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To: Sasparilla

The cops sound pretty scared on the radio.


22 posted on 04/27/2015 2:40:51 PM PDT by TADSLOS (A Ted Cruz Happy Warrior! GO TED!)
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To: TADSLOS

Capt: We have to be responsible, can’t rush in.


25 posted on 04/27/2015 2:41:50 PM PDT by Jane Long ("And when thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek")
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To: TADSLOS
The cops sound pretty scared on the radio.

The police's SOP is to have at least 2 to 1 manpower ratio. Sometimes, when they are establishing a perimeter, 20 to 1 or 30 to 1 is used. Police officers are trained to not make contact, to not enter a potentially dangerous situation without a backup. This works well if the crime level is low - the police is safe, and the lone criminal knows that he can't outrun ten cops.

Riots, however, break that principle. A single officer can be facing ten suspects - or even a hundred. There is no chance to build up the numbers in any one spot because there are too many situations unfolding. The cops can gather in one spot and take control - but then they lose control everywhere else. The cops can spread thin - but then they cannot be in control; they only become targets for stones thrown by rioters. Finally, the cops can retreat - and this is what they are doing in so many locations.

The way of policing that works well enough in peace time cannot be employed in case of widespread riots. The police does not have numbers to fight the rioters hand to hand, baton to baton. They could use force multipliers - but those are not allowed. The rules of peace time require them to chase each individual subject and detain him for a probable violation, and to officially arrest him, and to deliver him to jail. This is not realistic when there are hundreds of other suspects who interfere with you, and who may strike you at the first opportunity.

The crowd is behaving as a military unit, such as it has multiple soldiers who act in coordination to achieve a common goal. A single cop, or two, or three have no chance of stopping even a platoon of soldiers. It requires another group of soldiers to stop the first one. They don't always need to use lethal weapons. However they must see the opposition as a military force, not as civilians. Civilians have a right to walk across a street. However a military commander may select a given street as the current front line, and anyone crossing would be seen as a foe. As result, the opposition will be separated, surrounded, and eventually defeated. The police can't do that; as result, offenders and rioters are moving through the city with ease and perpetrate crime in new locations.

935 posted on 04/27/2015 7:59:14 PM PDT by Greysard
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