Thursday, October 18, 2012

Stay alert in your surroundings during pursuit

When you’re in pursuit of a fleeing suspect it’s easy to fall prey to focusing — both physically and mentally — on one thing: the rabbit. With that comes the risk of completely disregarding consideration of your surroundings, which can be dangerous.

When you’re pursuing someone, consciously take the time to think about where you are and where you’re going, and continually evaluate the risks associated with the pursuit versus the reward of nabbing the perp.

• Is the suspect about to run full charge between two parked cars into a street where you could get clipped by passing traffic? • Did he just nimbly jump off a ledge that could have you crashing to the ground like a ton of bricks if you decide to immediately do the same? • Does he have enough of a lead on you that he could have time to position himself to attack you when you blindly round that corner of the building you just saw him turn?

Focusing on your target is important but doing so at the expense of your situational awareness can be tragic.

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