Physical Skills Defeat Disarming Attempt

Matthew W. McNamara, ITOA Board member, Chairman Physical Skills Committee

In July of this year, ITOA Member and Des Plaines Police Officer Colin Johnson was within minutes of ending his day shift tour and getting ready to leave on a vacation the next morning when a call was dispatched to another unit regarding a neighbor dispute. Officer Johnson offered to back up the other unit hoping he would be there less than ten minutes.

Shortly after meeting the complainants, who were husband and wife and who wanted to make a complaint about their neighbor, the husband/complainant stated to Officer Johnson, “...why don’t you let me borrow your nine-millimeter and I’ll take care of this myself!” Officer Johnson politely brushed the comment aside and continued to speak with the wife who was standing within feet of her husband in front of their home. Shortly after making the comment, the husband lunged for Officer Johnson’s holstered gun in an attempt to disarm him and take control of the pistol.

Previous to this incident, Officer Johnson had recently attended the Physical Skills/Tactical Combatives class that the ITOA has been sponsoring for over a year. The class Officer Johnson attended was held in May of 2003. This class is taught by lead instructor Danny Halligan of Halligan’s Combat Training Systems. Part of this one day seminar includes a block of instruction in weapon retention placing strong emphasis on the need to become offensive instead of defensive. This skill along with the offensive mindset gives Officers the ability to end an attack almost as fast as it starts.

When the husband/complainant lunged for Officer Johnson’s sidearm Officer Johnson used the skills taught in the ITOA seminar and instantly stopped the offender’s attempt while at the same time delivering a strike to the offender. This offensive mindset and action not only stopped the offender’s ability to disarm Officer Johnson but also instantly gave Officer Johnson complete physical control of the offender. The offender was arrested and subsequently charged with attempting to disarm a police officer.

Shortly after this incident I interviewed Colin an attempt to discover how effective the skills were which he learned in the ITOA’s seminar. Following are some of his comments: Collin stated that he thinks everyone should take Danny’s class because it is so beneficial. Beyond that he stated that he could not believe how simple it was to defeat the attempt using the skills he had been taught by Danny Halligan and his assistant instructors.

Colin stated that he did not even have to think about it, he just instantly used the skills he had recently learned. He also stated that he realized the second the offender tried to disarm him that he had to go into an “offensive” mode which instantly stopped the disarming attempt. Colin stated that if he had used some of the weapon retention skills he had previously learned he is not sure what the outcome would have been.

Colin said that one of the first things he commented on to fellow officers was that the skills he had learned really do work and that it was not just the physical skills which prevented the attempt but the mindset that is taught at the seminars. This mindset deals with using “offensive” life saving survival skills instead of the standard “defensive tactics” so commonly taught in law enforcement.

Colin stated, "For you guys who practice this all of the time I would expect this outcome. But to know that I have attended your one day training, and know that it was enough to burn it in me to the point where I subconsciously did it in an emergency when I needed it is amazing and very impressive to me. It shows that the skills are very useful tools to have." Colin said he felt that unless he practiced these skills all of the time he would revert back to the skills he had always used and been taught since the academy but that didn’t happen.

“I obviously have had much more gun retention training in other areas and from other people which included covering the gun and twisting. But when I needed to use it on the street I used what Danny teaches because it is so simple and effective.”

Colin reiterated what he had written in the seminar review after receiving Danny’s training in May which stated that because the skills taught are so simple and are retained so well, even without practicing it on a regular basis, that he believes the training should be mandatory for all Police Officers. Colin added that the best things about Danny’s training are the simplicity of the skills and the fact that the skills can be used no matter what an Officer’s physical size or cardiovascular condition. Seeing that Danny is not a big person and due to the way he teaches brings great credibility to the seminars and builds Officer confidence in their own natural abilities.

Colin’s last comments regarding the disarming attempt and the skills taught by Danny at the ITOA training seminars were, “I swear by it. It was awesome. I was really glad I had those skills!”