From some of my research i hopefully to tell you about real law enforcement techniques learned from previous instances and mistakes which previous officers used, feel free to critique me on the topic or add extra information. This one is Contact and Cover and people whom have law enforcement experience would know about this, but in case you don't here it is.

 

PREFACE: Some of these were extracted from articles and knowledge and training files, I shortened it for you so you can understand it much easier and added some information which was left out.

 

What Is Contact And Cover:

 

Usually the officer who initiates the activity will be the contact officer. He or she conducts all the business of the contact including interviews, searches, writing citations, recovering evidence, running warrant checks and so forth. The second officer in the car or the next to arrive becomes the cover officer and he or she is exactly that, cover. He’ s responsible for surveillance and control of the subjects and for the security of the contact officer. As the contact officer, you should brief your cover officer as soon as he/she arrives, telling them the reason for the stop and what you have, what you plan to do, any previous knowledge you may have of the suspects and their potential for violence and any other suspicious circumstances. Finally you should make it clear to the other cop that he or she is the cover officer. As the cover officer, you too have a briefing responsibility to tell the contact officer about any past experiences you’ ve had with the suspects, any radio traffic he may have missed since calling in for cover, as well as any observations you may have made while approaching the scene. And finally you should confirm your roles, making sure there are no questions as to who’ s the contact officer and who is the cover. The most dangerous moments of most contacts come during handcuffing or a pat down. This is when definition of roles is most critical. Adjusting positions accordingly, the contact officer conducts the search and cuffing, the cover officer acts as security. The cover officer has two principal duties. First, to discourage hostile acts, assault or escape by providing force presence. A promise to the suspect that immediate response to any interference or resistance they may be considering. The second duty is to intervene with force if necessary to protect the contact officer. Now force presence is important and we do want suspects to know that the cover officer is there for a purpose, but it needn’ t or shouldn’ t be overdone. Squaring off in a quick draw position while offering the suspect your meanest unblinking stare is not only unnecessarily melodramatic but also it may even provoke a hostile reaction. If the cover officer observes a suspect trying to conceal or destroy evidence, the cover officer alerts the contact officer but does not recover the evidence or allow himself to become distracted in any way from his mission of suspect control. The philosophy is the same as that of most enforcement contacts. We must immediately establish that we are in charge while not giving the impression that we’ re out to provoke or antagonise someone.

 

 

 

What Inspired Contact and Cover?

 

On the night of September 14 1984  Officers Timothy Ruopp, 31, and Kimberly Tonahill, 24, from the San  Diego Police Department were both shot and killed by Joselito Cinco  Officer Ruopp was doing a simple check on two Hispanic males he had caught drinking with two underage girls. Ruopp call for "a backup, but without urgency." Tonahill, who was returning from checking out a minor traffic violation, was ordered by a dispatcher to Grape Street Park. She arrived and while the Ruopp focused on one of the males, the other officer focused on the other. 

Though Tonahill acknowledged the dispatcher's order that sent her to the park, she never called in to alert the dispatcher that she had arrived, 

According to previous testimony and police reports, the shooting began when Tonahill attempted to search Cinco. Cinco pushed Tonahill back and then pulled out the pistol, which he used to shoot the two officers. Tonahill was shot four times at point-blank range and died at the scene. Ruopp was shot in the leg and calf before Cinco fired a round into his head. He died two days later. Both officers never drew their revolvers.

 

What Recommendations Was Made After This?

 

One hundred and seventy four (174) recommendations from a Task Force have been implemented by the San Diego P.D. Included were blue uniforms, going back to black and white cars, semi-automatics and a number of other recommendations that help get the job done a better way.

 

Collinsville P.D. decided that they needed to look at some serious training in “ Contact and Cover” after reviewing the manner in which the previous searches were made. Major Ed Delmore contacted the San Diego P.D. and asked them to send the reenactment tape. He also asked San Diego if he could visit them with Collinsville’ s F.T.O. to learn first-hand “Contact and Cover” tactics. A crucial aspect to the “Contact and Cover” procedure is the use of hand signals. Collinsville parroted San Diego’ s hand signals and then some. San Diego’ s primary hand signals are:

 

CODE-FOUR (FOUR FINGERS RAISED) The most commonly used signal. No Cover or Assistance Needed

A CLOSED FIST Use Extreme Caution

INDEX FINGER POINTING UP Observe/Cover Me from Your Car or Present Position. Do Not Leave or Approach Immediately

A CLOSED HAND WITH THUMB POINTING UPWARD AT SHOULDER LEVEL OR HIGHER I Need Routine Assistance (Not Cover) With This Contact INDEX AND MIDDLE FINGERS (2) POINTING UP Call for More Cover NOW!

 

Collinsville additions include a scratch to the badge as a signal to tell the cover officer contraband has been found. A sign language of a “ W” with the fingers across the badge signals a weapon. All stops are recorded by cameras.

 

Thank you for reading Feedback is very appreciated 🙂 

 

Edited July 11, 20232 yr by Throxie
Editing Title and Spelling also thanks Ezra for letting me know about all caps titles my apologies.

Ill probs do this once a week. 

Interesting read!

16 hours ago, lovkal said:

Interesting read!

Thank you I hoped you can learn something. I'm doing this to bring back the non toxic side of this community. The LCPD-MODS days.

Classic lesson, it's unfortunate so many people learn it the hard way. Have seen countless videos where this simple process is not followed and it results in serious injure of a LEO or even worse.