Originally Posted by
jnc36rcpd
Physical speed and weapons-handling skill are clearly factors, but thinking is what slows people down. You can't tell what distracts an opponent or how long he or she is going to be distracted. You can simply use indicators that you see throughout life (expression, looking away, and so forth).
Preparation also enters into this. Returning to the "Miami Vice" clip, the assassin has no compunction against using deadly force. He is obviously skilled at presenting from concealment and engaging. If he wasn't as confident in his skills, presentation and engagement would likely have taken longer. (When we consider that the bad guy is really a world-class shooter acting in a television show, he also knows that if he bobbles the draw, there is always take 2. Thus, there isn't the stress of possibly getting shot.)
The bodyguard, on the other hand, is thinking about a lot. While he could have engaged the shooter immediately, he opted for a challenge. He's thinking about what he should do, issuing multiple verbal commands. He is likely considering the legal implications of shooting this guy and also trying to decide what to do with the cobra he has somehow caught and is now trying to put back in the basket.
While we LEO's are far from perfect, we likely would have a default setting to deal with this situation if we didn't shoot. Ordering the suspect to face away (or, better yet, approaching from his rear) would have helped even things up (as well as moving if he complies with the verbal command). We've likely thought through what we'd do next (go to one handed stance, hold credentials over head, prepare for verbal commands from arriving uniforms). While an armed or unarmed citizen might do something differently, thinking these scenarios through will likely reduce lag time.
Who would have envisioned that this 1984 clip from "Miami Vice" would be used to review tactics nearly four decades later?