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Category Archives: Officer Safety
Kubotan–Simple Self Defense
The Kubotan was invented by former Japanese police officer and martial arts instructor Takayuki Kubota. In the late 1970’s, Kubota was teaching self-defense to officers of the Los Angeles Police Department when he developed this pocket stick as an aid to empty-hand suspect control. The Kubotan, a registered trademark of Kubota, added a tool for officers to use in manipulating pressure points, applying joint locks, and effecting strikes. Past generations of policemen carried the Kubotan as a key ring from their belts and pockets. The original Kubotan was a lexan rod, which measured 5 ½” long by 5/8” in diameter. It had a key ring affixed to one end. “Kubotan” … Continue reading
Posted in Defensive Tactics, Officer Safety, Street
Tagged Kubotan, pocket stick, self defense, Takayuki Kubota, yawara
2 Comments
StarChase Pursuit Management System
Who doesn’t like playing “Tag” or “Cops and Robbers?” When you combine the two games, you come up with a serious solution proposed by StarChase LLC to a serious problem for law enforcement. The StarChase Pursuit Management System “tags” a suspect vehicle fleeing from law enforcement and leads authorities to the vehicle by the use of real-time GPS tracking, thereby minimizing the risks of a high-speed pursuit. Started in 2001, StarChase, LLC, is a Virginia Beach, VA based company that specializes in pursuit management solutions using commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components and existing technologies. The StarChase System uses a laser-aimed compressed air launcher in the grill of a police car to … Continue reading
Posted in Officer Safety, Street, Technology
Tagged Car Chase, GPS marking, Police Pursuit, StarChase Pursuit Management System, Tag and Track
8 Comments
New Report by American Heart Association Zaps TASER International
A new report released on-line by the American Heart Association magazine Circulation associates sudden cardiac arrest and death with the application of an electronic control device (ECD), more specifically a TASER International model X26. Dr. Douglas P. Zipes, a cardiologist at the Indiana School of Medicine, conducted the study, which was peer reviewed for publication. Zipes, coincidently has been paid over a half million dollars to testify as an expert witness against the police and TASER, according to TASER International. Zipes has conceded he is paid $1200.00 per hour to testify as a witness against ECD’s, but he said that gave him no incentive to do the research. Zipes studied … Continue reading
Spyderco Waved Endura4 For Duty Carry
I have carried many, many knives on duty. It seems I am always trying to find one better than the last. My uniform pockets have contained uncounted blades unleashed by nail nicks, thumb studs, opening holes, coil springs, leaf springs, and even centrifugal force (yes, a Bali-song). I recently decided to try something completely different: mechanical fabric resistance! In the 1990’s, custom knifemaker Ernest Emerson patented an interesting design he originally called The Wave. The folding knife’s blade has a “hook” at the top that catches the edge of the pants pocket and pulls the blade open as the knife itself is withdrawn.
Posted in Knives, Officer Safety, Street
Tagged Emerson ES1-M, Emerson Opening Feature, Endura4, Police Duty Knife, Spyderco Endura, Waved Endura
3 Comments
Morphix Technologies Chameleon Chemical Detector Review
Morphix Technologies has released a seven minute training video which gives some simple statistics and dangers about Meth Labs. The video also addresses Morphix’s Chameleon Chemical Detector, one of their products for detecting hazardous chemicals by first responders. I got my hands on a Chameleon kit for testing in October. The Morphix Chameleon is a chemical detection unit that is worn on the forearm or attached by Velcro to the uniform of a first responder. The purpose of the kit is to provide an officer, firefighter, or soldier with immediate visual identification of the presence of hazardous gases. A passive detector, the Chameleon has ten windows, called cassettes, which change … Continue reading
Avoiding the Dangers in a Chemical Suicide Response
On Monday in Boston, a BU pharmacology grad student committed suicide by lethal chemical. Police and Fire department personnel responding to the apartment at 676 Massachusetts Ave. were in danger from highly toxic sodium azide, which has effects similar to cyanide. Four police officers and two EMT’s were taken to the hospital for exposure to the chemical. I had just written an article on April 2 about a dangerous malathion suicide attempt, where first responders needed medical attention. Last June, I wrote an article for BlueSheepdog called Chemical Suicides–A Safe Response. I thought it very important to post that article on ThinBlueFlorida for obvious officer safety reasons. Police officers respond … Continue reading
Posted in Medical, Officer Safety, Street
Tagged chemical suicide, Detergent Suicide, Hydrogen Sulfide Asphyxia, Officer Safety
1 Comment
Alternative Drugs Causing Aggression
On several calls in the last few months, our officers have had to fight people who were out of control on hallucinogenic substances. These drugs are a serious cause for concern for law enforcement. In one instance, an officer rolled up on an unknown situation in the middle of a large intersection. A Good Samaritan was trying to hold down an out-of-control girl who was screaming “Kill me!” over and over again at the top of her lungs. The officer and citizen managed to keep the 90 lbs. girl on the ground. Another officer arrived to replace the citizen. Now with two officers trying to handcuff her, the girl began … Continue reading
Posted in Officer Safety, Street
Tagged aggression, Hallucinogenic drugs, K2 spice, psilocybin mushrooms
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Officer Safety Assumptions and the Dispatch Center
I was bright and shiny and a little scared on my first shift in a real police car during field training. After loading up, my FTO and I were buckled up in the cruiser in the PD parking lot. He leaned over and prepared to say something. I thought, Remember this, it could save my life! Dryly, he said, “ And don’t take any sh*t from the dispatchers…” I think cops expect too much from the information provided them by the radio. Have you ever heard a frustrated officer interrogate a telecommunicator for more details the operator obviously does not have? It is a waste of radio time. Just go … Continue reading
Posted in FTO, Officer Safety
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Diamondback DB9 Long Term Test and Review
In January of 2011, I was walking through the static vendor booths at SHOT Show’s Media Day at the Range and saw a familiar pistol that somehow looked off-kilter. It was a stretched Diamondback Firearms DB380 pistol. No. It was something new. Diamondback Firearms makes striker-fired polymer framed pistols and (soon) shotguns AR -15’s in Cocoa, Florida. After successfully marketing a micro-compact .380 ACP pistol, the company began producing a 9mm version. This was the gun I saw on the table. I handled the unloaded gun in the booth. It looked very promising, however, for its diminutive size, I worried about how it would actually handle in the hand when … Continue reading
Reminder in Margate of the Danger of Suicide and Chemicals
An incident in Margate, FL yesterday is a good reminder for first responders to be wary of the presence of chemicals in suicide attempts. A Coconut Creek man apparently attempted suicide by drinking the commercially available pesticide Malathion. EMS workers arrived his home at about 0130 am to find him in his yard. When the man was transported to Northwest Medical Center in nearby Margate, he vomited up the chemical in the rescue unit and cause three paramedics to suffer dizziness, nausea, and headaches. At the Northwest ER, toxic fumes could still be smelled on the man. He was isolated and the ER was shut down. The Broward County Sheriff’s … Continue reading
Debrief That Patrol Incident
We went on quite a few hot calls in the last couple of shifts. One in particular had some valuable lessons that deserved time in a debriefing. A “Shots Fired” came in to our Dispatch Center. Units were sent to the general area. Nothing was found at first. When one of the officers went to speak with a complainant, he heard gunfire from several houses to the west. More officers arrived. Just prior to my pulling on scene, the troops had focused in on a particular house on the block. Officers were sent to surround it. There was no valid phone number to the home. We cautiously made contact with … Continue reading
Posted in Officer Safety, Street
1 Comment
New COAST Products Rapid Response Knife Video Review
This is a video review of the COAST Products Rapid Response Folding Knife. The knife makes me smile for several reasons. First, it is very well made. The production values are high and the knife has a quality feel. It is inexpensive. Not cheap, inexpensive. The knife in the video, which is the 3.9″ 5Cr15MoV satin-finished blade can be purchased for only $41.49 (three dollars more for a black coated blade). Lastly, the knife performs well. COAST Products, which began as COAST Cutlery, has been a family-owned Oregon business since 1919. Although the company began making knives, the current product line includes LED lights and multi-tools. I have a COAST … Continue reading
Tactical Combat Casualty Care Training for Police Officers
Last week, I attended my department’s annual forty-hour In-Service training block. The final day had instruction to which I had not been exposed in many years of police work: an introduction to Tactical Combat Casualty Care. What has always been in the trunk of the cop car? A first aid kit. What was it useful for? Not much really. Antiseptic, band-aids, and some Ibuprofen are far from helpful in a real live trauma emergency when rounds may be flying. The concept of TCCC (Tee-Triple-Cee) began with a 1996 paper that was published in Military Medicine. U.S. Special Operations Command ran with the ideas and methods and slowly began implementing TCCC … Continue reading
New Benchmade 176BK SOCP Knife Review
U.S. Military Special Operations Forces operators needed a purpose-designed knife for urban close quarters battle, based on their experiences with house-to-house fighting in the Sandbox. Special Forces Combatives Program (SOCP) developer Greg Thompson made it happen. Thompson, a trainer of SF soldiers for over 12 years and Director of Training for the XVIII Airborne Corps in Ft. Bragg, NC, collaborated with the Benchmade Knife Company, Inc. to produce what he felt was the solution to an edgy problem. The Benchmade 176BK SOCP dagger is made for low profile carry, ease of accessibility on a combat load-out, and pure function in CQB. Sounds like something useful to domestic SWAT operators and … Continue reading
Proposed Indiana Castle Doctrine Allows for Killing Police Officers
Updated 3/23/2012: It was signed into law by Gov. Daniels. Updated 3/9/2012: SB 1 was passed by the Senate and the House and will be sent to Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels. See the end of the article for further. If you have not been following the legal machinations in the State of Indiana over Castle Doctrine, you need to read the appalling proposed “legislation” that is Indiana Senate Bill 1 (SB 1) 2012. This bill passed the Indiana House 74-24 in a vote last week and was returned to the Indiana Senate with amendments. Sections (h)(i),(j), SB-1 from the Indiana General Assembly: (h) A person is justified in using reasonable … Continue reading
Posted in Legal, Officer Safety
Tagged Castle Doctrine, Indiana General Assembly, Indiana Senate, Officer Safety, Senate SB 1
17 Comments