As a Rookie Police Officer in New York City back many years ago I remember asking myself this question. When you are in the police academy everything is controlled, so when we received our pepper spray training it seemed like the perfect weapon but we were learning all about the ingredients, the type of spray patterns, the places on our belts the department wanted us to carry our spray, but there was not a lot of real life practical training back then.

Let’s fast forward to a hot summer day just several months after the academy graduation. I was working a foot post in the South Bronx and was dispatched to an emotionally disturbed person call in a small corner grocery store. The only information I received from the dispatcher other than the call type and location and a description of the subject was that the subject involved was a very large male and was out of control causing serious damage to the grocery store. Additional units were being dispatched but since I was the closest unit I knew I would be the first officer on the scene. I was actually less than a city block from the location when I received the call.

I began planning my approach, just like I was taught in the academy. I was thinking of how I was going to handle the situation, after all I was armed with great knowledge and had acquired tremendous negotiation and people skills while in training. The instructors called it Transactional Analysis or “TA” for short and I was prepared to use it on this subject.

When I came closer to the store I could hear the obvious sounds of the commotion. When I rounded the corner and got my first view of what was taking place, I immediately stepped inside and confidently announced my presence expecting all the commotion to instantly stop! After all I was a NYC Police Officer and surely that coupled with my “TA” skills I learned should certainly be enough to quell this situation. My first assessment of the scene was a bit unsettling. The store had been destroyed and looked as if a tornado had just passed right through it. Then I realized why. What I saw next is difficult to describe in words but the picture is forever burned into my memory banks. I was standing about 20 feet away from the largest and probably the strongest person the good lord had ever created. He filled the space between the racks of groceries, which by the way were no longer standing upright. He was yelling and screaming unintelligible things and had a long shelf from one of the fallen racks in his arms and was swinging it side to side as he moved towards me. In my peripheral vision I could see several injured people all looking to me to do something. I will be totally honest here; I was scared, and wasn’t even thinking about the TA stuff at this point. As the subject turned his full attention on me I learned quickly that he was not of the opinion that I was there to help him. He ignored all my orders to stop and as he approached I knew there was going to be a physical confrontation. I instinctively grabbed my wooden nightstick and swung it at him exactly as I had been taught in training. It had absolutely NO effect on him. At this point he and I were squared of and as they say on the streets it was on.

The next thing I knew I was hit with the shelf he was carrying and knocked backwards about ten feet. All I saw was this man advancing again and I knew I wasn’t going to be able to take another shot from him. My first thought was to draw my duty weapon and shoot him. I could hear the sirens of my backup units in the distance but wasn’t sure I could hold this guy off until their arrival. Then, just like an epiphany, I remembered that little aerosol can of pepper spray I had on my belt. I reached down unsnapped the holder stuck my arm straight out in front of me and activated a 2 or 3 second burst of pepper spray directly at this very large and out of control man. I had my doubts of its effectiveness mostly because of his size, but within a second or two he stopped, dropped the make shift weapon he had and fell to his knees. He was coughing, gagging, and I could see his eyes were slammed shut. It took me a second or two just to realize the power of the spray in that canister on my belt had just ended what was up to that point the first violent encounter of my 27 year police career.

Help arrived only moments after I engaged the subject with my pepper spray and the male was secured and transported without incident. It was later learned that he had been suffering from a psychotic disorder aggravated by a recent change in his medication. While he was being processed I had an opportunity to ask him some questions and when I told him how close he came to being shot his response to me was pretty funny now. He said “you know I almost wish you would have shot me, I’m pretty sure it would have been less painful then the stuff you sprayed me with!” That statement stayed with me throughout my career and in the later years actually helped shape my decision to become a certified police instructor specializing in Pepper Spray.

Author Bio: Chris Bruno is a retired police officer and contributing author to Safety Products Depot. His certification as a Pepper Spray Instructor gives him unique insight into the effectiveness of this defensive weapon. Chris is offering you a 10% discount off any purchase at Safety Products Depot Visit the site now to claim your discount coupon.

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