The Strength of Ten Men

Frank Borelli
Editor-in-Chief
Officer.com

"The Strength of Ten Men" is a phrase that can be related to everything from ancient mythology to modern lyrics. If you don't believe me, simply Google "strength of ten men" and sort through the more than 743,000 responses. What is the application in police work? It goes beyond literally being as strong as ten men. In his recent article "Who Should Kill A Terrorist?" Officer.com contributor Keith Lavery has a section titled "8 to 1". He discusses the "tactical math equation" wherein a person who:

• is highly trained in combatives
• is armed to the teeth
• has a belief system that implores their death as desireable
• knows their battlefield
• happens to be in a target rich environment

functions more efficiently than a single man. Keith adds in a fortified defensive position and comes up with the equivalent of 8 to 1 as a comparison. The hidden meaning, for those who don't think ahead, is that for every ONE such bad guy you need EIGHT good guys working to take him out. The point he's making is that fighting one terrorist isn't necessarily the same as fighting one average bad guy. The good news is that the reverse is also true. We can train our law enforcement professionals to a point where each of them functions with the equivalent efficiency of 8 men (or women - I'm not trying to be sexist). If we would invest the time and money to train our officers:

• highly in mixed martial arts or "combatives"
• with an assortment of effective weaponry without regard to political correctness
• in the duty-focused self-sacrificing attitude that made our country strong at its inception
• and assign them in a given area so that they can intimately learn their "battlefield"
• to see the moral imperative that they quickly and efficiently neutralize terrorists

then I think we could create more officers that are "8 to 1" in strength. Okay... so it's not "the strength of ten men"... but it IS a far better position than one under-trained, under-equipped, poorly motivated officer working to earn an anemic paycheck. Think about it. All comments are welcomed.