Countering Common Attacks
Chuck Joyner · 2010
The most common types of attacks against law enforcement officers were discussed in Chapter 1 based upon recent studies. The expected attacks are to be punched, kicked, pushed, tackled, or bitten. Chapter 6 provided the best response to all of these attacks: simply move out of the way and draw the appropriate weapon to stop the attack and obtain control and compliance. However, many officers and instructors I have taught often ask for defensive tactics (DT) techniques to counter other attacks commonly seen in the street. Typically, they include grabs, bear hugs, headlocks, and chokes. As was mentioned before, please be aware you should never find yourself in a situation in which someone can put you in a headlock, bear hug, etc. If you do, you most likely violated the guideline on distance and weren’t alert to the potential threat. But since we are human and sometimes make mistakes, we’ll cover these areas now. All of the responses will continue the same theme throughout this book-proper use of your body weight combined with moving by stepping out and down at a 45° angle. Chapter 8 on subject control explained the concept of stepping out and down in detail.