imported post
HankT wrote:
b1ack5mith wrote:
Too bad people are too stupid to realize: Cops don't know all the laws, and most of them rarely train with firearms!
Huh?
Can you support this claim?
FOUND IT! :celebrate
New Findings from FBI about Cop Attackers & Their Weapons
New findings on how offenders train with, carry and deploy the weapons used to attack police officers have emerged in a 5‐year study by the FBI research summary called Violent Encounters: A Study of Felonious Assaults on Our Nation's Law Enforcement Officers.
Data reveals that most would be cop killers:
Show signs of being armed that officers miss. Have more experience using deadly force in "street combat" than their intended victims. Practice with firearms more often and shoot more accurately. Have no hesitation whatsoever about pulling the trigger.
"Violent Encounters" also reports in detail on:
The personal characteristics of attacked officers and their assaulters. The role of perception in life‐threatening confrontations. The myths of memory that can hamper OIS investigations. The suicide‐by‐cop phenomenon.
From a pool of more than 800 incidents, the researchers selected 40, involving 43 offenders and 50 officers, visited crime scenes and extensively interviewed surviving officers and attackers alike.
Weapon Choice
Predominately handguns were used. All but one was obtained illegally, usually in street transactions or in thefts. None of the firearms in the study was obtained from gun shows. Only 1 offender hand‐picked a particular gun "because he felt it would do the most damage to a human being." None of the attackers interviewed was "hindered by any law ‐federal, state or local that has ever been established to prevent gun ownership.”
Familiarity
Several of the offenders began regularly to carry weapons when they were 9 to 12 years old, although the average age was 17. Gang members especially started young. Nearly 40% of the offenders had some type of formal firearms training, primarily from the military. More than 80% regularly practiced with handguns. Averaging 23 practice sessions a year usually in informal settings like trash dumps, rural woods, back yards and street corners in known drug‐trafficking areas.
One spoke of being motivated to improve his gun skills by his belief that officers go to the range two, three times a week to practice. In reality, victim officers in the study averaged just 14 hours of sidearm training and 2.5 qualifications per year.
Only 6 of the 50 officers reported practicing regularly with handguns apart from what their department required, and that was mostly in competitive shooting. Overall, the offenders practiced more often than the officers they assaulted. The offender quoted above about his practice motivation, fired 12 rounds at an officer, striking him 3 times. The officer fired 7 rounds, all misses.
More than 40% of the offenders had been involved in actual shooting confrontations before they feloniously assaulted an officer. Ten of these "street combat veterans," all from "inner‐city, drug‐trafficking environments," had taken part in 5 or more "criminal firefight experiences" in their lifetime.
Only 8 of the 50 LEO victims had participated in a prior shooting; 1 had been involved in 2 previously, another in 3. Seven of the 8 had killed offenders.
Concealment
The offenders said they most often hid guns on their person in the front waistband, with the groin area and the small of the back nearly tied for second place. Some occasionally gave their weapons to another person to carry, "most often a female companion." None regularly used a holster. 40% at least sometimes carried a backup weapon. In motor vehicles, they most often kept their firearm readily available on their person, or, less often, under the seat. In residences, most stashed their weapon under a pillow, on a nightstand, under the mattress all within immediate reach while in bed.
Almost all carried when on the move and strong majorities did so when socializing, committing crimes or being at home. About one‐ third brought weapons with them to work. Male offenders said time and time again that female officers tend to search them more thoroughly than male officers.
In prison, most of the offenders were more afraid to carry contraband or weapons when a female CO was on duty. On the street, however, both male and female officers too often regard female subjects as less of a threat, assuming that they are not going to have a gun. Researchers concluded that more female offenders are armed today than 20 years ago.
Shooting Style
Twenty‐six of the offenders claimed to be instinctive shooters, pointing and firing the weapon without consciously aligning the sights. They practice getting the gun out and using it. They shoot for effect. Or as one of the offenders put it: "We're not working with no marksmanship. We just putting it in your direction, you know. It don't matter long as it's gonna hit you. If it's up at your head or your chest, down at your legs, whatever. Once I squeeze and you fall, then if I want to execute you, then I could go from there."
Hit Rate
Offenders delivered at least some rounds on target in their encounters. Nearly 70% of assailants were successful in that regard with handguns, compared to about 40% of the victim officers. Efforts of offenders and officers to get on target were considered successful if any rounds struck, regardless of the number fired. The offenders might have had an advantage because in all but 3 cases they fired first, usually catching the officer by surprise. Indeed, the report points out" 10 of the total victim officers had been wounded and thus impaired before they returned gunfire at their attackers.
Missed Cues
Officers would less likely be caught off guard by attackers if they were more observant of indicators of concealed weapons. These include manners of dress, ways of moving and unconscious gestures often related to carrying. Officers should look for unnatural protrusions or bulges in the waist, back and crotch areas, watch for shirts that appear rippled or wavy on one side of the body while the fabric on the other side appears smooth. In warm weather, multilayered clothing inappropriate to the temperature may be a giveaway. Because they eschew holsters, offenders reported frequently touching a concealed gun with hands or arms to assure themselves that it is still hidden, secure and accessible and hasn't shifted. Such gestures are especially noticeable whenever individuals change body positions, such as standing, sitting or exiting a vehicle. If they run, they may need to keep a constant grip on a hidden gun to control it. Just as cops generally blade their body to make their sidearm less accessible, armed criminals do the same in encounters with LEOs to ensure concealment and easy access.
Mind set
Thirty‐six of the 50 officers in the study had experienced hazardous situations where they had the legal authority to use deadly force but chose not to shoot. They averaged 4 such prior incidents before the encounters that the researchers investigated. It appeared clear that none of these officers were willing to use deadly force against an offender if other options were available. The offenders were of a different mind‐set entirely. In fact, the study team did not realize how cold blooded the younger generation of offender is. They have been exposed to killing after killing, they fully expect to get killed and they don't hesitate to shoot anybody, including a police officer. Offenders typically displayed no moral or ethical restraints in using firearms. In fact, the street combat veteran offenders survived by developing a shoot‐first mentality. Officers never can assume that a criminal is unarmed until they have thoroughly searched the person and the surroundings themselves. Nor, in the interest of personal safety, can officers let their guards down in any type of law enforcement situation.
Source: NC Air National Guard, FBI
