OODA Magic
In the world of military strategy, Colonel Boyd had a brilliant method for teaching a decision-making “loop” used in combat. Boyd taught that we Observe – Orient – Decide – and Act. It’s that order all the time, and if we can keep our adversaries always Observing new problems we give them, we can already be Acting while they’re trying to Decide what to do about it.
Boyd flew fighter jets, and used his ideas there, then in large-scale military strategy planning. We can do that without weapons, one-on-one, too. Here’s how.
Read MoreTrained Teamwork Success on Patrol + Video Tutorials
Coordinated teamwork clearly made a difference last night. Most of the night had been quiet, and we were actually wondering if the night would end without a single incidence of violence … but then, that’s almost always how things work, isn’t it? As soon as you think it’s over, it gets interesting.
We were posted up at the north-east corner of Hollywood and Ivar, and one of us spotted a two-man fight starting across Hollywood, spilling onto the street. We had to pause long enough for our flashlights to get the attention of the drivers on the road so we could get across safely, but managed to get to the fighters pretty quickly. They were still tangling with each other and exchanging the big swinging punches typical of adrenaline filled, drunken fighters.
Read MoreTwist on Safety in Numbers
Their Safety = Our Legal Safety
On the surface, it seems like having a “gang” of Guardian Angels would make it easier to put a heavy beat-down to the bad guys. Ok, that actually might be true: having more people does make it easier to hurt fewer people … but that’s NOT what we’re advocating. We’re trying to STOP violence, right?!
The less obvious truth: with MORE PEOPLE, we can be LESS VIOLENT.
Read MoreAre You Training Yourself into Jail?
Source: Keloland Television Author: Ben Dunsmore
Peter’s Note: Train Smarter than you do now. There is NO excuse for training that will condemn you. Now we know better. If you belong to social media groups with “tough-guy” labels and proudly walk around with more “tough-guy” t-shirts, and post internet photos and videos of your “tough-guy” skills … then defending yourself in court is going to be whole lot more difficult than defending yourself against violence.
WATERTOWN, SD – An early morning bar fight in Watertown two weeks ago has resulted in a murder investigation.
A mixed martial arts instructor is accused of beating 26-year-old Justin Jaton outside a Watertown bar. Jaton, who was hospitalized in Sioux Falls, died Thursday morning.
28-year-old Jerrin Stulken is now facing murder and manslaughter charges.
Read MoreWhat Fullerton Can Teach Guardian Angels
Fullerton police officer Manuel Ramos (AP Photo/Paul Rodriguez)
In a previous blog post, called Good Guys Cause Trouble, I’ve already recounted some of the local problems we find in Hollywood from the clubs and some of the less trained doorstaff/bouncers.
Non-Compliance with Verbal Commands is NOT a Good Enough Reason, and having a long record of success (10 years+ each) is not keeping these officers from facing prison terms. From the Daily Breeze article:
Ramos’ attorney, John D. Barnett, called Rackauckas’ charges “unprecedented.”
“I’ve seen the video and Officer Ramos is not guilty of murder, manslaughter or any other crime,” Barnett told City News Service. “He was a peace officer in the lawful performance of his duty.”
Barnett said Ramos was trying to “de-escalate” the situation when he allegedly shook his fists at Thomas.
“All Kelly Thomas had to do was comply and it would have been a normal arrest, but he didn’t comply,” Barnett said.
Fullerton May Change the Rules
This time, we’re seeing the same kind of story, gone much much worse over the edge. This isn’t our Hollywood, but at only about 30 miles away, this is not exactly a different planet, either. From the Daily Breeze article:
“Ultimately, Thomas died because of the force of the officers on his chest, which made it impossible to breathe, Rackauckas said. He lost consciousness, slipped into a coma and died when he was taken off life-support five days later.”
You can expect another huge set of evidence that Prone Restraint may be off the “ok” list for a while (again). I’ll be looking for news, and would appreciate ANY helpful information in that regard.
A Suggestion
While that one gets figured out, let’s recall that there were SIX police officers on scene. That’s far more than enough for a simple maneuver like the STAR control found in the “General” section of the Online Training site: GuardianAngelTraining.com
You’ll need to create a FREE account, but it may be the most important account you create online this year.
Please take a look at that video, shown on purpose with only four Angels, all of whom are individually smaller than the Subject. In the Fullerton, CA case, at the very least the two officers brought up on charges are each significantly larger than poor Mr Kelly Thomas. I’d also like any other suggestions you, your training, or your Chapter (if you’re an Angel reading this) has to offer – anything is better than what happened in Fullerton, but let’s try to work together to find the BEST chance at making this the last event of its kind.
Read More
New Guardian Angel Standardized Training
Perhaps a quick story will help illustrate this idea: I was on patrol in a foreign country this last summer in and around Tokyo, Japan; I was fortunate enough to speak the local language comfortably, but I didn’t know any of the members of the patrol before I met them that night.
Now, the Guardian Angels in Japan do a fantastic job. They are liked and respected in the community, and they present themselves very professionally. In fact, I have already written a whole post about my experience with them – and I can’t wait to see them again.
While they are awesome to work with, I quickly realized that if anything went really wrong and needed physical intervention from us, I was not really going to be a useful part of a team effort. I didn’t really know what they would do.
I especially didn’t already know:
- how would they put hands on someone?
- where would the action move?
These are important factors that influence the success and safety of our actions. Curtis and I had already spoken for a long time about the shape, scope, and direction that Guardian Angels training should take; Keiji Oda, the Guardian Angels International Director, and I had been discussing standardization and the need for professionalism and liability considerations involved, along with the appropriate methods for sharing that information.
Heck, at the recent World Conference in San Francisco, Curtis told people:
The more I spoke with Peter Steeves, the more I said to myself, “Wow – Here’s a guy who is projecting exactly what we want taught, and thought within the Guardian Angels:
- that any martial arts is applicable
- that no martial arts is superior to another martial art
- that there are aspects of everything that can be applied to what we do
- and then please leave your humongous egos outside; check ‘em at the door
- and come in and involve yourself in an “us and we” concept
Egos need not apply.
Yet, here I was, on patrol with only guesswork and instinct to help me work with this team. Standardized training was (and is) the obvious answer. If I knew what they would do to at least begin physical interactions, I could be a pre-programmed part of the team-oriented answer. They should have been able to expect that from me.
So, with all due apologies for being an ignorant member of patrol those nights in Japan, I am happy to see us moving forward. Curtis continued the above speech by reminding us all: “It’s important that we finally stabilize our training, and create an international mode.”
I hope you’ll help me do exactly that, by watching videos of the minimum basic standards of the Contact and Cover principle that we use successfully on patrols here in Los Angeles.
I will discuss more and more specifics over the next weeks and months, and I look forward to discussing the details with you.
Until then, please head over to www.GuardianAngelTraining.com and watch some videos. Get to know the ideas in there.
Yes, there is a form to fill out: I’m going to be updating the information regularly, and need to make sure this information gets out to lots of patrolling members of lots of chapters in lots of cities.
