1. Eric Parsons Fitchburg State University
December 3, 2010 CJ 2000-01: Introduction to Criminal Justice
Dr. David Weiss
Police Self Defense Training: What Works?
Police officers face dangerous situations every day. While on duty, cops interact
with a diverse variety of people; criminals and innocent citizens alike. Never knowing
what to expect, be it people who are intoxicated or under the influence of drugs, violent
and/or angry individuals, or those persons who are mentally handicapped or
psychologically imbalanced, officers need to be ready to deal with any obstacle.
Although not every confrontation becomes physical, policemen and women have to have
the necessary tools to protect themselves and suspects from injury and death when a
situation explodes into violence. So the question becomes: What self defense training
best prepares police officers for the dangers they will face on the streets? Which methods
and training exercises will teach cops what they need to know to be able to consistently
protect themselves? Does training involving the martial arts improve the chances that an
officer can avoid injury? Throughout this paper, I will address these questions and others
in an attempt to come to a conclusion about which defensive tactics are the most valuable
when instructing the men and women of our nation’s police departments.
The main focus of defensive tactics training for police officers is on the physical
movements that have been deemed necessary for the officers to learn. For local police

2. departments, there is no standardized system of self defense. Each agency is responsible
for deciding how to instruct police recruits and what to teach them. There is debate in the
field of police experts about whether or not martial arts techniques should be used in the
training of officers. Some experts on the subject, such as Stanley White, a safety officer
and Defensive Tactics instructor in New Jersey, favor the incorporation of martial arts
into police training. White, in a 2001 publication of a criminal justice periodical,
introduces many forms of martial arts that he believes could be useful in defensive tactics
(DT) training. They include: Karate, Kung Fu, Aikido, JuJitsu, Hapkido, and Tae Kwon
Do. In his article, White writes “By integrating martial arts techniques into a department's
DT Program, officers can improve their odds during a physical encounter with a suspect.
Officers will see increased confidence, greater understanding of their own physical
strengths and weaknesses, improved balance and footwork, improved hand/eye
coordination, greater focus while under pressure and enhanced ability to assess a physical
threat.” (p. 79)
On the other end of the martial arts vs. non martial arts debate is George T.
Williams, the Director of Training for Cutting Edge Training in Bellingham, Washington.
Williams, in a 2000 article, addresses both Aikido and JuJitsu based defense systems. “To
the average officer it’s complicated, difficult to learn, and impossible to apply defensive
tactics.” (p.115) Williams would like to see police departments move to DT training that
is based upon an understanding of the “actual needs of every working officer.” Due to
restrictions on training time and officer skill level, their training needs to be “simple
enough to be mastered in the time allowed for training.” There are just too many
movements involved in martial arts self defense training for cops to be able to master

3. them in the short amount of time they have for training, argues Williams. “Most
Aikido-/Jujitsu-based systems of police defense involve the mastery of hundreds of
individual techniques, of which each is designed to defeat a specific strike or hold…
Such systems require a large number of techniques that must be memorized and ingrained
in the officer's muscle-memory and cognitive awareness if they are to be instantly
useful… A single…technique generally involves a complicated series of steps that must
be performed in proper sequence to counter only one specific attack.” So instead of such
complex systems, Williams advocates the Rules of Defense and the Principles of
Defense. “It is the combination of the tactical application of the Principles to meet
immediate defense needs with the overall goals of the Rules of Defense (within the
objectively reasonable limits of the law) that offers officers a meaningful method of
defense. After a limited time, the few Rules and Principles, combined with simple grabs
and strikes, become second nature. These Rules and Principles depend upon the natural
strengths and routine physical skills available to every human.” The Rules and Principles
were designed to be universal, for use in any situation. And they are not prescribed
techniques, they are suggested solutions based on the needs of the situation and the legal
restraints of the officer.
The other focus of defensive tactics training for many police department
instructors is the mindset and/or mentality of officers when facing a physical
confrontation. Police mindset is the focus of Joseph J. Truncale, a retired officer and
police trainer, in a 2002 article. He stresses the importance of training cops to access an
offensive mentality when threatened with a dangerous situation. “The offensive action
mind-set is the ability to change from a passive defender mentality, to that of a person

4. whose mind-set is focused on winning at all costs: any confrontation with explosive,
aggressive and decisive action,” writes Truncale. To develop this mindset, he encourages
officers to train using physical and mental exercises that involve immediate response to a
threat. Also suggested in the article is self-hypnosis, which Mr. Truncale defines as
“merely relaxation with a heightened sense of awareness.” (p.278)
Also emphasizing the importance of more than just physical training for police
officers are Eric Cobbs, Tony Torres, Sean Mulligan, and Tony Blauer, a group with
many years of law enforcement and police training experience between them. They
collaborated to write about a system called Live Action Response Drills, or LARD. “One
aspect of this approach to DT is the absolute necessity of developing a three dimensional
approach to training (emotional, psychological, and physical).” (2005, p.65) The LARD
system stresses the use of drills that forces trainees to use “differing tactical choices and
options,” making participants think about what they are doing. Cobbs, Torres, Mulligan,
and Blauer want police training to be as challenging mentally as it is physically, so that
cops will be able to use their brains as well as they can use their bodies.
Despite the differences in DT systems that local agencies use to instruct their
officers, every system focuses on three things: verbal diffusion of a situation, weapon
retention, and transition of self defense into the handcuffing of suspects. The LARD
system does a very nice job incorporating these three aspects into its training method.
“Those who are willing to talk can usually be persuaded to walk. In other words, if a
potential attacker has not yet physically assaulted you, there is a good chance that
appropriate verbal skills can de-escalate the tension and allow all the involved parties to

5. walk away unscathed.” (Cobbs, Torres, Mulligan, and Blauer, 2005). Stanley White also
mentions the need for handcuffing practice in his article, which supports martial arts
based DT systems. When outlining the necessary techniques for policemen and women to
become familiar with, White states, “…officers should be trained to apply control holds
to a suspect's wrist and arm without causing him injury. Holds that allow the officer to
have one arm free at completion are most favorable. Officers should also practice
handcuffing in conjunction with these holds.” (2001, p.79) Another police training
system that features martial arts as its foundation is the GRACIE system for law
enforcement. Police DT instructors all over Florida attended a training conference at the
St. Petersburg College to learn from Royce Gracie, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) expert.
Mainly a grappling art, BJJ has been adapted by Gracie for use as a law enforcement
training tool. Jim Weiss and Mickey Davis explain in their article that “Gracie's class has
incorporated many of his defensive and control tactics especially designed for members
of law enforcement. Weapon retention is paramount and involves working an opponent
into the basic officer-on-- top/suspect-face-down, with the officer in handcuffing
position.” ( Weiss, Davis, 2002)
In conclusion, martial arts based police training and non martial arts training
methods both have their strengths and weaknesses. Martial arts programs offer more
complete and developed fighting systems that offer specific techniques for every
situation. With the appropriate amount of practice, an officer can take advantage of
systems that utilize leverage and technique instead of strength and size. After all, not
every cop is the perfect physical specimen. But there is very often limited time for
officers to train in self defense. That being the case, non martial arts programs are often

6. more practical. Simpler methods that teach universal approaches to problem solving
allow officers a better chance of remembering what they are taught. So which works
better? That depends on training time and the ability of those being taught. For those
departments with plenty of time, which are looking for extensive instruction in defensive
tactics, go with the martial arts based systems. But if time is limited, and the cops need a
quick and dirty DT class, a simpler, universally applied program is best. Whichever
method is chosen however, instruction in talking first and fighting second, weapon
retention, and handcuffing techniques are absolutely crucial. And defending yourself is
more than just a physical task. Police officers need to be trained to think appropriately
during a confrontation, so that the situation doesn’t get out of control. The idea is that
officers should be able to use their mental strength, so that they don’t have to use
physical strength. Maybe that way, injuries to both police and suspects can be avoided.
Because avoidance of injury is the name of the game when it comes to police work.

7. Works Cited
Cobbs, E., Torres, T., Mulligan, S., & Blauer, T. (2005). Live Action Response Drills.
Tactical Response, 4, 65-70. Received from http://www.fsc.edu:2104/pqdweb?
did=976146671&sid=2&Fmt=4&clientId=20100&RQT=309&VName=PQD
Truncale, J.J. (2002). Training: Offensive action mindset. Law & Order, 50, 277-279.
Received from http://www.fsc.edu:2104/pqdweb?
did=236584381&sid=3&Fmt=4&clientId=20100&RQT=309&VName=PQD
White, S. (2001). Martial arts defensive tactics. Law & Order, 49, 79-81. Received from
http://www.fsc.edu:2104/pqdweb?
did=75424388&sid=2&Fmt=4&clientId=20100&RQT=309&VName=PQD
Weiss, J. & Davis, M. (2002). Defensive tactics: Ground fighting and weapon retention.
Law & Order, 50, 271-274. Received from http://www.fsc.edu:2104/pqdweb?
did=236584341&sid=2&Fmt=4&clientId=20100&RQT=309&VName=PQD
Williams, G.T. (2000). Moving from martial arts to principle-based training. Law &
Order, 48, 115-119. Received from http://www.fsc.edu:2104/pqdweb?
did=56491024&sid=2&Fmt=3&clientId=20100&RQT=309&VName=PQD