CIO Combat Intelligent Officer
  By Troy Ostapiw

Combat Intelligent Officer represents an evolution in Police defensive tactics.  In today’s society police officers have to be prepared to deal with suspects’ that have a background in mixed martial arts. It takes only a short amount of time to develop functional combatives, ie: single leg take down, a solid jab.  With the popularity of MMA, more people are training, including the criminal element! Police officers have to be better prepared to defend themselves.  A criminal’s knowledge of MMA may mean an officer can be seriously injured, maimed or even have their life taken.  Thus a police officers’ training has to go beyond arrest and control techniques. Many times in a shift an officer may be drawn in close to investigate a passive subject, and the subject initially complies. However as the scenario unfolds, the officer may feel comfortable, and unknowingly let their guard down.  A sucker punch at close quarters can be enough to render any officer dazed or worse yet unconscious.  This can leave an officer vulnerable to having their tools taken or their firearm used against them.  Warriors don`t want to admit they can be caught off guard, but  it is a fact of the job that if something can go wrong it will, at the worst time, usually about 5:00 am on your last night shift.
As a police defensive tactics instructor for ten years, I noticed the trend towards a lack of progressive development when it came to police training. Officers tend to rely on their tools far too often, but what if you can’t get to them?  That is not to say that tools like the taser, baton, pepper spray & firearms should not be utilized, they are a great equalizer, but when dealing with a spontaneous close quarter assault, it is important to deal with the subject ASAP.   Attempting to  extract tools before proper  distance is made can leave officers vulnerable to  being knocked out or taken down to the ground as their hands are at their hips and not protecting their head.  The easiest way to keep officers safe is to develop skills that will allow officers to be safe, control the fight, create distance, prevent injury and control the subject.
              CIO teaches officers to develop a solid defence and grounded structure to prevent a worst case scenario, and prevent a sucker punch or defend the take down in close quarters.  We teach you how to ride the storm, move to safety, disengage from the subject and even the playing field.   This is done   through constant exposure to stress inoculation, progressively and over a short period of time.  Our training methods are safe, and therefore prevent injuries, while helping officers develop confidence in dealing with common situations that can turn deadly on the street.
I had the pleasure of being an advisor on the CIO program. I first met Rodney King, creative director and master instructor of CIO, in Los Angeles California in May 2009.  At that time I spoke with him briefly about his thoughts and applying his unique methods to police training.  I felt that his progressive method and solid defence could be useful to police officers, and I had begun teaching his methods to police members and recruits.  Rodney went on to talk about how he had begun to develop a program based on worst case scenarios for police officer, and how he wanted the program to be functional in the real world not just a series of techniques.  In February 2010 I brought Rodney King to Canada to teach his Combat Intelligent Officer program.  I had put together some ideas of my own and we had many discussions on the various seminars for the week to come. We taught a series of five seminars on CIO that week.  We had members attend from the Saskatchewan police college, RCMP, Canadian Border  Services , various municipal police agencies, as well as corrections officers’, deputy sheriffs and SWAT team members.  As a police trainer and lifetime martial arts student I could see that everyone involved began to develop defence and in doing so were able to control the subject from the inside while preventing the take down.  It was a phenomenal week of training, and I continue to get positive feedback on the program.  It is apparent that the CIO program is different from many of the other police programs on the market. The CIO program is dynamic, functional, and based on teaching a solid defence for that crucial violent encounter that occurs in a police officer’s career.  During the seminar I observed officers develop these skills in a short period of time, and actually use the skills in a dynamic situation.  
CIO is not delivered from a pre-determined set of movements or techniques, but rather a realistic chaotic learning environment.  Just as you cannot predict what will happen in a real fight, you need to be able to adapt to what is happening in real time.   In order to do this you must have the proper delivery system, one which is dynamic, functional and has been tested in the real world.  All of the concepts are based on gross motor movements, thus the system will work under combat stress, and adrenaline overload.
Our program speaks for itself, we teach officers how to ride the storm of violence, and survive. We do this by developing their confidence under pressure with specific drills unique to Combat Intelligent Officer. This is taught to officers by sharing basic strategies of combat that have been used for centuries.  The difference with CIO is our teaching method, chaos method.  We instruct officers to maintain balance in chaos, or in the midst of the fight, this includes both mental and physical balance.  Once our basic concepts have been taught they are put together   in a dynamic, progress and safe training format that is easy to follow, and simple to teach.
CIO is unique in that it takes concepts based on a functional platform, and can easily fit into any police defensive tactics program.  CIO is founded on developing a solid defensive structure.  We then test this structure.  This allows the officer to physically experience what it’s like to survive the worst case scenario, then tactically re-engage the subject, or create time and space to utilize tools i.e. pepper spray, baton or firearm.   A solid defence is very important to officers, and at times members can rely too heavily on their tools, when there is simply no time or distance to do so.  CIO  is more than arrest and control, it is about survival  for police officers.  Just as technology evolves, and law-enforcement adapts to new trends in crime, so should our training methods for police defensive tactics.  The feedback has been excellent, and the program continues to constantly evolve.  CIO is about giving officers   confidence, and skills they need to survive the chaos that is so difficult to prepare for when things go terribly wrong on the street.   
               To learn more about the Combat Intelligent officer program and hear what officers are saying about it check us out on line at
http://crazymonkeydefense.com/cio/ <http://crazymonkeydefense.com/cio/>


Troy Ostapiw has worked as a Police Officer, Deputy Sherriff & Corrections ERT member for over 12 years.  He was also a police defensive tactics arrest and control Instructor & use of force expert  at the Saskatchewan police college.  At the age of 23 he was hired to instruct the RCMP police defensive tactics unit at Depot.  He has trained thousands of Police officers and police cadets, and has various high level certifications in Police defensive tactics.  He is currently CEO of Control Risk Inc CQC. He is a certified close protection specialist currently teaching full-time,  and working  as a Law-enforcement & security consultant advising on training. Mr. Troy Ostapiw was identified b y his trainers and peers as the top candidate in the province for police defensive tactics and matters related to self-defence and personal safety.
his website is below.
  http://crazymonkeygym.com/canada/