Awareness
The more aware we are of our environment, the earlier we can spot a potential problem developing.Avoid task fixation in public venues.
-Talking on the phone. We all use cell phones day in and out, but be cognizant of not allowing yourself to become so fixated with the task of speaking, that you forget where you’re at and what’s around you.
-Finding the right key.
-Sitting in a stationary vehicle with the ignition off
-Sitting in a stationary vehicle with the ignition off
Maintaining Range
If this unknown contact is hostile then he’s going to want to close the gap. Why? To take what he wants by force or threat of force.
To maintain range I have to use some kind of verbiage. I have to tell him something that makes him stop coming closer. Ask politely but firmly for someone to stop. A phrase such as “Hey buddy would you hold there for a minute?” allows someone to comply with your request, which isn’t rendered rudely. If they stop advancing, then you can ask them what they want.
If you have asked him to stop and he doesn’t what then? If you have range, which we understand is directly proportional to our awareness; we can ramp up our verbiage from a request to a command. What I also recommend is that you change the specific language and increase the volume. So if we start at “Hey buddy would you hold there?” we’ll kick it up next to “I said BACK-UP!
What if he still doesn’t stop or say he begins to verbalize somewhat but still keeps advancing? Once again, we can kick up our verbiage a bit by adding some profanity. “Back the fuck up” (Don't insult with profanity, just use it to accentuate the message).
Fence
Along with verbalization we want to utilize our Fence.
The fence:
-Establishes a platform for the pre-emptive strike.
-The palms outward fence reinforces the verbal message to not come any closer.
-Allows for a quicker, more efficient default response.
Assessment
Looking for pre-assault cues. Not an extensive list but these are the ones he has personally seen. Look at these as a cluster.
1) Grooming - Grooming, I mean any kind of movement of the hand around the face. I’m not a psychologist, but I’ve been told that this is some kind of unconscious effort to mask deception. Examples include rubbing the back of head, the back of neck or covering the mouth.
2) Target Glancing - Usually to the subject's 3 o'clock or 9 o'clock.
3) Discernable Weight Shift - Usually when someone shifts their weight noticeably from one foot to the other, or from one side to another.
These might be clustered providing more evidence an assault is imminent.
4) Furtive Movement Of The Hand Toward The Waist
*Here he presents a summary of what he has covered so far.
Pre-emption
The objective of this process is to give one the option of, and criteria for preemption. Pre-emption or taking initiative is always preferred to waiting on the other person to do something. We train a default position for when we screw up this process.
Scanning/Positioning
This process should include a scanning procedure that allows us to focus on the known potential threat, while bringing the probable unknown threat into our visual periphery. Specifically what we’ll do is move all the way to our 9 or 3 o’clock while maintaining a hard focus on the known. The reason that we move to 9 or 3 is to bring what was behind us into our periphery. This means that you don’t turn your head and look behind you. If you do that while someone is only a step or two away, they’ll own you if they want to.
Pre-emptively Establishing Grip On A Weapon
The cool thing about C1 is that it cuts the draw time way down, but it keeps the pistol in the holster. This is important for two reasons. First if you screw-up and make an incorrect assessment, no one can say that you pointed a gun at an innocent citizen, hence you can avoid the “brandishing” misdemeanor that some states have.
Any cons? Well let’s face it, when you make that definitive move to your waistline, it lets him know that we’re armed. That may be a good thing and deter him from making any more advances. We’ve also let everyone know that we’re armed including that bad guy that we may not see. So now the movement/scanning procedure becomes even more necessary if we escalate to C1 from the fence.
Three pronged strategy for enhancing your awareness, avoiding a potential problem, and deselecting your self out of this.
First thing you have to do is be aware but also recognize directed encroachment.(someone that's intersecting your path, making a bee line toward you).
1) What you say. Address the encroachment verbally in a way that keeps that person out but doesn't make them mad. Something like "Hey, can you hold up just for a second" versus somethng like "How can I help you?" or "What do yo need?".
2) How you move. Want to move in a way that doesn't put you in the path of a potential second adversary. Instead of moving straight back, move in an arc like manner. This allows you to maintain visual contact with the person in front of you while putting what was behind you into your peripheral vision.
3) What you do with your hands. You want to maintain a fence. That means hands are relatively high and relatively close to your head. Why? Because if he throws a punch and you have to cover your head, your hands to have to travel nearly as far.
Jocko Willink: How To Deal With Threatening People In Public
Geoff Thompson The Fence
Chuck Haggard on Micro-Ranging & Verbal De-Escalation at the ASP National Conference
CRAIG DOUGLAS ON MANAGING UNKNOWN CONTACTS
Managing Unknown Contacts on the Street Coach Paul Sharp SBG IllinoisChuck Haggard on Micro-Ranging & Verbal De-Escalation at the ASP National Conference
