Doesn’t sound like a conflict interest at all, haha.
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Back in June when we encountered violent protests, he didn’t allow the SWAT team to deploy even after gunfire had erupted multiple times. We were sent in to clear a crowd of 200-300 people. There were about 50 officers and only half of us had riot shields because we didn’t have enough.
As soon as we were within sight of the crowd, they started throwing bottles and rocks. We kept walking towards them until someone fired a gun. I could see the muzzle flash on the second volley.
At that point, a cry for help went out on the radio asking for every officer that could hear the broadcast. We stopped moving forward, but it took 12 minutes for our SWAT team to arrive with three armored trucks, gas, less lethal weapons (bean bags and foam darts), and flash bangs. They moved the crowd once they arrived.
Sadly, this all could have been avoided if we’d started with the only team equipped to address the situation. The SWAT team wasn’t 12 minutes away; they were one or two blocks away waiting. They heard us calling for help and heard the gunfire, but they were told to wait. 12 minutes of waiting because the chief wouldn’t give the order to deploy them. The SWAT team and armored vehicles look too much like the military and he didn’t want to use that on minorities. It would look bad.
The very next night, he ordered us to put away our riot helmets before we moved in to clear a protest that had become unlawful. There were known people present from the previous night so we expected to encounter resistance. My team objected to leaving behind our head protection (I had a gouge in my helmet from getting hit with a rock or brick the night before) but we were yelled at for being insubordinate. We moved towards the crowd. They threw stuff. We retreated. We looked pathetic.
Both of these decisions put officers in harm’s way because the chief was worried about image. The fact that he ordered us to approach an unlawful assembly without proper protection less than 24 hours after we were shot at by protestors showed that he doesn’t care about us.
In the media briefing after the first night, he didn’t even mentioned that officers were struck by gunfire. There was a picture of a helmet that took a ricochet to the forehead and he failed to talk about it. Someone asked what the picture was and he was like “Oh, that’s one of our officer’s helmets that was possibly struck by gunfire.”
What!? You forgot to mention that? Any cop who cares about his officers would have started with that fact and pounded on the podium while saying that crap would not be tolerated. Protests would’ve been shut down at the first unlawful act and the jails stuffed full is unlawful protestors.
But, no. We allowed it to continue without consequence.
End rant
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WTF??!!
Is corruption really this bad in the US?
It’s not corruption. He cares more about his image than the safety of his officers. There are circumstances that require certain tools to accomplish the job. Sometimes that means we have to suit up and take care of business. We might look mean and scary but we don’t make that choice. We react to the choices of others.
As of today in the US, 59 officers have been killed in the line of duty. The total line of duty deaths is higher, but that’s the number intentionally killed by gunfire, assault, and vehicular assault.
To put that in perspective, the US armed forces (all branches) has lost 31 people in Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Operation New Dawn combined in 2020.
I tried to find all military deaths but they’re broken down by each operation.
My point is that police work is dangerous. People complain that we look and act too much like the military. Well, the sad reality is that American citizens behave in a way that requires it.
Edit to add year of military stats because that’s important.
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This man could use a stern, private conversation with Jocko about leadership. Maybe an MMA gym would make for a good setting.
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These numbers didn’t seem right to me, given that I recall the total death count in the Iraq war to be some in the mid three thousands.
This is the first site I found after I typed “u.s. army deaths operation iraqi freedom” into google-
https://dcas.dmdc.osd.mil/dcas/pages/report_oif_all.xhtml
Another perspective- He may have thought that responding with force could further exacerbate the situation and cause it to spiral out of control even more, as has happened before.
I forgot to write that those were from 2020. I was hoping to find some stats that just listed all casualties by year. I’m trying to compare numbers from the current use year only.
That time had passed. We basically set up free traffic control for a criminal event. It started with a street racing club blocking an intersection and doing burnouts and donuts. That’s not a lawful assembly. It wasn’t even a protest. We allowed it and it was being streamed on Facebook. People saw it and came down to join in the fun. It started around 7pm. We finally moved in at 0050 hrs. There had been three separate incidents of gunfire. There was also a guy who was hit in the face with a crow bar and it punctured both cheeks.
It’s not a matter of deploying with force. It’s a matter of being prepared for resistance or violence and having a plan. If you find videos of successful crowd control then you’ll see a common theme: show of force. It’s a psychological game. If you show up and look weak like we did then the crowd gets bolder. If you look like you know what you’re doing and that you mean business then the “followers” tend to leave.
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12.19.20
Daily Dose #23 and the end of 5/3/1 C1 W3 for OHP, bench, and squat.
CARDIO
Elliptical 15 minutes
Super Set
DEADLIFT
185 x 5
275 x 3
325 x 5 singles
BENCH SQUAT
135 x 5
165 x 5
195 x 3
225 x 2
255 x 1
285 x 1
Back is worn out from rifle training.
Super Set
BENCH
135 x 5
160 x 5
185 x 5
210 x 3
235 x 3
225 x 4
HANG POWER CLEAN
185 x 3
205 x 3 x 5 sets
DB INCLINE 550 SET
60 x 18, 11, 8, 7, 6 = 50
Success! But I might keep this weight to make sure I can repeat the performance.
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Training Notes
- I find myself defaulting to lifting only when motivation is low. I haven’t completed a run in a week.
- I’m starting to like the idea of a four day training week again. I could possibly sneak in a short run on off days or as a warm up.
- I’m not sure if Daily Dose is going to help me. I haven’t been using heavy weights and I can tell. Two plates on my back feels way too heavy. I might switch to Training Maximally for all four lifts. That’s basically working up to my TM or a heavy single every session. I don’t think I want to do 5x5 on deads or squats so I might do 5x1 @ 75% on the three other lifting days (kind of like a Daily Dose with Training Maximally).
- I’m already doing TM on three lifts so I don’t think adding a deadlift day will extend my sessions.
- Lastly, I’m going back to my regular assignment this week and that might allow me to sneak in workouts during work days instead of having to do it after work. The work gym also has a dreadmill that will support me.
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Here is some of your training thoughts from 1.5years ago. I was looking through my log for Krypteia, because I’ve been skimming through 5/3/1 Forever again recently, and stumbled on it.
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It seems that conditioning will always be on the list if “Things I Need to Improve”.
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J, I haven’t been following along too well to know all the variables currently informing your programming but the daily training max idea that you wrote about was enough for me to dig this one out
Might fit the bill for you, but not if conditioning is a goal simultaneously.
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Catching up on your last few days and I’m sorry. You and your fellows are not treated as you should be by society, the media, or your leadership. Politics over people seems to have become the rule
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I just wish my chief was like Tom Selleck’s character in Blue Bloods.
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this is despicable and extremely counterproductive. In my opinion, politics above anything is a pretty bad idea, and I feel that this also extends into “personal or workplace politics”
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It’s a route to personal power, and that will always take priority for many
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I understand- I personally just can’t wrap my head around this.
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Unfortunately, humans are bad by nature. When Adam and Eve sinned by eating from the forbidden tree, we were all doomed to death. From that day forward, humans have leaned towards doing the wrong thing. This really boils down to doing what makes us feel good. This means we’re selfish.
Well, here we are in 2020 and nothing has changed. If you want to move up the ladder then you have to understand the people above you. They have preferences just like the rest of us. If you don’t do what they want then you won’t get promoted when the time comes. To truly rise to the top, you have to be a bit of a people pleaser.
The best supervisors are the ones who have no desire to move any further up the chain. They will take care of their people. They will protect them from the people at the top. The people at the top are often detached from the original job (especially in my profession).
The sad reality is that you have to balance being good at your job and pleasing the brass if you want to move up. Our chief is no different. His boss is the City Manager and they have to worry about public perception. Unfortunately, as we see every day now, public perception is conveyed by an upset minority (the number, not a racial group) and the people in charge actually listen.
For example, we had a recent policy change (they’re reviewed/revised regularly). Our deadly force section now says something like “Deadly force can only be used when all other available options have failed.”
The way it’s worded makes it sound like we have to try everything in the book before we use deadly force. Unfortunately, deadly force may be required after an officer gives commands. That’s one of the first thing we do. Deadly force is last. There are quite a few things in between such as pepper spray, Taser, ground fighting, etc. If I tell a person to show me their hands and they pull out a pistol them I’m not going to try those other things. It’s force on force time.
The policy change makes it sound like I’m going to be hung out to dry because I don’t try my non-lethal options first. We’re getting pushed into the position of dying or being charged with a crime.
That’s the result of catering to the idiots who have been rioting and looting all year.
That’s politics - working to please others for personal gain instead of doing what’s morally and ethically right.
And that’s why I’m leaving the profession.
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12.20.20 Advanced 5/3/1 C1W1D1
That’s enough of the crazy talk. It’s time to train!
RUN
1 mile in 8:30 - fastest time to date.
SQUAT
120 x 5
170 x 5
210 x 3 x 3
My axle arrived today so I replaced my crooked bar. Squat, bench, and OHP will be done with the axle from now on. This was supposed to be 3x5 @ 75% but I think I over estimated my TM.
DEADLIFT
275 x 3
305 x 5 x 5
Sets 1, 3, 5 were touch and go. Sets 2 & 4 were dead stop.
27 minutes. I’ll add hang power cleans to this day but I did those yesterday.
I tried adding some better fats to my diet. I don’t think I’m doing it right. This is a two pound box and it’s less than 48 hours old.
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