Cheating Scandal in USPSA

[Sal Picante]

Wow. Read the article: http://www.gunssavelife.com/?p=12564

...He’s a retired cop who apparently has problems with honesty, integrity and ethics in his role as an official at USPSA events.

He’s a Shoot Officer or whatever they call it at USPSA and has been reporting incorrect times, it seems, for shooters he’s running through. He cuts time for people he likes, and adds time for people he doesn’t.

Nice guy, eh?

Proof?

Get your stopwatch/smart phone out and set it to timer mode. Watch this YouTube video and compare the times you have with the times on the video. They don’t match, do they? They’re usually off by almost exactly whole seconds, aren’t they? Here it is.

[JodyH]

Large matches should have the big remote scoreboards that show the times to everyone.

[PPGMD]

Large matches should have the big remote scoreboards that show the times to everyone.

Those aren't very reliable, particularly on field courses.

Honestly the way to deal with it, is the RO calls the score out and holds the timer for the score person to see. It isn't fool proof, but it requires more than one person involved to cheat the system.

[JodyH]

A simple finger tap on the microphone will add a second or two without being obvious to any observers.
It's 2014.
Shot timers with remote viewing could be made reliable if there was a big push for them.

[Chris Rhines]

Shot timers with remote viewing could be made reliable if there was a big push for them.

No doubt, but can they be made reliable cheaply enough that club matches will use them? You know as well as I do, most USPSA matches are run on a shoestring as it is.

[LittleLebowski]

http://www.gunnuts.net/2014/06/18/ra...g-association/

Caleb summed it up well.

[EMC]

It's pretty sad that there has to be a technical solution to ethical problems.

[NEPAKevin]

The doodie is hittin' the fan.

[JodyH]

When I RO, immediately after the shooter fires his last shot I hold the timer behind me with the display towards the scorer. This keeps the slide down/hammer down from registering as a shot and the scorer gets to view the time often before I even see it. I then view and call the time and the scorer calls it back to me as they write it down.
This has two sets of eyes on the timer and verbal verification to minimize mistakes (and cheating).

[Odin Bravo One]

I have cheated at every IDPA match I have ever participated in. (Both of them, that is). My retention holster was short 3/4" of plastic on the front, and I used it anyway.