I’m very glad that your son is wearing a vest with a high level of protection. Sad that many of the vests shown don’t have that same level of protection.
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I have to believe most agencies deploy Level III vests that can stop rifle rounds. My son wears an external vest while on duty, but has a smaller, internal vest that goes under his dress uniform. He is required to wear a ballistic vest whenever he is in uniform.
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I think in general we don’t do a good enough job of putting our police officers in positions to succeed. We over rely on police for jobs that they aren’t trained to do (mental health checks). They tend to be weaponized against people we don’t like (the Karen syndrome), which puts everyone at risk.
I don’t think we train them well enough either.
It ends up becoming a vicious cycle where the police aren’t trusted by the public and the public aren’t trusted by the police. Not to mention that guns are so freaking cheap and everywhere, that cops treat everyone like they are a threat to them (b/c the odds are too high that they are threat), which of course makes “everyone” hostile to the police.
We also have this notion that cops are supposed to prevent crime, which puts undue pressure on them to arrest people even if the situation is dangerous. I think it should be more normalized that if the cop feels like their life is in danger, and there is no immediate threat to others (like a school shooting), then they can withdraw and reassess. Maybe this would help deescalate certain situations and keep everyone safe.
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I don’t to read the chain - it’s too sad.
This should never happen.
I don’t want to go back to gun laws but these people have weaponry that surpasses the police.
These guys were serving a warrant and to do.
And these Neanderthals on college campuses spitting on police - really.
I sure hope you don’t need them one day.
It’s very sad - and I don’t know how these folks do it - they really did give the ultimate sacrifice.
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What a great post. Some thoughts below.
This is the reality, and I wish it wasn’t. I have to believe the vast majority of law enforcement officer have little to no training in this realm beyond a module taught in their police academy. My son recently completed a 40 hour nonviolent crisis intervention training(CIT) class. Is that adequate? I don’t know.
Probably not, at least initially, but many agencies do continuing education, and some provide stipends for officers to attend training offered by outside organizations. I hope most officers want to keep “sharpening the saw” throughout their careers.
I’m sure you’ve heard the old saying “when seconds count the police are minutes away.” The reality is that police can’t be everywhere, and in many places the area they cover is very large. When they do show up, though, more often than not they move towards the danger. I think a portion of the population believes police that are shot “signed up” for that when they entered law enforcement.
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Sometimes the threat comes from within…
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I didn’t know this organization existed in my state until today. I wonder if other states have similar support organizations?
“In 1962, President John F. Kennedy signed a proclamation which designated May 15 as Peace Officers Memorial Day and the week in which that date falls as Police Week. Currently, tens of thousands of law enforcement officers from around the world converge on Washington, DC to participate in a number of planned events which honor those that have paid the ultimate sacrifice.”
Thank you for starting this thread. Two of my family members are LE; one on SWAT with a K-9. The general public has no idea what they, and their families, go through on a daily basis. I didn’t read all the links, but will. Road stops and domestic calls can go wrong quickly, too…
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I took the CIT class 20 or so years ago. It is helpful but honestly there is no training available that will satisfy the demands of the public. The variety, intensity and volume of problems out there are such that you just can’t prepare for every possibility. You do the best you can with the tools you have. That applies to mental health issues as well as just about everything else the police get invited to deal with.
The public demands solutions to society’s ills from the police but the police are not the solution, they are just a band aid. Until people grow up enough to take care of themselves well enough the police are going to be involved in “your business”.
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“The officer was handcuffing the juvenile when a 35-year-old woman grabbed the officer from behind and began pulling him off the juvenile. The juvenile suspect then grabbed the officer’s flashlight from his duty belt and began striking him in the face, police said.”
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