In efforts to prepare officers to deal with the threat of an edged weapon attack, trainers rely on essentially four types of defensive systems - use of firearms, grappling, pressure point techniques, and body mechanics. Each system is feasible under certain circumstances, but may have limitations which the officer or trainer should carefully consider. An attack with an edged weapon constitutes a deadly force threat to the officer, and is logically and legally countered with that same degree of force. In police training, the use of deadly force is often equated with the use of firearms. With the increased awareness of the danger of edged weapons in recent years, many firearms instructors are wisely advising their students that they should be prepared to shoot a hostile assailant armed with an edged weapon.
Many officers assume that the firearm is the superior weapon.
Although edged weapons and firearms are both deadly weapons, they are normally employed in very different ways. Because the firearm is a projectile weapon, it is often thought to give the officer the advantage of being able to engage an assailant at some distance, whereas the assailant must be within arms reach to employ the edged weapon. While it is theoretically true that the officer can engage an assailant at longer range with a firearm, the reality of edged weapon attacks may make the advantage of the projectile weapon a non-factor. Officers do not normally interview suspects from any great distance. If the attack comes without warning, at close range, the advantage of the projectile weapon is lost.