Article: "Officer survival: Spotting armed suspects"

Article from Police One Magazine. An excerpt:

As you study a subject’s clothing, ask yourself:

• Does it fit the season?

• In cold weather, is a coat unzipped or unbuttoned?

• Is the subject wearing only one glove, leaving his shooting hand bare?

• Is he wearing a belt that’s not through the loops of his pants, thereby capable of cinching tighter against a hidden gun?

• Is a coat weighted down lower on one side?

• When he walks or runs, does his coat or jacket bounce off his leg as if something heavy is in the pocket?

• Does a loose-hanging hood seem weighted down, causing the drawstring to pucker?

• If a subject seems to have a wallet in his pocket but is wearing a fanny pack, then what’s in the fanny pack?

• Is footwear mismatched, with one shoe larger than the other to possibly conceal a small handgun?

Not only are these tips useful for identifying a potential threat at the local stop-and-rob when you pop in for your Slurpy, but are considerations as to yourself  and how your carry your weapon so as to avoid unwanted attention. Obviously, most of the considerations above apply to street thugs not using a holster. But the issues of a coat being weighted down or bouncing could apply to pocket carry; the fanny pack "tell" may be applicable for those of you that use that method; and for most of us, wearing a coat in warm weather or leaving it unzipped in cold weather may act as a "tell."

     A couple other tip-offs mentioned in the article are the bulges caused by firearms under clothes, and the tell-tale "security check":

“As suspects move, watch for a ‘security feel,’” Kleinsmith advised. “Because the gun is loose, they’re constantly in fear it will slip, and they’ll periodically touch it, consciously or unconsciously,” to be sure it’s still there and in place. You can often see this done on surveillance tapes when armed robbers are approaching a target, and “cops do it, too, for reassurance when they’re in plainclothes,” even though they usually have holsters.

    A related article that is useful is "10 non-verbal signs all officers should be able to recognize and interpret." Some of the signs mentioned are particular to traffic stops that a police officer would make, but several of the tips are useful for the civilian defender.

     One of the signs mentioned is micro-expressions--fleeting hints of emotions that reveal how a person is actually feeling. The article specifically warns: "Stay intently alert for signs of clenched teeth, furrowed brow, pursed lips, bared teeth and wide, non-blinking eyes. If you see these, even for a fleeting moment, don’t disregard them." Related to that is the clenching of muscles:

Pre-fight tension can cause jaw muscles to bulge, fists to close and facial muscles to contract. If you pay close attention, you may also see the trapezius muscles that cover the back of the neck and shoulders rise as large muscles of the body constrict in prep for an assault.

Other pre-assault behaviors mentioned in the article are the person taking a fighting stance (e.g., blading the body),  rapid eye blinking, attempts to flank you (especially relevant if you are facing two people and one starts to move around to one side), and what the author calls "the target glance"--eyeing a particular area of your body or your weapon.

     I've actually had the latter--the target glance--come up a couple of times while out shooting on BLM land. In the first case, I was with a group of people shooting and noticed someone had driven up close to our vehicle, gotten out, and walking up to the rear of our truck where we had equipment and other things laid out on the tailgate. Because of the noise from our shooting and wearing hearing protection, we hadn't heard the man's vehicle. I'm sure the man was hoping to steal things from our vehicle--otherwise, why approach our truck? I got my father's attention, and he turned and walked over to the rear of the truck to speak to the man, while I unsnapped the restraining strap for my revolver, but otherwise kept my hands away from the gun. The man's gaze frequently went to my firearm, but I stayed back, slightly behind and to one side of my father. After some nonsense talk for a bit, he left.

     The second was similar, but more recent. Again, I was in the desert shooting, but with my sons. With thousands of acres available to him, a man decided to stop and ask if he could shoot at the exact same location as us. I discussed with him why that wouldn't be safe and pointed out another area about a quarter mile further along the road that would work fine for his needs. During the discussion, I kept my body slightly bladed so the pistol in my holster would be out of his reach. Weirdly, however, he kept glancing down at my pistol and would shuffle a bit sideways as if trying to maneuver closer to it, but I would turn my body to maintain the same distance between him and the handgun. This happened several times before the man finally decided to take my advice and move along and set up at the other location. I don't know if the man genuinely wanted to shoot with others rather than by himself or what, but I did not have a good feeling about him the whole time given his obvious, but clumsy attempts, to get within reach of my pistol. After he moved to the location I had pointed out for him, I made good and sure to have easy access to my AR.