You have probably seen this poster, or something like it, floating round the interwebz by people who seem to have a hard-on for cops. Some of them seem to think every LEO out there is a jackbooted thug waiting for the chance to come storming in and take their guns. Really? WTAF? If you think that, you’re a fucking assclown. Saying a properly equipped tactical officer is somehow the symbol of LEO-enacted government oppression is about as smart as saying every deployed trigger-puller is a Mỹ Lai type sociopath who is just itching to shoot children, or that people eating meat in public is the sign of resurgent cannibalism (if not necrophagia). Grunts: necrophagia. The fact is, the vast majority of LEOs today are better trained, better educated and more professional than at any time in history. In point of fact, many of them suffer unnecessary injury primarily by erring on the side of avoiding too much force. We were going to go on a rant…but Chad Mercer from Z3RO Solutions already did. It’s worth reading – especially if you are On The Job and you’re tired of hearing about how you’re out to oppress everyone. Note that while we’re the first ones to call for swift punishment of any officer who violates someone’s rights, we must now cue that crowd that will talk about MRAPs and machine guns and that dipshit from Branford (CT) PD.

What? You think people with a badge don’t say MOLON LABE too? As Chad says, “The ones with the equipment and skillset think more like you than you think.” Mad Duo

“Militaristic Cops” – When “this” DID become “that”

Chad Mercer

When did “this” become “that”? On television? 1975

Historically, it was 1967. In the next few years they had legit shootouts with the Black Panthersand the SLA, which proved the need.

LE is often reactionary and resistant to change (due to institutional inertia and risk adverse management). Updates to modern equipment and weapons were (are) driven by lopsided events where capability and training gaps were exposed. The pendulum swings… Its driven by events.

The irony is the current patrol officers belt is traced directly back to gunfighter rigs from 130years ago.

The “pc” accepted service/patrol uniform is traced back to service military uniforms. Yet those aren’t synonymous with militarization now. Why is that? Because of familiarity when in reality they are not functional work uniforms.

Its as ridiculous as wearing Service Charlie’s on area guard or overseas force protection. All pomp, no applicability to the job.

Speak for yourself, but I want my local 5-0 to have modern kit that is battle proven, and selected for mission suitability. Here is how I look at it. If my family was taken hostage, I would want the responding SWAT team to have scraped, saved, and spent every dime and spare round they could on quality, out of the box training. I hope that their teams have been training hard, even on their own dime. I trust that the snipers have been staying sharp both on their data books and rifle logs as much as they have invested in training and focused competitions, keeping their hard skills hard and their edges sharp.

I would hope that every assaulter has the best, lightest armor because they are there to willfully take hits to their own body so that the innocent live. I hope that the sniper/observers have top of the line rifles with modern ammunition, optics, and suppressors. if your kid was injured, would you rather have an 80 year old Dr who hasn’t been thru continuing education since they earned their license last century? Or would you rather have a Dr who has spared no expense to insure that they have had the best, and most current training on tools, techniques, and medicine? That old Dr. isn’t an individual, he’s representative of an old Institutional Inertia mired in lethargy. The latter Dr is a perpetual student of the practice, he is representative of a forward leaning Institutional Inertia. Who is better informed of todays threat environment? Who is better prepared to deal with the threat when it manifests?
 

Mayberry was a pipe dream… The badguys of those years were just as violent, just as celebrated as badguys are today. The Texas Rangers of lore were paid a wage, they ran fast and loose. They provided their own horse, their own saddle, and their own shootin’ irons. They were professionals who faced the same smugglers and bandits that they face today. Over the years they lost their Gunfighter culture as the stamped Peso became more of a career position than a professional calling. Today they have put in serious work busting brush, wearing modern gunfighting and frontier gear.

Trust me, Cops would rather not have to wear 40lbs of ballistic protection. They’d rather not have to face psychos, smugglers, anarchists, and sociopathic gangs.

its not the kit that makes the man. It comes down to the individual and their mindset. Having been as close to the blue line as possible as a civilian, working direct support as an armorer and firearms instructor, trust me when I say this. The ones with the equipment and skillset think more like you than you think. Think about it, and share…

Note: The following is an edit from follow-on posting:

I learned some things over my 5.5 years in the LE world… three friends that have posted here I have supported and trained with a lot in that time, and they played a big part in my own growth there. Having faced the institutional inertia time and time again, that “old school” bureaucratic dogma which doesn’t advance and learn at a rate that matches or surpasses the threats out in the world, even here. It drives me nuts, because Blue Welfare aside, most Cops are good patriotic Americans who want to do right by their neighbors.

Militaristic? What do they mean by that? Short haircuts, respectful, courteous, and disciplined? Patriotic? Self-Sacrificing, even for strangers? Serving a higher purpose? Understanding of strategic landscape regardless of junior rank? Passionate about life and the protection of the innocent? Generous, even if its sharing their last piece of gum that they are already chewing? Patient in their suffering? Colorblind, only knowing the color of their uniform? A pressed uniform, bedazzled with awards for conduct, service, achievement, and even valor? Holding themselves to a higher legal standard than even the highest law of the land? Brave in the face of fear? Stalwart in the face of panic? Where promotions and duty are earned by the accumulation of achievements, abilities, and conduct; not by checks in the block, political maneuvering, and fraternal mandate.

I ask this, if being called militaristic is a pejorative, then to what higher ideal should a LEO or Agent hold them self too? What is better than I described?

There isn’t. Because the Warfighter strives personally and professionally for excellence. If there was a better or higher ideal, they would have already taken it by force and made it their own.

To those hurling “militaristic” in the pejorative vein, by identifying what sets us apart you identify your own careerist bent and backwards thinking that the uniform makes the soldier… er policeman.

Mad Duo, Breach-Bang & CLEAR!