Erick Gelhaus

Editor at American COP Magazine

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Articles

Training at Distance for Countering an Ambush

2 weeks ago | americancop.com | Erick Gelhaus

(No Ratings Yet)Loading... As mentioned in our Police Memorial Week article, ambushes are a common way of attacking officers. A number of these occur when officers have just arrived on the scene. These scenes involve calls for service that may not trigger a sense of heightened alert or the need for additional resources. The dispatch information might even lull officers into canceling their cover (or second) units.
Testing Duty Pistols?

3 weeks ago | americancop.com | Erick Gelhaus

(No Ratings Yet)Loading... The subject of testing handguns for adoption by agencies came up recently. Testing. The vast majority of the 18,000 agencies in this country lack both the capability and the resources to conduct actual testing. Are we testing? Identifying our preferences? Or validating the testing of others? This also applies to all other firearms and accessories – armorer support, holsters, optics, lights, slings – as well as patrol vehicles, records-keeping software, and dispatch systems.
Performance Shooting with CDR

1 month ago | americancop.com | Erick Gelhaus

(No Ratings Yet)Loading... performance /pər-fôr′məns/nounThe act of performing or the state of being performed. The way in which someone or something functions. “The pilot rated the airplane’s performance in high winds.”That’s the first word, and shooting, defined as the act of one who shoots, is the second. “Performance shooting” is a phrase frequently repeated in firearms training. It generally tilts towards the competition side with a bias towards USPSA-style shooting.
Stop The Bleed And More Medical Considerations

1 month ago | americancop.com | Erick Gelhaus

(No Ratings Yet)Loading... May is National Stop the Bleed Month. The goal of that program is to get as many people as possible, regardless of where their paycheck comes from, trained to stop death from hemorrhaging (bleeding) caused by traumatic injuries. Stopping the bleed regardless of what caused it. I’m fortunate that, as a writer and trainer, I have a few Go-To people for pre-hospital trauma concerns. One of them is Caleb Causey of Lone Star Medics. He talked with me a couple of years ago.
Peace Officer Memorial Week and Last Year’s Losses

1 month ago | americancop.com | Erick Gelhaus

(No Ratings Yet)Loading... Every May, memorial ceremonies are held throughout the country for officers we have lost in the line of duty over the past year at the local, state, and national levels. The biggest ceremony is in Washington, D.C., following several days of events. The culmination is the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial ceremony. I understand it is an event to be experienced. Deaths of working cops are divided into two (2) categories. Felonious and accidental.
Sinister Manipulations - SemiAuto Shotguns

1 month ago | americancop.com | Erick Gelhaus

(No Ratings Yet)Loading... This is the second part of a series on left-handed manipulations of various firearms. Previously, I covered semi-automatic pistols; this article will look at semi-automatic shotguns. While there are some left-handed shotgun designs (I have a couple of them), there are some benefits to the far more commonly encountered right-hand designs for us lefties. The easiest to adapt and use is Mossberg’s receiver-mounted safety.
Start of Watch - Briefing

2 months ago | americancop.com | Erick Gelhaus

(No Ratings Yet)Loading... briefingnounbrief·ing ˈbrē-fiŋ Synonyms of briefing : an act or instance of giving precise instructions or essential informationBriefing is the foundation for a street cop’s workday, like a good breakfast. My focus is on briefing for a patrol shift, rather than any of the pre-event, pre-operational sessions that happen. Because it is so foundational to a street cop’s workday, I have some pretty clear memories about certain ones over the years.
Random Reviews - Books To Targets

2 months ago | americancop.com | Erick Gelhaus

From time to time, I have a number of things worth discussing here too short for an entire post. I’ve combined the following “reviews” to help shed light on useful items and ideas I’ve discovered. 5.11 Tactical shouldn’t be unfamiliar to anyone in this space. As mentioned before, I have been around long enough to wear canvas 5.11 trousers made by the outdoor clothing company Royal Robbins.
Carrying? When Impaired?

2 months ago | americancop.com | Erick Gelhaus

(No Ratings Yet)Loading... When do you carry? When don’t you? What is impaired? Throughout the training community, regardless of where one gets their paycheck, there is a tremendous emphasis on shooting, followed by how to do so quickly. Accuracy concerns follow that to various degrees. Interestingly, in the research I look at, there is a consensus that “we” collectively overemphasize shooting speed—a speed that is driven by an auditory stimulus rather than a visual one.
Flush Fit, No Fuss:

2 months ago | americanhandgunner.com | Erick Gelhaus

After 15 years of shooting with dots on my duty and personal carry pistols, I am always willing to try something that will make the installation and set-up process easier. When that something comes from a business I am already familiar with — from years of buying and using their products — it is all the better. And when they are made in America, it’s a no-brainer. Enter XS Sights with their Minimalist OR and optic plate bundle.