Blue in Munich
Crocked Professional Yeti Impersonator
^^^^ This. With bells on.
It’s all well and good saying officers “only” need to be trained to use an assault rifle, but whilst the dream sounds achievable the simple reality is that it’s not.
I’m sure BIM will agree that, when the carrying of CS spray became the norm in the UK many officers, myself included, looked around at our shift colleagues and identified at least one person we wouldn’t trust with a biro, never mind an incapacitant spray.
And yet on this thread we have contributors who think it is achievable to train people who are essentially equivalent to panda drivers in this country to storm premises with assault rifles? Really? Have a word, people!
I used the word elite because that is precisely what Tactical Firearms Units in the UK (SWAT in the US) are. They are the best of the best. The majority never achieve that level. And if you have a lunatic running amok with an automatic weapon in an enclosed premises, anything less than the best of the best will not work. You cannot send in second rate firearms officers and hope for anything less than carnage.
Sometimes it’s perhaps best for the armchair experts to concede that they really do not know better after all, and that real life, more often than not, does not bear any more than a passing resemblance to the movies.
Do you mean the sort that when it didn't spray would turn it towards themselves to look at the nozzle whilst still having their finger on the trigger...
I'm reminded of an incident when we were first issued ASP's (extending batons). The first recipient of an ASP came on duty the day following his training, and his colleagues were keen to see how it worked. The baton holder gave an impromptu demonstration whereby he drew the baton in a low profile stance and then moved to a high profile stance, racking the ASP out, shouting the necessary warning and then returning the baton to the defensive position, pointing behind him over his right shoulder. Everyone was very impressed, except for the Sergeant who had decided the best place to watch was over the officer's right shoulder; the very place to which the ball end of the baton was returned, quite painfully for the skipper, who was known by a nickname relating to the incident for the rest of his service.