Reply To: THE PUZZLE OF MURDER-BY-GUN STATISTICS

@SteveInCO, police are instructed to keep a 21-foot distance between them and a knife wielding attacker, but that situation may happen from time to time, where they are confronted with someone brandishing a knife. But in the few contacts I’ve had with police they were usually far closer than 21 feet, their weapon was holstered, and they weren’t expecting an attack. In other words, they were 100% vulnerable. A lot of body armor provides limited protection from knife stabs at best, and of course some of the most vulnerable parts of the body aren’t protected by body armor anyway (e.g., face, neck, inner thigh). An officer can’t do much with a belligerent person without getting up close and personal anyway, bringing them into the danger zone.

The 21-foot rule is virtually useless in the vast majority of risky situations.