What are some commands or exclamations appropriate for a civilian self-defender that one could practice and potentially use before or during a lethal-force incident?
I read a study by the Force Science Institute published in 2008 on an analysis of peace officer commands. They categorized commands as "alpha" or "beta" to distinguish specific, feasible commands ("take your hands out of your pockets") versus vague and unfeasible commands ("let me see them"). They further categorized commands as regular, exclusionary (stop, don't, quit), indirect, question, interview, and other. Question and interview commands were distinguished by whether the expected response was an action ("can you step out of the car?") or a verbal response ("have you been drinking?"). They went on to study video to measure compliance, non-compliance and latency with the various sub-types, as well as form a hypothesis about the effect of fear and extreme duress on the type of commands a peace officer is observed to use. The study is published here: https://iletsbeiforumjournal.com/images/Issues/FreeIssues/ILEEF 2008-8.2.pdf
Many of the commands a law enforcement officer is likely to give are not appropriate for civilian self-defenders, and law enforcement officers have the authority to compel compliance with some commands that civilians do not. Page 103 of the publication has a table of numerous specific commands if you are interested in some of those.
An example: I remember some time ago someone posted that they gave the command, "show me your hands." As a civilian, they did not have the authority to compel compliance with that command, and the person they suspected of theft did not comply. At that point, they were frustrated and made a poor choice to fire a warning shot. The suspect's non-compliance did not justify a shot.
I would like to know more commands appropriate for civilians. I also want to evaluate them by the criteria in the study.
I'll start with a couple that I have heard trainers use:
"Stop. Don't come any closer." This is an alpha exclusionary command. I also think it's appropriate for civilians. Even though a person is not necessarily obligated to comply with it, their defiance of it establishes reasonable fear. You might imagine road-rage dude just got out of his car and is storming toward you stuck in traffic. Or maybe a potential mugger just started rushing toward you with his hand in his waistband as you leave the ATM.
"You're scaring me." I'm not sure if this meets alpha or beta criteria, but it's an indirect command or really an exclamation. This doesn't necessarily make it less effective. The trainer who used it believes it helps establish evidence of reasonable fear. They used it while clearing rooms. I imagine it might also be used with a stalker in a parking garage.
What are some other appropriate commands or exclamations? The FSI study wasn't limited to lethal-force situations, but my question for civilians is. I'm interested in potentially appropriate and effective things for a person to say once they've been compelled to draw their firearm or when they're concerned they may imminently have to.
I read a study by the Force Science Institute published in 2008 on an analysis of peace officer commands. They categorized commands as "alpha" or "beta" to distinguish specific, feasible commands ("take your hands out of your pockets") versus vague and unfeasible commands ("let me see them"). They further categorized commands as regular, exclusionary (stop, don't, quit), indirect, question, interview, and other. Question and interview commands were distinguished by whether the expected response was an action ("can you step out of the car?") or a verbal response ("have you been drinking?"). They went on to study video to measure compliance, non-compliance and latency with the various sub-types, as well as form a hypothesis about the effect of fear and extreme duress on the type of commands a peace officer is observed to use. The study is published here: https://iletsbeiforumjournal.com/images/Issues/FreeIssues/ILEEF 2008-8.2.pdf
Many of the commands a law enforcement officer is likely to give are not appropriate for civilian self-defenders, and law enforcement officers have the authority to compel compliance with some commands that civilians do not. Page 103 of the publication has a table of numerous specific commands if you are interested in some of those.
An example: I remember some time ago someone posted that they gave the command, "show me your hands." As a civilian, they did not have the authority to compel compliance with that command, and the person they suspected of theft did not comply. At that point, they were frustrated and made a poor choice to fire a warning shot. The suspect's non-compliance did not justify a shot.
I would like to know more commands appropriate for civilians. I also want to evaluate them by the criteria in the study.
I'll start with a couple that I have heard trainers use:
"Stop. Don't come any closer." This is an alpha exclusionary command. I also think it's appropriate for civilians. Even though a person is not necessarily obligated to comply with it, their defiance of it establishes reasonable fear. You might imagine road-rage dude just got out of his car and is storming toward you stuck in traffic. Or maybe a potential mugger just started rushing toward you with his hand in his waistband as you leave the ATM.
"You're scaring me." I'm not sure if this meets alpha or beta criteria, but it's an indirect command or really an exclamation. This doesn't necessarily make it less effective. The trainer who used it believes it helps establish evidence of reasonable fear. They used it while clearing rooms. I imagine it might also be used with a stalker in a parking garage.
What are some other appropriate commands or exclamations? The FSI study wasn't limited to lethal-force situations, but my question for civilians is. I'm interested in potentially appropriate and effective things for a person to say once they've been compelled to draw their firearm or when they're concerned they may imminently have to.