A different kind of police training

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — As calls increase for police reforms, Syracuse Police are about to make a major shift in the way they train officers with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Jiu-Jitsu is a ground-based martial art using leverage and body control as alternatives to guns, tasers, and fists.

Training will start a couple of weeks into the police academy.

The curriculum is an approximate six-month program that emphasizes position as well as physical control through effective and efficient techniques to facilitate de-escalation should an encounter become physical in nature.

As a result of de-escalation through position and physical control, an evident result should be observed in the decrease of injuries to the public and officers, thus promoting the positive public perception of the police department while minimizing liability to the city of Syracuse. 

Recruits will be trained next month and SPD will be the first police agency in New York State to make the training mandatory.

The goal is to normalize Jiu-Jitsu in police defensive tactics with police agencies nationwide making it mandatory.