TRAINING
To carry or not to carry?
JOHN A. DAPKINS
I was asked to author a comprehensive overview of this famous law enforcement officer question for the membership of the NJSPBA and NJ COPS. The debate, as we all know, is split on the topic, with some officers on the far sides of the fence. On one side, we have our Tackleberry officer, and on the other side we have our denial officer. Sometimes these officers can be so far right or left that they are no longer in sight of the fence( the middle of the road). Both can be dangerous in their own separate category.
So the answer is that only you can decide whether you want to carry when off duty. The trend in recent years has been an increase in off-duty carry. This article is designed to be an overview of the topic, and by no means the rule. Like anything else in this world, this skill set is one that is learned and one that takes time to develop and maintain. This article is the preamble to a multi-part series of small articles on this topic, designed specifically to assist all officers, but by no means provide the only answer to this multibillion-dollar-a-year industry.
So the first thing that you need to decide is what to carry: a revolver or semi-automatic. I would say for a majority of the readers, an automatic is the way to go. A revolver like an S & W 640 five-shot is a great weapon and is meant for specific carry purposes. The majority of officers carrying or considering carrying of late will be purchasing or issued a semi-automatic pistol. When selecting this weapon, you want to locate a pistol that you can shoot. All of these weapons pose different pros and cons. A few to consider are the weight, size, capacity and caliber. All of these affect the manner in which one can effectively use the weapon.
What exactly do I mean, you ask? So you bought a particular pistol and want to utilize an appendix carry like you’ ve seen in Facebook posts and elsewhere. Does the pistol allow you to do this? Some of you might be asking, what the heck is an appendix carry? To answer your question, it is a frontal waistband carry where the weapon is secured in the front of the waistband, usually in a Kydex-style holster with loose-fitting clothing over the top of the weapon for concealment.
As you can see, we can get lost on a tangent very quickly. This is not the purpose of this article, nor how it was requested to be written. So let’ s get back on topic to assist those who are entering the world of off-duty carry for the first time. Let’ s lay a baseline of five starter rules. There obviously is much more to the topic, but we’ re applying the keep-it-simple method to this process in order to maximize our effectiveness:
• Carry your off duty
• Practice with your off duty
• Use a holster that covers the actual entire trigger / trigger guard
• Have a spare magazine
• Have a plan
So let’ s break these rules down. The first rule is simple but yet often broken by a vast majority. Your off duty does no one any good in the glove box. If you’ re carrying then you should be carrying, and if you’ re not then you’ re not. Bouncing back
and forth literally has proven to have disastrous results. Some examples of this are misplacement of weapons, lost weapons, failure to have the weapon loaded and carrying it concealed. A majority of you are now considering carrying off duty due to the recent rise of overall violent crimes.
Practice with your off-duty weapon. This is important and, as crazy as it sounds, is actually behind rule # 1. The reality is that most people who have a CCW( Conceal Carry) our officers falling under HR 218 carry permission do not carry. So if you get past # 1, you will want to practice. Here is why: Most likely, you’ re with a loved one or friend when this deadly force encounter occurs. Also, the size and recoil of the weapon will greatly affect your ability and accuracy. Here are a few examples of this: Your sight picture will be different due to the overall length of the weapon, your round capacity will be greatly reduced for most of you, you will be drawing from a concealed carry positon under stress, and you will be off duty and on your own in a fight for your life and your loved ones. There are many more factors, but again, we’ re not trying to overwhelm and discourage those considering to carry off duty but to support and assist you.
Holsters could be an article by themselves. There are so many factors on this topic, but a 100 percent must rule is that the trigger and trigger guard must be 100 percent covered. Not only must the trigger be covered, but it must be made out of a hard material such as Kydex, double leather or molded nylon. Every year, there are hundreds of accidental discharge of pistols that could have been prevented if this rule was applied.
Carrying a spare magazine is a must when applicable. Again, do not use this to then invoke rule No. 1 as an excuse not to carry. I equate it to a diet or workout regimen. It must become a lifestyle change in order to be effective. The reason for a spare magazine is due to a lower round capacity in your off duty, coupled with a lower degree of accuracy. Other factors are multiple threats, and of course Murphy’ s law coming into play, in which the loaded magazine could fail.
Having a plan is a must, and no, I am not expecting you to barrel roll across the floor or flip a table for concealment. Yes, concealment, not cover— there is a huge difference, which will be covered in a future article. What is meant is that you should have a plan for your loved ones in the event of an emergency, where you may have only a few seconds to react, such as shots fired away from your location at a mall. Are you going to send your loved ones fleeing, or are you going to secure them in place and have them hide? Both are viable options, depending on the circumstances. But if you have never considered these scenarios, your on-the-job training will not fare well without a plan. Your family and spouse should know that if you tell them to do something in this type of emergency, there is reason and they need to do it. Prior to separation, you want to make sure that one of them is activating the 911 system and providing a description of you and your clothing to dispatch. This is vital in preventing a blue-on-blue shooting.
In closing, I thank you for allowing me to cover this topic for those considering off-duty carry options. In order to be successful in your selection of weapon choices, you want to find a
CONTINUED ON PAGE 74 www. njcopsmagazine. com ■ JUNE 2017 73