Try to wrap your mind around this one...

[Sapper740]

So if George Zimmerman's shot missed Trayvon Martin and hit an innocent bystander, TM would have been culpable? It hurts my head to think like a Liberal. I'll remember to use the "NYPD Defense" if I ever hit a bystander when using lethal force to defend myself from a threat. P.S., Good thing George Bush wasn't in NY that day, you know how Libs love to blame him for everything.

 

[Southpaw]

So if George Zimmerman's shot missed Trayvon Martin and hit an innocent bystander, TM would have been culpable? It hurts my head to think like a Liberal. I'll remember to use the "NYPD Defense" if I ever hit a bystander when using lethal force to defend myself from a threat. P.S., Good thing George Bush wasn't in NY that day, you know how Libs love to blame him for everything.

I would love to hear those who would defend the NYPD in this situation, answer that question. I would imagine they would just call you a bunch of names and run away.

 

[M. Sage]

The answer to that question varies state to state and by which kind of liability you're talking about. Some states, a person would be criminally liable, others he'd only have civil liability. There might be places where the shooter would face none, but I don't know.

Again, and I'm definitely not defending NYPD - I seriously think they should be disarmed - this isn't a liberal thing. It's a centuries old legal concept. If nothing else, NYPD and the individual officers who can't find their front sights should face civil penalties and reparation for what they did. But I ain't holding my breath...

 

[Polarbear6]

I wonder how often these Sure Shot Charlies are required to go to the range and qualify. Another case like this happened not long ago in NYC whith even more bystanders hit as I recall.

I go to the range at least once a month. When I was in the Army with one particular unit I was with for a while it felt like we lived at the range.

 

[Younggun]

I wonder how often these Sure Shot Charlies are required to go to the range and qualify. Another case like this happened not long ago in NYC whith even more bystanders hit as I recall.

I go to the range at least once a month. When I was in the Army with one particular unit I was with for a while it felt like we lived at the range.

It's not just the qualification, TXDPS only qualifies twice a year. They hurt themselves because they think anything less than a 14# DAO trigger is unsafe.

The DAO trigger in the sigs DPS is using right now aren't terrible but they have found that by switching to the M&P qual scores of 250 jump to 300. They are setting their cops up to fail.

 

[M. Sage]

You could qualify them every day, but if the standards of the test aren't relevant and high enough to weed out people who really will fail when called upon, and backed up with quality, relevant training, the qual is meaningless.

True and scary story from a buddy of mine. He was at a class to get certified as a firearms trainer for his PD. While he was there, there was a student who obviously wasn't at the level required. This guy cut himself on the slide of his 92 by wrapping both thumbs around the pistol... and it got better. The instructor noticed the guy was decocking his pistol by pulling the trigger and lowering the hammer with his thumb. This is unsafe, period, and extremely stupid when Beretta includes a perfectly safe and functional decocking lever on the gun. So, even after being corrected on this point, homeboy manages to fling a round into the concrete (because why would you aim at the berm when you're touching the trigger) whereupon a bullet fragments rip into the arm of the student next to him.

This guy just managed to shoot a fellow student. And yet, he stayed in the class. When I asked what you're all no doubt asking, the response I got was, "getting kicked out of a class is a career-ender. Not in the sense he'd be fired, but in the sense that his career would stop advancing."

My mind was blown twice in several minutes, because I had always figured that an instructor (or applicant for the job) who accidentally shot someone in a class has fully earned being fired.

Apparently they did eventually boot the guy...

My point in sharing that is to illustrate the kind of mentality you are going to find. In the real world, you **** up so obviously badly and you're looking for a new line of work. In .gov, your advancement might stall but to actually get fired takes a ridicous amount of demonstrated ineptitude.

 

[rushthezeppelin]

I think stress inducing simulation scenarios such as those presented in IDPA should be MANDATORY for all police departments, especially inner city ones. They should also be required at least quarterly IMO if not more often. We all know how quickly skills can fade when not used regularly, why should we be allowing those charged with protecting us (even if the Sups ruled they don't have to) to not keep up on the required skills to perform their jobs to their fullest. That's like me as a residential energy inspector only having to inspect one home a year in order to keep my certification, which most definitely isn't the case. I'm so busy I've never had to find out, but if I'm not mistaken we are required to do at least 24 inspections in a 6 month period in order to keep our cert.