Culiacán Arrest

Welcome back warriors, today we’re going to look at some crazy stuff that’s going on in Culiacán. As we start this video, it appears that there is about to be a high-risk arrest executed. And that was what grabbed my attention. I see these officers all decked out in their tactical gear and there high powered assault rifles. It looked like these guys knew their business. Unfortunately, they didn’t! The good news though it provided us with a chance to learn and improve from a tactical standpoint.

So right at the beginning, we see the officers getting in position to make contact with the suspects. Notice how some of the officers involved in this are taking a knee, just waiting for the suspects to come out. Here is the problem I have with that. Yes, I get you would like to make your self a small target. But when you take a knee like these officers did, it takes away your mobility. That is a very dangerous thing to do in these types of situations. Think about it, if things go sideways, and in those situations, they tend to do so. You want to be able to react quickly. I’m not saying don’t get low or don’t make your self a small target. You can get small and keep your feet, with the now added advantage of mobility. Half seconds count in these situations!

Ok, so now the officers have made contact with the suspects. As the police, it is your job to establish and maintain control of the scene. These officers did not even come close to controlling the scene. It is very confusing, the officers have all this tactical gear to make a dangerous arrest, and when its showtime they are acting like they just stopped some people for a minor traffic violation. I understand not trying to escalate the situation, but there is a time in a place for everything. Let’s dig a little deeper into how these officers didn’t control the situation. How many people saw the cell phone handoff? It happened about 1:20 into the video. That immediately jumped out at me. I don’t think I can stress to you how bad that is. Let’s start by saying that happened because the officers were not in complete control of the situation they were allowing the suspects to move freely about. If the suspects are not responding fast enough to verbal commands, use your ladder of force. Step it up, put your hands on them and make them understand it is in their best interest to do as they’re told. So why is the cell phone thing bad? Well, obviously that guy did not want to be arrested with that phone. Maybe that phone had some good intel on it that the officers could use against them. Chances are that it did seeing he passed it off. But if the officers had more control of the situation, used their ladder of force they might have come out of that with some good intel. You guys get the point. 

The last thing I want to add is to wait until your in a secure location before you start letting your suspect make phone calls. This should be a no brainer but I just watched it happen. There are many reasons that you should not let the suspect communicate until he is secured. But the ones that should jump out at you right away are, one what if he is warning other potential suspects that arrests are being made. Two, what if he is calling in for help letting people know what’s happening so they can help facilitate his escape.

So what is the take away from this?  

1.  Situational awareness: Don’t make yourself an easy target. A mobile target is harder to hit than a stationary one.
2.  Control the situation: You’re the officer you’re in charge, make sure your orders are being followed, and if they aren’t, make them follow them. Use your ladder of force. 
3. Attention to detail: Pay attention to what is happening around you something that seems small could be huge, and your ability to see that could be the difference between life and death.  

So that wraps up today’s blog. As always hit me up with questions and I really would love to hear your comments. Till next time, and stay safe out there.