In doing some recent research on the net, I discovered that in the first half of 2007, national Officer Down statistics had skyrocked to 44% over the previous year. What a dreadful number. And the number, of course, hardly represents the pain and loss experienced by families and fellow officers. It is a neverending reminder of the persistent danger which follows every law enforcement officer daily.
What can be done about it?
Can anything be done about it?
You know that most law enforcement departments provide training. However, what is the quality and extent of that training? How often? Held to what standards? And who decides? The officer whose life is on the line? Or some bureaucrat in another department of government whose major concern is cost? And if that department only provides the training once or twice a year, aren't any skills gained going to get rusty? Deadly rusty?
On television, we've all seen the high levels of training consistently given to SWAT officers. Wonderful stuff. But only a miniscule percentage of officers qualify for SWAT, even if their department is large enough to have a SWAT team. Not young enough, not physically strong enough, not, not, not. What happens to the hundreds of thousands of officers left out of such opportunities? Shouldn't their firearms training be of the highest they can possibly attain, too? Aren't their lives just as valuable?
Whatever the answers to these questions, the statistics and sorrow are telling us "it's not enough!"
So what to do?
One American has come up with an answer. Already a Master marksman in with all three weapons, he is currently offering to any and all law enforcement officers in the US an inexpensive LIFETIME firearms training course in handgun, rifle and shotgun. In simple terms, the officer may attend as many time as s/he wishes for an entire lifetime, building on the previous trainings. The cost is one time.
And the cost is 1/20th of what he charges civilians.
The big question is: are rank and file law enforcement officers interested at all? Are they willing to take personal responsibility for their own firearms training? If they knew of it, would a significant number jump at the possibility?
It's been reported to me that less than 6% of the many thousands of his students that have been trained are law enforcement officers. It may be that most officers simply don't know about this kind of intense training. Or they may simply feel that qualifying every six or twelve months locally somehow makes them fully capable in a firefight. The statistics are proving that a fallacy. A deadly fallacy.
What kind of standards do the courses demand?
From his website describing the basic 4 day defensive handgun course, routinely taught to thousands of civilians who care about their ability to handle weapons:
"Regardless of your experience prior to entering this course, upon completion your gun handling, marksmanship, and tactical skills will be better than they have ever been and you will be able to safely and easily draw your weapon from a CONCEALED holster and fire two sighted shots to the center of a target 5 yards away - all under 1.5 seconds. That`s right, from a concealed holster in 1.5 seconds!"
That's the standard being met regularly by civilians! Should our professional law enforcement personnel do less? How many of them can match that kind of performance? Sadly, the statistics tell us "not many."
I will also tell you that I have sent out hundreds of emails to law enforcement departments across the US and Canada about these courses. What few have bothered to reply have said "Our training is fine." They are not interested enough to even pass the information along to the rank and file, the guys whose lives are on the line daily. Makes me cringe.
A California Deputy Sheriff told me that the only way to reach the rank and file is via the unions, the only organizations truly interested in the day to day welfare of its members. Thus my email to you.
If the foregoing makes sense to you, please advise me how to reach your membership with this information. I will be happy to answer any questions you may have.