Teaching Defensive Tactics in the 21st Century
How the Marietta Police Department Made Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Mandatory
In a culture of intense scrutiny of police control techniques
and accusations of brutality based off cell phone videos, it is
imperative that law enforcement trainers evaluate what they are
given scenario, but the public perception may be totally different.
They often see it as “lawful, but awful.”
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) has been around for many years but
recently has gained popularity with its proven effectiveness in
combat sports. Jiu Jitsu can be translated as “gentle art” and be
used as an effective technique of police use of non-deadly force.
It now has expanded into law enforcement, having proven to
be an extremely effective way to control suspects in real life
applications. Thus, the acceptance of BJJ as a law enforcement
use of force technique has continued its momentum and become
the basis for many (elective) defensive tactics programs around
the nation. Meanwhile, there also has been a strong movement
on social media, #bjjmakeitmandatory, where defensive tactics
instructors are encouraging agencies to make BJJ a new standard
at the end of their shift. The number one objective for physical/
18 | November 2019 | Real Hero Report
However, the existing style of training does not escape backlash
from the media when required force is used. Transition is now
to BJJ, which is a form of grappling based on gross motor skills,
leverage and body positioning. BJJ teaches methods to control
a suspect and restrain them in various positions; controlling a
suspect, rather than striking, reducing the risk of injury to the
taught to anyone, and looks better on camera to the public and
media. Therefore, if BJJ training is made mandatory, the term
“defensive tactics” could credibly be replaced with “control
tactics.”
The Marietta Police Department’s (MPD) defensive tactics
(DT) instructors have been teaching limited BJJ techniques inhouse
for more than a decade. Our DT training is made up of a
mandatory four-hour session taught annually and augmented with
open-mat sessions offered monthly. Our department curriculum
of in-service open mat and recruit training has morphed into
mostly BJJ and less striking. However, our instructor staff
believed this limited approach was not enough. The open mat
sessions were having limited success due to schedules and
logistics. There is also the factor of available instructors capable
of properly teaching BJJ techniques. Our instructors train at a
local gym, Borges BJJ and Fitness and their skills were limited
instructors explained that they felt sporadic and minimal (annual)