Prevail Blog

  Resolution of 2019 C-Tran Bus Hijacking I have called for police instructors to also be "tacticians," and was asked what we might do differently to accomplish that.  Here are some suggestions... Contextualize After becoming more involved with our Control Tactics program this year, I saw that rather than simply teaching specific techniques utilized in use of force events, we needed to teach them within a greater understanding of use of force contexts. In the case of force tactics and control measures, for example, that means not simply the mechanics of takedowns, locks, and cuffing positions. This is overwhelmingly how such things are taught, no different than the way they are taught in martial arts and fighting sports classes, yet they are not the same.  Yes, we need practice to achieve technical skill, and that means time spent working on techniques in isolation. But t echniques are means to ends, and in the policing world, technical skill cannot be an end in itself. It mu

Ah but the One.... One is A Warrior,  and he will bring the others back. - Heraclitus "No one is irreplaceable..."  That's the way it's put, usually by a bureaucrat that doesn't know any better.... It is true in one sense: any "spot,"or "position" that a person holds is fillable,   any warm body will do for the slot, or to meet  staffing"minimums." But some ARE irreplaceable. Their wisdom, experience, leadership.... and their teams and organizations are actually lessened with their leaving. The kinds of people that step up when it really is important, when lives are on the line, and when the ranking bosses step aside - or hide away - and let real leaders do the work. My friend, colleague, and brother-in-arms MH is just such a man.   DARC ("Darcy") - it was the worst of times, until it was the best of times .... We actually worked for different agencies when we first met. I was brand new - still in field training - and he was

In more than twenty five years of police service I have seen fads and folly come and go in law enforcement training. Those years were spent in the state that gave us the "Guardians versus Warriors" concept, an idea based on a clearly flawed philosophical understanding, yet that was still ultimately adopted by the Obama administration's Task Force on 21st Century Policing (1)  By way of comparison,  I spent nearly eighteen years on a regional SWAT team in that same state, retiring from the team as the senior operational member. On a quality tactical team - and by no means are all teams of the same quality - baseline expectations and accountability for fitness, weapons capability, operational composure, and tactical decision making  are markedly higher than for rank-and-file patrol officers.  Failure to meet expectations can lead to suspension and removal from the team.  As t actical officers are given much more training, expectations  should   be that much higher.  Yet com

Cover of SJ Jorgenson's 1937 book on Police Jiujitsu Slow Yo Roll:  The Perils of Police Jiujitsu T oo little attention, and too little  effort, over too many years has led to the present shortcomings in police performance that we are all seeing play out on our screens. In the wake of the death of George Floyd, and the ravages of society's response to COVID, things have gotten worse, not better. Everyone from Activist Defunders and Police Abolitionists to reform minded politicians and administrators have been riding a wave of media bias, misinformation,  fickle public sentiment, and inexcusable professional ignorance without a clue as to the way forward.  In the midst of all of this has been an increasing call from both layman and some within law enforcement for police to embrace the martial art and fighting sport of jiujitsu as a foundation for Control Tactics training. O ver-eager informercials and sometimes manic marketing aside, there is a definite need within policing for