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Category Archives: Police

Quote of the Day–220ST

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What a fucking drama queen.
Try doing it over again with a duty holster duty belt and body armor like a LEO.
They act like a police qualification course is suppose to be the pinnacle of marksmanship.

220ST – Post on AR15.com Thread

[It appears he is probably the one that also posted a comment here.  My initial response can be seen here but I had a realization this morning.

From the point of view this video was done for it doesn’t freaking matter.  Obviously this man is deaf so I will write out what I stated at the beginning of the video.

This came about because a reader of his blog said the LAPD qualification course would be beyond the realm of capability of most non-law-enforcement shooters.

I don’t wear an LEO duty belt, body armor, every day so why the hell should I have to qualify with it?  The whole thing came about because of the reaction of someone who supports gun control.  She argued that the police meet a high standard of marksmanship and that we wouldn’t be able to match it.  I matched it, in my everyday carry gear.

Being a man of my word though, if you have a pile of duty gear you don’t want and are willing to donate to the cause, I will shoot the course again.

Further, there’s not running involved in the course so the extra weight doesn’t matter, the most is limited mobility, except there is only one stage that requires a draw so even then that doesn’t really matter

I do love AR15.com though, it does provide hours of entertainment and reminds me why I don’t usually bother with forums.

nice ND at 2:19 – notarpole

What ND?  It may have been a mike but it wasn’t an ND.  ND would have been over the berm or around the 180.  Try again there sparky!

Why do 90% of the people who make youtube videos involving guns have to have unusual choices in hair style and dress.
Don’t wear sunglasses or hats when talking to the camera, especially big sunglasses and Australian cowboy hats. The only thing he was missing was a duster and I bet he owns it.
Is that no-sideburn beard to keep his chin warm?
At least he’s well spoken. Dude is dressed for radio interviews. – Lomshek

At which point a couple people join in with Spartacus-boy’s rant.  I wore the hat and glasses because it’s easier than trying to find someone to do camera make up to take the glare off my head (I am bald, not by choice) and face.  Sorry my facial hair isn’t what you would like either, didn’t know I needed to call out for your approval.  Guess next time I’ll just wear a ball cap, aviators, a wife beater, and trim completely down to a goatee.  Sorry I didn’t want to have facial hair like everyone else in the world regularly has.  Pardon me for offending you!

At least a friend had my back:

Fucking fashion police.

Now there is one post that did get my attention:

First I will say that most cops suck at marksmanship
Second, that was not even close to the LAPD qual course and they are not using approved LAPD duty gear or firearms. –500SWshooter

If this wasn’t close the LAPD course of fire, please supply me with the latest version in the comments.  As for LAPD duty gear and firearms, see the comment above and the goal.  The argument is that every day shooters, who don’t regularly wear LAPD duty gear while carrying, couldn’t pass the course.

That said, I live a block from an FFL, send a duty arm to him and send me the duty gear and I’ll run it.  Put up or shut up.  If you’re willing to put up, contact me.

Overall though I was pleased to see the AR15.com thread for the most part other than the few outliers was positive and many were correcting others pointing out what the actual purpose of this exercise was.  -B]

Police Qualification Standards, Debunking the Myth

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So Joe talked about it at the beginning of the month.  I did as Ry suggested and put some extra effort into the video this time around.  It isn’t professional quality by any means though my skills are improving.  It was new unfamiliar software and there were tons of little features I wanted to play with.  I’m getting better with Adobe Premiere, next is After Effects.

So let me start off with a rehash of what we did and why we did it.

Last January a reader on Joe’s blog commented about the LAPD qualification being exceptional and that since they have to qualify every month it’s stringent.

Joe and I weren’t able to find a detailed description however she did and linked us to it. Joe then set about making stages.  You can find the stages here and here.  At this point we had everything we needed to run “a bunch of beer guzzling, uneducated hillbillies“, many of them were the same as before, through the course and see how they did.

Now Joe noted earlier that we had a 90% pass rate for those who scored above 60% and he’s right.  We did have a 90% pass rate at that score level, which is for qualifying in the dark.

Three people were just under the 70% mark, which is the LAPD pass requirement for daylight.  There however is another difference I couldn’t easily cover in the video.  You see the LAPD uses automatic turning targets for their qualification course.  For them it is impossible to have a scoring hit after the time limit is exceeded.

We didn’t have that option, instead we had to fall back on USPSA rules and penalties for shooting a fixed time course of fire.  What this means is that any shot fired after the second buzzer carries with it a penalty of -10 points.  Note the highest possible score for a single shot is 5 points.  So if you make up that shot the best you can do is be down 5 points if you hit an A.

This becomes a serious issue with single shot strings because most likely you will only fire one shot after the buzzer.  You have no extra shots to even out the debt and you just continue to decrease the score.  To give you an idea of how quickly this adds up, 5 penalties will result in a failing score.  So if you have trouble with the 2 shots in 2 seconds and are right on the edge, there’s three penalties.  Couple that with 4 misses on top of that and congrats you have failed.  It doesn’t even need to be full misses, just the aggregate non Alpha hits can add up and shove you under, especially if you’re shooting a minor caliber instead of major.

I know that at least 2 of the three failures had penalties for exceeding time limits, I would need to get the raw score sheets to see exactly how many there were for each shooter.  Though I suspect given their scores, if you change the penalty to -5 from -10, IE subtract just the best possible hit and just turn that shot into a mike, the three in the 60% region would most likely pass.

I think this quote from Tam puts it better than I could.

 I have yet to run across a standard LE qual course that couldn’t be passed by anybody who could stand flat-footed, aim at the ground, and hit it.

In twenty years of being in the firearms industry, I have had the opportunity to see LOTS of police officers shoot. Those that are good are generally good because they are also firearms enthusiasts and sport shooters in their spare time. Most cops aren’t.

In other words they are good shots in spite of being trained and certified by their department, not because of it.

Yup, that’s about how I felt about the LAPD course after I shot it.  Next on the list though is shooting the bonus course.  I’m not sure exactly when I’ll be able to do that but I’ll draw up the stages and may do it over a couple matches.  Doing it all in a single match makes for a lot of “standards” and much less puzzle solving.

SSCC #414 – Eldorado Illinois

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A dog, confined within his own yard, was shot and killed by an Eldorado, Ill. police officer who had mistakenly arrived to the wrong house to investigate a report of a stolen ladder.

Best part was, the dog was chained up.  Hey officer, you want a clue how to not get bit by a chained up dog?  First, go to the right damn house.  Second, stay out of the reach of the chain of the dog.

Then you wouldn’t have to worry about the dog attacking you, and on top of that you wont look like an incompetent moron.

Unsurprisingly this happened in Illinois instead of out here in free America.  The reason being is in Eastern Washington, North Idaho, and Montana, shooting a man’s dog is a great way to get shot yourself.  Shooting the dog here is like shooting a member of the family and is considered a hostile act.  Shooting my dog gives me every reason to fear you as you just deployed lethal force on my property against my family.  Any cop that needs to do that is merely LAZY and doesn’t want to do his damn job.

Lastly why was the officer going to the back door and not the front door?  Again, another fantastic way to get yourself in trouble both with the home owner and their pets.

State Sponsored Criminal #414: Officer John Doe

Because cops are allowed to kill any animal they want any time they want.  The key is they just need to say that it tried to attack them.  Doesn’t even matter if it’s in a cage with a kid behind it.

SSCC #413–Massachusetts

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A state trooper who accidentally shot his neighbor in Norton last year was cleared of any wrong doing, but that is not sitting well with the victim.

Why would I so willingly add this to the count?

Blair was walking her dogs on New Year’s Eve in the woods behind her Norton home when her neighbor said he mistook her dog for a deer’s tail. He fired his rifle and hit Blair, shattering her pelvis.

…

Environmental police recommended the trooper be charged with careless use of a weapon, but earlier this week the courts dropped the criminal complaint.

And he got to keep his hunting license too.  Like that would happen to any of the rest of us peons.

State Sponsored Criminal #413:  State Trooper John Doe

Because cops can be negligent with firearms all they want, they’re anointed after all.

via Jay G

SSCC #412–King County

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Decisions by the sheriff’s Shooting Review Board have displayed an "absence of serious deliberation and explicit reasoning," says the 70-page report prepared by Merrick Bobb, the head of a Los Angeles-based consulting firm who is considered one of the nation’s leading experts on police accountability.

Remember this is regarding investigations of people who already get the benefit of Qualified Immunity.

State Sponsored Criminal #412: King County Sheriffs Office

Because who needs to do a through review when deadly force is used?  It wasn’t their loved one’s they shot right?

In Which I Demonstrate It’s Commonality

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Last week I posted an incident from Moscow at the University of Idaho.  It was a classic game of fill in the blank, but all the answers were known in advance.  I know some of you probably though I was exaggerating how common this type of event is.  Well wonder no longer.

Police in Pullman say a Washington State University student fell three stories from a fraternity house window and was taken to Pullman Regional Hospital with undisclosed injuries.

Note how the Greek system was involve yet again.  No word on alcohol yet, but it’s hard to think it wasn’t involved.

Now many would wonder why things like this are becoming increasingly common.  The answer though is quite simple, kids now days live in a bubble wrapped world.  Instead of slowly being acclimated to the realities of the real world and personal responsibility they are shielded and sheltered from it.

This quote from Caleb puts it quite well:

People wonder why there seem to be an increasing number of kids filming themselves performing dangerous stunts for youtube – well gosh, if I was raised in a padded bubble of safety by helicopter parents, I’d probably try to ride my bike off the roof too just to see what danger felt like.

Not only are kids sheltered from danger, but adults who attempt to give their kids that taste of personal responsibility are reported to the police and arrested.

“I went out there to see what he was here for and he said, ‘Ma’am, we’re here for you.’ I said, ‘Oh really? Why?’ He proceeded to tell me he had received a call from one of my neighbors that my kids were riding their scooters unsupervised. 

Cooper said she was handcuffed, put in the back of a police car and forced to spend the night in jail. 

“Orange jumpsuit, in a cell, slammed the door, for 18 hours,” Cooper said.

The ages of the children involved were 9 and 6.  I remember at 6 regularly going with my sister different places without our parents.  Including down to the local park, and through the woods as well.

By 8 I was heading off doing things entirely on my own.  My rules were just the same as Robb’s.

What happens when you shield kids from everything in the world?  They simply don’t know how to deal with life when it actually shows up.  They always figure that life is safe and nothing can possibly go wrong.  For them they live in a world without consequences because they’ve never experienced any.

How nice is it though that the state is now trying to force everyone to live in the same bubble wrapped world.  There is one saving grace about this woman’s experience.

The charges against her were eventually dropped but she still describes the ordeal as humiliating and said her children were even questioned by police  and terrified.

(Emphasis mine).  Yeah, you think either of those two children will ever trust the police again?  They got to experience first hand exactly what government is.

SSCC #411 – Seattle

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That’s right folks, the Seattle PD had decided to return to the land of the criminal count.  This one is juicy…

In a complaint filed in Seattle Municipal Court, Donnie R. Lowe, 45, was accused of knowingly violating a no-contact order issued after his arrest in June for allegedly assaulting his wife.

Lowe’s wife was believed to be a passenger in a car when Seattle police stopped him Aug. 14 for allegedly talking on his cellphone while driving, according to sources familiar with the case. But Lowe was not immediately arrested because police were not able to verify the court order as a result of a computer problem, the sources said.

Now initially it doesn’t sound that bad, especially since the judge issued the no-contact order without a request to do so from the wife.  So a judge did something against the will of both the defendant and plaintiff and they possibly violated it, but here’s the real reason this sucker is juicy.

The new charge further clouded Lowe’s career in the Police Department, in which his bachelor’s degree in business and master’s in public administration helped him land a position on the police-reform effort but whose troubling history of bad judgment and misconduct raised questions about his selection.

That’s right folks, the Seattle Police departments first choice to aid  in their reform behaves like this.  It is worth noting that he has since been removed as the team leader and the situation has changed due to this incident.

Since then, the city and Justice Department reached a comprehensive settlement agreement in July in which a court-appointed monitor will oversee broad reforms in police practices.

The most entertaining part though is this isn’t the first time he has behaved in a questionable nature.

He previously was disciplined after he was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence in 2008. He pleaded guilty to an amended charge of reckless driving, later dismissed when he met court conditions. The department then suspended him for four days without pay after an internal investigation.

…

Lowe also received internal reprimands for inappropriate physical treatment of his handcuffed son while he was in police custody in a holding cell in 2006, and over an improper effort to retrieve from a man nude photographs of a female acquaintance in 2002.

Have no fear though, I’m sure he’s on paid administrative leave, pulling down his $148,000 salary.  Seriously you can’t make this stuff up!

State Sponsored Criminal #411: Donnie R. Lowe

Because what better man to help aid the department in reform than a man who is obviously in need of some reform himself.

 

SSCC #410 – Moulton

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A Moulton police officer charged Thursday with torture and willful abuse of a child had resigned from the Decatur police force in 2010 after his estranged wife accused him of assaulting her and threatening her with a gun.

He should have been fired especially in light of the following that has recently occurred.

Breland, of 3050 Byler Road, Moulton, is charged with two counts of torture, willful abuse of a child, authorities said. The charge is a Class C felony punishable by 1-10 years in prison if convicted.

Breland, who has been with the Moulton Police Department for more than a year, has been on administrative leave with pay since Aug. 29.

Moulton Police Chief Lyndon McWhorter said he placed Breland on leave after the Morgan County Department of Human Resources reported allegations involving an 8-year-old girl and that an investigation had been launched.

That’s right folks, he screwed up, was able to resign instead of being fired.  As a FYI though this isn’t just a case of someone disliking the way he disciplined his children either.

Reports indicate the child was beaten so severely she had to be taken to the hospital. Medical personnel there contacted DHR.

Why he hasn’t been fired who knows.  I find it interesting though most private companies will fire you if you step in something this bad.  Those charged with enforcing the law though get a free pass for violating the law.

Most disturbing was there was a history that certainly should have put him in the no longer eligible for law enforcement pool.

Imagine that, a monster that has a history.  Is it really that hard to spot these monsters or is it that we just wont do what we need to stop them?

State Sponsored Criminal #410: Mitchell Harris Breland

Because when you have a case of domestic abuse, let him go to another department and become someone else’s problem.