BY RICHARD TEO
Staff writer
From 2020 to 2022, a popular YouTube channel concerning personal protective measures against criminal or any hostile action was released and has remained viral ever since. Detroit Urban Survival Training (D.U.S.T) is a police-supported form of self-defense training that was and continues to be shown on Youtube. Commander Dale Brown is responsible for these presentations. The training, although verified by the Police department of Detroit, reflects a certain level of unreliability or high risk of death in usage. Not every form of martial arts or technique is effective against particular forms of combat. The main reason for these videos especially is for self-defense against criminals and those who may be hostile while carrying a firearm. To no avail, these videos have been the subject of conversation in the media and have even become so popular as to make the training with live and personal demonstrations. These methods are often “memed” upon or made fun of due to their unrealistic and dangerous practices. Brown, himself, has taken responsibility for this and has gone as far as to perform them in front of a live audience.
In a recent video, however, Brown’s personal demonstration of an armed attack sparked huge controversy about the reliability of his technique. Brown was shown to be performing a safety against an armed assailant by latching onto his wrist and attempting to disarm him. Provided the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImVz8KG_ADU. The video, which exposed the training’s flaw, made its way into the media and still remains a prevalent issue as of right now. Some have argued that the videos do in fact play a significant role in maintaining survival. However, there is a huge possibility that these videos are currently being watched by children since they are widely available to all audiences and thus, may influence the younger generation to support violence. Furthermore, there is also the possibility these videos are currently being watched as of right now and are performed onto an assailant or innocent people. The trouble behind exploiting these methods without any formal training or practice may result in the victim’s reliance on these techniques’ popularity and validity. As remarked, these techniques are performed by the Detroit police force and their knowledge, although widely respected and renowned, is insufficient in the process of their influence. The chances are still high that these videos are currently being performed on innocents as opposed to the Detroit police department, to which they have proper training and jurisdictions over potential injuries of these methods.