove Ct. Hazelwood, MO 63042 E-mail:
pmbrianod@charter.net Tel. 314/921-6977 (call collect) Cell: 314/941-2651
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Brian McKenna is a retired lieutenant from the Hazelwood
(MO) Police Department, where he served in patrol, traffi c, mobile reserve and training. He is a 32-year police veteran, with a strong background as a police trainer at both the re- cruit and in-service levels, and served his department as lead fi rearms instructor as well as in various other training functions. He is a state certifi ed police instructor, a certifi ed force science analyst and holds a Master’s Degree in human resource development. Brian is a member of ILEETA, writes extensively on offi cer safety topics, and trains police offi cers nationwide in winning mindset and other topics related to offi cer safety. His book, Offi cer Down: Lessons from the Streets, is based upon this column and is only available for purchase on his website. Contact him at pmbrianod@char-
ter.net or visit his Web site at
www.we-training.com.
71 The Police Marksman Summer 2015
www.policemarksman.com
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