officers - The Black Vault

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(Indicate page, name of
newspaper, city and state.)
B5, Press Te1egram(Comment)
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BE:!IQw)__ ___ ~----~~--l,Long Beach, CA
: Thurs., 3/21/91
:carrying
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a baton,
· carrpng an:
:
' ' - ... -
·obligation/
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CARRYING A BATON,
CARRYING AN OBLIGATION
Character:
or
Classification:
Submitting Office:
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By Pat Dillon
Knight-Ridder Newspapers
l~
hether it's Los Angeles or
San Jose, when it comes to
_ coping with violence, almost
every police officer in every major
police department gets the same type of
routine training.
It's called the ••Koga Technique,"
and it includes grips and holds for subduing
uncooperative suspects. If things
turn nasty, the HKoga Technique"
j
' includes using a 26-inch solid aluminum
baton that, when swung properly,
can lay a person low without drawing
blood. It can also shatter a door, break
an ax handle in half or shatter bones.
Bob Koga, a Southern California
consultant and self-defense expert,
developed and taught the technique
when he was a sergeant with the Los
Angeles Police Department.
The hideous variation of his technique
is on videotape, and at·least
three of 21 LAPD officer.s who took
part have been indicted for using their
batons to strike Rod1;1ey King more
than 50 times after they said th~y
stopped him for speeding.
• 11 That. had nothing to do with polic~
work. It was the complete opposite of
everything we teach," said Anton
Erickson, a 29-year San Jose police officer
and former instructor at the Police
Academy. 11 i was horrified when Lsaw
that tape. I haven't felt so.bad since my
father died."
Erickson, 55, is retiring in 23 days,
but he says he··will always consider
himself a Koga disciple.
"He taught me to be a better cop.
He taught me the art of self-defense
that is behind this technique," Erick­
.son said. "When we teach it at the
academy, we devote at least eight hours
· to our obligation to avoid using it as
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MAR 29 1991