This is a tactic developed in the days when it was still legal for a cop to shoot someone simply for running, and when the retention holster du jour meant you probably would not be able to get your gun out reliably under stress. Additionally, even if your service revolver was out and you decided you didn't need to shoot someone, using the gun itself as an intermediate force adjunct was still acceptable and widely practiced. So, the utility and necessity of a preemptive draw was quite different than today, as was the legal threshold to shoot someone instead of being obliged to reholster under stress and use intermediate force.
The laws we police under are dramatically different and our gear is also in another league in terms of both security and speed. The general consensus these days is to leave the gun in the holster until you think you actually need it. If you're hiding the gun, that's probably a good indicator that you don't really need it out right now. Establishing a master grip on a holstered weapon (using contemporary gear) gives you greater weapons retention/security and a quicker presentation to target compared to hiding it behind the leg, while making it dramatically easier and quicker to transition to intermediate force.
For the reasons articulated by @DDTSGM, it has mostly fallen out of favor across the country. There are still some pockets where it is still practiced, and these places tend to be very insular in their training development. In addition, some Navy SEAL was going around advocating this a couple years ago for private citizens in active shooter situations, which is an even worse idea...an absolutely fucking retarded idea...and will 100% get you shot by responding LEOs, justifiably so.
That's Tactical Dangle, to you.
Last edited by TGS; 12-04-2023 at 11:51 PM.
"Are you ready? Okay. Let's roll."- Last words of Todd Beamer
@TGS.....I'll take "Stupid Cop Tricks" for $1000.
As an aside on running bad guys. As a kid, I saw a guy grab a purse on Flatbush avenue near Erasmus Hall High School. Around the block was a police precinct changing shifts. He ran around that corner with folks yelling about him. Tens of cops leaped into pursuit as he ran back and away. I saw one cop pull his revolver and aim. The one next to him said: Oh, for God's Sake - we got him.
They swarmed him by the donut shop (Fate!). He was treated roughly and thrown into a squad car that drove up. A Brooklynite said: Hey, what did you do to him? An officer said: He fell down. Sir, you could fall down. The wise guy said: Well, that's quite alright.
Still remember that. Also, the donut shop. It had a machine that plopped dough into frying oil, retrieved the donut and then chocolate frosted it - all in a conveyer belt system. We kids just used to stand outside the window watching it.
Cloud Yeller of the Boomer Age
Complete context matters.
I learned the "behind the leg" thing from old school NYPD guys who also taught me that if one suspected trouble your gun belonged in your hand (i.e. preemptive draw). However, their context was working out of the old (and mandated) "Jay Pee" holster which was significantly slower to draw from than a modern duty holster. Is it still something I would teach? No, but our context is different.
You can get a sub 1 second draw out of a modern duty (even level III) if you put the work in. The Jay-Pee not so much.
In the context of a 1970's NYPD officer behind the leg is a way to work around mandated but deficient gear rather than "stupid cop tricks."
Last edited by HCM; 12-05-2023 at 11:23 AM.
I saw some old timers (and newer guys) doing the gun behind the leg thing on traffic stops.
I always figured that if I felt the need to approach a car on a traffic stop with my gun drawn, then I probably shouldn’t be approaching the car.
"Are you ready? Okay. Let's roll."- Last words of Todd Beamer