By George T. Williams
In Part 1 of this two-part series, longtime training icon, George T. Williams, shared the foundational principles of a concept he coins as tactical integrity. “Tactical integrity can be defined as consciously synchronizing the application of safety principles and methods of the individual officer within the whole response to accomplish the task presented in the moment,” he explains. “It requires attention to detail under pressure, which, in turn, requires control of one’s emotions.”
“Tactical integrity is being officer-focused rather singularly suspect-focused,” he adds. “Tactical errors result from officers intensely focusing on trapping, cornering, or capturing the suspect with little or no concept of how their individual actions are negatively affecting the overall response.”
In Part 1, George shared four tactical questions officers need to ask themselves when pursuing a suspect. In this final installation, he shares 11 things you must consider every time you have a firearm in-hand:
How are my emotions affecting me (Am I too “pumped”)? If too excited or fearful, poor decisions may result. Since situations can dynamically transition, sometimes changing faster than anyone can react to, retaining as much reasoning and emotional control as possible helps you stay present.
The solution? Slow down. A common tactical error is rushing to force a conclusion to the call. Everyone occasionally feels that overwhelming urgency to get this guy under control to end his threat now. Problematically, humans evolved to move into proximity to contact our adversaries, not to use a distance weapon (firearms) as our instinctual response. Closing on a subject is a natural urge but is often not tactically sound. Sergeant Steve Papenfuhs (retired) teaches, “Don’t just do something, stand there!” If possible, pause for a moment or two to assess the scene, decide what is important now and how to achieve it, then act.
If the situation cannot be slowed, slow yourself. If your breathing is out of control, emotional control will suffer. When your breathing’s become ragged and your heart’s pounding, take a very deep breath. Hold it for a few seconds before deliberately and completely breathing out. Do it again. By exhaling deeply, we off-gas adrenaline, decreasing its effects on us. This change in breathing helps regain thinking processes. Continue deliberately breathing to make decisions about tactics and force you won’t wind up regretting.
Proximity is the problem. Proximity to suspects increases danger. Precipitously closing the distance on a suspect creates any manner of problems for you, decreasing your ability to effectively react. Optimize your distance as the situation demands. Clint Smith wisely offered, “Distance is time, time is marksmanship, marksman is hits.” Use distance wisely and approach only with a plan.
Cover? If you have a weapon in-hand, you should already be behind or moving to cover. While some situations won’t permit this, cover should be the default. Suspect-focused behavior is standing in the middle of the street at high noon pointing a handgun at someone when cover is nearby. If the situation is so grave that you might have to shoot someone, that means he can shoot you, too. There’s never yet been a cop who was shot who wasn’t in a kill zone. The “Cover Rule” applies: “if you’re comfortable, you ain’t tactical.” Get small behind it. Using it properly is uncomfortable, but not as uncomfortable as being shot. Make it difficult for him to hit you.
What is my “cover?” Anything solid feels reassuring when we’re scared, but will it stop a bullet? Those fence boards may hide me. An interior wall seems robust. Both are concealment and neither will stop a bullet of any caliber from punching through. Standing and leaning over a vehicle’s roof while pointing a firearm at the suspect exposes your entire torso through the windows. The properties of cover are wholly dependent on the ammunition being fired at it. Find something that will stop the bullets you believe you are facing or purposely acknowledge it is only concealment, then adapt your tactics.
What is the suspect’s cover? Is he behind cover or concealment? If the suspect is firing from behind concealment, target the suspect through the material. If behind a vehicle, skip rounds off the street at his exposed legs and feet. If it is cover (material your rounds cannot penetrate), consider moving or radioing to others to flank him.
What is downrange? You have a firearm in-hand because you may need to defend someone’s life (including yours). Where are any errant bullets likely to land? Constant evaluation of changing factors is necessary. Any movement by anyone changes the background where missed rounds might strike. If the suspect, civilians, or other officers move, reevaluate the background you may be forced to fire into.
Where are the other officers? This is similar to the previous question but so important it requires a separate answer. If you have a weapon pointed at a suspect and you can see the chest or face of another actively-armed officer(s) beyond, you are in a crossfire situation. At this point, it doesn’t really matter if you’re in the “right position” and another officer has somehow gotten downrange. You are in the line of fire and in lethal danger. Move! Change position now, then get on the radio and sort it out. Get safer first, then talk.
What if the suspect moves? Suspect movement and/or elevation may cancel the benefit of your cover. Any lateral movement or vertical advantage requires reevaluation and immediate adjustment of your position to address the new angles of fire. We saw this on terrible display in July 7, 2016, when five Dallas PD officers were murdered. One of the officers murdered was behind a concrete pillar, when he was fixed by the suspect’s fire, then immediately flanked. When a suspect assaults your cover position and you lose sight of him, move, then take him as he emerges on your flank.
What is my avenue of escape? In every tactical situation, there is an avenue of ingress and egress. It may take you a few-seconds to get into something and the rest of your life to get out. Before you move, ask, “How am I going to get out of there if I need to?”.
What are your less-lethal and de-escalation plans? Regardless of the situation, legal and societal requirements demand these questions be explicitly addressed if the suspect provides you any discretionary time.
What are my weapon’s capabilities and my ability to deliver hits? This question should be partially answered through your training. A better question would be, “How well will I be able to control my fear and emotions when using my weapons?” If your typical marksmanship makes it unrealistic to reliably deliver aimed hits at more than 50 yards on the range, should you be covering another officer from that distance? Knowing what you can do – and more importantly, what you cannot – is vital to your tactical success.
Most officer fire fewer than 300 rounds a year. In training, officers are routinely pushed for an ever-greater rate of fire on the line, seeking increasingly shorter split-times as a means of surviving a shooting. Yet when shooting for score to qualify, everyone’s firing is more careful and much slower, because hits matter during quals. Hits matter even more in an OIS. Wyatt Earp’s wisdom applies: “Speed is fine. Accuracy is final.” Slower hits are better than fast misses. Make your shots count.
Tactical integrity can be boiled down to an officer’s constant attention and awareness of his or her own actions in reaction to, or in anticipation of, the suspect’s actions. Sound tactics provide a decided advantage over the suspect. At least 50% of your awareness should be on your own emotional state and physical actions. Monitoring your own behavior against the suspect’s permits a more integrated, coordinated response. In doing so, you can more effectively control your emotions, engage in better problem-solving, and make more relevant tactical and force decisions. Tactical integrity results from an officer-focused approach to solving difficult tactical problems.
Tactical integrity is a goal, something to strive for. Everyone makes mistakes, especially in dynamic, high-threat environments, and few calls are handled perfectly. One quality of an expert is quickly recognizing a mistake and immediately adjusting to correct the error. Officers become expert after years of learning from mistakes, theirs and others. However, the reality for officers, probationer or veteran, is that the street and the post-incident aftermath is unforgiving. The inexperienced must learn quickly.
While the standard for officers in every force response or action is objective reasonableness, those reviewing your actions may not understand or care about that requirement. By maintaining tactical integrity, you might not find yourself the subject of an internationally televised video that everyone else who wasn’t there is so quick to criticize. You may also avoid becoming a footnoted statistic in some dusty report on the chief’s bookshelf.
About the author: George T. Williams is a retired national and international police trainer, a police author with extensive published works, and was an expert witness defending officers in criminal and civil courts nationally for more than three decades. He pioneered the concept of integrated force, combatives, and tactics training while teaching every level of law enforcement, from academy recruits, municipal, county, and state police, to federal agents.
