In subject control tactics training (I do not like the word defensive in our training) the physical position where the officer is directly in front of the subject is often referred to as the Inside Position. In many systems this is taught as a position for the officer to avoid as it is seen as a position of disadvantage. The theory is that when the officer is in this position they are vulnerable to all the subject’s personal weapons. This theory is built upon with the continual direction to the officer to get off the line or get off the tracks.
Lets stop for a minute and think about this. Officers are taught to approach from oblique angles, which is good. The reality however, is that once contact is made with the subject they are going to turn and face the officer. That is just human nature. As soon as they turn to the officer the officer is now in the inside position. Now the officer could certainly move off to an angle, but the subject would simply adjust and the dance has begun.
The other reality is that if you put an attacker in a protective suit in training and have them execute a continuous, committed attack on the officer an officer who has been continually told to get off the line will take a horrible pounding while they continually keep trying to get off the line of attack.
I had a great trainer and very experienced martial artist tell me that as much as they drill this same concept of get off the line in martial arts, you almost never see it in a fight. It is just not a natural movement for people. The lesson here I guess is can we teach officers something that is more natural and therefore more effective.
Lets change up the thinking a bit. If the officer is in the inside position then they are in a position to use all their personal and issue weapons to control the subject and defeat an attack. Instead of teaching this as a position to avoid lets teach officers how to fight from the inside position as the reality is that in the field they spend a great deal of time here. Once they know how to fight from there they can either win the fight from the inside position or attack the subject and create an opportunity to move off the line and win the fight from the outside.
We need to shift away from some of the historical thinking and continually teach officers how to win as opposed to ways to lose.
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- October 19 to 22, Mount Prospect, Illinois – Excellence in Training Course
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- November 30 to December 4, Edmonton, Alberta – Excellence in Training and Verbal Trauma Control Course
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Brian Willis
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