What Does It Mean to 'Be a Hard Target' to an Enemy?

Across the decades that I’ve spent in law enforcement, including those I spent as an Officer Survival instructor, Firearms instructor and Defensive Tactics instructor, I’ve heard plenty of training officers advising others to “be a hard target.” It’s always interesting to me that 99% of the time they seem to be talking about the physical strength and condition of the officer, as if to “be a hard target” simply means being in peak health and reasonably strong. 

But isn’t the best “hard target” one that is so formidable that the enemy dare not even attack it? 

I remember being in the police academy and being taught about a study that was performed back in the 1970s. It seems a group of investigators had interviewed a collection of convicts while they were still in prison. The convicts were selected for interview because they had either resisted arrest or attacked a police officer (generally speaking, any law enforcement professional). The investigators wanted to interview convicts who had made the conscious decision to attack or fight a police officer and, in some cases, more than one. 

Through the process of the interviews, one of the commonalities found was that the convicts said they were less likely to attack or fight an officer whose appearance and demeanor were more professional. They also said that, in general, those officers who looked more professional appeared to be more physically fit. In other words, if you look at the opposite characteristics, the convicts were more willing or likely to attack/fight an officer who was sloppy or looked out of shape—or both, as “professional” and “fit” seem to be somewhat synonymous in the minds of the convicts. 

The lesson our academy instructors were trying to impart on us was that it was to our benefit to be physically fit and to maintain a professional appearance and demeanor. Stay in shape. Keep our uniforms squared away. Polish the leather. Keep our shoes/boots shined. Keep our brass shined. 

Of course, these days, there’s a lot less leather, shoes/boots are usually shined, many badges are embroidered or plasticized, and many uniforms don’t require being tailored or pressed. What is an officer left with if some of the “high speed” appearance characteristics of the uniform are taken away? Being physically fit; alert; sharp; quick-witted. 

It’s an observable commonality that the officers who allow themselves to be overweight and have poorly maintained uniforms (look sloppy) are usually considered lazy by their peers. That’s not to say that all overweight officers are lazy, but the combination of characteristics - overweight and sloppy appearance - is often perceived as indication of a lazy officer. Do you think a convict would consider such an officer a “hard target?” Or do you think that convict would consider the less fit officer an easier target for resisting arrest or general assault? 

As we begin our careers as rookies, we’re taught to keep our uniforms looking sharp and to stay in shape. Many agencies have a fitness requirement for promotions and even those that don’t, have a chain of command that observes an officer’s motivation, taking it into consideration as promotions are determined. As we move through our careers, depending on the path taken and the duties assigned, sometimes it’s tempting or easy to pay less attention to our fitness levels or our general appearance. Sometimes stress takes its toll and we simply stop caring as much. Sometimes we reach a point where we’re “just coasting” to the end of our time, simply wanting to complete what’s necessary to secure a retirement check. 

In this profession, it is to everyone’s benefit if they try to maintain the necessary level of fitness. In this case we’re discussing physical fitness, but mental, emotional and spiritual fitness are all included as well. It’s of benefit to maintain a professional appearing uniform and to have the better “command presence” when dealing with the public, remembering that the friendly parts of the public will give us higher levels of respect if they’re impressed with our appearance and demeanor. And in this case, the less friendly parts of the public - the criminal element - will be less likely to attack, fight or resist us if an arrest becomes necessary. 

That’s the best hard target an officer can be: the one that criminals don’t even want to fight in the first place. What kind of target are you?