Category: Ben’s column

I recently came across this article in the Beretta Blog and thought it would be a great introduction into the New Year, since we are getting ready to begin some continuing education training.  We will start training our TriCorps officers in the area of firearms and defensive tactics beginning this month and continue throughout the […]

I re-read this article recently and believe it is a perfect reminder for us as we work in the security and law enforcement fields. Over the years I have seen many variations of “deadly errors” that law enforcement and security officers make to get themselves hurt. I invite you to draw up this list in […]

As I contemplated what topic to cover for this month’s training article for our newsletter, I thought long and hard about this being Veteran’s Day. While I didn’t enter the military, I have the utmost respect and admiration for those that did. I’ve spent almost thirty years in law enforcement, however, if I could go […]

As you all know, nothing about our jobs/career’s mean that we are totally exempt from becoming a victim. Like everyone else that has to leave their home to go to work, we have our valuables at risk of being stolen in a burglary when we are out protecting others. I recently came across this article […]

This month I wanted to talk about safety for women. All of us have been asked to give safety advice to women from time to time and most of us have women working where we are assigned. And certainly we all have special women in our lives that we want to make sure are staying […]

I have trained a lot of people in the almost thirty years as a police officer.  One of the first things I always say to a new recruit is, “We are in the sales business.” I always follow that up with a clarification of “We sell public safety.”

I want us all to think back on situations we have found ourselves in and thought, “Wow, I could have easily been in a bad way if that guy would have wanted to attack.” We have all had times that we have made some pretty major tactical errors when it comes to dealing with contacts […]

I found these eight critical components of tactical performance by Dallas SWAT veteran Steve Claggett in an article in PoliceOne. I want to share them with you all because they are excellent truths with regards to surviving and keeping ourselves safe. Are these consistently your personal priorities when you’re on the street?

Maintaining a mindset of identifying and using cover is critical to our survival. When the shooting starts, it is best to be behind something that stops bullets. We should either move towards cover or look for cover. Barricaded shooting is using field expedient cover to provide an advantageous shooting position. Although I am discussing firing […]

I would like to share a few simple Laws of Defensive Tactics we discussed in a street survival class I attended a few years ago. While several of these laws are truly common sense, all of them can save your life.