Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 4016 AMERICAN POLICE BEAT: AUGUST 2016 OPINION/EDITORIAL American Police Beat Chairman & Publisher: Cynthia Brown Chief Executive Officer: Sarah Vallee Editor-in-Chief: Mark Nichols Advertising Sales: Dave Quimby Digital Manager: Jeremy Lange Office Assistant: Nora O’Connor Designer: Karin Henderson One of the buzzwords in the world of police tactics is “situational awareness.” Unlike some terms, S.A. is exactly what it sounds like: being aware of the situation at hand. Considering the fact that the in- dividual that murdered five Dallas police officers recently had received active shooter training at a commercial tactical training facility, it seems pretty obvious that police officers need to be aware of the realities confronting them. Because of a variety of factors, more Americans are armed with more powerful weapons than ever before. And because of the popularity of firarms, the political power of certain groups and a variety of other reasons, it appears that anything like more restrictive laws are a political impossibility right now. And more Americans are paying to attend tactical training courses, ironically because of the fear of active shooters and mass shoot- ings. Micah Johnson, the Dallas shooter, trained at a private self-defense school that teaches special tactics, including “shooting on the move.” Johnson received training at the Academy of Combative Warrior Arts in the Dallas suburb of Richardson about two years ago, said the school’s founder and chief instructor, Justin J. Everman. The academy website refers to one of its courses as a “tactical applications program,” or TAP. “Reality is highly dynamic, you will be drawing your firearm, moving, shooting on the move, fixing malfunctions all under high levels of stress,” the website says. “Most people never get to train these skills as they are not typically allowed on the static gun range.” The training includes “shooting from different positions,” “drawing under stress” and “drawing from concealment.” Ever- man, who corresponded with Johnson on social media, would not say which classes Johnson took specifically and seemed de- fensive when called by a reporter. “I don’t know anything about Micah. I’m sorry. He’s gone. He’s old to us. I have thousands of people,” Everman told the Associated Press. From a “situational awareness” perspec- tive, here’s what cops need to keep in mind. All the talk about police militarization obscures a far more significant and prob- lematic issue – that being the militarization of the civilian population and the booming training market where anyone and every- one who can pay the bill can acquire very sophisticated tactical skills. This is not lost on the entrepreneurs in- volved with the booming training market. That’s why you’ll see headlines on police websites like, “What cops can learn from civilian active shooter response training.” This is obviously the downside of some law enforcement leaders telling citizens to get armed and trained because police are spread so thin and underfunded that you’d have to be a sucker to call 911 instead of being the “good guy with a gun.” And about those “good guys with the guns,” Dallas Police Chief David Brown had this to say: “We’ve had great dialogue with our state legislators about this. We’ve expressed all of our concerns. We are trying as best as we can as a law enforcement community to make it work so the citizens can express their Second Amendment rights. “But it’s increasingly challenging when people have AR-15s slung over their shoulders and shootings occur in a crowd and they begin running, and we don’t know if they’re the shooter or not. “It’s been the presumption that a good guy with a gun is the best way to resolve some of these things. Well, we don’t know who the good guy is versus who the bad guy is if everybody starts shooting.” It’s a nightmare scenario for any cop – shots fired in a crowded area where al- most everyone is armed, trying to figure out where the shots are coming from while everyone is running in every direction. If you really want to get a sense of how far this has all gone, consider that armed civilians, at the time this was being written, had taken up positions in front of some Texas police departments and sheriff’s offices armed with AR-15s. They said they were there to “protect the cops.” James Evans, one of the guys with the guns, said he “wanted to show police that civilians stood by them, that they aren’t alone. I am tired of seeing officers slain for doing their job.” They appeared well received and some local business owners even gave the guys some free food and drinks. “We had to put some of the food on the hood of our truck just so people would know that we were good,” joked Evans. It’s important to step back, take a deep breath and check out the big picture. In this case, it’s a picture of armed civilians protecting police officers from harm. Many in the law enforcement community say there has been a steep decline in respect for law enforcement and the esteem in which they are held by the public. Maybe the image of a bunch of kids with long guns “protecting” police officers might have something to do with that. Civilian militarization Overwhelmed with support I had the opportunity to do a transport recently in the Dallas area several counties away. I stopped at a truck stop for fuel and a cold drink. I was out of my county in an agency vehicle and in uniform. I can’t tell you how many people came up to me and thanked me for my service. An entire fam- ily came over and hugged me and said expressed their gratitude to everyone in law enforcement. The next day, the same thing. You would not know it from the media, but a lot more people out there sup- port law enforcement than what is portrayed by the media. I thank all of those folks who appreciate what we do. We need your sup- port and we appreciate your support. – Ken Daron Heartfelt thanks to Dallas cops I want to say thank you to the officers in Dallas. They were really heroes for us. They saved my life, my son’s life and I want to say thank you to them first and foremost. These officers shielded me as the bullets flew through the air. They had no regard for their own lives. They stayed there with us. They sur- rounded my son and I. This experience made my admiration for them even greater. – Shetamia Taylor (Shetamia, who was at the protest, was wounded shield- ing her four sons during the attack. She vowed to go to another demonstration to show her boys that she’s not a quitter.) Thank you all We have been working very long days here at the Dallas Police Dept. and I’m sorry that I’ve taken so long to respond to all the support that I have received for me and my members. I would like to thank all of you for your prayers and concern for me and my family. Please continue to pray for all Dallas officers and their families. As you well know, we can- not shut the police depart- ment down after this hor- rific event, so many of the officers that were involved or were close friends of the officers who were killed are still working the streets. And for all of you who made the long trek to Dallas for the funerals of our slain officers, we will always be grateful. – Ron Pinkston, President Dallas Police Assoc. More thoughts and comments on Dallas