Police Tips

The PoliceOne Law Enforcement and Police Tips section provides insight from PoliceOne columnists and members on the things Police Officers can do to increase safety and enhance productivity.

The tips and resources here—ranging from innovations in defensive tactics to new concealment techniques to off duty survival and dozens of other matters critical to law enforcement officers—are updated regularly. Every day, Officers on the streets encounter new information that can help fellow officers, so we encourage you to submit your tips. Help us to help Police Officers better serve and protect our communities.

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Full list of recent and archived Police Tips

Cord adjusters: Dangling and dangerous10: A task force officer who went to a range for firearms training on a rainy day earlier this year thought his light-weight, wet-weather jacket would keep him dry. He never imagined it ...
Video: The dynamic of compliance (part two)1: In this video, PoliceOne Member Sheriff Ray Nash follows up on to the topic of generating voluntary compliance in a subject. As was stated in part one of this three-part series, answering ...
Video: Knife defense for overhand 16: In this video tactical tip, Logan Graver of Conditioned Response works with demonstration partner Tavini Sulusi to show two options for overhand knife defense when you’re in an ...
Retrieving dropped items13: It’s natural to want to immediately bend over to retrieve something that’s dropped to the ground, like a license or insurance paperwork, during a traffic stop. It’s ...
Video: Recognizing a meth addict9: In this video tactical tip, former DEA Agent Robert Penal discusses some of the cues and clues to watch for in identifying a methamphetamine ...
How much low-light, live-fire training do you do?7: Although I have not yet come upon any scientific national statistical data to back this up, I’d bet a waist-high stack of green money that OIS incidents roughly follow a commonly used modern-day distortion of the 80/20 Rule.
You pull the trigger, nothing happens. What then?27: You respond to a domestic disturbance in a residential neighborhood and to your surprise you’re confronted by a middle-aged man standing in the driveway, pointing a shotgun at your ...
Video: The dynamic of compliance (part one)4: In this video, PoliceOne Member Sheriff Ray Nash speaks to the topic of generating voluntary compliance by answering the question "Why?" the citizen must comply with your lawful ...
Video: The tactical about-face 13: “Look out behind you!” someone shouts. You turn around to discover an impending attack from your six. PoliceOne Columnist Dan Marcou works with demonstration partner Editor in ...
Check your battleground for glass 1: Now of course, we don't have the luxury of deciding where and when we will do battle, from simple hands on to all out firefight. This tip is submitted with the intention of opening up your ...
Watch out for the 'trail car' 11: Just yesterday, we were having an internal discussion here at PoliceOne and something came up which spurred me to offer what is perhaps an obvious tip. Well, obvious to some, but possibly ...
Staying hydrated in every season4: Falling behind with your drinking? We’re talking water here. And it’s an officer safety issue. Just because we’ve traversed the ‘dog days of summer’ and ...
Be self serving: Serve yourself some training! 15: We all see and hear from many defensive tactics instructors and martial arts people on this site. They are all preaching one thing: training. There are so many different ideas and so many ...
Police trainer's reading list: Recommended books for cops on fear, women veterans and more: What's on police trainer Dave "JD Buck Savage" Smith's night stand? A bottle of water, a Glock 17, and these five books. 1.) Flourish by Dr. Martin Seligman Flourish ...
4 keys to searching for subjects8: Manning a line of police officers and volunteers sweeping through a field as a helicopter hovered low overhead we were relieved to hear that the suicidal female had been found, alive, ...
Video: The 'Discretion Maxim' and the five types of offender: In this video submitted by PoliceOne Member Sheriff Ray Nash, the ‘Five Types of Offender’ is discussed. Sheriff Nash says that having the discernment to see below the surface ...
Video: Two tenets to keep you safe in a fight 13: Alongside demonstration partner Robert Gianino, John Clarke of RFLX Training talks about the two tenets he stresses in his training to keep you safe in a fight: #1: The underhook is ...
Check the motorist's GPS 7: I was recently kicking an idea around with a law enforcement friend of mine that I think is worthy of discussion in this space. During a suspected interdiction stop, a portable GPS unit can ...
Will I be ready? Will I be prepared? 9: How many times do you think to yourself as you begin your shift that it’ll be “just another” eight- or ten-hour day of boring, nonsense complaints? You make your favorite ...
Video: Defending against a subject's clinch 10: Alongside his demonstration partner Logan, Police and Corrections trainer Dan Severn discusses several movements you can use to counter a subjects clinch attempts, particularly when ...