Plainclothes and Off-Duty Officer Survival: A Guide to Survival for Plainclothes Officers, Undercover Officers, and Off-Duty Police Officers 0398055289, 9780398055288

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PLAINCLOTHES AND OFF-DUTY OFFICER SURVIVAL A Guide to Survival for Plainclothes Officers,

Undercover Officers, and Off-Duty Police Officers

By

JOHN CHARLES CHEEK Patrol Officer, Tucson, Arizona Police Department Former Criminal Investigator, Pima County, Arizona Attorney’s Office Member, International Association of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors

and

TONY LESCE Associate Technical Editor, Police Marksman Magazine Member, International Association of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors

This amply illustrated text first takes a close look at the situations that plainclothes, undercover, and off-duty officers face; and then it discusses the tactics

and equipment necessary to help these officers survive a deadly encounter. Numerous examples of encounters with suspects that turned deadly are included. The authors also address liability issues, policies to promote officer safety and reduce individual/departmental liability, carelessness, tactics, close combat, moonlighting, equipment, and training methods. A firearms training and qualification course rounds out this integra! work.

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PLAINCLOTHES AND OFF-DUTY OFFICER SURVIVAL

ABOUT

THE AUTHORS

John Charles Cheek is a Patrol Officer with the Tucson, Arizona, Police Department. He spent thirteen years with the Pima County, Arizona, Attorney’s Office, during which time he attended various “officer survival” courses and taught basic firearms instruction and officer survival for his agency. He has collaborated in several magazine articles dealing with plainclothes officer survival, and conducted a presentation on the topic at the 1987 meeting of the International Association of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors. Tony Lesce is a professional author who has been published in several major law enforcement publications such as Law and Order and Police & Security News. He is Associate Technical Editor of Police Marksman.

PLAINCLOTHES AND OFF-DUTY OFFICER SURVIVAL A Guide to Survival for Plainclothes Officers, Undercover Officers, and Off-Duty Police Officers

By

JOHN CHARLES CHEEK Patrol Officer, Tucson, Arizona Police Department; Former Criminal Investigator, Pima County, Arizona Attorney’s Office; Member, International Association of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors and

TONY

LESCE

Associate Technical Editor, Police Marksman Magazine Member, International Association of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors

CHARLES

«+ PUBLISHER C THOMAS Springfield « Illinois ¢ U.S.A.

Published and Distributed Throughout the World by

CHARLES C THOMAS « PUBLISHER 2600 South First Street Springfield, Illinois 62794-9265

This book is protected by copyright. No part of it may be reproduced in any manner without written permission from the publisher.

© 1988 by CHARLES C THOMAS

« PUBLISHER

ISBN 0-398-05528-9 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 88-23201

With THOMAS BOOKS careful attention 1s given to all details of manufacturing and design. It is the Publisher's desire to present books that are satisfactory as to their physical qualities and artistic possibilities and appropriate for their particular use. THOMAS BOOKS will be true to those laws of quality that assure a good name and good will.

Printed in the United States of America SC-R-3

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Cheek, John Charles. Plainclothes and off-duty officer survival : a guide to survival for plainclothes officers, undercover officers, and off-duty police officers / by John Charles Cheek and Tony Lesce. p- cm. ISBN 0-398-05528-9 1. Police training — United States. 2. Law enforcement— United States—Safety measures. 3. Undercover operations— United States— Safety measures. 4. Survival skills— United States. I. Lesce, Tony. II. Title. HV8142.C4 1989 363.2'3—dcl9 88-23201 CIP

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PREFACE 5 Bas book deals with plainclothes survival for officers in both large and small departments. We'll cover topics pertaining to detectives, off-duty officers, firearms trainers, and police administrators.

It’s not just applying ordinary “survival training,” because the situations plainclothes officers face aren’t the same as those the patrol division encounters. Detectives don’t make traffic stops, and don't get called to family fights. Instead, plainclothes officers interview witnesses, suspects, and sometimes serve civil papers and make arrests in circumstances different from those faced by patrol officers. Also, detectives don’t have the same equipment as do uniformed officers. To understand plainclothes training and equipment needs, we must first understand the demands plainclothes officers must meet. We'll take a close look at the situations plainclothes and off-duty officers face. We'll examine other situations that arise when officers remove their uniforms. We'll look at officers who “moonlight” as security guards, or who work as store detectives watching for shoplifters, and who sometimes encounter violence. We'll also consider the problems faced by a police officer who works off-duty as a bodyguard, and who has to be prepared for threats to his client. We'll study the dangers encountered, and the reasons why plainclothes and off-duty police officers take needless risks in certain cases. Analyzing why events happen provides understanding, and we can explore ways to correct the problems. We can then lay out the training methods and equipment needed, based on the lessons learned from the real-life examples. Training consists of both classroom sessions and field work. Teaching theory provides a basic framework to use for the various concepts we will present here, but effective training can’t stop at the classroom door. There are both practical and legal reasons why there must be a strong emphasis on hands-on work. Many of the survival skills are psychomotor skills, and only practical application will build proficiency. Because most of the threats faced by police officers are at very close Vv

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Plainclothes and Off-Duty Officer Survival

range, hand-to-hand combat skill is critically important. You will find material on this topic within these pages. You will be able to take some of the lessons directly from this book. In it, you will find suggestions for discussions, practical exercises, and lesson plans adaptable to both classroom and firing range. You will find ways to adapt your existing training techniques to provide the skills needed for plainclothes survival. You will find discussions of techniques and tactics useful in a variety of situations you may encounter when not in uniform. You will also find practical exercises to promote tactical skills in training. This is a work-book as well as a text. Study the examples and lessons carefully. The information in these pages can save lives.

CONTENTS

Page

Preface: Chapter One: Chapter Two: Chapter Three:

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Chapter Four:

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Chapter Five:

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