Speed has always been a crucial and quite rewarding aspect of our culture, society and the very simple process of determining what is good or bad. In the age of internet and fast food, all we need is here. Right here, right now, fast as a rocket, simple as walking.

Today a shooter’s tactical legitimacy is determined (often subconsciously) via his speed of movement and accuracy.  Whether it is who shot the fastest with a beeper or who eliminates and entire CQB kill house in the shortest time and the fastest speed, everything is subject to the final question: How fast are you bro?

The fast and furious mentality, which is largely entertainment-driven, penetrated slowly in the recent century into too many tactical concepts. Primarily shooting, combatives and CQB resulting in a complete disregard of many little pieces or micro critical milestones if you will, that are existing in the reality between the moment you perceive a certain visual input, to the moment you take a decision. We call it identification, the middle ground between cause and effect.

But first, what is identification in tactical context?

Identification – the condition of having the identity (of a person or object) established. It could be a figure (suspect, active threat, bystander) or a device (IED, obstacle, etc..).  Both have a common ground as they tend to be have strong impact on the progress as well as success of your task.”

Now ask yourself: in all this training you put down-range, say weapon manipulations or tactics, have you ever involved any kind of target identification principle or even process to it? Probably not, and there is the problem.

Scenario 01 – Low light, home invasion call

A. Night, it’s dark and you respond as an officer to a possible home invasion call. You arrive on site, door is open, no light, no sound.

B. As you approach one of the sleeping rooms, you begin to slice the pie, gradually seeing more of the room. You choose not to use your flashlight.

C. Noise, you hear someone moving. Your flashlight goes on. You see a guy, his face lit up, black jacket, but he can’t find the right words.

D. He holds something. You can’t see what.

Scenario 01 Rundown:

This describes a situation where it is dark and you just made an encounter. In most cases every noise movement or shadow might be a resident rather than the intruder himself. You need to see.

You are still not having all required data to identify, and therefore you go “loud” with flashlight on. From that moment, you perceive what appears to be a silhouette, an opposing T of shoulders and head and you enter the identification process. This entails profiling, which is driven by the pillars of communication, visual and context. But long story short, you are busy in getting fixated slowly into a human interaction with another human.

Based on the context above you need to:

1. Verbally communicate while holding a gun and a flashlight

2. Interact properly with a flashlight

3. Interact properly with both the flashlight AND the gun (manipulation, etc.)

4. Perhaps use your radio

5. Control non compliant individual, as they tend to move often, requiring you to adjust your position behind cover

6. To communicate and further collect important cues for the purpose of identification.  (Should I enter or bring this guy to me? Is this a bystander, resident, or a threat?)

7. You will need to do all of this while working from cover. In low light conditions.

8. Assuming you have a partner, who communicates, who pulls security? Or do you both fixate on the person?

Let’s assume the suspect appears to perform a distinctive movement that resembles the draw of a handgun. Next, you perceive the shape and the shining of a long tubular metal body being draw. At this point (not always) the identification process, comes to a momentary pause, since the target is identified.