Darryl Bolke Interview

[Rex G]

I think it's the presence of an long arm in general. When you show show to the party with a long arm, it tells anyone watching you're not just there to drop in, you're there to party hearty.


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Yes, one accomplishes more with a kind word and a long gun, than with a kind word alone.

For most of my career, a shotgun was the only long gun I authorized to carry. Then for a time, 2002 to about 2004 or 2005, I was certified to carry a patrol rifle, but could only deploy it during narrowly-specified circumstances; otherwise, it had to stay cased, in the trunk, whereas the shotgun has always been deployable at our discretion, and carried in the passenger compartment, if we wished. (For the British Empire folks, trunk = boot.) I sold that Colt Govt Carbine to a colleague with younger eyes.

About 2013 or 2014, an old academy classmate, who worked in our "Fusion" center, persuaded me to start carrying a patrol rifle again. I checked with the firearms training folks, and learned that the athletic, timed qual had been made a bit kinder and gentler, for those of us with bad knees. I bought a complete BCM Lightweight Middy* upper, to mount on my M&P15 lower. At sight-in time, however, I learned I needed to finally start wearing prescription eyeglasses, and the completion of that process put me perilously close to the end of a series of mandated refresher classes. Then, two minor injuries conspired to cause me to have to cancel the refresher, so I will have to start fresh, which means managing to schedule, and attend, one of the all-too-rare forty-hour certification classes.

So, I am still relegated to shotgun and handgun, but working night shift patrol, where/when we usually fight at very close range, a shotgun is a quite relevant long gun. Plus, I am one of the very few on my shift trained to breach doors with a shotgun, and probably the only one to actually still bring a shotgun to work.

As DB indicated in the video'-ed interview, the shotgun is also better for opponents who are in and around vehicles. Brenneke or Federal Truball Penetrator slugs with perform more reliably against auto body components than the PD-mandated 55-grain JSP fired from an AR15.

Now, if only my chief will OK Aimpoints on our shotguns, all will be right with the world. Aimpoints are OK on patrol rifles. The new-for-2017 Aimpoint that clamps directly to a vent rib would be nice; I have a 21" vent rib barrel for my M2, or could cut-down a beat-up 28" barrel to 18-ish.

*The BCM upper is now on a BCM lower, for a complete BCM Lightweight Middy rifle.

[lwt16]

I think it's the presence of an long arm in general. When you show show to the party with a long arm, it tells anyone watching you're not just there to drop in, you're there to party hearty.


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More often than not, when I am involved in taking down someone nefarious or on the dangerous side of things (robbery offenders, shooting offenders, high risk warrantees, etc) the bad guy always comments on my choice of tools. My latest patrol car has both the patrol rifle and Beneli Nova mounted in the cabin between the seats. I no longer have to access the trunk to arm up properly.

So rolling out of the driver's side with a carbine and a steely eyed look has generated a comment or two. Things like "Mane, you broke out da ugly gun!" or "I knowd you were serious when you aimed that gat at me" make me smile on the inside.

For some reason, most coworkers won't grab a long gun when they need to. Usual excuses....."it's too heavy, I forgot I had one" etc.

Way back when we had a newspaper here in town, I pulled up to some "man with a gun" call at a business and that patrol car had an overhead rack in it for the Nova. There was a newspaper photographer across the street with a Nikon and telephoto lens. I rolled out while racking a round into the chamber and we cleaned up the call.

Few months later, this photographer saw me out patrolling and showed me that picture. He didn't put it in the paper and said his editor said it was "too menacing" looking. If I had to caption the photo, I'd call it "All Business" as I had a somewhat determined look on my face and the photo showed a certain skill with that Nova.

Oh how I wish I had that photo now. At the time, I didn't care about it but as I near the end of my career I'd like to have that photo for the scrapbook.

Regards.

[Larry Sellers]

I think it's the presence of an long arm in general. When you show show to the party with a long arm, it tells anyone watching you're not just there to drop in, you're there to party hearty.


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THIS, 100x this. Was involved in an ems run that turned into a mele last summer. Long story short we had neighborhood grandmother who passed, half the neighborhood was okay with her being pronounced, the other half well, wasn't. Turned into 50 something people in the house, front porch and street fighting etc. PD was dispatched as a possible riot and showed up with long guns after their first officer was assaulted and his jaw broken by a group of skells. Safe to say the tone was different when the rifles and shotguns were brought into play.

[lwt16]

THIS, 100x this. Was involved in an ems run that turned into a mele last summer. Long story short we had neighborhood grandmother who passed, half the neighborhood was okay with her being pronounced, the other half well, wasn't.

Sounds like my zone.

Someone passes away at like mid 80s from natural causes and it spirals down out of control due to "feelings".

Humans are neat.

But to get back on track, nothing clears out a crowd like some hard fellas racking gauge rounds. Years ago, I knew a FTO who carried a scattergun with an extended mag tube and laser sight. This was circa late 90s so laser sights weren't that cheap then.

We got a riot call in the section 8 condos and he walked alone through that crowd sweeping that laser around.

Cleared the entire neighborhood. Course they also knew him as it was his zone and he had an affinity for putting holes in felons.

[Robinson]

That was excellent!

[LSP552]

I think it's the presence of an long arm in general. When you show show to the party with a long arm, it tells anyone watching you're not just there to drop in, you're there to party hearty.


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I was one of 200 Troopers sent to replace 1,000 New Orleans Police Dept officers who went on strike during Mardi Gras in 1979. One of my fondest memories is responding to a shooting in one of the housing projects and hearing "That's the State Po-Leese, don't Fuck with them. They gots those Cong guns" when I stepped out with a CAR-15.