Quote:
Originally Posted by New Era
I don’t agree with the officer’s decision to not take further action to provide actionable intelligence, but let’s set some expectations here. Most cops, if they wear a vest, are going to be wearing soft body armor designed to stop low velocity hand gun rounds. These are not designed to stop a high velocity round like those coming from a rifle. Those 5.56/.233 rounds would go through that soft armor like it was butter. The officer would have had to have been wearing hard armor, which is very expensive and heavy. Cops can’t afford to absorb the cost nor carry the weight. Considering their daily rig is 20-30 pounds, adding another 5-10 pounds greatly impacts their ability to perform.
Next, most cops are going into a situation like this with the weapon they carry daily. They can only possess weapons they are certified to carry, so one weapon is it, and usually a side arm in 9mm or 40 caliber. Some elect to carry a .45, but the do so knowing they are limiting themselves in the number of rounds they carry. The double stack has its advantages in shootouts. If they are certified on another weapon platform they would have it secured in their cruiser and have to go back for it. When responding, especially a first responder, you rarely have time to grab your alternative weapon. So it is likely the officer had anything on him but his side arm, and he recognized he was under armed and not prepared for what lay ahead.
When I hear about situations where the expectation is for an office to walk into a situation against an assault rifle I pity the guy in the polyester fighting suit. He’s been assigned a suicide mission, and I don’t think that is fair. That is why departments have SWAT teams. They are prepared and armed for such events. The beat cop is not, and responding detectives even less so. I sympathize with this guy. He had a decision to make, and he made the one the vast majority of people would make.
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As I said, I don't expect him to do something that would be considered suicide, although we expected guys drafted into the army to do no less in most wars, but I do expect him to investigate, not hide, he has chosen a job where he is expected to take risk, that's what he signed up for and is paid for, I expect him to move towards the trouble and call in back up, not hide a floor down