South Fayette police trained in martial arts

Police trained in martial arts

Defensive techniques reduce the level of force

By Andrea Iglar

In stressful moments, we don't rise to the occasion; we fall to our level of training.

That’s what Lt. John Leininger says when he teaches fellow police officers.

The importance of training led Leininger, with 14 years of instructor experience, to introduce the South Fayette Township Police Department to jiu-jitsu, a ground-based, grappling-style martial art.

South Fayette police Lt. John Leininger demonstrates a move on fellow officer Roman Williams as part of a defensive tactics system for police adapted from the grappling-style martial art of Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

Photo by Shelley Phoennik

The system helps police defend themselves and nonviolently control a person who is physically resisting arrest, even if that person is larger or stronger.

It’s an issue brought to the forefront by George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis in 2020.

“It hurt to watch that because I expected better from my own community of law enforcement,” Leininger said.

While the South Fayette police department has policies and procedures to help protect against excessive use of force, the jiu-jitsu training provides an additional tool to officers.

Police Chief John Phoennik said the program can protect both the officer and the person resisting arrest.

“It can minimize a harsher use of force,” Phoennik said. “That’s why I thought it would be a good thing to do.”

In the Army in Afghanistan, and later as a hobbyist, Leininger practiced various defensive tactics and martial arts, including jiu-jitsu, which translates to “gentle art.”

“I always felt there was a benefit to law enforcement,” he said.

South Fayette police Lt. John Leininger, foreground, snapped this group selfie after jiu-jitsu training at SouthBridge EMS last year. Officers, from left, are Sawyer Gray, Rebekah Schultz, Christian Ryan,Roman Williams, Mike Kuchta, Sgt. Bryan Monyak, Sgt. Collin Griffith, Dan Caputo and Sgt. Jeff Sgro.

Last year, Leininger and Officer Roman Williams became certified trainers in Gracie Survival Tactics, a defensive tactics system for police adapted from Brazilian jiu-jitsu, as developed in the early 1900s by the Gracie family.

The program focuses on humane techniques for getting a combative person to the ground, gaining control and taking the person into custody.

According to the Gracie Survival Tactics webpage, the system’s “leverage-based techniques are less likely to cause serious injury to both the officer and arrestee.”

Phoennik said the training encourages mental confidence and physical discipline in officers.

“You don’t panic if you get into a situation with a combative person because you revert to your training,” he said.

In fall 2021, the department held a four-hour training session for all 23 officers, including the chief, at the SouthBridge EMS station in South Fayette.

This year, each officer is training for one hour every other month in jiu-jitsu techniques.

Sessions currently are held in a school district wrestling room but will move to the new police station once construction is complete along Hickory Grade Road.

South Fayette police officers Nick Walter, front right, and Rebekah Schultz, back right, practice pinning Alex Korkus, front, and James Jeffrey, back, as part of their Gracie Survival Tactics training.Instructors Lt. John Leininger, front left, and Roman Williams, standing, provide guidance.

Photo by Shelley Phoennik

Even with retirement on the horizon, police Sgt.Jeff Sgro, 53, said the training is worthwhile because it’s taught him he doesn’t necessarily have to fight with a combative person. Instead, he can use alternative techniques that aim to tire out the person until help arrives.

“This kind of training in our business is a lifesaver,” he said.

Officer Mike Blocher, 56, said he wishes he would have started the training 29 years ago, when he began his career. But he noted the newer officers will become proficient if they continue to train regularly.

The techniques, he said, help control combative people until backup arrives and provide tools to “hopefully control them without seeing all the stuff you see on television.”

“It’s something I think we should all know,” Blocher said. “It just looks so much better, and it’s a lot safer for everybody.”

Nick Walter, the newest police officer in South Fayette, said the jiu-jitsu training is more concrete and focused than the mix of defensive tactics he learned at the police academy.

The more he practices the techniques, the less likely he will be to resort to using a stronger level of force, he said.

“The only way you’re going to learn something and reallyingrain it into your mind and into your muscles is doing it over and over again, and I think that’s something I would like to see in the future,” Walter said.

“We can only benefit from continuing to do it.”