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It is imperative to understand that with-in the American psyche lies a deeplyimbued sense of fair play, rooting for

the underdog, and a compassion forthose perceived as, not fairly matched.In testifying on behalf of officers in bothFederal and Superior court, I find that

juries both want and need to know whyan officer resorted to deadly force utiliz-ing a firearm towards a suspect armedwith just a knife even if the suspectsviolent act could be stopped in no othermanner. If you are casually dismissing

the foregoing you are delusional as to therole of the judicial system in such mat-ters.

In any application of deadly force youwill be questioned, challenged and heldaccountable over an extended period oftime for actions carried out in mere sec-onds, and it will be these actions anddecisions upon which you are judged.Laws differ from state to state so, toavoid extensive deliberation, lets agreethat deadly force may be used to preventimminent great bodily injury or death to

ones self or others based upon the rea-sonable man standard and the totalityof the circumstances. With this in mind,

it would be prudent to understand, indepth, the dangers and limitationsimposed when confronting a suspectarmed with an edged weapon.

What are the dangers of edgedweapons? Having seen the results first-hand on many occasions in the field I canhonestly relate that it can be nothingshort of catastrophic. A seeminglyinsignificant puncture wound can resultin significant internal blood loss thatanyone short of a full surgical staff onsite would be powerless to abate. Slash-

ing wounds not only cripple and eviscer-ate tissue, but the attendant blood losscan result in death in short order.Firearms have been employed by manfor a very short time in the scheme ofthings. Edged weapons, however, have

been utilized since the dawn of man.Modern society has distanced most of usfrom the offensive use of such tools tothe extent that their effectiveness anddestructive potential is far from appreci-ated by the vast majority of the populaceresulting in the, Hes only got a knife

frame of mind.The twenty-one foot rule is fairly stan-dard throughout law enforcement and

many of us have taught around thismodel for years. However, recently atInternational Tactical Training Seminarsin Los Angeles, California we construct-ed the real-world, knife attack target sys-tem seen in the accompanying photos.Training many hundreds of military, lawenforcement and civilian personnel onthis system over the last year has beeneye opening. This system has also beenused by I.T.T.S. to defend officers incourt.

First, this is a training tool and as such

is subject to certain limitations, thoughthe benefits far outweigh the deficits.When officers train on this they realizethis is a training evolution. They haveeye and ear protection. They haveevolved through earlier firing courses inthe day to the level that allows them tosafely engage the mover. They have beeninstructed throughout these evolutionswhat to expect, the speed with which thetargets will be encountered, how lag timewill come into play and yet they are stillastounded at the speed at which the tar-

gets close the distance from a standingstop to a nose-on position mere inchesaway from their muzzles. The one over-

BY SCOTT REITZ

kniFeAttac

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whelming comment seems to be, Noway is he going to be that fast. Wrong.We always place randomly selected stu-dents side by side to the targets to, racethe rail and they will either tie or slight-ly pass it in the final inches.

Timing numerous runs, we find theaverage time to be around 1.2 to 1.6 sec-onds from standing stop to final closure.In this time the officer must either comeup from a low ready position and press asingular or perhaps multiple shots or (adecidedly more difficult phase) must

execute a flawless draw and accomplishthe same within the same time parame-ter. Most skilled tacticians can draw andfire in about a second and a half on astatic target at a reasonable distance onan auditory cue, but in this scenario youare going off a visual cueand there is adifference.

This is what will transpire in the fieldwith visual cueing: by the time yourhand even begins to move towards thepistol, the target has already moved sixto eight feet towards the officer (lag

time). By the time the pistol has beengrasped, the retention device releasedand the pistol started towards count

two, the target is about ten to eight feetfrom the shooter. When the shooter actu-ally fires the weapon the target is, onaverage, only three to four feet from themuzzle, a most decidedly uncomfortabledistance.

Remember that in training the officeris waiting for the target to aggress him,he expects it, he has been instructed inwhat will transpire and in fact it has beendemonstrated in real time and he knowsit is a live-fire drill. Put an individualinto the fieldinto an unexpected and

unrehearsed real world scenario wherehe may or may not have to discharge hisweapon, may have to resort to alternatemethods to control the situationandthe twenty-one foot rule may very wellprove fatalistic.

All street officers must, by the verynature of their assignment, close the dis-tance to a suspect in order to control thesituation. I have done it, my partnershave done it and in retrospect I felt safeat fifteen feet if the suspect was armedwith an edged weapon. (This drill has

altered that misconception.) However,officers must concern themselves notonly with the suspects level of threat,

but with the background of the target,the use of force continuum, shot place-ment, communications and control of thesuspects action on what will in all prob-ability be a high-speed, moving targetthat rapidly alters its configuration as itforces the issue. This is now a multi-task-ing evolution and improperly trainedofficers may find themselves reactingwith inappropriate responses, which willalways be subjected to intense scrutiny.

There is as well, a definite and veryreal psychological factor that computes

into all shootings. No matter how muchone trains or prepares there is always thefleeting thought of, I cant believe this ishappening or My gosh! This is it!Most well trained officers get past this ina nanosecond, but some do not and thatcritical lapse in response is all that ittakes for a controllable situation to berendered chaotic.

For every violent confrontation in thestreet there are literally hundreds (if notthousands) of stops made in the same sit-uations that do not escalate to such a

level. The officer makes perhaps a dozenor so potential felony stops week afterweek, year after year and just as many

Rethinking the 21 Foot Rulek! this sequence: As the target advances, the shooters hands come together in a two-hand grip and the pistol is brought tobear center mass of the target, which is now a mere four feet from the shooter. Shots are usually discharged at a distance ofthree feet and in, leaving no margin for error for the shooter through the entire evolution. The entire run was at a distanceof twenty-one feet with an accomplished shooter.

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KNIFE ATTACK

observational arrests without muchproblem. Now we have the ex-con, witha five-year tail or third striker who,unbeknownst to the officer, has no inten-tion of going back. He is stopped at thir-ty feet, complies and calmly closes thedistance to twenty or fifteen feetandthen charges nose on. The officer is now

pressed into a real world criticalresponse and the judgments, physicalactions and appropriate threat responsemust be dealt in fractions of a second.How then does he deal with this effec-tively and within the constraints of thelaw?

Let us first predicate that in this partic-ular scenario it is one where the use ofdeadly force is warranted and justified.Whether the officer is at the low readywith his handgun, at position two justabove the holster, or is in a holstered con-

dition, he must act decisively in bringinghis weapon to bear on the target. If he isat low ready then he must bring the pis-tol straight up mid-line on the largestportion of the target which is afforded tohim. If he over or under travels in this orhe is off center laterally there may well

be little, if any time to correct the error. Ifhe is holstered, then the pistol must bepresented in the cleanest manner possi-

ble so that it comes to bear center on thelargest portion of the target presented. Ifthe pistol is to be discharged from the

weapon retention position (just abovethe holster, but well below eye level), theangle of the muzzle to center mass of thetarget must again be fairly precise. Itshould be an effective straightforwardprocess that is neither fanciful nor embel-lished with superfluous motion or exces-sive rounds. It must be clean.

The question arises, Do I use sightedor unsighted fire? In such a rapid sce-nario getting the sights aligned perfectly

before pressing off a shot may not be fea-sible. A flash sight picture wherein the

sights are thereon the target somewhatcentered and somewhat alignedismore the norm than not. Completelyunsighted fire has resulted in completemisses by some and at distances of lessthan five feet on more than one occasionin this training. So yes, you do utilize thesights, but in a much more compressedtime frame and in a much coarser man-ner than is allotted when one is affordedthe time to do otherwise.

One factor which is clearly evident isthat the individuals who have worked

on their draw stroke again and again sothat the pistol is where they want itwhen they want it perform demonstra-

bly better than those that do not. (Muchof life is like this I suppose.) In otherwords when the attack is commencedthey have brought the pistol to bear onthe target so cleanly and effectively thatthey are simply simultaneously verifyingthe sights as they press off the shot(s).

The target may be crouched low in alunging configuration or perhaps in amore upright fashion. If the assailant uti-lizes a downward thrusting motion, thetarget may be angled towards the shoot-er and if a fencing motion (such as a

straight thrust) is utilized then the veryarm that thrusts the edged weapon may

block the most effective area of the tar-get. These are all mitigating factors thatmay come into play and in theory havinga game plan for each configurationsounds greatbut in the world of realitythe straightest line to center of the largesttarget mass will most probably be theonly viable method of effectively stop-ping the threat within the small timeconstraints. If the target were to chargeforward head down, this may very well

mean a shot placed in the center of theback.One effective technique in conjunction

with live-fire is to step ninety degreesfrom the line of the attacker as he closesthe distance. This forces the assailant to

bleed off speed as he makes a mid-coursecorrection. Continuing to do this further

bleeds speed and if deadly force is neces-sitated then the assailant continues toincur hits throughout the attack. Step-ping rearward, however, may not be the

best option as it places the shooter off

balance and his rearward momentumworks to the attackers advantage. Witha number of shooters, if their feet remain

stationary while engaging the target sys-tem illustrated in this article, their upper

body leans rearward as the target rapidlycloses the distance. While this seems to

be a natural response, it places the shoot-er in an unbalanced and untenable posi-tion. Shuffling to the rear, however (nei-ther crossing nor bringing the feettogether), in a rapid fashion while main-taining a stable firing platform may infact prove to be a very viable option.

The defender may find himself utiliz-ing his support arm to ward off the

assailant or trap and control the attackerwhile simultaneously engaging the sus-pect. The real possibility exists in thisconfiguration that one may strike oneselfwith his own fire in a particularly violentand closely tied up affair. Utilizing a for-ward thrust kick in conjunction withlive-fire to momentarily thwart anaggressors attack may prove to be aneffective technique as well. Again, how-ever, the real possibility exists that onecould be struck by ones own gunfire inthe maneuver. Other scenarios run on the

knife attack system include an onrushingattack from either side to one that initi-ates directly from the rear. Each of thesesimply places the officer at a greater dis-advantage with less response time. Piv-oting and sidestepping the attacker isonce more the better response asopposed to remaining static.

One question that arises from time totime is whether or not it is feasible tostrike the suspect in the legs, hips, armsetc. If you were off the scales in ability Isuppose one could, but I have never seen

anyone so skilled. Highly skilled shoot-ers have their hands full just hitting cen-ter mass at a distance of twenty feet.

Here, as a suspect initiates his attack, the shooter begins his draw stroke and simultane-ously breaks ninety degrees off the line of attack. This buys a little time, as the suspectmust change his direction and speed.

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Shorten this to fifteen, ten feet and evencloser and it is simply ridiculous to askanyone to accomplish such a feat. At thedistance of ten feet and within, the shoot-er must utilize a combination of the speedrock and weapon retention just to rendera single shot center massand this is at avery advanced level of skill. To ask of the

shooter to perform precise shot placementis a little much. Headshots are equally asdifficult to pull off to be sure. Withnumerous runs and with enough practiceone may eventually make it, but in thereal world there are no warm ups, norehearsals and one simply cannot afforda miss or peripheral hit. It is far better tostick to the larger target, fire fewer roundswhich are centered, and move from thethreat if feasible to do so. If one wereafforded the time to place a definitive sin-gle shot that would stop the problem,

then by all means do sobut you proba-bly will not have that latitude.

Simunition training supplemented withlive-fire on the range can be effective inillustrating the difficulties posed in fastmovers closing the distance on an officer.One should be aware, however, thatwhen real rounds strike real bodies things

break and cease to function and thedynamics of the assault can radicallychange. That being said it takes the roleplayer or bad guy a certain amount of dis-cipline to replicate what may or may not

happen when struck by gunfire, and thisis anything but an exact science. Whenqueried by students as what to expectwhen an assailant is struck I tell them toexpect nothing. I have seen everythingfrom immediate incapacitation to a sud-den reinvigoration of the attack. Short of adefinitive headshot one can never tell.

After quite literally many thousands ofruns on the I.T.T.S. mover the one over-whelming conclusion by all the students,my partner, Brett McQueen, and myself isthat the twenty-one foot rule leaves little

margin for error. Placing cover or extend-ing the distance between oneself and apotentially armed suspect utilizing anedged weapon may be the more judicioustactic. If this is not obtainable and the sus-pect does charge, then everything willtranspire in an incredibly short period oftime and the techniques used to countermust be clean and decisive.

Scott Reitz is a twenty-seven year veteranof the Los Angeles Police Department and thedirector of the highly acclaimed InternationalTactical Training Seminars. Course informa-

tion and schedules are available at their web-site at www.internationaltactical.com or byemail at itts@gte.net.