"Don't make me shoot you!"

[Zantar]

Someone I used to work with once told me that when he took his class to get his concealed handgun license that the instructor was an ex-cop (or maybe an active duty cop, it's been awhile since he told me this) and that he said that in a self-defense shooting situation a good thing to yell, for the benefit of any witnesses as well as the agressor was "don't make me shoot you!". It was supposed to put in the mind of the attacker that he was in control of whether he was going to be shot or not and perhaps get him to back down, and tell bystanders that if he did get shot it was only because he forced the shooter to do it.

I thought that kind of sounded like something a prosecutor or someone trying to sue the shooter might try to twist around and make it sound like he/she WANTED to shoot the attacker. Do any of you think this is a good thing to say in a self-defense situation? Also, what kinds of things would you advise a person to say in an armed self-defense situation, assuming there is time to say anything?

[retdetsgt]

If I think someone is going to kill me, the only thing they will hear will be my gunshots. That crap "Drop the gun" is for the movies. If someone is armed, the only thing they have to do to shoot YOU is make a decision to do so. I have no intention of allowing them to make that.

[P01IC3M4N]

my war cry is "if you don't stop running i'm going to shoot your f****** a**!"

[Switchback]

There is some merit to that instruction, ASSUMING you have the liesure to give the command. Just as we SHOULD ID ourselves before shooting, assuming that doing so would not jeopardize us or someone else.

Another thing that is a good practice is to say "quit resisting" or "get down on the ground" repeatedly as you are striking someone. It accoomplishes 2 things: the witness around the corner can say, "I heard the officer telling him to quit resisting..." and it also pounds the command into the idiot bandit as you reinforce it with physical assistance.

[wild800]

Sounds like something from the Verbal Judo course...

[Darin]

Another thing that is a good practice is to say "quit resisting" or "get down on the ground" repeatedly as you are striking someone. It accoomplishes 2 things: the witness around the corner can say, "I heard the officer telling him to quit resisting..." and it also pounds the command into the idiot bandit as you reinforce it with physical assistance.

Outstanding post. That's what we were taught in the academy. In this day and age you need to create witnesses almost as much as getting the toad to comply with your orders.

[valycop]

If I think someone is going to kill me, the only thing they will hear will be my gunshots. That crap "Drop the gun" is for the movies. If someone is armed, the only thing they have to do to shoot YOU is make a decision to do so. I have no intention of allowing them to make that.

I agree whole heartedly with retdetsgt even the Supreme Court of the United States realized that police officers would face situations where we wouldn't have time to shout a warning and have ruled in favor of law enforcement. Remember, suspects armed with firearms may have already made the decision to shoot when the opportunity arises and the officer is then placed at the disadvantage of having to react to the threat. By shouting a warning an officer could use up those few precious seconds to react to save their own lives or the life of someone else.
If I am in a tactical advantage where I have good cover and concealment then I may be able to shout a warning. It all depends on the circumstances and the preceived threat. Lots of variables and the officer may only have a split second to make a decision whether or not to shoot.

[Star]

If I think someone is going to kill me, the only thing they will hear will be my gunshots. That crap "Drop the gun" is for the movies. If someone is armed, the only thing they have to do to shoot YOU is make a decision to do so. I have no intention of allowing them to make that.

Yes, definitely, the perfect thing to say, RDS (Jim). They would eat a bullet, for sure. I certainly wouldn't give them the choice either.

If they are armed, period, they are getting my first response. If they are bold enough to confront me in that manner, they are going to be the first to be defeated.

[Legoate]

If I think someone is going to kill me, the only thing they will hear will be my gunshots. That crap "Drop the gun" is for the movies. If someone is armed, the only thing they have to do to shoot YOU is make a decision to do so. I have no intention of allowing them to make that.

Well, generally if you shoot someone they will drop their gun, so it kind of skips an unnecessary step anyhow.

[retdetsgt]

Well, generally if you shoot someone they will drop their gun, so it kind of skips an unnecessary step anyhow.

Yep! Too many cops are killed standing there with their guns in their hands. The bad guys don't have to give warning, neither should we.

Of course another reason for that is that some people, LEO or not don't have what it takes to kill somebody. That sounds terrible, but it's true. Although I don't buy everything Grossman sells, I do believe he is right on that. I've been in shootings and investigated police shootings were several officers did not fire their weapons even though they saw the same exact scene unfolding as the cops who shot. The fact they didn't shoot was very disturbing to me until on read Grossman's book "On Killing". Then it all made sense. Something you might want to think about out there. The cop next to you MIGHT be one of those people. :(

[retdetsgt]

Can someone explain to me WHY THE &A$(^ we aren't able to edit on this section only?

[Wombat311]

my war cry is "if you don't stop running i'm going to shoot your f****** a**!"

hehehe. My partner did that on our last foot chase. When we finally caught the guy and asked him why he didn't stop, he said he was going to but he heard someone behind him saying he was going to kill him so he ran harder! :D

[Oldbillplod]

Another thing that is a good practice is to say "quit resisting" or "get down on the ground" repeatedly as you are striking someone. It accoomplishes 2 things: the witness around the corner can say, "I heard the officer telling him to quit resisting..." and it also pounds the command into the idiot bandit as you reinforce it with physical assistance.

We are taught to say things like stop fighting and stop struggling when we are trying to detain uncompliant people for exactly the same reason.

[K-9MALY]

I don't know about the rest of you, but when I was in an active place such as San Diego and El Paso, as opposed to the old folks home here in Buffalo, I had lots of altercations.

Now by all teaching standards that are set forth in Deadly Force Continums, you always stay one step ahead of the subjects level. That involves Verbal Judo in your voice commands in an attempt to gain compliance of the individual. If they relent, you drop the level down to Officer Prescence again.
That stuff works in the classroom and in training films, but in real world situations, the lines get blurred real quick. I know enough about myself in these situations that I cease to vocalize after I have committed to soft or hard techniques. That is not a good thing all the times, but it also is not detrimental to most situations. I don't scream obscenties and get spastic (I did as a rookie) or let my situation esculate past what I know I can handle. I was with one trainee in El Paso who was dynamite in all things dealing with SOP, he knew it downpat. We popped a drug load out in pre-primary roving, thats when U.S. Customs Officers rove in the traffic btw both (CN/USA/MX) nations while your waiting to cross the bridges.
In an instant we are fighting to control a larger man who is pumped with adrenaline and nothing but 50 yards back to Mexico to get off scott free. I was getting an arm bar on this guy, and I'm wondering where my rookie is with the cuffs. I look over at him, and he has one loop in his left hand, and he is patiently waiting for his other one to spin so the lock mechinism is facing out....exactly how they taught him in the academy!
I yelled at him to get his cuffs on this guy and damn the holes!

So, to make a point after all this dribble, react with the situation and suspect with your brain and brawn, and do not soley rely on one technique to cover all your pucker factor times.

Weak hand shooting!
Weapon drawing from opposite hand.
Combat reloads with one hand.
Weapon retention during ground fight.
Weapon clearing drills (stovepipes)
Dropped gear, still with suspect, what do you do?

[Switchback]

I think some people are misunderstanding. The verbal commands are given only when doing so will not jeopardize your safety or the safety of someone else.

Of course there are things that are great for the classroom vs. the street. However, I know (and those who know where I work) that I work in anything but a retirement community and have used these verbal compliance techniques, along with "physical reinforcement", as recently as yesterday. I can tell from yesterday, alone, that they come in handy. The guy resisiting was complaining before we got him to the car. We had to wrestle with him in an attic. The owners of the house who were friends of his could hear us giving the commands while wrestling with him. They our now OUR witnesses.