are you a warrior?

A fellow LEO over at Trigger Pull Tactical posted this piece titled, Are You A True Warrior?

Webster’s dictionary describes a warrior as: “A person who shows or has shown great vigor, courage, or aggressiveness, as in politics or athletics.” I laugh as I type this because I just know some pussy who’s never held a gun, much less shot one, wrote that definition. I laugh at how society of today terms a warrior as a politician or athlete. I’m not taking anything away from our modern day athletes, but just because they fly around a football field hitting each other ruthlessly, that doesn’t make them warriors. The NFL and other sports sure as hell are not war. I cringe when I hear some overbearing, self indulgent athlete talking about the WAR on Sundays! They have no idea what it’s like to wear a uniform and bullet proof vest then go out to patrol Kabul, Baghdad, New York City, Chicago, or L.A., not knowing if they’ll come home that night.

Now go read the whole thing.

 

the warrior poets

Image via Wikipedia

I just came across the blog of a fellow flatfoot who has a better turn of phrase than I do. His blog is called The Warrior Poets and the author describes himself thusly:

My name is Christopher.

I work in a world where we wear body armour and carry automatic weapons and look for the worst humanity has to offer. I come home to a world of cuddling with two kids on a couch, hoping they never have to truly understand.

And these pages contain the stories those worlds produce.

Take a read it will be worth your while.

 

reboot your OODA loop

Go over to my brother in blue’s site SpartanCops and check out his post on scenario training and the OODA loop.

He links to this video that shows what is called the “hooded box drill”.

I have done this drill at my PD and it is a great tool. Go read Spartan’s post for more  info.

 

Video: Firearms Training for Contact Shots

Another fine post from my friends over at Spartan Cops. This post shows a nice technique for placing your pistol into battery if it has been jostled out of battery during a CQB struggle.

Video: Firearms Training for Contact Shots

Go take a look.

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what they say…what it means

This is a repost from early 2009 that seems to be getting some traffic recently…go figure.

Due to the popularity of “reality television” shows like Cops, Wildest Police Videos, Stories of the Highway Patrol and the rest, many people are being exposed to the “language of the street”.

In this language there are many phrases and customs that the unitiated may have difficulty understanding. Some viewers may become confused by the actions of officers when the person they are dealing with seems to sound perfectly reasonable.

Therefore, as a public service I am providing this easy to understand guide. With it the viewer can have a better understanding of what exactly the police officer and his “customer” are saying to each other. Be reassured that in most cases each party knows exactly what the other is saying:

When he/she says——–He/she really means:

That’s not mine!——-That’s mine.

I don’t have my ID on me.——- Im going to lie about my identity.

I didn’t do anything!——- I did it.

I swear to God!——-I’m about to lie.

That’s not my purse——- I have drugs in my purse.

I don’t know his name/I know him as…——-I’m about to lie about my friends identity because he probably has a warrant.

I swear on my child’s life!——- I’m about to lie.

I’m just driving around——- I just came from a drug house.

I don’t have my drivers license on me——- My drivers license is suspended or revoked. The judge took my license away from me.

 I’m not going to lie to you officer!——-I’m about to lie.

I did what? What did you say?——- Im trying to think up a lie.

These aren’t my pants!——-That’s my dope in the pocket.

“As far as I know” (usually in response to a question about warrants, licenses, presence of illegal items)——- I don’t know if the warrant was issued yet. I can’t remember when the protective order expires.  I’m unsure if the suspension took effect yet.

I swear on my mothers grave!——-I’m about to lie.

I paid for that!——- I stole that.

I just got paid/ I won it at the casino/I just sold my car.——-That’s my drug sales money.

Why are you hasslin’ me?——- Why do I keep getting caught?

This is bullshit!——- I hate getting caught.

You only stopped me because I’m (insert group here)!——-Yes, I rolled through that stop sign in my tinted up hoop-de with the one headlight out, the door lock punched and a cloud of marijuana smoke emitting from the windows.

I’m just driving around——- I just came from the scene of a crime.

I only had 2 or 3 beers——-I’m drunk.

I was driving to the store when my old lady called and said that her friend needed to be picked up from the bar, but first I had to stop for some gas so I was going to the station over there when I saw my buddy…..——-Im a “verbal diarrhea” liar.

There are people killing each other out there and you guys are arresting me?——- I did it.

This car? This car belongs to my friends girl…I don’t know her name——- This car is a “crack rental”.

I think I’m having a heart attack! (while in a cell)——- I want to spend the night in a hospital bed instead of on a concrete slab with a roll of toilet paper for a pillow.

You didn’t read me my rights!——- I’m clueless about criminal procedure and really think that this means my arrest is invalid and you have to let me go.

 

 

L’Affaire Gates – Jack Dunphy – The Corner on National Review Online

An analysis of the Gates fiasco written better than I could manage.,

L’Affaire Gates – Jack Dunphy – The Corner on National Review Online

A man of ordinary sensibilities, having forced his way into his own home in broad daylight, might consider the possibility that he was seen doing so by someone who would misinterpret his actions and summon the police. Mr. Gates apparently failed to foresee such a contingency and instead assumed dark motives on the part of Sgt. Crowley. In fact, if Crowley’s account is accurate, it was Gates who profiled him, imputing racial animus as the reason for the sergeant’s presence on the front porch. When Crowley made the reasonable and tactically sound request for Gates to step out onto the porch, Gates, by his own account, refused to do so. “I knew he wasn’t canvassing for the police benevolent association,” Gates told a reporter from The Root. “All the hairs stood up on the back of my neck, and I realized that I was in danger. And I said to him no, out of instinct. I said, ‘No, I will not.’” Thus the stage was set for a test of wills, one that ultimately saw Gates arrested and carted off to the jug for a few hours.

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the “skip” gates fiasco

As a Police Officer it’s always safer to just keep ones mouth shut when it comes to matters of politics, race and public controversy; but in regards to this “mad professor” situation I am going to air some personal opinion. Keep in mind please that this is just one man’s opinion. It is not to be construed as an “official position” and in no way reflects the opinion of my dept.

The way I read this situation, it can be broken down into three areas. The officers actions, the professors actions and the presidents/media actions. My analysis:

The Cop: According to Sgt. Crowley’s report, he responded solo to a call of a burglary in progress with TWO possible suspects. While on the porch of the residence, the Sgt. sees a man inside, tells him that he is investigating a possible break-in and asks him to exit so he could talk to him and if there is anybody else in the house with him. This is a common and wise practice. You never want to go into a structure against a possible threat..especially alone. Calling the man out also means that if he is an innocent resident being held against his will, you may have the opportunity to remove him from danger. Instead of doing as he is asked, the professor starts out by being confrontational. He immediately injects race into the situation by claiming the only reason the cop is there is because he is a “black man in America”. Not something you want to do to a police officer that just told you the reason why he was there, investigating a possible break-in at your home. AKA-doing his job to protect YOUR PROPERTY. Eventually the professor comes to the door and continues to be disagreeable, at first refusing to provide the officer with ID. Once the officer has identified the man as the homeowner, the rest of the story is the continued, racially charged ranting that flows out onto the porch of the house, a public place in view of a gathering crowd. From the sound of things there was a lot of “you don’t know who I am”…”you are going to regret this”…comments about the officers mother..etc being yelled and screamed. After giving the man two warnings that he was being disorderly, the officer had enough and arrests the man for disorderly conduct.

The Professor: Without rehashing what I just wrote, and attempting to remain as impartial as a cop who has faced similar situations can be; the professor claims that the officer was rude, confrontational and refused to provide his name and badge number. He also claims that the officer arrested him after intentionally luring him out onto the porch of his home because the officer was irritated over his exercising his right to complain.

The President: A friend of the professor… states at a press conference “I do not have all the facts” and “the police acted stupidly” in the same breath. We all know where things went from there.

Because I don’t want to say anything here that could reflect badly on me or my department when seen through the lenses of people who like to find fault with any police activity I am going to cut this short. Let me sum up:

In my opinion many things could have been done, if not “better” perhaps differently. First and foremost, could the professor have acted differently? Could he have looked at the situation as a police officer responding to ascertain the security of his home and his own personal well being? Versus immediately looking at the officers race and jumping to an unjustified conclusion? Absolutely.

Did the officer “have to arrest” the professor? Could the Sgt.have used some discretion and just left? Sure he “could have”. Did he “have to walk away”? Was the arrest unlawful? I would have to say no.

We officers have to make many decisions and 0ftentimes make them under stress and time constraints. While I may often think “man I could have done that better” the real bar I set for myself  is “was what I did legal and within policy”? Ultimately, probable cause trumps officer discretion. I don’t think it’s fair to judge Sgt. Crowley on discretionary matters, what he should be judged on is the legality of his actions, and from what I see he had PC to support his charge. The dropping of charges in cases like this often has less to do with the propriety of the arrest as it does with political expediency.

And last but not least. While the president is free to say what he wants, I would hope that the leader of the free world would wait for all the details before making inflammatory remarks.

 

carry off-duty

I just read a great post over at Front Sight, Press about the reality of active shooter situations and what has stopped them in the past. The author says that what stops them is Instant Response:

Rapid Deployment training is great training. It should be mandatory for all officers and should be refreshed at least annually. But, Rapid Deployment must be considered a follow-on technique to supplement the Instant Response of on-scene personnel or first arriving officers. Any other technique will delay contact with the killer and allow them more time to snuff out innocent lives. Even at the World Trade Center, a large percentage of those rescued and evacuated before the collapse where directed by civilians who stepped up and filled a vacuum of leadership. The 9/11 report dubbed these heroes “First – First Responders.”

…I recommend one iron clad rule all sworn officers should obey. Carry a weapon off-duty. For those of you who feel your only off-duty obligation is to be a trained observer: I disagree. And, more importantly, the reality of this spiraling increase of mass murderers also proves otherwise. Remember examples such as the security guard in Colorado and the construction workers at the World Trade Center, who were last seen headed up the stairs to direct the evacuation of one more floor. Step up and remember your oath to protect and serve.

I agree. Dont be a Sheep. When the wolf shows up its do or die.

 

SWAT rocks for sale!!

One of my brother in blue bloggers over at Spartan Cops talks about gear, tools and the “chicks dig it factor” in one of his recent posts called Ever buy a SWAT Rock? An excerpt goes:

“What’s a SWAT rock?” the handler replied.

“One of these.” He said as he grabbed a small stone off the ground and threw it at a car deep in the parking lot. The sound the rock made hitting the car caught the attention of the searching dog and made him investigate that area and eventually find the suspect.

The instructor continued. “A SWAT rock is the same thing except you paint it black, put it in a bag labeled SWAT, and sell it to guys like me for $14.95. Paint it black and I’ll buy just about anything.”

Many of us in this line of work, or subject of interest, have fallen into this mode of thought. I think that to some extent we all still do, it’s just as you get older and “wiser” you start to recognize that you just want something because its “cool” and don’t bother trying to justify it in any other way.

As long as the “SWAT rock” works and you don’t mind paying 3X its actual value for it then who am I to judge?

If you neglect your training because all your time and cash go into “SWAT Rocks” instead of lessons and ammo..well then you are a fool.

 

10 things about the entertainment industry that piss me off

Ask my wife and she will tell you, I can get out of control when I am watching any television show or movie about the military or law enforcement. The constant, recurring mistakes and misinformation that these industries put out just get in my craw and I have to yell “BULLSHIT!!” It makes me wonder, don’t these shows have advisers? If they do, what the hell are they getting paid for? Or is it that the directors think that they have better knowledge on these topics? The following are at the top of my WTF?!?! list:

1. Give me that before you hurt yourself:Cops and soldiers are constantly “racking” their weapons. I mean come on! I carry with a round in the chamber all the time. If I had to constantly rack my weapon every time I drew it there would be brass flying everywhere and my co-workers would think I lost my mind. I know that directors love the “click clack” of weapons being cycled but use your goddamn head! SWAT teams don’t stack up on a door and THEN load their weapons. FBI agents don’t have to charge their pistols after they draw them and they definitely don’t have to do it two more times in the same incident! Racking your shotgun just before you kick down a door is f$#%ing STUPID!! Going into an apartment after a serial killer, knocking on the door, hearing him run out the back and THEN racking your pistol and giving chase…F#$%ING STUPID!!!

2. Oh what the hell why not?:Every Tom, Dick and Harry stacking up with the SWAT team, I think not. If my blood pressure went up one mmHg every time I saw some “CSI”, “FBI Investigator” or “Detective” stacking up with the tactical team to go in and get the bad guy my head would F’n explode!

News Flash. If I saw some “CSI” getting in my stack on a high risk entry he would get a boot up his ass. No SWAT team leader worth is salt is going say…”OK you FBI Profiler with no tactical training I am aware of, or experience with MY team, go right ahead and get in the stack.”

The only thing that gets me more pissed off is when the SWAT team rams the door and Horatio Crane in his shades is the first guy through the door! Hello numbnuts director, the way it works is the SWAT team goes in ALONE!! and when its secure they call the eggheads and Detectives in.

3. Uniformed Cops as props:Every Detective/Profiler/CSI show or movie out there has uniformed cops as “background”. They walk aimlessly here there and everywhere with clipboards or magically appear to conveniently slap the cuffs on the bad guy that the dweeb from the “crime lab” ran down in a raging gunfight…please.

Or its the “dumbass uniform” who screws up the investigation that the star detective has to deal with.

Then…like in #2, when some “hot call” goes out I don’t know why TV cops bother to even show up. You know its the hot detective from the crime lab that is going to go in first and fight mano y mano with the serial killer. Where the hell the uniform cops went nobody knows, they just show up to haul off the bad guy to the station. They must have stopped in the kitchen for some coffee while the hero did all the work.

4. Hello I’m with the Gvt and I’m here to help:CSI and Criminal Minds…you always hear “were just here to help with your investigation, not take it over…” yet somehow its always some profiler that takes over the investigation and gets involved in the shooting or the apprehension. I know it wouldn’t be exciting if the agents sat in the office all day and the local cops were the ones making the arrests, but that’s how it is. By and large FBI agents are investigators, accountants, lawyers and lab techs.

And these CSI teams..it always impresses me how CSI works local, county, state, federal and hell even international cases. Who the hell do these guys work for anyways?

5. Kill em and Leave em:The “profilers” arrive like the cavalry…light up some scumbag and then hop back on their jet and fly off into the sunset. Yeah when an on-duty shooting happens that’s pretty much how it goes..no investigations, lawsuits or court appearances necessary. If you are “with the crime lab” or a “profiler” you can just holster up and walk away.

6. Nuclear Grenades: Some Delta Operator tosses a fragmentation grenade into a window and the whole floor erupts into a raging inferno of a fireball like a suitcase nuke just went off….uhhhhh…no. A loud BOOM! a puff of smoke and a lot of little bits of metal flying about is about it.

7. Crappy Salutes: Need I elaborate? Some of these actors salutes would make a Drill Sergeant break out in hives.

8. Weird Science:No we don’t have computer databases of every matchbook from every club in the tri-state area. No we cant piece a broken bottle together and get a fingerprint that comes back instantly to a known felon (that gets picked up in 20 seconds). NO DNA TESTING IS NOT A “WHILE YOU WAIT” PROCESS!

These shows have gotten so out of hand with their “stretching” of real forensic science that juries have been clearing criminals of their charges because the proof wasn’t “as conclusive as they see on CSI”. Prosecutors even have a name for this phenomenon. “The CSI effect”.

9. Tuck that thing in: Military movies where everybody is walking around with their “dog tags” outside their shirts. Or dress uniforms with improper ribbons or improper wear of a uniform. Come on guys there are books on this stuff. Read one! Then there are the hot women detectives in clothes so tight I can count the change in their pockets. Not that there are no attractive women in law enforcement, but if one of my subordinates came in with her cleavage and belly button showing she would be going home for a wardrobe change.

10. Cover me I’m going in:Nobody ever waits for back-up, sets up a perimeter or gets on the radio. It sucks to share the glory with some dumbass “uniform”. I’ll just go down into that basement with the serial killer in the “woman suit”, only pussy’s would back out and call for back-up.

I know, I know, its just entertainment, but it pisses me off… deal with it! Keep reading for my next installment. This is just me warming up.