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In the world of police
work there are many tools used to increase
the officer’s effectiveness and to allow him to operate in
environments that are hazardous with a minimized or at least somewhat
controlled risk. Some of these items are: body armor – with
varying levels of ballistic coverage and protection dependent on
the duty performed; Protective (gas) mask – so that chemical
agents or OC spray deployment doesn’t inhibit the performance
of duties; wet weather gear – so that our uniforms and equipment
don’t get saturated and/or ruined by rain; SCUBA gear – for
those of us who have to do underwater
search and recovery work.
Depending on the quality and characteristics
of the above equipment an officer or
agency can expect to spend several hundred
dollars per item. Ballistic vests start
at about two hundred dollars and go up
from there. A ballistic helmet is going to run the same or more.
A protective mask is another costly item and insulated gortex “waterproof” rain
gear is about three to four hundred dollars per set. Dive gear isn’t
cheap and even a basic set is going to
cost upwards of a thousand dollars or
more. Accepting these expenses as necessary
to perform assigned duties, why then do we habitually spend as little
as possible to protect ourselves in the most encountered high risk
environment: low light situations?
The average patrol officer works
half to two-thirds of his patrol time
during the hours of darkness. Even officers
who are assigned to regular day shifts
still find themselves in situations where
they are working inside of buildings
or in heavily wooded areas that are lacking
in light levels. Given that seventy percent (70%) of all officer-involved
shootings occur in low-light environments, wouldn’t it be
prudent to protect ourselves as much as possible from the related
risk? It’s as simple
as purchasing and learning how to properly
use a high quality decent power flashlight.
Yet most officers I know will buy a seven hundred dollar vest and
then put a twenty-dollar flashlight onto their gunbelt. After all,
the flashlight is going to be abused and broken so why buy a good
one? When asked this question I respond with a counter-question:
Then why spend four hundred dollars on a good helmet? It’s
only going to get broken. Why not just
buy a cheap one? The answer is because
when it’s properly
functioning the high-dollar helmet protects
your head better. Is your head worth the extra money? How
about your life?
Let’s look at this a different way. As human
beings we are heavily dependent upon our vision to
provide us with data about everything
around us. Vision is used for identification.
Identifying that which makes up our surroundings
is a learned skill. We learn to detect
and recognize repeating patterns that
hold value for us such as body shapes,
facial contours and letters that make
words which make sentences, etc.
Vision
is used for navigation. We take for granted
that we can see where we’re
going and often we navigate our way through
cluttered rooms or busy hallways while
we are thinking about other things because
our vision-based navigation is subconscious.
Vision
is used for balance. Remember when we
had suspected drunk drivers stand with
their feet together, eyes closed and
head tipped back? Losing sight of the
horizon removed a mechanism by which
we humans orient ourselves to our surroundings.
People who have lost their sight are
frequently less stable on their feet
due to their loss of visual anchoring
in the environment.
Vision is used for a
level of security. As small children
we feared what we couldn’t
see under the bed or in the closet. Many
children are afraid of the dark because
they can imagine what might be there
that they can’t see. Therefore,
what they can see provides a level of
comfort and security. Nothing bad is
seen so they’re okay. As adults
we may not be afraid of the dark but
what we can’t see often causes
us an increased level of discomfort.
Vision is used for communication. Since
communication involves both delivering
and receiving a message, recognize that
you use your vision to receive a great
deal of what you are told. That’s
because some of the message you receive
is provided through facial expressions
and body language. Emotion filled phone
calls can be frustrating because you
can’t see the person’s facial
expressions and therefore have a harder
time interpreting their intended meaning.
Vision
is used for verification. What our other
four senses take in we often use our
vision to verify. If something feels
a certain way we can look at it to confirm
what we felt. If we hear a sound we can
look in that direction to confirm the
source and distance. Vision is also our
primary distance-sensing tool and our
hearing plays a poor second.
Bearing in
mind all of the above and the high value
of our vision in every day life much less during hazardous duty
hours, recognize that we are only capable
of seeing anything at all thanks to reflected
light. We see light that is reflected
off of objects and enters our eyes. No
reflected light results in a situation
we’re all familiar with: darkness.
The opposite situation is what we call
being “blinded by the light”.
As cliche as that phrase is, it’s
true. If a bright white light is shown
directly into your eyes then all we can
see is the white light. There is no other
visual input and therefore no data received
by your brain for use in decision-making.
Since eighty-percent of the data we use
for decision making is taken in through
our eyes and since seventy-percent of
all officer involved shootings occur
in low-light situations, is it reasonable
to make a correlation between a lack
of light and reduced decision making
capability?
The obvious answer is a resounding
YES. So, we can plainly see (no pun intended)
the high value of light in all aspects
of our lives, but particularly as it
relates to reducing risk to ourselves
in the performance of our duties. Rather
than entering a situation with lower
levels of light we can use technology
to take light with us. Remember that
twenty-dollar flashlight? In a low light
situation, if that’s what you have
on your belt, then that’s what
you’re staking your safety on.
Maybe it would be prudent to invest a
few more dollars and some training time
and learn how to better survive and prevail
in the high-risk situation we are most
likely to encounter?
The good news is
that if we control the light we are at
a distinct advantage in any low-light
environment conflict. The almost perfect
tactical situation is to be operating
in near total darkness, with absolutely
no backlighting and in one hundred percent
control of the only available light:
our own – that
which we hold and control. For SWAT teams,
white light might not even be necessary.
Through the use of Night Vision Devices
and infrared lighting equipment, such
as that manufactured by SureFire, the
suspect would be left in total darkness
while the team operators would be able
to see without giving away their positions.
The downside of this second scenario
is that when the suspect is confronted,
if white light is used to freeze him
in the decision making loop, then most
night vision devices will bloom out giving
the good guys nothing but brightness
to deal with as well. The bad guy is
as dependent on light as we are for data
input and decision making so if we deny
him light, or overload him with light,
then we inhibit his ability to gather
information and make decisions. If he
can’t decide he can’t act
and we’ve effectively neutralized
him – with light. Does that sound
like a potential less-thanlethal level
of force?
It should. Unless you are using
a light so powerful that you do damage
to his retinas, you are exercising control
over his behavior and delivering no injury
whatsoever. At the same time you are
minimizing the risk you experience in
this low-light environment and greatly
increasing the chance you stand of surviving
or prevailing in the situation. Sounds
like a win-win scenario to me. To accomplish
this task you need to be proactive in
a few things.
First, purchase a decent flashlight – actually
two of them. Redundancy is the rule for
most high-risk work. Search and recovery
scuba divers always carry two flashlights
in case one goes down. Many police officers
carry a backup weapon in case the primary
is lost or becomes inoperative. As a
law enforcement officer you’re
going to operate in low-light situations
a lot. Carry two of the most cost-effective
tool you have.
Second, train, practice
and work with them. Most folks I know
believe that using a flashlight is a
matter of turning it on, shining it around,
looking where it shines and then turning
it off. Or, and sometimes this is worse,
they just leave it on all the time and
scan with it in a nice predictable rhythmic
pattern. If you use the flashlight improperly
in low-light situations it becomes a
beacon announcing your position and pace
of movement to the bad guy. On the leading
edge of this type of training is Strategos
International (formerly SureFire Institute).
The low-light operator training curriculum
was developed by Ken Good, a former Naval
Special Warfare operator, and Vaughn
Baker, a veteran SWAT operator, and covers
proper tactical use of flashlights for
nearly all close quarters battle type
of work along with a host of other related
topics. This training, as it directly
relates to the most frequently encountered
high-risk situations police officers
normally work in, is invaluable.
Third,
educate your partner, or potential patrol
working partners, about light and how
valuable it is, most especially if you control it to your benefit.
Proper use of light can permit team work that
allows one of you to control a suspect,
holding him pinned with nothing more
than bright white light, while the other
officer approaches and takes him down
appropriately. The approach officer can
close safely under the cover of darkness
because everything outside the white
light in the suspect’s eyes is
pure darkness. Except for that white
light, nothing else in his world exists
with the possible exception of a disembodied
voice telling him what to do and holding
his attention to distract him from the
movement of the approach officer. With
no sensory input other than the light
and voice the bad guy cannot use his
vision for identification, navigation,
balance or any of the other uses we identified
above.
Finally, recognize how frequently
you, as a police officer, operate in a
low-light environment and what risks exist
there. Act with positive aggression to
reduce your risk and the risk of officers
you work with.
For more information about SureFire flashlights
or Strategos International training,
visit them on the web at http://www.strategosinternational.com.
About
The Author
Frank Borelli is a veteran
police officer and current police instructor
now working with the U.S. Army’s
testing and training communities to identify
opportunities to share civilian law enforcement
(CLE) and military resources. Frank is
currently tasked by the U.S. Army’s
testing and training communities to foster
CLE and military participation in future
urban terrain-based training efforts,
and encourages contact from CLE or military
organizations interested in fostering
such mutual efforts. Frank enjoys comments
and can be reached at frankborelli@comcast.net.
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