Requiring Continued Defensive Tactics Training in Law Enforcement

Law enforcement officers are routinely put into situations that require them to make decisions, some of which could be life altering, and they often have only a fraction of a second to determine the best course of action to take. Of all the decisions a law enforcement officer is tasked with making, perhaps none is more scrutinized than when that law enforcement officer has to resort to using force to subdue a person in order to effectively gain control and take custody of that person. Without sufficient and continued training, poor decisions can be made, which can forever change a person’s life. Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark once said, “To be truly professional, police must have high standards of education and personal competence in a wide range of subjects with continuous development and training” (Munro, 1974, p. 151). Greater emphasis should be placed on defensive tactics training as a lack of training often leads to misapplication of proper techniques. Therefore, continued training in defensive tactics should be required of all law enforcement officers.