Starvin Larry

A recent article at PoliceOne.com, entitled “Why ‘tactical loitering’ doesn’t cut it anymore,” says more and more respected trainers are concerned about what they call “tactical loitering” and/or “dithering.”

Maybe they should start calling it tacticool loitering…

The terms, writes Charles Remsberg, refer to first responders who arrive at the scene of an urgent, life-threatening crime-in-progress — particularly an active shooting — but instead of taking immediate action, they stall, waiting either for other officers or a supervisor to show up or, in the most extreme cases, waiting for SWAT (a la pre-Columbine).

While all three experts, and others, agree that solo officer response is needed to stop active killers, many police departments still cling to the out-dated quad/wedge/diamond entry. All these involve the first officer(s) doing nothing when he gets on scene until he has multiple other officers there for backup. During that time, it is likely that additional people will be killed.

Overemphasis on Officer Survival

“Undoubtedly,” Alwes said, “an overemphasis on officer safety is part of the hesitancy equation. We’ve told officers that their most important job is to go home alive and uninjured at the end of their shift.

But how many officers would believe that if their own family was inside a place where shots are going off? I would never ask an officer to throw his life away on a suicide mission. But there are times when it’s important for us to put ourselves at great personal risk to fulfill our sworn duty to protect.”