Why do cops yell "Clear!"

[MaggieD]

I'm assuming crime drama is pretty accurate in that one aspect. And when a group of cops enter a home, maybe three or four, each of them is yelling "Clear." What purpose does that serve? I mean, I understand it means they've cleared a room, but what​ room? And how many "clears" does it take to know the house is under control? How do they know that?

 

[CRUE CAB]

WHen you "clear" a room of threats, you acknowledge it to the rest of the officers in a home. Yes they add alittle dramatic overtones in the movies, but it is what it is.

 

[joG]

I'm assuming crime drama is pretty accurate in that one aspect. And when a group of cops enter a home, maybe three or four, each of them is yelling "Clear." What purpose does that serve? I mean, I understand it means they've cleared a room, but what​ room? And how many "clears" does it take to know the house is under control? How do they know that?

I thought it was to let the perp know that nobody had seen him under the bed.

 

[MaggieD]

WHen you "clear" a room of threats, you acknowledge it to the rest of the officers in a home. Yes they add alittle dramatic overtones in the movies, but it is what it is.

I know that's what they're doing. But what good does it do if one doesn't yell, for instance, "Kitchen clear!" etc.?

 

[CRUE CAB]

I know that's what they're doing. But what good does it do if one doesn't yell, for instance, "Kitchen clear!" etc.?

Then you ask, out loud. "Kitchen!!!!!?"

 

[MaggieD]

Then you ask, out loud. "Kitchen!!!!!?"

?? I don't understand.

 

[CRUE CAB]

?? I don't understand.

If the team leader does not hear kitchen clear, if there is a kitchen, you ask for it. IF no response you assume the officer is having trouble of some sort.
Its basic warrant serving type stuff.

 

[notquiteright]

I thought it was to let the perp know that nobody had seen him under the bed.

yet...

 

[lizzie]

Not sure why cops yell it, but in my profession, when someone yells "clear!", that means everyone had better stand back, or they are going to get defibrillated. :lol:

 

[MaggieD]

Not sure why cops yell it, but in my profession, when someone yells "clear!", that means everyone had better stand back, or they are going to get defibrillated. :lol:

:lol: :lol:

 

[notquiteright]

I know that's what they're doing. But what good does it do if one doesn't yell, for instance, "Kitchen clear!" etc.?

A house usually only has one kitchen but how many bedrooms? Bathrooms, play rooms... ya get the idea.

Unless the entry team is an ad-hoc team they know each other, the sound of their voices, and 'the drill'. Most teams spend time training in abandoned houses, schools, stores, even warehouses with movable partitions to set-up various floor plans.

Unless a team member is overwhelmed instantly he is trained to yell an alarm if he sees/meets a problem, but usually the team has a follow on group to handle such problems- you continue to secure your room/area of responsibility.

 

[lawboy]

I'm assuming crime drama is pretty accurate in that one aspect. And when a group of cops enter a home, maybe three or four, each of them is yelling "Clear." What purpose does that serve? I mean, I understand it means they've cleared a room, but what​ room? And how many "clears" does it take to know the house is under control? How do they know that?

Obviously, no one can yell CLEAR in a non swept room, so in a room that they "clear" it means there are NO present dangers. Cops can do what is known as a "protective sweep" without a warrant. If Joe Blow is hiding and they suspect it, then that room is NOT clear.

 

[Rainman05]

I'm assuming crime drama is pretty accurate in that one aspect. And when a group of cops enter a home, maybe three or four, each of them is yelling "Clear." What purpose does that serve? I mean, I understand it means they've cleared a room, but what​ room? And how many "clears" does it take to know the house is under control? How do they know that?

Generally speaking, before an intervention, you get an idea of how the layout of the building is. So you never really go in "blind" if you're part of an intervention operation. And it's also a rule of training, on how you enter a room, how you clear a room... say you need to clear out a building with 20 rooms, you start from one end and you follow a trajectory that is planned. So when you hear 2 clears, you know that there 18 rooms left and you know that the first 2 rooms that were checked were the 2 rooms that were supposed to be checked according to the plan. This is commonplace and a method used from the time of the Romans, ofc, it's well evolved now beyond anything, but organization search. You don't just go in and look and see what's what, you do it by a design that minimizes the risk for each and every action while performing everything in the shortest amount of time. This is how the FBI and how SWAT do it.

The Romans invented this as a pillaging method. because legioneers were paid at the end of their contract, not just in land and money for service, but also by the contribution they made to the treasury of the legion. So when the Romans would enter a city, each legion would know what area of the city/fort was its to plunder.. and within each legion, each cohort knew what part of the area assigned to the legion was its to plunder, and within each cohort, which century would get which houses or streets to plunder.

The whole "There is no time for backup" is less frequent in real life than there is in movies, I say this in situations which demand a thorough clean-up operation, which usually involves hostages or at least barricaded criminals.

 

[TacticalEvilDan]

I'm assuming crime drama is pretty accurate in that one aspect. And when a group of cops enter a home, maybe three or four, each of them is yelling "Clear." What purpose does that serve? I mean, I understand it means they've cleared a room, but what​ room? And how many "clears" does it take to know the house is under control? How do they know that?

Maybe you're misreading the situation -- one time I had a window-cleaner over that did a lot of this.

 

[Gathomas88]

WHen you "clear" a room of threats, you acknowledge it to the rest of the officers in a home. Yes they add alittle dramatic overtones in the movies, but it is what it is.

Unless you're sneaking in, you're actually supposed to be a bit loud. That way you make sure that the other guys in your squad can hear you.

That's the way I was trained to do it in the Army, at the very least.

 

[Robbie Loucks]

They're usually all looking at different rooms when they yell clear. What bothers me most is the lack of consistency when the room is not clear. Don't get me started on how it's generally the very last room that's not clear.

 

[radcen]

Tv shows like Criminal Minds crack me up. When they storm a house there are a bunch of people in full protective battle gear... being led by the stars of the show wearing nothing but skimpy bulletproof vests. Essentially no protection. So we can all see their pretty faces, I presume. :lol:

 

[Bodi]

Not sure why cops yell it, but in my profession, when someone yells "clear!", that means everyone had better stand back, or they are going to get defibrillated. :lol:

...and in my profession when I yell "Clear!!??", it means, "Does your stupid little developing brain understand the task assigned yet!!??"

 

[DashingAmerican]

Assuming it's like military, each person has their own quadrant and that is their quadrant every time. So, just through repetition, the other squad mates know, roughly, what part of the house you have cleared.

 

[Manc Skipper]

They're usually all looking at different rooms when they yell clear. What bothers me most is the lack of consistency when the room is not clear. Don't get me started on how it's generally the very last room that's not clear.

It's like when you lose something, you always find it in the last place you look! Because then you stop looking.

 

[DashingAmerican]

For the record, I hate pretty much all of the crime related shows.

 

[Bodi]

Assuming it's like military, each person has their own quadrant and that is their quadrant every time. So, just through repetition, the other squad mates know, roughly, what part of the house you have cleared.

You lost me at quadrant.

 

[Dayton3]

When Wal-Mart still closed up for the night and the closing call was made "The store is now closed" each department issued "security clearances" by saying "Sporting Goods clear" which meant there were no more customers lingering. If there were customers lingering it was to let the front end know to leave a register activated so they could check out.