Violent Physical Altercation: Don’t Be A Victim

Violent physical altercations are the result of one or more assailants planning for, and then causing, harm to their victim(s). It may be a one-off opportunistic attack hatched on the fly or a well-planned attack that includes surveillance, security integrity probing, and rehearsals. Such altercations may also take the form of an uncoordinated attack consisting of a single assailant, or a coordinated attack delivered by a collaboration of two or more actors (intelligence community parlance for active operatives).

Regardless of attack type, number of assailants, or other contributing factors of a violent physical altercation, there are three phases of active
threat development leading up to and including the undesired event itself: target selection, target verification, and execution.

Steve Tarani, educator, author and keynote speaker.
Steve Tarani, educator, author and keynote speaker.

Target Selection

Given any violent physical altercation ranging from a mugging to a home invasion to human trafficking and everything in between, the predator(s), aka bad guys, must 1st select their prey.

The selection process begins with categorization. Predators divide our society into two basic categories, those folks who are considered hard targets and those who are considered soft targets.

Hard targets are those individuals, regardless of race, gender, political or religious affiliation, who take full responsibility for their personal safety and that of their loved ones. Hard targets practice good situational awareness and take proactive measures such as being trained and prepared to handle a violent physical altercation. Preparation may encompass such hard skills as medical training, defensive tactics, weapons training, defensive driving, and/ or include various soft skills such as awareness-based training.

Soft targets are those individuals, regardless of race, gender, political or religious affiliation, who believe that nothing bad will ever happen to them or their loved ones. They also believe that in the unlikely event that something bad would ever happen to them, it is someone else’s responsibility. It is, of course, what we pay our 1st responders for, right? As a result of such beliefs, they walk around with their face buried in their cell phone and otherwise oblivious to their immediate surroundings.

The most important part of self-defense. Ken Hackathorn phones
Do you think any of these folks are really aware of what’s happening around them? (sociable.co)

Soft targets don’t even know what situational awareness even is let alone freely practice it. They are untrained, unprepared, and as such are ill-equipped to handle any physical altercation regardless of magnitude.

Predators shy away from harder targets and are intrinsically drawn to softer targets, as they are much easier to victimize. This viewpoint of such adversarial attraction to easier prey is referred to as the Predator’s Optic.

The following statement is an excerpt from the United States Department of Homeland Security US National Strategy for the Physical Protection of Critical Infrastructures and Key Assets 1 (schools, sports arenas, malls, concert halls, high-rise residences, office buildings, places of worship, special events et al), which further describes the Predator’s Optic.

“[they] are relentless and patient…[they] are also opportunistic and flexible. They learn from experience and modify their tactics and targets to exploit perceived vulnerabilities and avoid observed strengths. As [protection] increases around more predictable targets, they shift their focus to less protected [targets].”

The selection process may vary, of course, based on the terminal objective(s) of the planners, but the one common denominator shared by all predators is to go after the lower-hanging fruit—or to borrow from protective services terminology—seek softer targets.

Simply knowing that there is such a categorization and that with just a change of mindset (“I’m fully responsible for my own personal safety”), a few hours of training and remaining situationally aware, you can convert from a soft target to a hard target.

Target Verification

Although you may be perceived as a soft target, a predator, when stalking, is continually assessing his prey to verify that you are in fact the best possible candidate for whatever nefarious activity they may have planned.

Stalking is synonymous with target verification and is minimally a two-part process. The 1st part is the actual target assessment itself.

The predator looks for indicators that may confirm their initial perceptions that you are, in fact, the best choice. Such soft target indicators can include but are not limited to their observation of your being completely oblivious to your surroundings, acting like an idiot, being under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and any number of indicators which, by the way, are totally within your control.

Predators can ferret out a soft target a mile away. They are tremendously adept at perceiving soft target indicators and can make their selection decision swiftly and with sound conviction.

The 2nd part of the verification process is to plan on how to get to you from their current physical position to one of a tactical advantage where you are placed off balance and/ or are in a compromising position caught with your guard down.

(Photo credit: Filmsupply.com)

Such classic attack components as the element of surprise, from which they plan to illicit a startled response, keeping you backed up on your heels and all the while causing you to continually react to the altercation they initiated.

Execution

Following selection and verification, a predator then closes in on his prey. It is equally important to note that at this time—the very onset of a violent physical altercation—the predator has brought the initiative to the fight.

In other words, they have selected and verified the target. They have determined where and when the incident will go down, what weapons will be used, if any, and have determined the desired outcome of their planning which could range from your being relieved of your wallet to your ending up in a hospital or even a morgue.

Upon engaging an active threat in the heat of a violent physical altercation you are immediately thrust to the very back of the action-reaction power curve. You do not have the initiative, so you no longer have the option to deploy proactive or even active measures. You are relegated to response options and reactive measures only, which are always physical in nature.

“Reactive measures” is a term that means that your only response is physical tactics that are prone to personal jeopardies such as minor or recoverable injury, severe bodily injury, and even death. The trick to taking back the initiative should you ever find yourself in this nasty situation is to cause the predator(s) to react. In the split second you cause them to react, you have re-taken the action-reaction power curve and are in control of the altercation.

It is a key learning point to know that target selection and verification are part and parcel of an overall coordinated or uncoordinated attack cycle culminating in a violent physical altercation. Taking it to the very next level would be to avoid a violent physical altercation altogether which places you in a power position of control from the start.

Threat avoidance is the “A”-answer. Don’t put yourself in a situation that puts yourself in a situation! Stay away from high-threat environments and mitigate your soft target indicators by practicing good situational awareness. Such proactive measures are what keep you the furthest away from being pressed into a violent physical altercation.

Steve Tarani is a former fulltime CIA protective programs employee, small arms and defensive tactics subject matter expert who served on POTUS 45 pre-election executive protection detail. He is the lead instructor for NRA’s non-ballistic weapons training program offered nationally. Tarani is also a DoD and FLETC-certified federal firearms instructor who has been on staff at Gunsite Academy (AZ) as a Rangemaster for over twenty years. Formerly sworn, he is also a former federal contractor and service provider for the US Defense Intelligence Community, US Naval Special Operations Command and other government agencies. Tarani additionally serves on the National Sheriffs’ Association Committee for School Safety and Security.

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