Editor’s Note:This is a guest post from The Chaplain. The Chaplain’s bio is at the end of this article.
During my first few years as a Law Enforcement Officer I had the experience of working with many back country Rural Police Officers. When you’re working in Southeastern Oklahoma or Western Arkansas as a Law Enforcement Officer you have to be pretty self-sufficient. Many times back-up for incidents and traffic stops is just a dream if nothing more. One lesson I took from a mentoring officer in dealing with gun gazing subjects has served me well over the 20 plus years of surviving the badge.
Big Jerry I called him, and said it with a respectful tone, when addressing him as a rookie looking to make his way. He was a mountain of a man at 6’2 and well over 300 Lbs of corn fed muscle. To ask if he ever played football was to ask if Superman ever wore a cape. He seemed a one man tactical unit at times and had a forceful presence without even saying a word. He certainly was the kind of man you would want to walk in a dark alley with as versus encountering him in one. Big Jerry worked the little towns on the state line and could handle pretty much anything that came his way. He imparted a morsel of wisdom to me one day in dealing with those you catch eyeing your firearm. Jerry’s tactic was to stop whatever he was doing and immediately let the suspect know that he was aware of his gazing in a very abrupt manner. This served most often to defuse a potential situation.
Over the years I have heard many a young officer speak of how the subject was eyeing his weapon and becoming mentally prepared for the potential coming altercation. However, concerning this subject matter an ounce of prevention is certainly worth using to prevent the pound of trouble that comes your way should you end up struggling for your weapon. For those that have never lived through such a situation I can tell you first hand it is as certainly a life threatening dangerous as any vehicle accident or shooting you could ever get into.
We know that the majority of Line of Duty Deaths every year, roughly 70 out of 150, are by murder, many times by firearm and all too often with the officer’s own weapon. This is the very reason we strive to secure body armor that will at least stop the round from of our own weapon.
When considering that the majority of human communication is non- verbal we certainly enter the realm of dealing with furtive movement. Normally this type of movement by the suspect we see as coming from their posture or hand positioning. Are they taking a stance and preparing to fight us? However, where the eyes wonder the hands may attempt to claim in the end game.
Therefore when observing that your suspect is frequently taking sneak peeks at your weapon, particularly a holster ed side arm, it is not out of the level of most use of force models, officer presence being the beginning, to stop what you are doing and advise the suspect, “Look, I see that you are looking at my weapon and I assure you that you don’t want to see it. Because if I have to draw it then there is going to be trouble and that you don’t want.”
This type of address to the suspect, while implying a threat, is well within our most common Use of Force parameters. Letting the suspect know that you know and that they will have a huge fight on their hands should they make that move could de escalate a situation. Of course in the world of dealing with loud obnoxious drunks this tactic could serve to escalate the situation. So, it is important to pick the right suspect on which to utilize this technique. However, it has been my experience that the majority of the time this will ward off the gun gazer from further issues.
About the Author: The Chaplain
The Chaplain is a nom de plume or pen name for the Senior Border Patrol Agent who wrote this article.
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