Mastering Instinctive Shooting Techniques: A Crucial Skill for Emergency Situations

In my last article, I started off the new year by helping you think of the important aspects of "Choosing the Right Firearms For Personal Defense..."  Now that you have hopefully had some opportunities to try out a few models and make a selection, it's now time to get down to the nuts and bolts of making your chosen firearm a useful tool for self defense.  In moments of crisis and emergency situations, individuals often find themselves facing high-stress environments that demand quick thinking and immediate action. For those trained in self-defense or law enforcement, mastering instinctive shooting techniques becomes a crucial skill to navigate these high-pressure scenarios effectively. In this article, we will explore the importance of training for emergency situations, delve into the concept of instinctive shooting, and discuss methods to maintain accuracy under stress.

The Importance of Training for Emergency Situations

Emergencies can strike at any time, and being prepared to respond swiftly can be a matter of life and death. Whether it's a home invasion, an active shooter situation, or any other crisis, the ability to react calmly and effectively is essential. This is where proper training plays a pivotal role.

Muscle Memory and Reflexes:

In emergency situations, individuals often experience an adrenaline rush, triggering the body's fight-or-flight response. Through regular training, individuals can develop muscle memory and reflexes that enable them to respond instinctively to threats. This level of preparedness can make the difference between fumbling under pressure and executing precise actions.

Reducing Decision-Making Time:

During high-stress situations, decision-making time is significantly reduced. Proper training allows individuals to make split-second decisions more efficiently, minimizing the risk of hesitation or indecision. Training helps in creating mental pathways that streamline the thought process, enabling faster and more accurate responses.

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Emotional Control:

Emergency situations often evoke intense emotions, which can cloud judgment and hinder performance. Training not only builds physical skills but also helps individuals develop emotional control. This emotional resilience is crucial for maintaining focus and executing necessary actions even in the face of fear or anxiety.

Instinctive Shooting Techniques

Instinctive shooting, also known as point shooting or threat-focused shooting, is a shooting technique that relies on the shooter's natural instincts and reflexes rather than precise aiming through sights. In high-stress situations, the fine motor skills required for traditional sighted shooting may degrade, making instinctive shooting a valuable alternative. Here are some key aspects of instinctive shooting techniques:

Body Indexing:

Instinctive shooting involves aligning the body with the target rather than focusing on aligning the sights. By using the body as an index, shooters can quickly point the firearm at the threat without relying on a precise sight picture. This method capitalizes on the natural pointing ability of the human hand-eye coordination.

Target Focus:

Unlike traditional shooting, where shooters focus on aligning the sights with the target, instinctive shooting emphasizes maintaining focus on the threat. By training to keep the eyes on the target while bringing the firearm into the line of sight, individuals can engage threats more rapidly and maintain situational awareness.

Close Quarters Shooting:

Instinctive shooting is particularly effective in close-quarters engagements where there is limited time and space. In these situations, the speed of response is crucial, and instinctive shooting allows for rapid engagement without the need for precise sight alignment.

Peripheral Vision Utilization:

Traditional shooting often relies on a narrow focus through the sights, limiting peripheral vision. Instinctive shooting, on the other hand, encourages shooters to use their peripheral vision to maintain awareness of the surroundings while engaging the threat. This broader field of view is advantageous in dynamic and unpredictable emergency scenarios.

Maintaining Accuracy in Emergency Scenarios

While instinctive shooting techniques prioritize speed and quick target acquisition, maintaining accuracy remains paramount. Here are key considerations for ensuring accuracy in emergency scenarios:

Regular Training:

Consistent and focused training is the foundation of accuracy under stress. Regular practice of instinctive shooting techniques helps individuals refine their skills, build muscle memory, and reinforce the mental pathways required for effective responses. Training sessions should simulate realistic emergency scenarios to better prepare shooters for real-life situations.

Dry Fire Practice:

Dry fire practice, where shooters simulate firing without live ammunition, is a valuable tool for honing instinctive shooting skills. This allows individuals to focus on their technique, body positioning, and trigger control without the distractions of recoil or live rounds. Incorporating dry fire sessions into regular training routines enhances overall proficiency.

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Stress Inoculation:

Introducing stressors during training, such as timed drills, simulated surprise scenarios, or physical exertion, helps individuals acclimate to the physiological and psychological effects of stress. By replicating elements of real emergencies, stress inoculation prepares shooters to maintain accuracy and composure in high-pressure situations.

Shot Placement Awareness:

While speed is crucial, shooters must also be mindful of shot placement. Training should emphasize hitting vital areas of the threat to incapacitate them effectively. This requires a balance between rapid target acquisition and maintaining the discipline to place shots accurately.

Visualizing Success:

Visualization techniques can enhance shooting performance under stress. By mentally rehearsing emergency scenarios and visualizing successful outcomes, individuals can condition their minds to respond effectively. Visualization complements physical training, reinforcing the neural pathways associated with accurate and rapid instinctive shooting.

Wrapping It All Up

In emergency situations, the ability to respond rapidly and accurately is a skill that can be developed through purposeful training and a commitment to mastering instinctive shooting techniques. Understanding the importance of training for high-stress scenarios, adopting instinctive shooting methods, and consistently honing these skills are essential for individuals in roles that require self-defense or law enforcement.

The fusion of mental preparedness, emotional resilience, and physical proficiency forms the foundation for effective response in emergencies. By embracing instinctive shooting techniques and maintaining accuracy under stress, individuals can enhance their overall readiness and contribute to creating safer environments for themselves and those around them. In a world where uncertainty is a constant, the value of being well-prepared for the unexpected cannot be overstated.

Refuse To Be A Victim - Awareness, Avoidance, Confidence

Knowing how to defend yourself is great, and it is something that everybody should learn how to do. Avoiding being attacked altogether, however, is even better, and of course, it is safer.  When it comes to potential crime there is one essential rule -- refuse to be a victim. The fact is that if you look like a victim, you are more likely to become one. So, how can you avoid looking like and becoming a victim?

Many of us spend our spare moments looking at our tablets and smartphones, talking on the phone, or even relaxing with our MP3 players and headphones. While all of these devices are wonderful, they can distract us from what is happening around us. When you are out and about, your surroundings need your attention more, and if you have headphones on, you won't hear any "out of the ordinary" noises. Put off using these devices until you are in an area where you really are safe and can relax.

Changing a few habits, and doing without distractions can save your life!  Awareness, avoidance, and confidence are a few of your best self-defense tools that you already have and won't cost you anything except time to adapt and let them become your second nature.  Here are some additional tips to help you to avoid becoming a victim:

First, avoid places where an attack may occur without notice by others. This includes dark streets and alleys, abandoned parking lots, and other under-populated areas. If you must venture into such areas, make sure that you do not go alone.

Be aware of your surroundings, and listen to your gut instincts. Safety is not always convenient.  Criminals don't like to be noticed, and if they realize that you are paying close attention to your surroundings, they are more likely to go away and look for another victim. If you must go out of your way to avoid putting yourself in danger -- do so! No appointment or destination is more important than your safety and your life.

Women: If there is a great deal of walking involved to reach your destination, wear shoes that you can run in, and carry those slingback heels in your bag. It's hard to get away from an attacker in high heels.

Avoid flashing things that may be of great interest to a thief. This includes electronic devices, purses, wallets, and jewelry. This doesn't mean that you can't carry these items; it just means that you should be discreet with them. You don't want these items to attract unwanted attention.

Look people in the eye and acknowledge them. Again, criminals don't want to be noticed. If you've looked them in the eye, they know that you can identify them, and they are most likely not going to attack. Furthermore, when you look someone in the eye, you have a better perception of what they are looking at themselves.

Always have a destination and a purpose in mind -- or at the very least, look like you do. Those who display self-confidence and purpose, instead of walking obliviously along and looking down at their shoes,  are less likely to be attacked. Walk with your head held up -- not looking at the ground.

Always know your options. While you don't want to look like a victim, you can't ever really let your guard down. When you are walking along, always have an escape plan in mind.

Trust your instincts. If your instincts tell you that danger is near, it most likely is. Never ignore your gut instincts or assume that you are just being paranoid.

By changing a few habits and being more aware of your surroundings, you can avoid being a victim.  Overall, use your common sense. If you feel like you are venturing into dangerous territory, turn around and go back. If you feel like you are being followed, get to a safe place as fast as you can. If you are being watched, call for help or change locations. Don't feel like you are being paranoid or foolish. You are simply trying to avoid being attacked!

Second Amendment News and Training Resources

With all of the news about gun legislation, gun control efforts, and other threats to our Second Amendment liberties, I wanted to take a moment to post about some excellent resources for getting up to date news about new laws, gun control efforts, and even some good gear reviews.  There are also some good training channels out there as well.  In fact, the reason I am featuring some of my favorite channels below is that they have a good mixture of news, training, and gear reviews.  Training and staying sharp is important these days, especially if you are trying to maintain your emergency preparedness and self-defense posture.  I highly recommend visiting the channels for these folks, like their videos, and subscribing to their channels.  The YouTube algorithms are such that liking and subscribing really helps these channels to stay visible and get traffic.  Below are the links to their channels, as well as some recent videos to help get a sense of their video style.

Please also visit some of my affiliate links on this page and in this blog as well.  These are good, patriotic vendors, and I would like to help them earn your business.
  

Guns & Gadgets:

The Daily Shooter:

Reid Henricks (Valor Ridge):

Alex Kinkaid (Three F Words):

Pat McNamara:

The Self Defense Sentinel

Wanted to share a 5-part video series on defensive awareness and other related strategies for staying safe.  Pat McNamara, who is a former Army Special Forces Delta Operator, did this video series.  He is a former Tier 1 operator and instructor – the best of the best, and now owns his own training and fitness company called TMACS (Tactics-Marksmanship-Adventure-Concepts-Security).

What struck me most about this video series, besides the excellent tips for staying safe, is that he repeats three key phrases over and over that should resonate with anyone who is concerned about their own safety and that of their loved ones:

“As the Agent in Charge of your own executive protection detail…”

YOU are the one in charge of your own safety.  Not the police.  The United States Supreme Court has ruled in a number of cases that the police have no duty whatsoever to protect you as an individual.  The job of the police is to enforce laws and investigate crimes.  In other words, they show up to draw the chalk line around the dead body.  So is the dead body going to be you and/or a loved one?  Or, is it going to be that of the violent criminal who came to do you harm?  You decide.  

And if you have little ones placed in your charge, then you better have the attitude that they deserve the top level of executive protection.  YOU are the agent in charge of that executive protection detail.  No one else is responsible for your safety or that of your loved ones.  And those little ones are counting on you to put foot to ass on their behalf if someone tries to harm them.

“Make it Habitual!”

Yes – awareness and self-defense are a combination of creating good habits and breaking bad ones.  Get training.  Practice techniques.  Build that muscle memory.  Wargame possible threat scenarios that might happen when you are at church, out shopping, at the park, or even at home.  

See my article on “The War-Gaming Sheepdog” for more information about this.  Think of how you will avoid being a target when you can.  And for the times when you have no way out, think of how you will destroy your attackers ahead of time, and then be ready to do it when the time comes.  Stay aware, and stay safe.

“We are so connected that we are disconnected…”

Can’t argue that smartphones and computers have made us so unaware of our own surroundings that we have become sitting ducks to violent attacks.  As Pat says in one of the videos, we humans cannot multi-task, even though we like to think that we can.  We can task-stack or task-switch, but we can only do one thing well at a time.

I’ll let the videos say the rest.  Enjoy!


Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Part 4:

Part 5:

The Failure of Self-Defense Products

I know I have written a number of times about the importance of practicing with your firearms, inspecting your gear, getting training, and making sure that your every-day-carry tools are functional.  But how many times do you think about your other self-defense tools for which testing and training are just not possible or practical?  If you live or work in an area where you feel the need for self-defense products, don't you want to be certain that the products work -- before you find yourself in a situation where you need them? Of course, you do. For this reason, you need to test them.

Now, obviously, you are not about to spray yourself in the face with pepper spray or taze yourself with a taser -- but you do need to test them to make certain that they work. In the end, as far as tasers go -- unless you are willing to taze yourself, you can only make sure that the batteries are operable by trying them out in another device. Make it a habit to put fresh batteries in -- or at the very least to test the batteries -- at least once a month.

You can spray pepper spray or mace to make sure that the sprayer operates correctly -- and that you know how to operate it. Make sure that you do this outside, and that you spray the mace or pepper spray onto a surface. You can sniff the surface -- carefully -- after spraying to make sure that the chemicals will actually do something to a would-be attacker. 

Visit Gonzo's Garage for Recommended Non-Lethal
Self-Defense and Safety Products

Aside from this type of testing, the only other thing that you can do is to be prepared for your self-defense product to fail. If your taser didn't work, or the spray didn't work, what is your next course of action? Make sure that you have a plan in mind before it happens!

Have self-defense products that will not fail. For example, a police whistle is a good self-defense product. It will not fail, and it will alert other people to a problem, or to your location. It will often scare away an attacker as well. But having said that, I am a strong proponent of firearms for self-defense, and strongly encourage you to get a firearm, get trained, and know how to defend yourself with one.  Firearms are not as likely to fail, but they are a tool that you can use improperly if you are not trained and can fail more often do not inspect your gear and keep it in good working order.

It is also a good idea to learn some basic self-defense moves, in case your product fails. Consider taking a self-defense class in your area. Obviously, your first desire should be to prevent an attack. Your next desire should be to keep an attacker away from you, and your third option should be to strike back with physical moves if you are put in a situation, where there is no other choice.

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Designed to Kill Large Numbers of People Quickly?!

This NRA-ILA article speaks to the rabid and incredible misunderstanding (and fear) possessed by the left of firearms. It also speaks to their complete lack of knowledge about firearms and their refusal to understand firearms usage facts, which leads to their inability make sound decisions when it comes to the legislation of firearms.

In the article, the lawmakers of Wisconsin say they want to ban so-called "assault weapons" and most other types of firearms because they deemed them dangerous because they are “designed to kill large numbers of people quickly.”

 In fact, it appears they are taking a shotgun approach (pun intended) to just ban any and all firearms they can think of. I am not sure they even know enough about firearms to know what kinds of guns can perform what actions, to be honest.

Hmmm.... well what d'ya know? I looked through all of the owner's manuals for all of my firearms, and in NOT ONE of these documents does it say that the firearm was designed for the explicit purpose of killing large numbers of people quickly.

A firearm has one, and only ONE purpose: To allow an operator to pull a trigger that actuates a firing pin that activates an ammunition cartridge and sends a projectile out of the barrel towards an intended target. THAT'S IT! That intended target may be a piece of paper, game being hunted, a home invader, or an invading enemy.

Killing large numbers of people is the intent of the heart of the operator of the firearm. The state of the heart may be that of a deranged and criminal mind who wants to kill as many innocent people as possible. Or the state of the heart may be a law abiding and decent citizen who wants nothing more than to protect loved ones and other innocents from a home invader or active shooter. Perhaps it's the heart of a hunter who wants to put food on the table. Or even just the heart of a sportsman who is competing in a shooting match.

The firearm itself does not have the ability to make these decisions, nor was it designed explicitly for any of these purposes.

Now I will tell you also what the 2nd Amendment was designed to do: It was designed to protect the individual RIGHT to own firearms for the purpose of protecting them from tyrannical governments and invading armies. And if it ever came to this, a firearm of the same type and action of those possessed by the invading entities was the idea of the framers when they wrote this amendment. In other words - possessing military style weapons was the intent of the framers, and is the RIGHT of individuals.

I'm not sure we're dealing with people of stellar intellect in these attempts to ban guns based solely on their perception (not knowledge) of the firearm's appearance, use, or purpose. The only thing I see in play here are people who act based on "feelings" (not knowledge) and the need to show others that they "are doing something."

Refuse to Be a Victim: Beware of Solicitors!

It’s late afternoon.  You are finally at home after a long day, and are relaxing on the couch. Someone comes to your front door.  You answer the door and this normal looking young man is there, and says that he represents a window company.  They are looking for homes in your neighborhood to install new energy saving windows, and then showcase your home as part of their advertising.  In return for allowing your home to be a showcase, you will get a significant cost savings on the project.  Nice looking guy.  Official looking clip-board, ID badge hanging from his neck, clean cut.  And this is such a good deal!  How can you pass this up?

This may be a legitimate sales call.  Or this may be a scam.

 

You are a little hesitant because perhaps you don’t want to start this type of major project right now, or maybe money is a little tight.  The sales pitch is now being laid on thicker and thicker to convince you that you really need to consider this. 

So the solicitor says:  “Can you give me a landline number?  My company will get in touch with you and explain the deal further.”

Did you catch the scam?  Before I tell you what it is, let me give you a hint and tell you that these scams are kind of like “sleight of hand” gimmicks in that one thing is used to distract you from the real purpose of the “mission” that this person is on.  And yes – I used the word “mission” on purpose to give you a hint.  Any thoughts yet?

The Scam:

OK – here it is.  This is possibly a reconnaissance mission.  Reconnaissance to look for targets for home invasion and/or burglary.  The thick sales pitch was a distraction from the other subtle things being asked, such as for you to give them a landline phone number.  And if you’re thinking about your house windows and energy savings, you aren’t thinking about looking for what other pieces of information this person is collecting during this visit.

First, by going door to door, our “salesman” gets to write down street addresses and house descriptions.  That official looking clipboard is for taking notes, after all.  A salesman writing down notes looks perfectly normal. 

They get to see if anyone is home at that time, they get to see who answers the door (man, woman, child), they can now tell which houses have dogs (as alerted by the doorbell), and they can also see which houses have alarm signs in their front yards (and/or stickers on the door).  If a person answers the door, besides seeing if an adult, man or woman, they can see what “type” of person it is: Stern, timid, mad, happy, geeky, forceful, easy to convince, skeptic, gullible, etc. 

All of these characteristics can help the thieves decide if that person will present a threat to them even if they are home during a potential home invasion.  They now also know what other threats to their success exist at that house.

Secondly, they asked specifically for a landline phone number.  Why do you suppose that is?  Well, if they have a street address, and can then associate a landline (hard wired) phone number to that address, they then have some pretty concrete exploitable information about your physical residence. 

Then the next part of the reconnaissance begins.  Several calls can be made to that landline to see if anyone is home at various times of day, find out who is home at those times (did an adult or children answer the phone?), and start putting together a pattern of the most opportune times for an invasion or burglary.  If someone answers, it is easy to fabricate a story for why they are calling.  It is also extremely easy to spoof the phone number for the caller ID, or simply make it appears as "Unknown." 

Associating a landline with a home with an alarm system also gives the thieves an opportunity to figure out which methods they need to use to defeat or circumvent the alarm.

Here's What You Can Do:

For starters, you are not obligated to answer your door.  But to help you decide whether or not to answer, consider installing a wide angle peep hole in your door so that you can see a wider area of your front entry area.

Only allow the adults in your house to answer the door.  Tell children that under no circumstances are they to open the door to anyone.

If you are going to answer the door, take a moment to compose yourself, put on your game face, and prepare yourself to question everything about this person standing at your doorstep.  You don’t need to verbalize every question, but don’t get so caught up in the sales pitch that you forget to keep asking yourself why they are here, what red flags should be going up, and what general suspicions you have about them.

Put a “No Soliciting” sign on your front door.  Where I live, it is against the law to make unannounced house sales calls like this if there is a “No Soliciting” sign posted.  Maybe this will keep them away and help avoid the whole situation entirely.  If it is a legitimate sales person, they know about the laws, and will probably honor it.  Criminals don’t know or care about laws.  If they won’t honor that “no Soliciting” sign, that should be a red flag.

Do NOT give them your home (landline) phone number under ANY circumstances.  I personally would be hesitant to even give them a cell phone number.  Ask for the company's phone number and tell them that YOU will initiate any call for service. 

Ask for more official identification (such as a driver’s license) to compare to that neat looking little ID badge they have hanging from their neck.  Write down who they are, what company they claim to be from, and even ask for a business card.  If they have no business cards, that should also be a red flag for you.

Answer their questions with conviction.  Don’t waffle or look like you are unsure of yourself.  But keep your answers short and direct.  Don’t give out information about you or your household.

If you are not interested in the sales pitch, state as such directly.  Again – tell them YOU will initiate contact with their company if services are desired, and after you have verified the legitimacy of their company.

After you close the door, write down everything you can remember about them.  Time, date, height, weight, race, hair color, clothing, what they were carrying, name from identification.  Were they on foot, or did they drive up in a vehicle?  If a vehicle, write down a description and license plate number, if able.  Did they seem nervous?  What was their general demeanor?

If you have an alarm system, explore whether or not cellular technology is available for the monitoring portion of the alarm, or consider switching to an alarm company that does offer cellular technology.  I have looked into the “SimpliSafe” alarm system, for example, and will be switching to that from ADT. (I will write a separate review once installed).

It may be a legitimate sales call, or they may be sizing you up for burglary or home invasion.  Absent your crystal ball or superpowers for predicting the future, you have no way of telling.  If it is for criminal purposes, you have to remember that they are sizing you up and doing risk analysis on you and your home.  They don’t want to get hurt “on the job” and they don’t want to go to jail.  It is your job to size them up also, try to see the red flags, and do your own risk analysis and threat management.

Ultimately, you need to do whatever is possible to make your home an undesirable target for them.  If you can get them to move on and eliminate you as a target quickly, then that is a very good thing.

Refuse to be a victim!

Trigger Discipline!

There are four fundamental safety rules that we consistently teach in our firearms classes:  1) The gun is always loaded until you have verified otherwise; 2) Always keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction; 3) Keep the finger off the trigger until ready to shoot; 4) Know what is behind your target, and between you and the target.  These rules apply to target shooting, and they also equally apply to tactical situations and defensive shooting.  Even if you are clearing your home to look for intruders, for example, you need to ALWAYS be cognizant of these four things while looking for the bad guy.  And if you are in this situation, I hope your gun IS loaded. 

So let's focus on the third safety rule for a moment.  Why is it that we teach keeping the finger off the trigger until sights are on target and you are ready to shoot? 

Two words: Startle response.

When a person is startled, the natural response is to blink, lean the body forward, bend the arms at the elbows, and clench the fists/fingers. When clenching the fists happens, each clenching finger is able to exert about 25 pounds of force. It only takes about 12 pounds of force to pull the trigger of a revolver in double action mode (hammer down).  If your finger is in the trigger and you are startled, you will pull the trigger.  If that happens, think about those other safety rules for a moment.  Where is the gun pointed when the shot goes of?  What is in the line of fire when that happens?

Proper trigger discipline is crucial to ensuring that you will be safe whether at the range or in a defensive situation.  Proper trigger discipline is also a matter of building up muscle memory through practice.  Beginning with the very first movement of the holster draw, the trigger finger should be indexed along the side of the firearm the minute the hand is placed on the grip of the gun.  When at the low ready, the high ready, the retention position, or at the fully extended position, the finger needs to be indexed on the side of the frame.  Only when you have a target in sight and you are ready to shoot does the finger move inside the trigger guard.  Then simply touch and press the trigger.

Defensive shooting is every bit a matter of safety as it is efficient, tactical movement.  Practice, practice, practice.  Practice indexing that finger, and practice moving the finger to the trigger.  Safely done, dry fire is a key training tool in these methods.

Be safe out there!

Notable Self Defense Court Cases

There are a couple of court cases that everyone needs to be aware of when it comes to our right to self defense.  Many who want gun control keep telling us that the police and the government will protect us.  But by way of a couple of Supreme Court decisions, the police have no obligation to protect us as individuals.  See these two cases below, and you will see that we are the ones who are responsible for our own protection.  Even if the police do eventually show up, it won't be to stop the attack.  It will be to investigate the crime, take statements from witnesses, and unfortunately, call someone to remove the dead victim's bodies.

Castle Rock v. Gonzales:

  

545 U.S. 748 (2005), is a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court ruled, 7–2, that a town and its police department could not be sued under 42 U.S.C. §1983 for failing to enforce a restraining order, which had led to the murder of a woman's three children by her estranged husband.

Restraining order and police inaction

During divorce proceedings, Jessica Gonzales, a resident of Castle Rock, Colorado, obtained a restraining order against her husband on June 4, 1999, requiring him to remain at least 100 yards from her and their three daughters except during specified visitation time. On June 22, at approximately 5:15 pm, her husband took possession of the three children in violation of the order. Gonzales called the police at approximately 7:30 pm, 8:30 pm, 10:10 pm, and 12:15 am on June 23, and visited the police station in person at 12:40 am on June 23, 1999. However, since Ms. Gonzales, from time to time, did allow her husband to take the children at various hours, the police took no action, despite the husband's having called Gonzales prior to her second call to the police and informing her that he had the children with him at an amusement park in Denver, Colorado. At approximately 3:20 am on June 23, 1999, the husband appeared at the Castle Rock police station and instigated a fatal shoot-out with the police. A search of his vehicle revealed the corpses of the three daughters, whom the husband had killed prior to his arrival, and he died afterwards.

Opinion of the Court

The Supreme Court reversed the Tenth Circuit's decision, reinstating the District Court's order of dismissal. The Court's majority opinion by Justice Antonin Scalia held that enforcement of the restraining order was not mandatory under Colorado law; were a mandate for enforcement to exist, it would not create an individual right to enforcement that could be considered a protected entitlement under the precedent of Board of Regents of State Colleges v. Roth; and even if there were a protected individual entitlement to enforcement of a restraining order, such entitlement would have no monetary value and hence would not count as property for the Due Process Clause

Warren v. District of Columbia:

 (444 A.2d. 1, D.C. Ct. of Ap. 1981) is an oft-quoted[2] District of Columbia Court of Appeals (equivalent to a state supreme court) case that held police do not have a duty to provide police services to individuals, even if a dispatcher promises help to be on the way, except when police develop a special duty to particular individuals.

Incident

In the early morning hours of Sunday, March 16, 1975, Carolyn Warren and Joan Taliaferro who shared a room on the third floor of their rooming house at 1112 Lamont Street Northwest in the District of Columbia, and Miriam Douglas, who shared a room on the second floor with her four-year-old daughter, were asleep. The women were awakened by the sound of the back door being broken down by two men later identified as Marvin Kent and James Morse. The men entered Douglas' second floor room, where Kent forced Douglas to sodomize him and Morse raped her.

Warren and Taliaferro heard Douglas' screams from the floor below. Warren telephoned the police, told the officer on duty that the house was being burglarized, and requested immediate assistance. The department employee told her to remain quiet and assured her that police assistance would be dispatched promptly.

Warren's call was received at Metropolitan Police Department Headquarters at 0623 hours, and was recorded as a burglary-in-progress. At 0626, a call was dispatched to officers on the street as a "Code 2" assignment, although calls of a crime in progress should be given priority and designated as "Code 3." Four police cruisers responded to the broadcast; three to the Lamont Street address and one to another address to investigate a possible suspect.

Meanwhile, Warren and Taliaferro crawled from their window onto an adjoining roof and waited for the police to arrive. While there, they observed one policeman drive through the alley behind their house and proceed to the front of the residence without stopping, leaning out the window, or getting out of the car to check the back entrance of the house. A second officer apparently knocked on the door in front of the residence, but left when he received no answer. The three officers departed the scene at 0633, five minutes after they arrived.

Warren and Taliaferro crawled back inside their room. They again heard Douglas' continuing screams; again called the police; told the officer that the intruders had entered the home, and requested immediate assistance. Once again, a police officer assured them that help was on the way. This second call was received at 0642 and recorded merely as "investigate the trouble;" it was never dispatched to any police officers.

Believing the police might be in the house, Warren and Taliaferro called down to Douglas, thereby alerting Kent to their presence. At knife point, Kent and Morse then forced all three women to accompany them to Kent's apartment. For the next fourteen hours the captive women were raped, robbed, beaten, forced to commit sexual acts upon one another, and made to submit to the sexual demands of Kent and Morse.

Decision

By a 4–3 decision the court decided that Warren was not entitled to remedy at the bar despite the demonstrable abuse and ineptitude on the part of the police because no special relationship existed. The court stated that official police personnel and the government employing them owe no duty to victims of criminal acts and thus are not liable for a failure to provide adequate police protection unless a special relationship exists. The case was dismissed by the trial court for failure to state a claim and the case never went to trial.