It’s been over two decades since Calibre Press, Inc. released their award-winning video “Surviving Edged Weapons.” That training video and the concepts and tactics of edged weapon defense, perhaps more than anything else, revolutionized the officer safety skills required to keep cops safe when dealing with likely knife threats. The “21-foot drill” developed by retired Salt Lake City, Utah Police Lieutenant Dennis Tueller has become a staple of edged weapon defense.
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Yet, edged weapons continue to be a significant danger to today’s street cops. A study released a few years ago by the FBI reported that “edged weapons are the second leading cause of homicides in the U.S. behind handguns.” In fact, suspects continue to kill more people with knives and other edged weapons than with rifles and shotguns combined. Cops are still dying at the hands of edged weapon assailants.
Earlier this month, New Castle County, Del., Police Sergeant Joe Szczerba, age 44, an 18-year veteran, was fatally stabbed while fighting with a suspect he was trying to arrest for disorderly conduct. Details regarding the incident are still sketchy, and this article isn’t going to address the tactics surrounding that officer’s arrest attempts. But, this piece is prompted in part by that death and the fact that, in my opinion, many trainers and agencies have let their edged weapon defense training lapse over the years because of increased emphasis on active shooter training, WMD issues and other matters.
We all know training time is limited, but hopefully EW threats and the tactics needed to counter them have not fallen too far by the way side. With that said, let’s take a few minutes to look at some of the principles of edged weapon defense.
Modern comprehensive EW training, in my opinion, encompasses a four-step process. First, recognize the threat. Studies conducted during the research for “Surviving Edged Weapons” indicated that 80% of police officers have removed edged weapons from potential attackers. There’s no reason to suspect that that statistic has gone down. The threat still exists. So awareness and recognition are the first steps.
Second, incorporate EW defense into your skills training. Classroom training is not enough. Sure, interactive firearms training is good, and there’s no doubt it’s needed. But alone it doesn’t drive home the dangers that edged weapons can pose or the speed with which they can occur. Hands-on EW defense has to be made a part of every force-on-force training program. Shock knives are great learning tool to drive home that point.
Third, make sure your officers know that deadly force against an edged weapon threat is authorized. The assistant U.S. attorneys who participated in the DoJ-FBI study collectively reported that they didn’t view edged weapons to be as great a threat to their safety as firearms. That theme can alter the perception among prosecutors that perhaps deadly force against an edged weapon may be viewed as excessive force. Police trainers need to play an active role in both educating their local DAs and USAs.
When I was on the Job, I ran a group of ADAs through “shoot, don’t shoot” scenarios to educate them on the dangers in armed confrontations. I’ve even testified before grand juries in use-of-force cases to get across to those citizens that street confrontations are not like TV or the movies. All police trainers need to become a part of the legal review, and I implore all to not view their jobs as being limited to the range or gym.
And four, wear your vest. Yes, I know most soft body armor is ballistic in nature, and that most are not considered stab vests, per se. But, most will give you some protection from slashes and some thrust-type EW attacks. I know from personal experience. Again the details on Joe Szczerba’s EW murder are still coming in and we don’t know if he was wearing a vest or not or whether a vest would’ve even protected him. But, there’s no doubt body armor can help in some cases.
Dedicated to the Memory of New Castle County, Del., Police Sergeant Joe Szczerba.
