21 Foot Rule: December 2010

Friday, December 31, 2010

EDGED WEAPON DEFENSE: Is or was the 21-foot Rule Valid?

This is a two part article with two links to outside articles.

Part I
For more than 20 years now, a concept called the 21-Foot Rule has been a core component in training officers to defend themselves against edged weapons.

Originating from research by Salt Lake City trainer Dennis Tueller and popularized by the Street Survival Seminar and the seminal instructional video "Surviving Edged Weapons," the "rule" states that in the time it takes the average officer to recognize a threat, draw his sidearm and fire 2 rounds at center mass, an average subject charging at the officer with a knife or other cutting or stabbing weapon can cover a distance of 21 feet.

The implication, therefore, is that when dealing with an edged-weapon wielder at anything less than 21 feet an officer had better have his gun out and ready to shoot before the offender starts rushing him or else he risks being set upon and injured or killed before he can draw his sidearm and effectively defeat the attack.

Read More about part I of this article

Part II

3. MORE DISTANCE. "In reality, the 21-Foot Rule--by itself--may not provide officers with an adequate margin of protection," says Dr. Bill Lewinski, FSRC's executive director. "It's easily possible for suspects in some circumstances to launch a successful fatal attack from a distance greater than 21 feet."
Among other police instructors, John Delgado, retired training officer for the Miami-Dade (FL) PD, has extended the 21-Foot Rule to 30 feet. "Twenty-one feet doesn't really give many officers time to get their gun out and fire accurately," he says. "Higher-security holsters complicate the situation, for one thing. Some manufacturers recommend 3,000 pulls to develop proficiency with a holster. Most cops don't do that, so it takes them longer to get their gun out than what's ideal. Also shooting proficiency tends to deteriorate under stress. Their initial rounds may not even hit."
Read More about the 21 foot rule

Too close - dont underestimate the knife

Dan Inosanto on the 21 foot rule.

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Shooting Equipment Placement

Thoughts on equipment placement, conditioned response, reaction time, Hick’s Law, the 21 foot guideline, and the OODA loop...
Recently, a transit Officer was convicted of homicide after he shot an individual to death while attempting to control the subject’s behavior. According to the Officer’s testimony, he thought he was reaching for his Taser but discharged his duty firearm instead, killing the subject.

read article

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

21 foot rule different perspectives

Gun guy:
1. No one can surprise me.
2. I can empty a mag in your chest before you get to me from 21 feet
3. My bullets will stop you
4. I can also move and you can't follow me
5. Not only can I shoot center mass under extreme pressure, I can also do head shots

Blade guy:
1. I can surprise you and it really isn't that hard.
2. Your bullets may not stop me, hit or miss
3. If you move I can see you move and I can adjust
4. You will poke a hole in me, and effectiveness depends on where you hit me. I will be taking parts of your body off.

Handgun Drills, Standards, and Training Page : Tueller Drill

Tueller Drill (after Sgt. Dennis Tueller)

Teaches: speed draw and fire under stress.
Requires: three people, or two people and a timer.

The Tueller drill is essentially an exercise, under stress, to measure your draw and first shot in terms of distance rather than time. The area that a charging assailant is able to cover in the time it takes you to draw and fire gives you a good idea of what a "safe distance" threshold is. Read More

How Close is Too Close by Dennis Tueller

The "good guy" with the gun against the "bad guy" with the knife (or machete, axe, club, tire-iron, etc.). "No contest", you say. "The man with the gun can't lose." Or can he? A great deal depends on his ability with that gun and the proximity of his opponent.

If, for example, our hero shoots his would-be attacker at a distance of 20 yards, he loses. Not the fight, you understand, but most probably his freedom because he will almost certainly be charged with murder. The only thing that justifies your shooting another human being is the immediate need to stop him from trying to kill you (or someone else), remember? Read More

Explaining the deadly force decision: the opportunity factor

Part I: We looked at the ramifications of bad advice on armed self defense being given to the gun-buyer at a dealer'.s shop. Part II: we defined the levels of homicide. Part III: justifiable homicide was quantified. Part IV: the first of the necessary ingredients for a justifiable homicide, the ability factor, was detailed.

The triad that completes the situation that warrants justifiable use of lethal force, "Immediate and otherwise unavoidable danger of death or grave bodily harm to the innocent," are ability, opportunity, and jeopardy. Read More

Wikipedia entry on The Tueller Drill

The Tueller Drill is a self-defense training exercise to prepare against a short-range knife attack when armed only with a holstered handgun.

One would think that a gun beats a knife every time[citation needed]. With superior weaponry, the fight should be easily won[citation needed]. But Sergeant Dennis Tueller, of the Salt Lake City, Utah Police Department, showed that it was not that simple[citation needed]. Read More

Use of Deadly Force: Pre-Shooting Conduct and the 21 Foot Rule

A circumstance that officers often face is the suicidal individual who, in essence, holds him or herself hostage. These are difficult cases. While such cases require a police response, officers sometimes are caught between a rock and hard place. Much has been written about the concept of “suicide by cop” but the fact remains that officers are often called to deal with these situations and are expected to prevent the suicide without causing injury or death. At times this is an impossible task. A common denominator that runs through this type of case is an attack on the officer’s tactics in approaching the individual. While at the moment the officer shot, he or she was in danger, the theory is that the officer did something that was tactically incorrect in the approach that contributed to the need to use deadly force. Read Article