Articles
Close Quarter Survival Skills for the 21st Century Part 1
By Ron Avery/President, Director of Training
The Practical Shooting Academy, Inc.
The following encounter was related to me by Sgt. George Jahant of the San Antonio Police Dept. It is all the more tragic because it involves an individual that was not only a great police officer but also a personal friend.
John “Rocky” Riojas was on patrol in San Antonio, TX one evening in a high crime area of town. He saw an individual engaged in suspicious activity and ordered the individual to stop. The subject fled and Officer Riojas pursued. During the foot pursuit, Officer Riojas drew his handgun. As the subject attempted to climb a fence, Officer Riojas grabbed him and pulled him down.
The fight went to the ground, and Officer Riojas ended up on top of the subject, chest to chest with his gun still in his hand. The individual grabbed Officer Riojas’ gun and then extended Officer Riojas’ arm and gun out away from him as he turned on his stomach. Being taller and longer of arm than Riojas, he was able to apply more leverage and got the gun away from Officer Riojas, who was physically very strong.
Officer Riojas was now on the subjects back. The subject had the gun underneath him and officer Riojas was trying to get the gun back from under the subject, reaching around and under the right side of the subject.
Meanwhile, the subject switched the gun to his left hand and extended the gun back over his left shoulder, next to his own ear and pulled the trigger. Officer Riojas’ head was on that side and he took the round through the forehead, killing him instantly.
The individual was later caught so we have parts of the story while other parts remain unanswered.
So passed a brave officer in the prime of his life, leaving behind a wife, a small baby, his friends and the life that he knew and loved.
John Riojas was a friend of mine. He was a member of the San Antonio Police SWAT unit. He was very strong, skilled with firearms and conventional hand to hand skills and a very courageous officer. He was not a stranger to conflict.
One out of five police officers killed in the line of duty with a firearm die by their own weapon. Countless others are injured during physical assaults and it is probably impossible at this time to count how many attempted disarms take place during these conflicts.
Even while weapons retention and now ground fighting skills are being taught to officers at the academy level, even with the introduction of level 2 and 3 retention holsters, these statistics are not changing significantly.
During my career as a full time police officer, I have had a few people attempt to disarm me during arrest and control situations. I was able to successfully neutralize these attempts without injury to myself. One of the things that really helped me was the early recognition of the attempt on the part of the perp to initiate the take-away. This combined with instant repositioning of the body and then application of techniques to neutralize the threat worked to my advantage.
There are many officers and other individuals who have had much the same experiences as I did during their careers.
Philosophical Shift
Close quarter survival is not just arrest and control. It is about surviving when a situation has gotten out of control. It is when your plan has gone awry and what was supposed to be a “routine” contact or arrest has now turned into a fight for your very survival. This can occur while you are contacting an individual, running them through roadside maneuvers, attempting to control a domestic situation or effecting an arrest.
In this day and age of litigation and officer and administrative fear of liability, officers are far more prone to hesitate in applying the appropriate level of force soon enough in the confrontation. Over reliance on technology such as tasers, OC and firearms does not increase officer confidence in their own hand to hand skills when that technology may not accessible.
The Practical Shooting Academy, Inc.
The following encounter was related to me by Sgt. George Jahant of the San Antonio Police Dept. It is all the more tragic because it involves an individual that was not only a great police officer but also a personal friend.
John “Rocky” Riojas was on patrol in San Antonio, TX one evening in a high crime area of town. He saw an individual engaged in suspicious activity and ordered the individual to stop. The subject fled and Officer Riojas pursued. During the foot pursuit, Officer Riojas drew his handgun. As the subject attempted to climb a fence, Officer Riojas grabbed him and pulled him down.
The fight went to the ground, and Officer Riojas ended up on top of the subject, chest to chest with his gun still in his hand. The individual grabbed Officer Riojas’ gun and then extended Officer Riojas’ arm and gun out away from him as he turned on his stomach. Being taller and longer of arm than Riojas, he was able to apply more leverage and got the gun away from Officer Riojas, who was physically very strong. Officer Riojas was now on the subjects back. The subject had the gun underneath him and officer Riojas was trying to get the gun back from under the subject, reaching around and under the right side of the subject.
Meanwhile, the subject switched the gun to his left hand and extended the gun back over his left shoulder, next to his own ear and pulled the trigger. Officer Riojas’ head was on that side and he took the round through the forehead, killing him instantly.
The individual was later caught so we have parts of the story while other parts remain unanswered.
So passed a brave officer in the prime of his life, leaving behind a wife, a small baby, his friends and the life that he knew and loved.
John Riojas was a friend of mine. He was a member of the San Antonio Police SWAT unit. He was very strong, skilled with firearms and conventional hand to hand skills and a very courageous officer. He was not a stranger to conflict.
One out of five police officers killed in the line of duty with a firearm die by their own weapon. Countless others are injured during physical assaults and it is probably impossible at this time to count how many attempted disarms take place during these conflicts.
Even while weapons retention and now ground fighting skills are being taught to officers at the academy level, even with the introduction of level 2 and 3 retention holsters, these statistics are not changing significantly.
During my career as a full time police officer, I have had a few people attempt to disarm me during arrest and control situations. I was able to successfully neutralize these attempts without injury to myself. One of the things that really helped me was the early recognition of the attempt on the part of the perp to initiate the take-away. This combined with instant repositioning of the body and then application of techniques to neutralize the threat worked to my advantage.
There are many officers and other individuals who have had much the same experiences as I did during their careers.
Philosophical Shift
Close quarter survival is not just arrest and control. It is about surviving when a situation has gotten out of control. It is when your plan has gone awry and what was supposed to be a “routine” contact or arrest has now turned into a fight for your very survival. This can occur while you are contacting an individual, running them through roadside maneuvers, attempting to control a domestic situation or effecting an arrest.
In this day and age of litigation and officer and administrative fear of liability, officers are far more prone to hesitate in applying the appropriate level of force soon enough in the confrontation. Over reliance on technology such as tasers, OC and firearms does not increase officer confidence in their own hand to hand skills when that technology may not accessible.
