The Hollywood Shootout

[xl_target]

For years American Policemen went lightly armed. Some officers were proud of the fact that they never once had to pull their firearms, relying instead on their interpersonal skills to defuse the situations they encountered. While every officer had to show some proficiency with their sidearms, heavy weaponry wasn't normally carried around. Below is a video from the 1930's that shows the process that an officer went through to qualify in the LA county Sheriff's Dept. Please ignore the egregious and almost Chaplinesque gun handling, it apparently was a very different time.

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On February 28th, 1997, an incident occurred that was one of the events that changed that thinking.
It changed the way American Police forces armed themselves and it led to an increasing militarism in American Police Departments.
Even small departments started acquiring armored vehicles, heavier weapons and SWAT teams. Of course, one can understand the frustration of the officers at the scene and their department and the desire never to be caught shorthanded like that again. Almost every Police cruiser now carries a shotgun and a Patrol rifle of some sort.
In this National Geographic Video, the event of that day unfold.
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Please also ignore the uninformed, unresearched references to AK47 ammunition. It is after all what goes for journalism these days (even at the National Geographic). One phone call to a gun shop could have got the authors the correct info. but it sounds more sensational to say "armor piercing" ammo and imply that it was specially imported. The standard Russian "ball" as supplied to their forces and imported into this country has been steel cased, with steel jacketed bullets. Nowadays you can buy regular hunting rounds in 7.62 X 39 but the vast majority of cheap, surplus ammo for the AK available here has the standard steel jacketed bullet.

[Mark]

It has been widely known for the past couple of decades that intelligent people are not hired as police officers. I went looking for an article and here is one just a few days old:

http://reason.com/blog/2013/05/01/court ... -from-beco


Court OKs Barring Smart People From Becoming Cops (Really)

Nick Gillespie|May. 1, 2013 10:33 am

Reader Ryan McCormick sends this amazing story from ABC News. Robert Jordan wanted to be a cop and he applied for a job as such in New London, Connecticut.

His problem? He scored too high on the IQ proxy test and was thus excluded from consideration.

Jordan, a 49-year-old college graduate, took the exam in 1996 and scored 33 points, the equivalent of an IQ of 125. But New London police interviewed only candidates who scored 20 to 27, on the theory that those who scored too high could get bored with police work and leave soon after undergoing costly training.

Most Cops Just Above Normal The average score nationally for police officers is 21 to 22, the equivalent of an IQ of 104, or just a little above average.

Jordan sued for discrimination but to no avail. Here's what a federal court ruled:

The U.S. District Court found that New London had “shown a rational basis for the policy.” In a ruling dated Aug. 23, the 2nd Circuit agreed. The court said the policy might be unwise but was a rational way to reduce job turnover.

Too smart for police work, "Jordan has worked as a prison guard since he took the test."

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Well, that sure explains a lot of things.

[Skyman]

Even we don't do this...

[timmy]

I almost makes one want to cry, doesn't it?

[timmy]

Please also ignore the uninformed, unresearched references to AK47 ammunition. It is after all what goes for journalism these days (even at the National Geographic). One phone call to a gun shop could have got the authors the correct info. but it sounds more sensational to say "armor piercing" ammo and imply that it was specially imported. The standard Russian "ball" as supplied to their forces and imported into this country has been steel cased, with steel jacketed bullets. Nowadays you can buy regular hunting rounds in 7.62 X 39 but the vast majority of cheap, surplus ammo for the AK available here has the standard steel jacketed bullet.

National Geographic has long ago become a common rag, just like most of the printed swill available. I think this quote applies quite well here:

"Some people distort things consciously, others just don’t take the trouble to check their sources. It is remarkable, and it makes me ashamed of journalists."

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn