Condition Red

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Darrell
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Condition Red

Post by Darrell »

Curmudgeonly & Skeptical has a post about Cooper's Four Colors and situational awareness. His post includes some cute Rodger style illustrations, you can see it here:

http://curmudgeonlyskeptical.blogspot.c ... olors.html

The original article he quotes is from PoliceOnedotcom; it's an overiew of the four colors from a policeman's point of view:
The late Jeff Cooper’s “Color Code” has been embraced and taught by competent instructors for many years. Most of you are quite familiar with the concepts, but a review of these essential survival levels is worthwhile. Cooper broke down alertness levels into four colors of escalating degrees of preparation for the use of deadly force. This color code system is a mental process, not a physical one, and should be utilized whether or not you are armed — though being armed is always preferred. Being alert may help you to avoid a deadly threat in the first place, which is always the preferred outcome.

White
In condition White, you are relaxed and unaware of what is going on around you. Ideally, a police officer is only in white when asleep, but realistically we often drop our guard when we are at home or in some other environment we assume to be safe, like the squad room. Since even police stations have been attacked, it is better to be more alert even when you are in your “lair.” As the Lakewood coffee shop ambush proves, you simply cannot be on white when you are in uniform, whether on duty or off.

If you are attacked in condition white, you may very well die — unless you are lucky. I prefer to not depend on luck.

Yellow
In condition yellow, you remain relaxed, but are aware of who and what is around you. This merely means that you are paying attention to the sights and sounds that surround you whether you are at home or moving in society. Condition yellow DOES NOT equate with paranoia or any other irrational fear of persons or places. Instead, you simply have moved your alertness to a level of attention that will prevent you from being totally surprised by the actions of another person.

While walking through an area you will loosely keep track of anyone behind you. When choosing a seat in a restaurant, you will position yourself to see the entrance or to minimize the number of people who might be behind you.

You don’t need to insist on securing the “gunfighter seat” which will put your back to a dead corner and your face to the entrance, because you are not anticipating a threat, you are merely conducting an inventory of your surroundings and the other people around you. You will also be running a cursory “what if” mental visualization of where a threat could appear and what your reaction(s) should be.

If you are attacked in condition yellow, it should not come as a total surprise. Your response to a threat should have been pre-planned to some extent, allowing you to simply run an existing plan rather than having to make one up quickly while under fire. A competent police officer MUST be in condition yellow whenever they are on duty — or when armed while off duty.
The rest is here:

http://www.policeone.com/police-trainer ... awareness/

I suppose from a cop's point of view, condition red would be time to have one's gun drawn. Would the same apply to a citizen (I won't use the word civilian)? Ready to draw, or time to draw?
Eppur si muove--Galileo
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PawPaw
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Re: Condition Red

Post by PawPaw »

Darrell wrote:I suppose from a cop's point of view, condition red would be time to have one's gun drawn. Would the same apply to a citizen (I won't use the word civilian)? Ready to draw, or time to draw?
It depends. Condition Red means that you've identified a serious, possibly injurious threat. Should you draw? That's up to you and the situation, and (more likely) your assessment of the situation. By the time you've gone from Orange to Red, it's likely that the suspect has done something that indicated a real threat, as opposed to something that might become a threat.

I, as a uniformed cop, might draw in Red, and would probably do so, at least to a very low ready. I'd also be barking clear verbal commands. As a non-sworn citizen, you might feel more comfortable assessing the flee-or-fight response. You might feel compelled to draw, you might not, depending on your individual assessment of the complete situation.

The great thing about Col Cooper's color system is that it gives us something to think about, something to discuss, and is flexible enough to encompass a wide variety of responses. The mental drills in the color system help us think about these things before we experience them and assist with Mindset, which is the most important part of the entire exercise.
Dennis Dezendorf
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Netpackrat
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Re: Condition Red

Post by Netpackrat »

I believe that website is not paraphrasing Cooper quite correctly. In Orange, the decision point is set. In Red, the fight is on.
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"People come and go in our lives, especially the online ones. Some leave a fond memory, and some a bad taste." -Aesop
MarkD
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Re: Condition Red

Post by MarkD »

Netpackrat wrote:I believe that website is not paraphrasing Cooper quite correctly. In Orange, the decision point is set. In Red, the fight is on.

Yup. According to Cooper in orange you've identified a specific threat. In red he's done something to justify shooting..
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Darrell
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Re: Condition Red

Post by Darrell »

Hmm, yes:
White: Unaware and unprepared. If attacked in Condition White, the only thing that may save you is the inadequacy or ineptitude of your attacker. When confronted by something nasty, your reaction will probably be "Oh my God! This can't be happening to me."
Yellow: Relaxed alert. No specific threat situation. Your mindset is that "today could be the day I may have to defend myself". You are simply aware that the world is a potentially unfriendly place and that you are prepared to defend yourself, if necessary. You use your eyes and ears, and realize that "I may have to shoot today". You don't have to be armed in this state, but if you are armed you should be in Condition Yellow. You should always be in Yellow whenever you are in unfamiliar surroundings or among people you don't know. You can remain in Yellow for long periods, as long as you are able to "Watch your six." (In aviation 12 o'clock refers to the direction in front of the aircraft's nose. Six o'clock is the blind spot behind the pilot.) In Yellow, you are "taking in" surrounding information in a relaxed but alert manner, like a continuous 360 degree radar sweep. As Cooper put it, "I might have to shoot."
Orange: Specific alert. Something is not quite right and has your attention. Your radar has picked up a specific alert. You shift your primary focus to determine if there is a threat (but you do not drop your six). Your mindset shifts to "I may have to shoot that person today", focusing on the specific target which has caused the escalation in alert status. In Condition Orange, you set a mental trigger: "If that person does "X", I will need to stop them". Your pistol usually remains holstered in this state. Staying in Orange can be a bit of a mental strain, but you can stay in it for as long as you need to. If the threat proves to be nothing, you shift back to Condition Yellow.
Red: Condition Red is fight. Your mental trigger (established back in Condition Orange) has been tripped. "If 'X' happens I will shoot that person" - 'X' has happened, the fight is on.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Cooper

In the policeman's article, he says this:
Red
If the focus of your attention in condition orange does something you find threatening, you will shift to condition red.

Notice here that condition Red IS NOT the firing stroke, as some instructors have misconstrued from Cooper’s teachings. Instead, condition red simply changes the focus of your attention from a potential threat to a potential target. You will draw your weapon, or move still further to sight acquisition, only if the potential target’s actions dictate such a response. Once you’ve shifted to condition red, you cannot be surprised by your primary adversary and you are fully prepared to repel boarders should he push the incident that far. But, your intense concentration on a forward threat will lessen your ability to maintain some degree of 360-degree awareness for unknown threats that may come from other directions. Effective training under high-stress conditions will help you avoid the tunnel vision that some describe as “akin to looking through a toilet paper tube.”
Is the author splitting hairs? If things go to red, pull one's gun but don't shoot yet? I would think if it's time for drawn guns, it's time for shootin'.
Eppur si muove--Galileo
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randy
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Re: Condition Red

Post by randy »

Darrell wrote: I would think if it's time for drawn guns, it's time for shootin'.
Unless the mere act of drawing your weapon deescalates/defuses the situation. (CF Fookin' With The Irish Mob)

I forget right now who did the study but it's quoted by the NRA quite a bit, that the majority of defensive uses of firearms in the US end without a shot being fired.

Of course you should never draw your weapon unless you are prepared to use it, but they aren't sacred blades that require blood to be drawn prior to re-sheathing them.
...even before I read MHI, my response to seeing a poster for the stars of the latest Twilight movies was "I see 2 targets and a collaborator".
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Kommander
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Re: Condition Red

Post by Kommander »

randy wrote:
Darrell wrote: I would think if it's time for drawn guns, it's time for shootin'.
Unless the mere act of drawing your weapon deescalates/defuses the situation. (CF Fookin' With The Irish Mob)

I forget right now who did the study but it's quoted by the NRA quite a bit, that the majority of defensive uses of firearms in the US end without a shot being fired.

Of course you should never draw your weapon unless you are prepared to use it, but they aren't sacred blades that require blood to be drawn prior to re-sheathing them.
Having a threat go into condition brown is usually preferable to having to shoot them.
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Netpackrat
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Re: Condition Red

Post by Netpackrat »

Kommander wrote:Having a threat go into condition brown is usually preferable to having to shoot them.
Heh. The point is, the decision has been made by the time the pistol comes out. If the threat realizes the gravity of his situation, and stops being a threat in time for you to stand down from carrying out your decision, then that's OK too. Recent history is rife with well-meaning CCW holders who drew and tried to apprehend violent criminals, rather than just shooting them, and were killed for their trouble.
Cognosce teipsum et disce pati

"People come and go in our lives, especially the online ones. Some leave a fond memory, and some a bad taste." -Aesop
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Jericho941
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Re: Condition Red

Post by Jericho941 »

Netpackrat wrote:
Kommander wrote:Having a threat go into condition brown is usually preferable to having to shoot them.
Heh. The point is, the decision has been made by the time the pistol comes out. If the threat realizes the gravity of his situation, and stops being a threat in time for you to stand down from carrying out your decision, then that's OK too. Recent history is rife with well-meaning CCW holders who drew and tried to apprehend violent criminals, rather than just shooting them, and were killed for their trouble.
That, and once you draw, keep it drawn until you know you're out of danger. During the 2005 Tacoma Mall shooting, the CCW guy didn't see who was shooting and re-holstered his pistol. When he stumbled across the shooter, it was too late, and he got lit up in the process of re-drawing his gun.

McKown was lucky, relatively speaking: He retains the use of one leg, though the end result is that he mostly gets around in a wheelchair and has to use a colostomy bag. He took 4 hits in the torso and one in the leg from a MAK-90, simultaneously proving A) he's a lucky SOB and B) the 7.62x39 isn't necessarily all it's cracked up to be. None of the 6 people hit by the shooter died.

Oh, and what makes that shooting all the stranger is that the Tacoma Mall has a mini-department built in for the Tacoma Police.
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Netpackrat
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Re: Condition Red

Post by Netpackrat »

Jericho941 wrote: McKown was lucky, relatively speaking: He retains the use of one leg, though the end result is that he mostly gets around in a wheelchair and has to use a colostomy bag. He took 4 hits in the torso and one in the leg from a MAK-90, simultaneously proving A) he's a lucky SOB and B) the 7.62x39 isn't necessarily all it's cracked up to be. None of the 6 people hit by the shooter died.
Well, it did stop him. :|
Cognosce teipsum et disce pati

"People come and go in our lives, especially the online ones. Some leave a fond memory, and some a bad taste." -Aesop
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