This is the second article on manual breaching and tactics. In the first article, I discussed the Hayworth, Hooligan and Inner Door Ram (commonly known as the Hook and Ram).

The Punch and Pull^® is a two person tool, yet, it is light enough for one person to carry to the target location. The person carrying the Punch and Pull^® carries it in the port arms position, 45 degrees across the body, one hand on the inner shaft, and the other on the handle at the opposite end of the tool. That is the only time the hand will be on the inner shaft. The hand won’t be injured as long as the pin is secured in the tool.

Click here to see a 28 second video on the manipulation of the Punch and Pull^® or here to view the nomenclature of the Punch and Pull^® and spike.

Tactical Considerations

Meticulous Surveillance Is Essential.

Surveillance will reveal the Who, What, When, Where, and Why .It will also give you a good idea of the layout of location – both inside and out. It can also reveal suspect vehicles or other vehicles such as a narco drop off car. If children are present at the suspect location, this may alter your tactics, but may not necessarily terminate execution of the search warrant.  Surveillance will determine if there are video cameras, dogs or if the target location is fortified and to what extent. By looking at the roof, you can determine where the bathroom, kitchen, and laundry room are located by the location of the vents. The same is applicable to the different types of windows.

Once it is determined if the location is or isn’t fortified, the officers will decide on the point of entry and method of entry. Note: when the word entry is used, I am referring to dynamic/rapid entry for the purposes of this article.

If the point of entry, is the front security door, and it is barrel bolted (commonly called lagged) the hook and ram and the Punch and Pull^® will not defeat the door as a rule.

There have been situations where the Punch and Pull^® has breached some lagged doors; however, these doors were lightly or moderately lagged. 

A door pull or door peel will overcome the resistance of a barrell boltedl/lagged door. This also sends a message to the crooks - that, no matter if the door is re- enforced by the crooks to keep us out, the door will be defeated by the door pull or peel 

As with most search and arrest warrants, the breach will not be initiated until all sides of the location are covered - unless, you are compromised - i.e. the officers have been detected by the crooks before the breaching and entry of the search warrant location .

If your agency does not have the door pull, it would certainly be worth your while to look into obtaining one. And it isn’t that costly to put the materials together.

(The door pull and door peel will be covered in the next article.)

A security door that is not lagged, and is mounted to the door frame in the conventional manner, will be defeated by the Punch and Pull^®. I have used the Punch and Pull^® for over a decade. Both the tool and the tactics used to operate it have undergone continuous improvement. I have used this tool numerous times on security doors, it breached the security door every time.

Manipulation of the Punch and Pull^®

1.  The Point Officer will lead the way to the target location. Always.  He is leading the entry team to the location and covering the breaching team as they are attempting to breach the security door. Officers do not have weapons out, point officer is protecting them against hostility from within the location.

2.   The entry team will be close enough to quickly make entry as soon as both doors are breached. They will be stacked on the same side as the door knob of the security door.

3.   The officer that is going to use the spike/sledge hammer will turn the door knob to determine if it is locked. If locked, he will punch a hole through the mesh of the security door. He will drop the spike to the ground and away from the entry team (so the team doesn’t trip on it). If the security door is unlocked, he will relay this to the entry team and The Punch and Pull^® will not be needed.

4.   Once the hole is made (as close to the lock as possible), the officer with the Punch and Pull^® will place the hook into the hole.

5.   Both officers will get a palms down grip on the handles.

6.   The tool will be positioned parallel to the ground

7.   The officer holding the tool is the Control Officer. He coordinates with his partner, and will pull the safety pin.

8.   The Control Officer will count, “One” once the pin is pulled and both will thrust the outer sleeve forward. On “Two”, they will thrust the outer sleeve to the rear. It’s important that both officers use their lower body to give them enough torque on “One” and “Two”. Often when the Punch and Pull^® is thrust forward, the hook will strike the inner door and pop it open. Obviously, the inner door ram will not be needed. This is the best scenario and results in a much faster entry.

9.   If the security door dead bolt is not defeated, the officers will repeat the steps above.

10.  Once the security door is defeated, the officers will leave the hook end in the hole and will pull the door open with the Punch and Pull^®. This will make for an unobstructed manipulation of the ram for the inner door and entry.

11.  Most of the time, the Punch and Pull^® will stay in the hole. It’s not necessary to secure the Punch and Pull^® by putting the pin back to render it safe as the team makes entry. Most likely the Breaching Officers will be trailing the other officers through the doorway.

12.  The two Breaching Officers will secure the ram after the service of the warrant and it is safe to do so. It’s important not to put your hands on the inner shaft until the pin is inserted. To insert the pin, all that is needed is to line up the white line painted on the outer shaft with the hole, then insert the pin.