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to, “cap him” whereupon the Officer that we had just worked with managed to use the techniques to his advantage. He fired a group of shots centered into the chest of the dope dealer who expired on scene while his partner that had encouraged him thought better of the whole affair and took off for parts unknown.

Another group I trained through the years was the Arson Section of the LAFD. Now these guys are the nicest and most polite group of men you’d ever meet. I mean they save your house, put out your car fire, rescue you from floods, earthquakes and any and all natural calamities that befall us and as they do this, they don’t have a single mean bone in their bodies.

Cops on the other hand are cynical, distrustful and here in LA, especially in the rougher divisions, they all have an edge. Firemen don’t have an edge at not least when they are dealing with the public after all…they’re rescuers not apprehenders. The more humorous aspect of their training was my attempt in getting them to be more aggressive in their training. If they said, “freeze” for instance, they’d be smiling when they said it even though they were holding the pistol at low ready. Most of the individuals they deal with have set arson fires either out of psychotic states or to cover up failing businesses or in the attempt at covering up a major crime scene. In other words, the suspects they went after had little to lose at that point.

They actually became very good shots and tacticians through the years even though they were rescuers in the technical sense of the term. One of them did become involved in a take over robbery at a restaurant and did quite well as I recall.

INSIDE THE LAPD- CIRCA 1976 –High Tech Speed Loaders
by Scott Reitz

In 1976 we were issued the second growth hickory, straight stick baton with a rubber grommet ring. The wood surface was smooth and we learned to do a straight thrust out of the ring and two hand strikes using an underhand and overhand rotational strike. All this was great in theory but most of us used it in a simple Dodger styled striking motion in the field. The grommet would always slip down so if you were smart you used really strong glue to keep it in place. The old timers could twirl it as they got out of the cars and slip it effortlessly into the baton keeper on the opposite side of the gun side. It looked cool and it was cool so all of us that were new on the job tried the same thing. Open the patrol door, slide the baton from the rubber hose mounted under the armrest, step away from the door twirl the baton once, (twice if you were really cool!) and then into the baton ring as you let go of it and simultaneously threw your hat on.

You see some of that in the old Adam -12 series although not with the unique flair that a real LA seasoned cop could pull it off with. I decided that this was the way to go. I mean what better way to show the public just how seasoned and cool you were than to alight from your Ford Matador black and white ‘Police Package Special’ with the Mickey Mouse ears than with such style and panache? Sometimes this would work and sometimes it wouldn’t. It was really embarrassing when you had some salty suspects leaning against a wall that watched as you jammed them, came out of the car, twirled the baton and then missed the ring. The baton would go under the car and there you were, on hands and knees, trying to retrieve it where it always rolled to…dead center under the car. No self respecting suspect could ever take you seriously after this entrance.

Whatever cool you thought you had, would have to be saved for the next stop. A couple of real old timers at Wilshire Division once showed me how they threw the baton down at an angle so that it would strike the pavement and bounce back up with one turn and they would catch it. I could never quite master this so I gave it up. The New York cops had lanyards on their batons so they could twirl the baton both ways. LA wasn’t that cool or forward thinking. The baton did work pretty well though when you had to use it. It was fairly heavy and stiff and it didn’t give a bit at least not so that you would notice. It was eventually replaced by a plastic PR-24 that had a fixed handle that jutted out at ninety degrees. This thing actually bent like a wet noodle when the temperatures hit 100. You’d take it out of the car and it would have this curve in it. It was embarrassing. Nowadays, they have collapsing batons made of space age metals infused with metallic particulate coatings with GPS. Back then it was a simple piece of worn and dinged wood that became a part of your identity as a righteous LA street cop.

Scott,
“As part of a back-up system what does Scott think about having the same back-up handgun as the primary handgun, but only smaller?”

Anonymous

Dear A.,
As a backup yes. As an off duty weapon possibly. The back up weapon should be able to accept the same magazine as the primary (i.e. a Colt 1911 full sized and a lightweight commander as a backup is ideal and was what I
carried in SWAT). Very compact pistols are somewhat harder to shoot well so take a class and work it through the problems to see.

Dear Scott,
I heard that you have your students draw to a low ready and as a result, I’m reticent to take a class from you. Can you convince me of why this is necessary?

Anonymous

Dear A.
You may be laboring under a misconception here. I do not teach to draw to the low ready exclusively but rather as a part of the entire tactical package, so to speak. If an opponent poses an immediate threat that necessitates an instant response then straight lines are called for and only straight lines. This obviates the need for low ready and it is simply bypassed. To only draw directly onto an individual each and every time however is not feasible by any stretch of the imagination. This has resulted in actual documented tragedies and bad shootings. Many times the simple act of drawing cleanly and effectively to the low ready speaks volumes to a potential suspect about your demeanor, ability and intention. This simple act in and of itself has stopped many potential encounters from progressing to a further stage. Police Officers and civilians alike must have a reasonable and probable cause to draw a weapon, let alone draw directly onto another individual otherwise one is looking at an assault with a deadly weapon charge. One draws to the low ready when there is a high degree of probability that deadly force may be necessitated in the immediate future. If the immediacy is there and no other options are available then drawing directly onto the threat is the only reasonable and viable option. I suggest that you take a class and observe firsthand for yourself what is taught and how it is taught and why it is taught rather than rely on second or third-hand information that was not properly placed into context.