"But I will defend my house against marauding forces. Never
again will an oppressor overrun my people, for now I am keeping watch."
(Zechariah 9:8)
My research for the topic I’m going to talk about today comes
primarily from law enforcement. But
believe me when I say that whether you volunteer on a church security team or
regularly carry for self-defense, this can be important information for you.
On Wednesday, May 22, 2013, an FBI agent was stabbed during an
interview with a triple murder suspect. The suspect, who was then fatally shot, was
reportedly friends with one of the Boston Marathon bombers.
Early news accounts lay out what happened. Ibrahim Todashev, 27, was being questioned at
his home in Orlando. The interview was
being conducted by the agent and two Massachusetts state troopers. Several Orlando PD officers were also present
with the MA-based LEO's at Todashev’s townhouse.
Details are still unclear, but early reports indicate that law
enforcement officers had been following Todashev since April and that they had
a lot of intelligence on the guy. This
wasn’t one of those “unknown risk” field interviews, the troopers and the agent
knew a lot about Todashev. They knew his
history of violence. They knew about his
prior arrest for Aggravated Assault. They knew about his skill set with
his hands, and they knew he had used an edged weapon to cut the throats of his
three victims.
While they didn’t know where Todashev retrieved his edged weapon
from in this case (on his person, from the kitchen, or off a table), they know
he somehow got close enough with it to stab the agent and inflict injuries
serious enough to put that agent in the hospital.
Prior to the late 1980s, being close was always equated with
being in control. Nothing can be further from the truth. In
fact, the closer you are to a suspect, the more dangerous that situation is for
you. One of the most common mistakes made
by private security and law enforcement officers was the failure to realize the
importance of maintaining adequate distance (the reactionary gap) between them
and the suspect being questioned.
Reactionary gaps are defined as “the minimum
amount of space needed to ensure that you can properly react to whatever threat
may be presented by a suspect being questioned or detained.”
The first concept to remember when considering the reactionary gap
is the Interview Stance.
The Interview Stance was developed to ensure that law enforcement officers
performing field or street interviews position themselves close enough to speak
to their subjects in a normal voice and be able to hear the subject’s
responses, yet far enough away that they don’t become vulnerable to a physical
attack posed by certain weapons.
Here are some numbers to keep in mind:
Firearms Threats:
Generally your safety zone is defined as “line of sight unbroken by
cover.”
Edged Weapons:
A 20-25 foot zone of safety is generally acceptable, depending on
the circumstances and the level of your response. If you have information that the suspect may
have skills in edged weapons then that distance could be more.
Impact Weapons:
Bludgeons, pipes, baseball bats, and the like require a minimum reactionary
gap of 10-12 feet plus the length of the object — sometimes more, depending
on the situation.
Empty Hands:
For most empty-hand situations, you’re going to want at least a 5-6
foot reactionary gap between you and the subject you’re dealing with —
maybe more, depending on your prior knowledge of the subject.
There are no guarantees in this world. There never are. Providing security for yourself, your family,
or your church is risky business. Sometimes you need to question people that can
turn violent. But maintaining an
adequate reactionary gap during those times can at least stack the odds
in your favor.
Be safe!
I have developed and made available to anyone interested, for FREE, a series of Security & safety forms that can
be printed for your use:
1) A Safety & Security Risk Assessment Form
2) Church Security Plan Template
3) Church Emergency Plan Template
4) A General Fire Safety Checklist
5) A Bomb Threat Checklist
6) A Bomb Threat Distance Chart: Includes various types of
explosive devises and to be referred to in an event of a bomb threat
evacuation. These are minimum distances to evacuate away from the area of
explosion.
7) Facility Lockdown Checklist
8) Child Protection Covenant Template
8) Child Protection Covenant Template
These MS Word documents can be adapted as necessary to fit your
church size and needs. I will be adding new forms as time allows.
For a copy of any of these FREE
forms, or if you have any questions, you can contact me at:
Integrity Security Consulting
Russ Sharrock
405-762-2471 |
integrityseccon@hotmail.com
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