Basic to the A.L.E.R.T. System is developing maximum power for a blow or strike. Unleashing the body's power through application of body mechanics can deliver a stunning blow. Insets, clockwise from far left: Raids scenario: Troy Coe, left, covers the resisting suspect while Richard Ryan brings a "windmill" blow down on his neck. The moment of impact. Even In a practice scenario, with protective padding, the stunning blow has visible effects. Knife-wielding suspect In raid scenario. Any suspect with a knife within contact range can still stab the officers after absorbing bullets, but Ryan, left, and Coe, right, use the "battering ram" tactics, while protecting the center line of their bodies with their MP-5s, to repulse the suspect and break up his attack.

You're holding a suspect at gunpoint after finding him jimmying a window.

Not seeing any weapons, you order him to face away from you and drop to his knees. Instead, he slowly advances towards you with a crazed look, spitting obscenities. You hesitate to shoot, knowing that if you shoot, you'll face a shooting review board and possibly criminal charges. Holding your handgun out in the two-handed grip now places it within his reach. What do you do? Do you back off? Do you try to re-holster your firearm and use your baton? Will you have time to do either?

The A.L.E.R.T. (Advanced Law Enforcement Response Training) System is designed to cover gray areas such as these. In one quick move, you point your handgun into the air, leading with your elbow as you lunge forward and knock your suspect to the ground.

Street violence is with us. It won't go away and it appears to be increasing. This is why police officers need an effective system of confrontation management covering all levels of the force use continuum.

Traditionally, these gray areas present the greatest problem for law enforcement officers. Responses must be tactically sound and have so-lid legal and medical justification. Most of all, they must be quickly effective, simple enough to learn quickly without a martial arts de-gree, and economical. Often, law enforcement training neglects these topics because few agencies have solutions to deal with them, although it is these areas that officers en-counter most often on the street.

Even when the 250-pound target is expecting it, the impact push stuns and throws him off balance.

Martial Arts In Perspective

There is much misunderstanding about martial arts, especially the Oriental varieties. Some of these are fostered by opportunistic operators selling "instant self-defense" courses, while others are the result of uninformed writing on the subject.
Whether occidental, such as boxing and fencing, or oriental, such as judo and karate, all martial arts fall into one of three categories; exhibition, competition and survival. Exhibition and competition types have methods, rules and other safe- guards to prevent or minimize injuries. They are not suitable for personal defense. Another comparison is "bulls-eye" target shooting with combat shooting. Only the survival-oriented type of martial art is valid for street use.

Survival-oriented Martial Art

A survival martial art, dealing with life-and-death situations, is simple because it has to work correctly the first time. It covers confrontation management-including physical and mental aspects-verbal control and physical defense tactics. For civilian use, the emphasis is upon avoidance and escape. Police officers, however, are duty-bound to confront dangerous situations, and any defensive system they use must conform to legal requirements and the agency's use-of-force policy.

Left to right: The "machinegun" sequence, with successive rapid-fire blows delivered to the suspect's chest, drive the suspect back by momentum.

Any survival-oriented martial art system for police must cover several self-evident realities:

The "End Result" concept. This means that, in a conflict, the first priority is personal survival. The officer must remain alive to write his report.

Pre-existing response patterns. No martial arts system works well if it requires the person to do something against his/her instincts. For example, touching a hot object stimulates the withdrawal reflex. Many martial arts systems don't consider these reflexes and natural responses in the development of their techniques. To succeed, a defensive system must work with built-in reflexes, instead of trying to extinguish them.

The "fumble factor." Not everyone will execute every move the right way every time. A.LE.R.T. techniques are designed to be simple and flexible so that officers can perform them well under stress.

Empty-hand defense against a knife attack, using the "clothesline" take-down. The defender knocks the attacker off his feet by momentum. Once the suspect's down, use appropriate follow-up tactics. The instinctive blocking defense to a knife attack uses the body's natural reaction to block the blade, then disable the suspect with appropriate follow-up.

From there, the defender spins the knife-wielding suspect around for a hold or a take-down.

It must cover the "Worst Case Scenario." Although a bad situation does not always go ballistic, it can deteriorate sharply and an officer must be ready to cope with serious reverses. Officers must learn to survive what Richard Ryan characterizes as "sudden death encounters," such as an attack from an enraged suspect armed with a machete or baseball bat.

Legally defensible. Today's police officer works with an attorney looking over his shoulder. All force-delivery methods used by law enforcement officers must be legally defensible.

Focus of force. Few officers will put in the practice-time required to become proficient enough at combat martial arts to use them on the street. Any defensive system must be easy to learn and apply, but must also work quickly. Unless the officer is in superb physical condition he's limited to between 40 and 80 seconds of maximum exertion in a fight.

ATW – Anything That Works. It doesn't matter if the defensive tactic doesn't conform to an abstruse doctrine or isn't graceful. Function is always more important than form. If it works, it works.

Police Training

Traditionally, police training has been to teach each skill in isolation. Police academies, even today, teach baton use, firearms and empty-hand defensive tactics in separate classes. A result of this is that officers sometimes find it difficult to make the transition between non-lethal and lethal force. A.LE.R.T. training integrates the use of lethal and non-lethal tactics so that the officer can choose the best minimal force technique to cope with a particular situation.

A growing recognition of the realities of street situations has led, in recent years, to more emphasis on "scenario" training, in which police officers have to face "suspects" in classroom training and use a variety of skills to manage each scenario. Static firearms training has, in some agencies, given way to "shoot/don't shoot" training, in which the officer to make a decision before employing deadly force.

Confronting Armed Suspects

Another defense is the "clamp" – to capture the knife under the arm and deliver a stunning heel-of-the-hand blow to the suspect's face.

You're responding to a domestic disturbance when, without warning, a suspect bolts from a doorway thrusting a large kitchen knife in your direction. What do you do?
Some officers still believe that they can rely solely upon their sidearm when faced with a deadly attack. Unfortunately, in close quarters, the officer probably will not be able to draw, fire, and put down the suspect before himself falling victim. This makes it important to understand how explosive an armed assault can be, and to teach specific techniques so that the officer can remain alive long enough to draw his sidearm.

Richard Ryan classes weapons into five types: Sticks include clubs and other impact tools. Blades are any cutting, piercing, or slashing implements. Flexible weapons include belts and chains. Combination weapons include nunchaku and other hybrid types. Finally, ballistic weapons are any projectiles, covering the range from throwing knives to firearms.

This is one of those dangerous situations in which the suspect Is In contact range, and even a bullet may not prevent him from delivering a deadly attack. Richard Ryan blocks the knife with both hands while directing the muzzle skyward. Troy Coe, the cover officer, remains alert for other suspects.

The basic principle in dealing with armed suspects is to stop the attack and to stun the suspect or destroy his balance, thus increasing his response time. This allows the officer extra time to regain control of the situation.

Richard Ryan points out that action is always faster than reaction," and that an officer can often counter an armed suspect before he [the suspect] can react and kill the officer. The technique has been described as "unhooking his mental trigger," or causing "mind-lock." If the attack hasn't yet developed, the officer can use other surprise techniques to neutralize the suspect. The officer can distract him, by asking him a question, or by frenzied pleading, then close in and disarm the suspect. At times, a suspect will attack before the officer can use verbal control techniques.
Ryan classes knife-defense into three levels: Level 1 is to escape and evade before the suspect can make contact, create distance and draw the firearm. Although this is the best course, it's not always possible.

Level 2 is to parry the blade, escape and draw the firearm.

Level 3 is to parry the blade and take control of the suspect to disarm him, then draw the firearm to maintain control of the suspect.

When facing two armed suspects, the technique is to use one as a shield by "wrapping" around him, while engaging the other suspect. To do this, Ryan suggests a variety of techniques. A quick disarm of the nearer suspect and a counter-blow to stun him, allows the officer to "wrap" around him and draw his firearm to neutralize the other suspect. It's possible to carry out all of these actions in a few explosive seconds, thus capitalizing on the all-important element of surprise.

Richard Ryan role-plays this scenario's cover officer, left, while Troy Coe demonstrates the instinctive block against a knife attack. Ryan swivels his torso out of reach while delivering a kick to the suspect's knee.

Police Agency Applications

Richard Ryan has taught his system to police defensive-tactics instructors and to specialized teams, such as the Yavapai County (Arizona) tactical unit The first step is a basic four-hour introductory bloc, followed by a second phase suited to the special needs of the students. This will depend upon the application; correctional, high-risk patrol, special team, etc. In all workshops, there is a balanced mix of theory and practice.

Special Applications

The need for high-grade aftermarket defensive training is greater in certain high-risk specialties, such as high-risk patrol, tactical teams, correctional uses and under-cover work. Tactical teams and high-risk patrol officers face suspects who don't always justify deadly force, but need to be put down and controlled. Correctional officers inside cell-blocks never carry firearms and rarely batons, which is why they must be proficient in empty hand defensive methods.

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