(Police Foundation Vice President, Jim Burch, moderated the briefing)
Guardian 8 was invited to speak at a briefing last week in Washington D.C for the staff of the U.S. House of Representatives Law Enforcement Caucus as part of a discussion about alternative, non-lethal, and less-lethal use of force options in law enforcement. The featured speakers at the briefing included the caucus co-chairs, Congressman Reichert (R-WA) and Congressman Pascrell (D-NJ), myself (Guardian 8's Training Headmaster), two senior NYPD command staff members, a Washington State SWAT officer, and one other less-lethal technology company representative.
Aside from discussing the current state of policing and the less-lethal tools available to officers in the field today, nearly all of the featured officers mentioned the importance of a tool's effectiveness (at first iteration) as well as the importance of scenario-based training as part of the ramp-up for deploying a new device. It was great to hear that what was important to these officers is already incorporated in Guardian 8's core training platforms.
When it was my turn to speak, I emphasized the concepts of de-escalation, documentation, and defense as critical supplements to law enforcement's traditional "Protect and Serve" motto. Guardian 8 acknowledges that the law enforcement profession is at a crossroads based on recent and highly-publicized events, and I discussed the capabilities of the Pro V2 as they are an especially appropriate tool for highly-sensitive law enforcement arenas such as schools, universities and hospitals.
Feel free to read through the statement delivered to the caucus staff at the briefing below: