Colorado Springs police will now be trained in Brazilian jiu-jitsu

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - An overwhelming majority of officers at the Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD) say they need more training in areas that do not include lethal weapons.

That's where Brazilian jiu-jitsu training comes in. CSPD says it's a big deal that will positively impact law enforcement practices in the city.

Local jiu-jitsu expert, Kyle Baker says, "Whenever officers are trained in something like this, they're familiar with this, they are going to be more cool-headed, more calm, more capable and safer in how they deal with and interact with people in any situation where violence comes up."

Baker has practiced Brazilian jiu-jitsu for nearly 20 years. He says there's magic to the self-defense martial art and combat sport. "You have a full range of just restraining somebody with not doing any harm, all the way up to lethal force if actually needed, and everything in between."

The decision to add this training comes after a comprehensive audit of the department was done by the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF).

"80% of them (officers) indicated that they need more training on non-lethal weapons, defensive tactics, crisis intervention and de-escalation," Nancy Demme said.

Officers voiced their concerns about a lack of effectiveness in the training they're currently receiving. "Over three-quarters of the respondents indicated that CSPD places too little emphasis on training, defensive tactics, and on risk controls," Demme said.

The department is now taking the recommendation from PERF to implement police-focused Brazilian jiu-jitsu defensive tactics.

Baker says this will go a long way. "One punch can kill somebody. One punch can do severe brain damage. It's very problematic for people to not be trained, to not be aware of that, whose job may require using force to take care of the public in general."

In partnership with PERF, CSPD received over a million dollars from the National Institute of Justice. They're the first and only law enforcement agency in the country to study the effects of police-specific Brazilian jiu-jitsu training.

CSPD says they'll now begin a 3-year-long study of the results of officers using Brazilian jiu-jitsu defensive tactics.