Posted on 8/11/2007, 5:27:09 PM by kiriath_jearim
In the first part of this series we examined how those who dismiss criminals as being stupid are in fact themselves acting stupid. In another example of how dangerous it can be to underestimate the two-legged predators who walk among us, the FBI has recently finished a five year study of cop killers and the shootouts that took the officer’s life. While I have only seen a summary and not the whole report from the FBI,The Force Science Institute has published a very good synopsis of the report.
Some of the findings reinforce the deadly misconceptions the public has about criminals. In these attacks, the criminal was found to practice more often than the police officer, shoot more accurately than the police officer, has more experience in using lethal force than the officer and has the proper mindset needed to survive the encounter.
These findings need to be a wakeup call to the public: The thugs among us have been going through urban combat training since a very early age, and in the typical encounter, the street predator has the advantage.
To the readers of this website and those who take responsibility for their own safety, many of the study’s findings will not be surprising. For instance, offenders:
Do not pick a particular firearm with any criteria in mind, instead being stuck with what happened to be on hand.
Do not legally buy their firearms, with only one exception in the study.
Do not obtain any firearms from gun shows. -Almost exclusively chose handguns over the infamous “assault rifles.”
Do not use accessories or equipment, such as holsters or flashlights.
Beyond these findings, which are common sense confirmations of the reality that exists for all but the most rabid anti-gunners, some of the findings are pretty shocking, and we should adjust our training accordingly.
Criminals do not worry about marksmanship, stance, grip, sight alignment or any of the other fundamentals we rely upon. Instead, they rely most often on instinctive shooting, or “point and click.” The key is to get rounds on target, quickly. As one cold-blooded killer remarked, even if he shoots you in the leg, he can walk up later after you are incapacitated and put one in your head. Despite this, the criminals have a much greater accuracy rate than the police.
Criminals have been carrying and using firearms for far longer than those they target, as early as since age 9 and almost all since age 12. This has given them real-life experience in the carrying and use of guns from a very early age, and just like the young athlete out on the basketball court until sundown, they excel at what they practice.
Criminals have been through a PhD program in mindset. Most of these thugs have grown up without parents and have learned the lessons of the street. For years and years, their ability to survive has depended largely upon their willingness to do whatever it takes to persevere in an encounter. Think about that, while your kids are home eagerly awaiting the debut of High School Musical 2 in the coming weeks, those who will prey on them are out experiencing life and death encounters, and not necessarily for the first time. As an interesting corollary to this, the thugs who have been involved in repeated deadly encounters have probably USED force; the police who have been involved in repeated deadly encounters often have simply THREATENED the use of force. The police mindset is perhaps being diluted since they often defuse the encounter without using the gun, whereas the bad guy almost always uses the gun.
Criminals most often hide their guns in the waistband of their pants, often near their groin. The male criminals were of a uniform opinion that female police officers were more willing to conduct a thorough search of their person than male officers. Beyond this, the study found police often missed “telltales” of weapon presence on the offender. Bulges, inappropriate clothing, constant touching of the gun through layered clothing, blading the body away from the officer to protect access to the gun etc.
This is very scary stuff to those of us who work 9-5 and rush home to get the kids to soccer practice. We have so many different things on our minds as we go through the day that often we are not in a position to conduct ourselves appropriately from a personal security standpoint. (Ohio’s laws on “no carry” zones do not help. Gun bans disarm victims, not criminals.) The fact that our sworn officers are perhaps at a training disadvantage to the bad guys should be a stark warning to us civilians. We need to recommit ourselves and our families to living the Warrior mindset while still being normal, functioning members of society.
Otherwise, in an armed encounter, a concealed carry license is just as worthless as a rabbit’s foot carried for luck.
[Attorney Ken Hanson is Buckeye Firearms Association Legislative Chair and author of The Ohio Guide to Firearm Laws.]
most criminals don’t take care of their weapons
most criminals don’t know how to properly use their weapons
most criminals are bully's and when faced with an opponent determined and equally armed will flee
most criminals are scared of cops
I know this doesn’t apply to all.
Criminals have no problem with pulling a gun and spraying bullets all over the place. At that moment in time they know exactly what they are going to do.
This gives them a slight advantage over LEOs and Concealed Carry people. While police are trained they respond to many calls during a shirt and can be caught by surprise. CC people are concerned about following the law. Both can be placed at a slight confrontation with a thug about to start spraying.
In a “Fair” fight (I know - no such thing) I’d give the edge to LEOs and CCs over the thug.
Just my opinion of course.
I think the response of many will be that police need more training and better weapons. Essentially they need to become more like the military.
I think we need to lock the thugs up sooner and keep em there. The police generally know who the bad guys are. Its the courts and liberals who keep letting violent people out on our streets.
Because of military training which teaches trigger control and breaking down a weapon and getting it spotless-— and not because they are “quota cops”.
I’m going to split one hair with this guy. Criminals are stupid. But they’re cunning and experienced. There’s a difference, and I refuse to call most (not all) criminals intelligent in the same way a physicist is intelligent.
Having written that, I’ve run onto more than one cop who thinks it’s cool to barely know how to use a weapon, and barely pass the annual shooting test.
And private citizens are mostly hopeless - that’s why carjacking works.
If you’re not going to practice both your shooting and your attitude, leave the weapon at home.
Remember, the bad guy KNOWS he is about to shoot. The cop only knows when he sees the gun come out.
One other thing. The quality of LEOs has slipped, somewhat. Witness the amount of SWAT team lust, "bloused" boots, blue and tan BDUs, compared to the number of screwups, "wrong addresses", slaughtered little old ladies, and the willingness to lie to cover up, and I predict LEO funerals are only going to increase.
funny... breaking a weapon down, redoing the mags once a month. cleaning a weapon after broken down after each range visit weekly...yep, that's about right.
without your weapon you're a target , without you, your weapon is just a lump of metal....but together we're a citizen that will defend family and self.
remember fellas, front sight, center of mass, take a breath and squeeze...as many times as you can till whatever you are shooting at stops....moving.
My two favorites were:
Keep the front sight post both clear and centered in the rear sight aperture.
B.R.A.S.S breath relax aim stop squeeze.
If you remember these you would do fine on the range. In a fire fight these may not apply unless your sniping.
I think there's some truth to that. I know, and have known of people who are generally as dumb as a box of hammers, until it comes to doing something evil or harming others. Then they suddenly become 'brilliant'.
It's not a matter of intelligence as much as a matter of mindset. In a gunfight, the one who wins is generally the one who hits his opponent first, which usually means the ones who decides to move first. Action beats reaction -- a phrase that was drummed into me repeatedly in training.
“B.R.A.S.S breath relax aim stop squeeze.”
Stop what?
True. I was at the San Fran Marathon a few weeks ago to see my son run. I asked one of the cops what he was carring. He said, "a Sig." I asked what model... he didn't know.
Simply amazing.
Stop breathing
I have stressed "point and shoot" techniques on FR for years because it is effective.
Two Ventura, Ca. FBI agents taught me to "point and shoot" when I was in the Navy and I will never quit thanking them for their time spent.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3835173712837631089
“Better Trained: Cop killers or the police officers they kill?”
That question is above my paygrade.
BUT...after my stay in Los Angeles in 1995-2005...
after hearing of numerous innocents being killed by stray bullets
intended to hit competing gang members...
...I said that the LAPD should sentence gang members to weapons-training
programs so that the thugs would kill their intended parties.
Not the innocent mother and/or child that happened to be killed
by their poor marksmanship.
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