The VITAL Tour -- Police & Security Defensive
Tactics
Here is a similar yet different
situation as compared to military combatives. It is similar
in the sense that it is a specialized set of information
and training that isn’t appropriate for ordinary
individuals. It is different from military combatives in
the sense that police and security need to use mainly
non-lethal force in their encounters. They aren’t there to
kill the enemy, just to enforce the law / security
policies. Although they may occasionally resort to use of
lethal force, their attempts to subdue the suspect employ
the minimum level of force needed.
This employs many arrest and control techniques. Pain
compliance and joint manipulation techniques are also used
heavily. Police and security are NOT there to fight the
suspect. They want to end the violence right away, and gain
control over the individual while maintaining officer
safety. After all, they need to go home to their families
at the end of their shift. Then they wake up and do it all
over again tomorrow.
Teaching self-defense based on police and security
defensive tactics has many of the same conceptual flaws of
those discussed in the military combatives section. People
have different purposes and uses for a violence response
portfolio. They don’t need to engage the suspect and place
him under arrest. Their goal is to escape and survive the
violent interaction.
While learning defensive tactics may benefit the
self-defense practitioner in some ways, it’s not really the
best fit for their circumstance. It’s like being outside in
the freezing cold and covering up with fiberglass
insulation for warmth. Does it work? Sure, but the better
solution for that individual would be putting on a winter
coat. So ordinary citizens trained in defensive tactics
could be fairly effective, but probably isn’t the best
suited option for them.
SIDE NOTE: Several of the 10 flaws with martial arts used
for self-defense purposes also apply to police &
security defensive tactics; especially:
#1. Narrow vision of violence with limited response
options.
#4. Omission of preventative and pre-contact
counter-measures.
#5.
Exclusion of medical and emotional aftermath issues.
(Notice we deleted the "legal" issues. Police &
Security Defensive Tactics usually do a pretty good job
covering that aspect.)
#6.
Male-centric with size, speed, strength, and macho
aggression prevalent.