Force-on-Force Training Keeps Police Sharp

While war hangs heavy over the world, Alpharetta, Ga., police officers are preparing to face off with their own enemies - wanted drug dealers, suicidal gunmen, armed home invaders, and the like - through force-on-force training exercises designed to mentally prepare officers for stressful situations.

During the week of March 24, Alpharetta officers were trained for a variety of situations, all part of federal and state-mandated in-service training. Perhaps most interesting was the day spent on "survival versus mindset" or how to win and survive.

Beyond satisfying government requirements, the scenarios introduce officers to highly tense situations. They are situations where the officers want to perform well. Not only are their buddies watching, if they don't perform well, they could end up getting shot. Even though the bullets are essentially police-issue paint balls, known as "simmunitions," the message they send on impact is clear.

During the exercise, one officer is upset with himself for firing too soon after a suicidal gunman simply stands up from a sitting position. The erratic gunman was holed up in a bathroom, sitting on a toilet spinning the wheel of a revolver pointed at his head. The situation is tense. It is not tough to see how such an "error" can be made.

The gunman jumps up to look out the window and waves his gun. Two officers open fire and the suspect falls. The firefighter who was acting as the crazy gunman feels three stings, one along a major artery in the leg. In real life, the gunman may not have lived to see the light at the end of life's tunnel.

The officer learns something else after the suspect is taken into custody. That initial shot he wished he hadn't fired, didn't hit the suspect. Rather, the bullet struck the wall next to him.

"So why did you pull the trigger?" asks Instructor Ike Boyette while discussing the scenario afterward.

"He put me in jeopardy by getting up and moving so fast," the officer said.

"You have to be able to articulate exactly why you engaged him," Boyette said.

It is especially important, since most cases that involve the use of force - especially deadly force - wind up in court, said training coordinator C.E. Garren. "By doing this, we have it documented that they have been trained in the use of deadly force," Garren said.

And officers also understand they need to be able to state why they squeezed the trigger.

The officer also learns that during the negotiation with the suicidal gunman, he should have been more compassionate, using the man's name, instead of just issuing commands. "Think about the positive things you can say other than 'just drop the gun.'" Boyette said.

Although the suicidal gunman ultimately was shot three times in the end after making more sudden movements while clutching the revolver, the scenario was far from unsuccessful. "It's important we have force-on-force training. In high-risk situations, your body experiences a high level of stress. We are trying to practice that to get our bodies accustomed to it," said Sgt. Chris Lagerbloom, who oversaw the training. "It's important to know what your body does when that stress hits you. You lose fine motor skills. By preparing for that moment, when it happens in real life, it won't be the first time the officer has dealt with it." In another scenario, police were called to apprehend a drug suspect who rents a home from his brother, who called police.

With the homeowner's consent, police enter the home and must seek out the suspected drug dealer, who has decided he won't come peacefully. Police clearly announce their presence and communicate which rooms have been searched as the alleged drug dealer scatters.

When officers find him in a downstairs bedroom, he resists arrest. He has a pistol in his front left pocket but his arms are up and he is not attempting to reach for it.

The suspect is belligerent and insists the officers come to him. He disobeys orders to get on the floor. Police spray him with police-issue O.C. spray, which seems to have little impact on the suspect. From two sides, officers rush him, taking him to the ground. During discussion afterward, officers talked about what they need to legally enter a house. Since there was an active warrant for the suspect and the homeowner gave consent, they felt justified. They also discussed the importance of announcing the presence of police and informing the suspect there is a warrant for his arrest.

"There is no way to simulate this type of training in a classroom environment. We deal with real-life situations every day, the closer we can make our training to real life, the better prepared we are to do our job," Lagerbloom said.