“I am a Law Enforcement Officer employed by a State Police Department.
In September 2018 I attended the Predator Security & Defense Bodyguard/Executive Protection course in Kalispell, MT. Before I describe my experience during that week, I’d like to speak generally on law enforcement, and why every Officer needs to train with PSD.
One of the great paradoxes of law enforcement is that, though as Officers we work in a stressful, dynamic environment where every call is different, we tend to be creatures of habit. We go to briefing. We go to coffee. We write tickets. We handle our calls. We go back to the office. We write reports. We go home. Repeat ad nauseam. You’re probably familiar with the concept of “stress inoculation.” You received it at the Academy, and maybe during your prior Military service. Stress inoculation, like a vaccination, requires booster shots. And if you’re one of the “creature of habit” cops I mentioned above, you’re due for your booster shot. You’ve been lulled into a false sense of security. Most of the people you deal with at work are polite and cooperative. They sign their tickets, and there’s a good chance they even thank you when you tell them they’re free to leave. PSD isn’t preparing you to deal with those people. PSD prepares you to deal with the parolee who will try to kill you before he lets you handcuff him and take him back to jail. Unfortunately for Mr. Parolee, Officer Smith got back from training with PSD two months ago. He fired more rounds in a week than he fired in the prior five years combined. He got stressed out, PT’d until he wanted to puke, and ran wind sprints until he was about to pass out… And that was all before the actual training started.
I’ve always loved guns and marksmanship. I spend quite a bit of my own time shooting, doing dry work, and practicing my draw stroke. But that fact is, even if you’re diligent in maintaining your perishable skills, you, like me, will develop bad habits and training scars, especially if most of your training is done alone. My department has excellent, motivated firearms instructors, but with so many Officers to qualify, and so few rounds available for training, the reality is that we don’t get a lot of one on one instruction. One thing immediately stood out to me during the firearms training with PSD was how astute the instructors are. All of them were able to observe me fire a few rounds and make minute corrections that immediately improved my speed and accuracy. This was also my experience at the two prior two-day PSD handgun courses I attended in 2017 and early 2018.
PSD certainly has its own doctrine that it teaches. But the instructors were mindful of the fact that different agencies have specific policies and procedures that its Officer are obligated to abide by. The cadre did an awesome job of asking about my agency’s SOP and then using that as a framework for providing additional instruction. One specific example was during a module that dealt with vehicle approaches during a traffic stop. Another example was during a combatives training session, where I was given advice about how to position myself relative to a suspect that would appear non-threatening, but also allow me to utilize several PTUCS techniques, should the need arise.
You might not realize It at the end of the course because you’ll probably be too exhausted, physically and mentally, to think clearly. But, when you get home, and go back on patrol, you will realize that you are a far better, and safer Officer. At your next range qualification, you will shoot the lights out, and your beat partners on the firing line will be looking at your target, like “What the fuck?” Most importantly, you will be better prepared to win the fight and go home safely.
Look, you carry a gun for a living. You don’t have the right NOT to maximize your firearms skillset. You owe it to your wife, your kids, your beat partners, and the public we serve.
Be safe, have fun, and do great things. Train with Predator Security & Defense.”
