Minneapolis bans "warrior" training for Police

[Totem Polar]

“Courses like this reinforce the thinking that everyone is out to get police officers,” said Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, a research and policy organization based in Washington. “This teaches officers, ‘If you hesitate, you could lose your life.’ It is the exact opposite of the way many police chiefs are going.”

Pulled this from the NYT article on this subject. A couple paragraphs down, it goes a step further, making the argument that training to see pre-attack indicators is part of the problem.

For those considering this profession, just remember that dead cops are cheaper than UoF settlements.

Totally liked the post; totally don’t like the facts of the matter.

[Bergeron]

I’d like to send a brief message of thanks and gratitude to our law enforcement personnel out there, who continue to show up and do the job, despite the hostility and idiocy that seems to do regularly rear its unfortunate head.

[GardoneVT]

The risk management outcomes of a UOF incident:

Cop gets killed- nominally defined insurance & death benefit is paid out to the spouse , a state funeral is held, mayor and functionaries gain a chance to speak and present good PR.

Bad guy gets killed- litigation is filed which will cost an unpredictable amount to defend or settle, bad PR as social media decrys another minority shot by police, risk of riots and PD overtime billed to the city to maintain order, potential Federal investigation.

You don’t need a PhD in math to compute where these rules are coming from. Gunfighting cops are bad for political business.

[Clusterfrack]

This is so depressing. I have some LEO friends, including my martial arts instructor who is retired SWAT. He says he would not choose that career path now. Every one of them has told me stories about officers afraid to do their jobs, and others who are not well trained enough to promote public safety and deal with violent criminals. At the same time, Oregon is poised to pass new laws restricting CCW and gun ownership.

I predict that 10 years from now, violent crime and general lawlessness will have increased greatly, big cities will once again be cesspools, and folks with the means to do so will move to gated suburbs. I hope I'm wrong.

[J. J. Magnum]

This is so depressing. I have some LEO friends, including my martial arts instructor who is retired SWAT. He says he would not choose that career path now. Every one of them has told me stories about officers afraid to do their jobs, and others who are not well trained enough to promote public safety and deal with violent criminals. At the same time, Oregon is poised to pass new laws restricting CCW and gun ownership.

I predict that 10 years from now, violent crime and general lawlessness will have increased greatly, big cities will once again be cesspools, and folks with the means to do so will move to gated suburbs. I hope I'm wrong.

I would totally go into the same career if I were "young" again. I guess that's just the way I'm wired. If I had an inkling of what I know now, I'd do things a bit differently. I'd train harder; I'd put more emphasis on keeping myself in optimum condition. Chiefs and Sheriff's of today are far more politically conscious than they were 30 years ago; however I worked for a couple of them who were "wind vanes" for their governing body, they were never "fun" to work for and always a challenge.

[41magfan]

The same Minneapolis that elected Ilhan Omar?

This is my surprised face .....

[UNM1136]

In both agencies I worked in Conduct Unbecoming is a catch all that administrators love because it is pretty vague, can apply anywhere, anytime, and with a contract that provides that reprimands are non grievable means that discipline can be meted out as a "see, we saw something the officer did wrong and punished them, so vicarious liability need not apply."

Examples of discipline I have seen as a 20 year union member and union board member for a decade:

Extramarital affair with another officer
Loud party that generated a noise complaint for a nearby agency
Failing to override a leiutenant' decision on a scene
Running the license plate of the ex's new flame
Complaining when issued equipment was changed to be less useful
Informing a crime victim that their story was not adding up
Implying that the DA's office would not prosecute a case
Failing to seatbelt someone else's prisoner in their car before they left the scene
Driving an overdosing prisoner (on a traffic stop a woman with a warrant chewed her pills so as to not be caught with them) to the hospital instead of calling an ambulance
Failing to record a contact that resulted in the contacted person calling the department to compliment the officers' professionalism

All of those had rather special circumstances, mostly the interest of powerful and connected people...

Adding Garrity issues to the discipline process makes administrators quiver with glee at the thought of an internal investigation. A while back I got a Lieutenant to admit that during an internal investigation, he would scour SOPs, policies, and directives to find at least one that he could discipline the officer on. In his words, he "could not outright clear an officer, and looked until he found some violation to discipline them on," even if the discipline was unrelated to the issue that launched the investigation. Any patrol officer knows that if you follow someone long enough, you will find a violation for which they can be stopped. The same is true of IA. If you watch a cop long enough you will find a statutory and/or a policy violation that can result in discipline. It was all about appearing competent and thorough. For a large number of years not a single IA investigation cleared the officer. Have not seen the trend change.


pat

[Glenn E. Meyer]

What would be the policy if folks bought videos, watch on-line presentations or bought books with with similar information? Limiting such would seem to be a 1st Amend. violation but what do I know about such issues.

As a confirmatory but tangential bit of information, the statement:

For those considering this profession, just remember that dead cops are cheaper than UoF settlements.

mirrors an analysis that schools made against campus carry. Went to an academic conference on such, and the speaker confirmed that institutions are concerned with institution risks, not the risks to those employed by the institution. A 'bad shoot' by a faculty (or a cop, in this discussion) is more a financial risk than any of the actions of the shooter. Paying off victims from the shooter is cheaper than paying off 'victims' of the police or the armed academic staff member, if the latter is seen as as an agent of the school.

The warrior mindset was also part of the opposition to AR style rifles that you saw from activists and some in city governments. The appearance of such frightens the populace or primes aggressive impulses in the user. It led to the purchase of Mini-14s (which are nice), the original Ruger 9mm and 40 SW carbines (which look nice) and the Remington pump 223.

The Ruger had a mixed reception after the North Hollywood incident as 9mm vs. body armor was seen as a no go. One gun publication, given a positive review acknowledged the issue but said at least the gun would be more accurate for leg and head shots. The current popularity of the new ones, I think, comes from a competition usage, being ok in ban states, a reasonable home SD gun and just a fun gun. They are popular here in TX and NY (just visited family there). The Remington was given the cover story (not that is was politically correct) but that cops could transfer easily from 870s to the rifles - as if they couldn't figure out ARs.

Thus, this tendency has a long history of worrying about militarization leading to inappropriate aggressive action and intimidation of the public (or some sectors of it). The validity of whether the training does lead to more 'bad shoots' is an empirical question and would interact with the quality of the training and quality of the individuals who go through such.

[41magfan]

It's worth noting that administrators in many places around the country with liberal/progressive tendencies have been purposefully culling assertive, proactive, strong-willed and free-thinking candidates from the LE applicant pool since the 70's. This move in Minneapolis is just a continuation of that overall scheme that has been in place for a long time.

[Old Man Winter]

It's worth noting that administrators in many places around the country with liberal/progressive tendencies have been purposefully culling assertive, proactive, strong-willed and free-thinking candidates from the LE applicant pool since the 70's. This move in Minneapolis is just a continuation of that overall scheme that has been in place for a long time.

In the last election cycle one of the mayoral candidates in Minneapolis ran on disarming most officers. He said officers don't need to be armed at all times and the sidearm should replace carbines / shotguns in the cruiser.