I have been a soldier, police officer, and am now working overseas
as a security contractor in Afghanistan. I’ve attended and
given a great deal of firearms related training, and over the past
few years I’ve started to see a serious deficiency in typical
law enforcement and self defense training. The United States is a
country filled with people who live lives mostly untouched by serious
violence. That fact is a good thing,
and is a
testament to our country, but it handicaps us in the way we train ourselves
and our warriors, particularly our police. I want to
cut directly to the main issue I see. In my experience most shooters
who
practice
with
any frequency have decent basic skills. I see quite a few who are very
good shots and have some basic tactical skills. Americans have access
to good firearms and equipment, as do American police officers. However,
I believe most self defense minded people, and indeed most police officers,
are trained to fail by their departments, their instructors, and their
society.
Most police departments require officers to qualify quarterly, and
many departments are moving toward realistic shooting and away from
static paper punching. The department I worked for offered different
holsters for officers, and if officers wanted to change, they had to
practice with the holster and demonstrate at the range that they could
smoothly draw and make accurate shots very quickly. Technically most
of the officers were decent and some were quite skilled with their
equipment. Many fired their weapons on a weekly basis and dry fired
daily to keep skills sharp.
Where the department and society in general let them down was in mental
preparation. If an officer is involved in a shooting, the officer is
immediately put on suspension while the incident is investigated. Most
of the time, though admittedly not all, the suspension creates a pall
around the officer. Counselors are brought in and the officer is typically
required to attend. The legal environment is such that officers live
in fear of the almost certain law suit that will follow the shooting.
If the officer has done everything right, the chances of losing an
actual trial in front of a jury are small, but officers know the agency/city
or county my settle for a lesser amount to put the issue away. City
managers would rather write a smaller check and settle with the wounded
or dead criminal’s family than suffer the small percentage chance
of suffering a multi-million dollar judgment in court. This scenario
assumes the officer survived the shooting, or more accurately, applied
all his training to the situation, made the right decisions,
and used his skill with his weapons to defend his life or the life
of another. Many other officers lose their lives because the doubts
and fears we train into them cause them to hesitate at the critical
moment and lose the encounter.
We have in effect trained our officers to fail. This applies to citizens
training for self defense as well, because much of the training taken
by citizens is at the same schools police officers use. Indeed, at
the local level, many of our police officer run side businesses and
train locals in basic skills so they can qualify for concealed carry
permits.
The fact that an officer is immediately removed from duty after a shooting,
investigated while the media has a field day and his department offers
non-committal statements until they see which way the legal/public
opinion wind is blowing pounds the idea in the officer’s mind
that he has done something wrong or heinous. The officer is taught
that defending himself, doing the job he was hired to do, is bad. He
is also taught that he should feel quite remorseful after the action,
and due to that remorse require counseling. Those facts are also observed
by his fellow officers. These activities set the officer up for a difficult
future.
I understand the legal ramifications for a department and I know why
officers are given days off after a critical incident such as a shooting.
What I am arguing against is the passive and shameful mindset that
accompanies a shooting. When an officer survives a shooting by employing
his skills, he should be rewarded not taught to feel shame and fear
of legal reprisal.
Likewise, a citizen who defends his family from an intruder at 3 a.m.
has done a heroic thing, not something to be ashamed of. If you disagree
with my stance here, ask yourself what you would say to a family member
who shot an intruder: Would it be, “Oh my goodness, that is terrible,
you must feel awful” or would it be, “Congratulations,
your kids and family are safe and you did the right thing.” If
you read this website, you might be one of the rare people to offer
encouragement, but you also know what the majority of people would
say.
My Experience
In my current position I face more violence than I did as a soldier
or a police officer. I also face a less complicated legal environment,
though I do occupy a gray area in terms of use of force in this country,
and therefore have to worry about losing my job or suffering prosecution
in local courts. I have been in several shootings here, some that would
best be described as small battles. A few times I have been in one,
and then in another later in the day. I am not given time off, counseling,
or therapy, nor do I need it. The actions I have taken were proper
and I do not lose a wink of sleep over it. Speaking to my police friends
brought home these problems for me, because I heard repeated statements
such as, “How do you deal with it, that must be very tough…etc.”
The work can be difficult, but I was hired because I am an armed professional,
and I should not fall to pieces the first time I am required to demonstrate
that professionalism. If I had fallen apart, my employer would have
been right to fire me. I don’t suffer any mental anguish over
my work, because I am a professional, understand my environment, and
act properly. These lessons may seem far removed from your situation,
but if you carry or own a weapon for protection, your outlook should
be the same as mine. It does no good to survive a shooting, and then
crumble afterward.
Societal Issues
Our society will not admit that it is proper to defend yourself or
your family at the current time due to several factors in my opinion,
but that does not make the desire to defend yourself and your family
any less worthwhile or heroic. The United States has had an increasing
standard of living for many years, and many people are generations
removed from genuine life threatening hardship. This has resulted in
a mental and physical softening of the general population. They have
never been faced with life and death choices and cannot truly conceive
that others have. It is also a fact that it takes large amounts of
money to own media outlets and most people who have enough money to
own or hold high positions in such media outlets reside in major cities.
They live in a world even more insulated than most other Americans
(already an insulated group as a whole), and they present their view
of the world in their newspaper or on their television channel. Thus
Americans see a skewed view of life in the media. I am not broaching
the “liberal bias” issue here, simply saying that most
of the people who own major media share certain life experiences and
tend to represent those in the media. Those life experiences are not
consistent with the way the majority of Americans live.
Issues You Should Consider
If you are involved in a shooting, whether as a police officer or a
citizen, you should consider a few ideas. Be confident in yourself
and your actions, but do not make broad statements to friends, the
media, or peers until the legal situation is resolved. Don’t
wear offensive or tasteless clothing (such as, “The only good
criminal is a dead criminal,” or “Gun control means shooting
with two hands”) either before or after the incident. While these
things may seem funny, you will be tried in the court of public opinion
as well as a court of law, and both may be done concurrently at times.
You should not want your actions to appear lighthearted or frivolous
about what you have done. The confidence you should have is not the
kind to trumpet on a t-shirt or bumper sticker. You have protected
yourself and/or your family and you should be proud and confident,
but not to the point of your own detriment.
If you are a police officer, attend any training and or counseling
your department requires. But do so with an air of quiet confidence,
not shame or fear. If your department gives you several days off after
the incident, don’t sit home and brood about the incident. Take
your spouse and children out of town for a few days to a place you
will all enjoy. Go to dinner and be your normal self. You will instill
confidence in them by your actions, and they will learn valuable lessons
about self defense and dignity from you. Conduct yourself as properly
as you did during the incident, and be happy, because you are still
alive and able to enjoy the ones you love.
We all have a right to a decent, safe life. When some thug tries to
steal that right from us or someone we love, and we shoot him, we have
not done a bad act, he has. We cannot change our society as a whole,
at least not quickly, but we can change how we feel and view our own
actions. Be proud of yourself and your decision to be responsible for
your own life and continue holding your head high if you are forced
to use your firearm to defend yourself or your family.