offi cer down: Overwhelming Physical Force: The Carl Everett/Linda Mason Incident
the way the courts view and analyze use of force by police. Finally, this knowledge should be honed
to a fi ne edge through the use of scenario- based training that requires offi cers to make tough use-of-force decisions. Scenarios that challenge observation skills (e.g., distin- guishing between a cell phone and a hand- gun) aren’t good enough. Trainees should also be put into tough situations in which they must make increasingly more challeng- ing shoot/don’t shoot decisions under stress. T ey will no doubt make some mistakes, but the time to learn from such mistakes is during training, not on the street when lives are at stake. (See the “Reluctance to Shoot” section of the analysis in “Offi cer Down: Slowly Developing T reats” in our May/ June 2014 issue for a more detailed discus- sion of this training.) Return to Question 2
Control Tactics When confronting assailants as large and powerful as Choi and Roper, even well- trained offi cers would be at a distinct phys- ical disadvantage, and this problem was aggravated for Everett and Mason by the fact that—under the dangerous assump- tion that they wouldn’t need one—neither one took their baton along when looking for Roper. T ough it is diffi cult to know for sure how much help batons would have been, it is important to remember that this oversight seriously limited the offi cers’ force options. With Everett’s fl ashlight lost and Mason not carrying one, both were left without impact weapons and the depart- ment didn’t issue ECDs at that time. T at limited them to just OC spray and their personal weapons, and the OC had virtu- ally no eff ect on either assailant. Barely out of the academy and with only her personal weapons with which to fi ght, Mason made a commendable eff ort to help her partner, but her eff orts were fruitless, leaving the badly hurt and dazed Everett to fend for himself. T e aggressive application of Pres- sure Point Control Tactics (PPCT) strikes (see below) might well have helped, but a baton is needed to maximize the eff ective-
ness of these measures. For those offi cers equipped with non-collapsible batons, it is important to make a habit of remembering to take it with you anytime you leave your car, even when the circumstances don’t ap- pear to require one.2 Baton or no baton, Everett and Mason would have had a much better chance of controlling their assailants if they had been profi cient in the application of PPCT tech- niques. When Roper fi rst knocked Everett down and straddled him, Mason’s eff orts to cuff him were ineff ective. If she had deliv- ered hammer fi st or knife hand strikes to Roper’s Suprascapular Nerve motor point (i.e., the junction of the Trapezius Muscle with the side of the neck) instead, she could have disabled his arms for immediate cuff - ing. Likewise, a Brachial Stun would also have been a very eff ective technique to em- ploy here. Even with Roper under control, Mason and Everett would still have had Choi to deal with, but PPCT techniques could have been used against him as well. A Brachial Stun or strikes to the Common Pe- roneal or Radial Nerve motor points would probably have been the most eff ective tech- niques to employ here. Of course, PPCT is only one of many options for dealing with unarmed attacks. T ere are many others, but none are very eff ective if poorly executed. Proper training is the key here. Always take control tactics training seriously, practice often to main- tain your profi ciency, and be ready to ex- ecute every technique decisively and with full force. Remember, any unarmed attack can quickly escalate into a disarming or other lethal threat. T erefore, it is impor- tant to end the fi ght as quickly as possible, before it gets much worse. T e use of appropriate ground defense techniques would also have been benefi cial in this case, to Everett at least. Because of his vulnerable position on the fl oor, Everett was saved from much more serious injury—if not death—only by the timely arrival of the sergeant and deputy. When on the ground and under attack by an upright assailant, you are at an overwhelming disadvantage. It is very diffi cult to get up or take other ag-
gressive action without exposing vital areas of your body to extremely damaging attack, and your opponent has a distinct advantage over you in power and mobility. If you re- main so dangerously exposed for long, it is very likely that you will be rendered uncon- scious or disabled, which in turn leaves you vulnerable to a lethal beating or disarming. Consequently, it is imperative to become profi cient at ground fi ghting techniques. In the absence of proper training in these techniques, it can be helpful to remember
the following: Don’t try to get up right away; in- stead, stay on the ground and initiate your counterattack from there. Use your feet to counterattack.
Quickly maneuver away from your op- ponent so your feet are facing him. If on your back, support yourself on your fore- arms and buttocks, bring your knee to your chest, and drive the kick into your oppo- nent’s lower legs. If on your side, raise up on one elbow, draw the knee of your top leg up, and kick with the side of your foot. Aim all your kicks at or below his
knees. High kicks make it easier for your opponent to grab your leg, leave your geni- tals exposed, and inhibit the accuracy, speed and power of your kicks. In addition, kicks to the lower legs and especially the knees are very eff ective at disabling an opponent. Your goal should be to get back on
your feet as soon as you can safely do so, because ground fi ghting burns energy very rapidly and will quickly exhaust you. Get up as soon as your opponent/s back off , go down, or are otherwise no longer an im- mediate threat. T en disengage, shift to an- other force option, or take whatever other action you deem appropriate.
If ground fi ghting techniques don’t work
or are not practical, the situation may soon become life-threatening, in which case you will probably have to use deadly force. If so, your position will make it hard to draw your duty gun quickly and smoothly, while also increasing the risk of having it knocked or snatched out of your hand. A backup gun can be invaluable at such times,
69 The Police Marksman Summer 2015
www.policemarksman.com
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