Sunday, May 25, 2008

Good Guys Versus... Good Guys

"With concealed and in some cases open carry becoming more widespread, what are police departments doing to provide for the eventual scenario where officers arrive at a shooting scene involving an armed citizen defending himself?

Right now, the prevailing noises coming from "The Only Ones" brass is they'll have no way of knowing, and somebody's going to get killed.

That's not good enough. It's their job to figure out the dynamics of the society they're paid and expected to operate in, and to just throw out predictions so they can come back with an "I told you so" when they self-fulfill is unacceptable.

What training are police and sheriffs' departments doing to prepare officers for such an encounter? How many simulator programs anticipate an armed citizen with a shoot/don't shoot decision point in their scenarios? What instructions are officers given, and what opportunities do they have to practice for such eventualities?"

That's from David Codrea at The War on Guns, and it's a series of questions not only without an answer, but for the most part totally dismissed.

I've discussed the matter with peace officers from several jurisdictions and have gotten the same answers, the EXACT same answers, which leads me to believe that there is a corporate mantra of sorts that said constables all but memorize.

Cop Speak. When in doubt, shrug and lay the blame on someone else if at all possible. If, in the heat of a gun battle, you or I happen to mistakenly fire upon an officer we can expect swift and fatal retribution. Case closed. If they do the same, take down an otherwise peaceful citizen protecting his or her self, well, sorry about that.

There doesn't seem to be a lick of training or protocol or cheat sheet for them to use to determine good guy from bad guy, and whats even more troubling is the fact that they seem to feel that it isn't necessary. Hey, combat is a nerve wracking and confusing cluster fuck practicing to be a chinese fire drill. One MUST exercise a modicum of restraint and that means taking the time to sort out the ones who need shooting from the ones who don't need shooting. In real life, however, police say the same thing time and again; "someday we're gonna shoot the wrong person", and leave it at that.

Head on over and have a look for yourself.

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