The Quick Peek Technique and Active Shooters

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Deaf Smith

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In the May/June issue of American Handgunner magazine, Massad Ayoob has a very interesting article on the technique of ‘The Quick Peek’.

The NYPD back in the ‘70s had the technique of quickly peeking from behind cover. Not to fire a weapon or even aim it, but to just do a recon. After the peek one would then judge what to do about the situation they had seen when they peeked.

At the 2008 IDPA Nationals they had a stage, number 13, where the bad guy was on a swinger that ‘peeked’ out from behind cover JUST ONCE! You had basically a second to hit it. Thing is, YOU started the swinger to do the peek.

Amazingly, out of 300+ shooters, many master, expert, sharpshooters, and others, 186 of them missed the target! And even some of those who hit, just edged the target.

Now consider if you have to go after an Active Shooter. The quick peek may be of value since any shooter out there will not have the advantage of knowing when you will peek, or where you will peek from.

If one does decide to go in alone, you need as many advantages as you can get.
 
Oh yeah, I always used the quick peek in Rainbow Six... Except sometimes the auto aim on the BGs would be so good they'd nail me from 100 ft with full auto fire :mad:

oh wait, wrong forum....

Reminds me of Bruce Willis in The Fifth Element. It worked for him right? :cool: "Seven on the left, five on the right." BANG BANG BANG "Four on the left, two on the right."

dang it, wrong forum again...

Seriously though, I think it is a valid tactic that has its place. Lots of airsoft CQB games were won using the peek technique, and for the lone, unarmed individual could certainly prove useful.
 
Maybe elaborate on some more useful alternative techniques given said active shooter scenario?
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Although I'm not that fond of the whole active shooter concept, I've found that in training the traditional slice the pie technique to work well. You aren't having to give up ground automatically after you take it, plus it allows greater mobility should the need arise. If you want to do a sneak peek, use a mirror.
 
Agree with David: mirror (if you have one) for "sneak peek."

However, by definition, "sneaking" is slow. Quick peek is QUICK, and works for folks who don't have mirrors (or backup personnel to cover them against close assault when their eyes are in the mirror.)

Quick peek is a SEARCH technique, not an aggress-and-shoot-the-bad-guy-as-soon-as-possible technique.

On the speed continuum, the "sneak peek" is slowest, the "quick peek" by definition is faster, and "slice the pie" is faster still.

However, the faster you go, the more you expose yourself to an armed opponent. Therefore, the totality of the situation, and the speed of response necessary, will determine the appropriate technique. Different tools for different tasks, all of which might be necessary in a given situation at a given moment depending how things go.
 
Nice to hear from the gent who actually wrote the article in question.
The Swedish Police have an interesting take on this--a rapid series of quick peeks ( without going back behind the cover) which is a sort of very fast peeks combined with rapidly slicing the pie.
For use in an active shooter situation where speed is of prime importance.
 
The quick peek technique is MUCH more useful IMHO than cutting the pie. You have to quick peek correctly, though. If you decide to quickpeek the same location more than 1 time, make sure the second/third/etc times you do it from a different elevation. You don't want to quick peek and quick peek in the same elevated position, cuz if there IS a threat and he remembered where your melon popped out, he's going to expect you to pop it out again and POP IT. If you quick peek once and decide that you are going to enter and engage after identifying a target, same tactic: engage at a lower or higher elevation that you did at first. The best way to quick peek, in my opinion, is to do it at the highest elevation possible and second peek/engage at a lower elevation. Always practice first and use caution before attempting any tactics that are foriegn to you.
 
My training avoided the quick-peek and focused more on what the staff called "limited entry". The limited entry was partially entering a room or wrapping around a corner by leading with your gun. If you identified a threat you would engage it, as opposed to a quick peek where you look, possibly identify a threat, and then give up ground.

The idea was that situations are dynamic enough that a quick peek was of limited value because circumstances are often changing as fast as the clock is ticking. What you see is often times not going to be what you get when you re-engage. If an opponent is waiting to ambush you, he may learn more by watching your head peek out and disappear than you do in the limited time you get to view the scene.

As far as "slicing the pie" I think this is an excellent technique for searching that allows you to clear around corners while keeping a position of advantage. You can slice as fast or as slow as the situation allows, either cutting inches as your creep the corner or slicing big chunks as you move quickly through the corner.

Also, remember when you are working corner or utilizing cover you do not have to be right up on your cover. If you are coming around the corner of a building for instance, you can back away from the building while slicing and still have the advantage of the building for cover.
 
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Quick peek is a horrible technique! Your view is limited, the amount of detail you can accurately perceive is minimal, you give up any ground you've gained the moment you stop peeking, you've given away your position by rapidly bobbing your melon around and a truly aggressive opponent is going to start punching rounds through the corner you just peeped around.

If you've really got to get into the space that quickly you are much better off with a hyperaggressive full entry and contact. Smarter still, slice that pie and snipe 'em as soon as you see any portion of their meat.

Quick peek looks good on TV but that's about it.
 
I dont know about quick peek. Not sure I want to poke my head into something I dont know about.

I've done thousands of building searches 'n such. I carried a Mechanics inspection mirror on an extending handle I carried in my pocket. It worked great for peaking in unknown areas.

Seems to me peaking your head in a door/window, etc would just telegraph your actions. Not many bandits expect a little mirror poking around the corner.
 
Keep in mind several things.

One this thread is bout active shooters. It may be a school, office, warehouse, building, etc..

When you realize something is happening, you may be on the ground floor, outside, inside, in the john, etc..

Your knowledge of the layout may be nonexistent, spotty, or quite detailed.

Each and every incident will have to be handled on a case-by-case basis.

The QP is a recon method. It is only one of many methods you may use (if you know how and have trained.)

One picks what one needs for that particular moment. It may be using the QP to check out halls that are quite long, the grounds outside, or areas where you can hear the shooter and others at a distance, etc... and do not want to engage the shooter yet (but you want to narrow down just where they are without much exposure and without engaging them.)

Using the mirror you will find out, if you have trained with it, that does not take in the whole room. It has gaps and must be moved back and forth, up and down, to get a good view of the area, and any long hallway will be difficult to discern what is at a distance (especially if you do not have good eye sight.)

You may use the pie method once you decide to enter the room and if you encounter the shooter fight it out with them. One thing about the pie method, once you enter the room and they spot such as your shoes, and there are hostages about, you will have to fight it out with them and deal with others who may run, scream, drop down, or just get in the way.

Make sure you know several methods and fully understand them. Then pick what is needed.
 
Quick peek is a horrible technique!
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I tend to agree, mostly because the item you're peaking around is rarely cover. And it's not even concealment once you peak around.

This is one of the reasons that airsoft/paintball whatever is generally poor training. Everything is cover to a paintball gun. Very little is cover to a real firearm, especially a rifle.

My other objection is that rapid movement draws the eye. You may be able to slowly cut the pie and avoid detection but a quick peak will usually draw attention and have the bad guy dialed in on your location.

There may be times when it's a sound technique, but it isn't good as a general technique IMO. Mas is undoubtedly right that they won't be able to plunk you between the eyes when you are doing a QP, but that doesn't mean that you aren't then at a tactical disadvantage. Few buildings offer an alternate route once you have drawn the enemies eyes to your QP location.
 
Deaf Smith,

Even in, especially in an active shooter situation is a lousy technique. Active shooter responses run at two speeds. Balls out moving to the sound of the shooting and quick but not real quick searching because the bad guy ain't shooting right now. Pie slicing is the way to go at either speed.

If you are moving flat out you can still slide your way across an opening with a gun between you and the threat area while minimizing your exposure, maximizing your opportunities to see the bad guy first and maintaining your forward momentum.

Momentum may seem silly but it's important. A quick peek necessitates stopping for a moment, jerking forward, jerking backward and then moving forward again. If you are the point on a 4 man hunter element that means you have to stop not one body but 4 and you are only driving one of them. I can see approaching a left side threat area, the point stopping to do his quick peak and a distracted right flanker zipping across the threat area (back exposed) or the tail gunner backing into the point and shoving him into the funnel. No Bueno. On the other hand, a pie slice eliminates the need to stop/start/back/start and keeps the hunter dynamic if the situation calls for continued forward movement or a sudden turn in to aggress against the bad guy.

Pie slicing can be real quick and still give the slicer half a chance at seeing threats around corners.

Pie slicing also gives you the advantage of greater distance from your cover/concealment. I like being as far away from that corner when I look around it. Wall strike ricochets like to hug the wall they just smacked and distance may just keep me out of that angle.

If the bad guy see your shoes with a pie slice you're doing it wrong. The first thing the bad guy should see is your muzzle and one eyeball. The next thing he should see is a bright flash and the deity of his choosing.

Girls should be peaked. Pies and bad guys deserve slicing.
 
Can someone explain what "slicing the pie" is? I can deduce some limited things about it based on context, but it'd make it a whole lot easier to follow this conversation if it were explained. :o
 
587px-Clear_Corner.jpg


Pieing corners or slicing corners is a search technique used for corners, doorways and other obstacles. You work the corner, moving in an arc, "slicing" off pieces of the room, controlling as much of a room or unknown area as you can without advancing into the area. You're looking for a sign or your adversary such as an elbow, the toe of a shoe, or the brim of a hat. If you lean into the corner that you're working this will help limit your exposure.

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The quick peek technique is MUCH more useful IMHO than cutting the pie. You have to quick peek correctly, though.
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When you peek, it's to fight. You've already seen what you need to see by pieing the room.

Some guy named C. Smith points that out well in his excellent video on the subject. You expose nothing, except to fight. He also points out that you shouldn't do it because it's too dangerous. But shows you how to do it if you feel you must.


The basic principle as it applies to pieing is the same as forthe sight radius on a pistol. Move the gun a little, and that translates to a lot more down range. Same with pie slicing. For every inch you pie out, the amount of room exposed is measured in feet. A couple inches of your head exposed may allow you to see all of Bubba.

You can see it on Blue Steel's diagram where the greater the distance, the more you see for the same amount of self exposure.

Now I'm not talking about being in the middle of a fight where the quick peek may be necessary to keep the enemy from running up on you. Peek quick, often, and not from the same place. At least according to some excellent instructors I've had.
 
Tell me gang, with all the windows on buildings and class room doors, are you going to pie around every window outside a school building? Are you going to pie around all the class room windows INSIDE a building?

When ever you do the barrel pieing like in the picture above, keep in mind in real life you may very well have other doors and windows behind you. There is no safe way to clear a building by your self.

Don't think inside a box where there is just one door and only one way to look in (or be seen.) And that is why you need many techniques for different situations.
 
Don't think inside a box where there is just one door and only one way to look in (or be seen.) And that is why you need many techniques for different situations.
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Deaf
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True, I think we tend to forget that pieing is a technique best suited for when you know (or suspect) you're not alone inside your own home, and it becomes necessary to move from one room to another.

I think this pieing around buildings, down the alley, and every which way is a little silly. House fighting isn't street fighting IMO.:cool:

Pieing doesn't replace peeking as a tactical philosophy nor vice versa--they both have their place.
 
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