Pre-Assaultive indicators

[tgace]

In the casts I have head you guys talk about "combat profiling"/"threat profiling" a few times. I think that stuff is great information and have done a little work on the topic myself from the LE side of the house. This is a post I did as a guest poster on pre-assaultive indicators and personal safety.

http://tdatraining.blogspot.com/2008/12/threat-indicators-and-personal-safety.html

The theory is that as a person is placed under the stress of considering launching a physical attack (or fleeing) his body is undergoing certain changes like dumping adrenalin, blood flow restrictions/redirection, elevated oxygenation etc. Combine these physical effects with the psychological pressure of the situation and the person is bound to "leak" indicators that this process is going on.

Some of the indicators are:

Avoiding Eye Contact
The Chest Puff
Rocking Motion
Averting the Face
Boxers Stance
Clenching of Fists
Thousand Yard Stare
Target Glance
Facial Wipe

If you are in LE or Security and have to deal with people in these situations; when you see these indicators it is time to act! Put some distance between yourselves and start issuing commands for compliance. I would be getting my OC or taser limbered up and/or tightening the laces on my running shoes. If you are a civilian and you see these cues...leave...if possible. If leaving is not an option, get ready.

The attached video is a clip from a project put together by a close friend who is a martial arts instructor, a local film artist and myself. It's a project in progress. The idea was to film a series showing a cop not seeing the cues and getting pounded, another where he sees them just in time to react and a third where they are noticed early and the cop acts by deploying OC and issuing commands. Only this part managed to get finished.

Another thing. We know the "fight" here is lame and unrealistic. The threat indicators were the focus of the piece and we were not willing to roll around on the hot summer pavement for a more realistic "fight".

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/6aa7r7Da8Nw&rel=0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/6aa7r7Da8Nw&rel=0</a>

I'm not saying you should freak just because some guy wipes his face. The idea behind these cues is to take the entire situation into account and look for clusters of behavior. In reality, you will be unlikely to see ALL of these indicators in a person and they will probably not be as blatant or easy to see. The idea here was to show all of the indicators and make them recognizable for instructional purposes.

I can see the value of this stuff for law enforcement, but some people have argued that for non-LE personnel the common "self defense scenario" is the sudden ambush attack where you wouldn't have the opportunity to see this stuff.

While they have a point, I think that it doesn't hurt to be aware of this anyway. One never knows what sort of situation they could find themselves in. Being able to identify body language that indicates an imminent attack could give you the opportunity to, at best, "beat feet". Or at worst, allow you to preempt the attack with a defensive measure.

[Hk940]

Thanks for sharing your insight.  As a civilian I have been in a few “sticky situations” and can say that from my perspective there seems to be a mechanism at work between criminal, victim/non-victim.  It has been interesting to see a potential criminal, tough guy or fellow good guy CHL (concealed handgun license) holder walking toward you and displaying indicators and knowing you are starting to fall behind the initiative/power curve.  So you start doing a lot of the things the other person is doing. Or maybe you were doing them first and you made him uneasy so he is responding to you?  It’s funny in a way because I don’t really think about both of us as puffing out or walking stiffer.  Those things just happen as we are sizing each other up and the growing threat level gradually changes from yellow to orange then flips quickly red and it’s time to strike.  I think the real trick here is how do you prevent the red switch from tripping and if it’s inevitable manage the situation.

 

Except for rare circumstances I don’t think “blind” ambush attacks really happen.  It’s just too dangerous for a (hate to use the term) professional criminal to attack without the security of profiling his victim and assuming there will be a high level of success and a civilian with even minimal training can see a potential ambush site for what it is.  I.E. don’t park at the end of a dead end alley when the streetlight is out.


I think we are so terrified of loosing OpSec we are failing to give civilians the proper tools that will keep them safe.  What if cops were not necessary anymore or what if everyone was either a licensed police officer or a criminal.  There would need to be an increase in the size of the internal affairs division to compensate for all the police oversight but just imaging how terrifying it would be for a criminal to either be in jail or walking about a police station.  It’s dangerous to say but I think a CHL holder is somewhere between a cop and a civilian.  Everyone will be quick to point out a CHL holder is not a cop and I agree but he is more than just a civilian augmented with a gun.  He needs all the training, tools and techniques he can get to be safe. 

[squidly]

Personally, I consider myself to be a civilian that cannot afford to hope the police are there when I need them.
Not bashing the cops but you guys simply can't be everywhere.
But I see what you are getting at. Hopefully an upstanding citizen w/ a CHL will step up and intercede in a situation if there are no ploice around.
I believe it was Daniel (i listen to a lot of GRRN so it might have been another) that said CHL/CCW holders are the true First Responders and I couldn't agree more.
If someone had been carrying at Virginia Tech or Ft Hood or any number of places it might have been one dead douchebag instead of a bunch of dead innocents.

[Rspaulding]

Great post there Tgace I could not have said it better myself    Seriously thanks for sharing with us.

[Rifleman_1101]

Outstanding post.

I've been in a lot of fights with suspects. There were a lot of indicators before the fight was on. I now train newer officers out of the academy. One of the things I tell to think of is a pro/amateur boxer or fighter. What they do before they prepare before the fight. Not the overt things but the little things.

I also tell them that animals do the same things, like dogs. They snarl, show their teeth. I've seen aggressive suspects snarl, show teeth, and spit when they talk.

Also when I've put hands on a suspect, when they go really limp or relaxed, I'm expecting them to strike.

[Dlshaw]

Not sure how I missed this post before but well done.

Very often we focus all of our efforts on training for that Oh @#$% situation and fail to see what we can do before hand to stop the incident before it escalates.

Thanks for sharing.

Daniel