Day three of in-service training for law enforcement officers within Virginia State Parkstook place in the town of Clifton Forge at the old Middle School Gym known as the Clifton Forge Armory.
When I got there Wednesday morning the officers had just finished warming-up for the morning and were about to go over self-defense maneuvers. About 40 officers were lined up across the gym floor which made for an electrifying site.
As the lead instructor called out drills these officers repeated in a cadence style chant “back,” to insinuate commanding the attacker to “get back.” The words echoed through the gym as each officer repeated “back” in a commanding voice. It gave me goose bumps listening to them.
The officers worked with their hands, feet and then their asp for training. They completed line drills allowing each officer to strike a foam pad for practice. These drills lasted for the first part of the morning and then the officers worked on pressure points.
Here officers are completing line drills for the good part of the morning.
Pressure points are areas on the human body producing pain or other effects when manipulated in a specific manner, and are used to help assist in an arrest of an assailant who is not complying with an officer.
Getting physical compliance from an attacker becomes easier when police officers know the proper technique and use of pressure points. The knowledge of pressure points helps officers do their job while at the same time minimizing potential injury to the assailant. As I watched the officers practice pressure point maneuvers on one another I will say pressure points work.
The law enforcement staff take turns applying pressure points to one another for practice.
Pressure points are used as a distraction tool so other techniques can be used to detain the attacker who is resisting arrest.
The officers then broke into two groups: one group stayed in the gym and one group worked outside. The gym group worked on edged weapon drills and how to safely maneuver away from an edge weapon during an attack. The group outside worked on vehicle extraction. This reinforced how to properly and safely maneuver a subject out of their vehicle who is resisting arrest.
Using pressure points correctly was addressed during these practices to help enforce compliance. If a subject was not cooperating with the police then these law enforcement officers would use their training to extract the person out of his or her vehicle.
I was impressed to see several law enforcement officers playing the role of the “assailant” and being extracted right out of their vehicle window. I didn’t think I could come out of my vehicle window, but using these law enforcement maneuvers allowed the “assailants” to come rather quickly and cooperate abruptly using the pressure points and maneuvers.
Virginia State Parksis state accredited law enforcement agency. Be sure to check out the other parts of this article Part II.
Did you know our clicking hereand selecting the park of interest.
For more information on Douthator any of Virginia’s 35 award winning state parksclick hereor call toll-free 1-800-933-PARK.
Contact the park office directly at 540-862-8100 or e-mailDouthat State Park. Douthat is located at 14239 Douthat State Park Road, Millboro, VA 24460.