Training in Any Weather and Any Environment

Training in Any Weather and Any Environment

The world does not stop for the police officer.
Jose Medina – Owner Awareness Protective Consultants LLC

Across the nation Police Officers/First Responders endure all types of weather while performing their duties. Heat, rain, cold, wind, snow; every state has a change of weather. Regardless of the elements, the police are out there handling the calls – from domestic disturbances to overturned motor vehicles to shooting situations. The world does not stop for the police officer.

Training needs to be diverse and mirror the fluctuating environment an Officer will experience throughout a year. Do not have a “let’s wait until Spring” mentality. Police Officers have no time-outs, no second chances, and no alibis. So, what do we do? You guessed it: We TRAIN no matter what the weather.

In a recent training session in New Jersey our planned day started with temperatures in the mid-20s F. We knew that in our 10-hour training day, low light and nightfall would be coming quickly. Our plan was to take them through the logistics such as sighting in, stances grip, holds, qualifications, etc. then on to using the MotoShot Elite Armored System in the final “use of force decision-making exercises,” where we prepared for the low light exercises which we like to call our famous “M.O.S.R.” exercise which stands for Multiple Observation Stimulus Response.

The M.O.S.R. exercise required the officers to work in pairs and perform the following in the low light, nighttime environment, and in freezing cold temperatures:

Here’s how the drill is performed

1. Starting from the 50-yard line, officers receive the important briefing of the exercise. Once loaded and charged, hearing and eye protection in place, the officers prepare to move.
2. Officers must advance from the 50-yard line moving left towards a series of staged barricades set up as a window opening which are positioned at the 25-yard line. They must address the following targets: A large blue-colored silhouette reactive steel target, a small red steel lollipop target, and a small square yellow steel target.
3. Once at the window barricade, their stimulus to fire is the color called out by the instructor.
4. They must put one shot on steel per officer. If one misses, that officer or their partner must re-apply force striking the steel.
5. Officers are then ordered to move to the right side of the range where a second set of barricades are set up for the two officers also at the 25-yard line. One officer must take an “over the top of cover” position simulating over the hood of a vehicle such as a truck while the second barricade of cover forces the officer to take a low kneeling position through a small opening in the barricades where only one person can position themselves.
6. The officers will repeat the same stimulus of fire which are the colored steel targets, and they are now shooting from an angled position.
7. Upon completion they will now move covertly down range towards the 15-yard line. What is waiting for them in the distance is a set of walls and barricades where there are unknowns waiting beyond the 10-yard line area.
8. Upon approaching the 10-yard line unknown threat area, the mover suddenly appears before the officers from behind the walls.
9. A dual setting of targets is placed on the mover. One target is the 3D mannequin target system and attached to it is a colored situation cardboard target of a human being in possession of unknown objects.
10. The goal is for the officers to use their illumination tools (weapon lights) and assess the immediate threats compared to non-threats.
11. During the paired-off groupings, each set of officers received an assortment of different scenarios and while active groups were conducting the exercise, the other officers were in another location unable to see the exercises or situations waiting for their turns.
12. Examples of situations that officers faced were the following:
    • Cardboard-colored target female subject had a knife in one scenario, cell phone in the next one, gun in another.
    • The 3D target we kept the arms off the unit keeping the appearance of hands tucked in the back or side while placing objects such as cell phones, firearms, and keys in the waistband areas or back.
    • Both targets attached together, created heightened levels of stress, confusion, and lack of illumination by some officers which allowed us to reach our initial goals in the training. Officers were forced to look in multiple directions looking for threats.
    • At times we would have the mover pop out from behind the cover position and continued side-to-side movement.
    • Other times we would suddenly send the mover towards the officers in a charging effect.

Takeaways:

After briefing the groups of officers, they provided true stress feedback as some officers gave great verbal commands but at certain moments, a shot or two would go off striking certain situational targets that were intended to be NON-shoot. The officers also realized that our goal was also to make them move on different angles and not just straight at the mover target system. This is where the traditional range training takes officers to a more static position. We consistently work with officers to be more confident in moving in different angles as their view of threats, backstops, and beyond come to life when moving instead of stationary. Being able to videotape some of the segments provided great after-action analysis for each group of officers.

The best part of these exercises was when all the officers stated that as cold as the night was, they were warm or hot moving through these exercises as this proved, once again, that training can and will take place in any type of environment. Why? Because training like this gives officers the true element of their working environment and they can one day articulate this type of situation in court if it ever happens to them. The MotoShot mover system achieved its goal yet again.

If you have any questions or would like a quote – contact us today.