Quote:
Originally Posted by mdb23
I would say that it has much more to do with the weaponry that the criminals now have access to.
Years ago, when we found a thug with a gun, it was a Raven arms .25, a Saturday Night Special, A Lorsen, or some other small caliber, off name piece of crap. Now, these dudes are packing AKs, M4s, Mac10s, and even Uzis. More firepower, better ammo, and the ability to put more rounds down range on us in a short period of time.... not only that, they are rounds that will shred our vests...
Back in March, I got into a car chase with 3 dudes that had jsut mowed down 5 people in a drive by. The rear passenger leaned out on me with an M4, 200 round drum mag attached, and lit me and my partner up at 4 points during the chase. that didn't happen 10 years ago.
I chased a felon the other day who wrecked out, took off, and broke into a home to try to hide from me. Had an Uzi (loaded) in the car.
A buddy of mine got sprayed with a Mac10 earlier this year.
Our training and tactics are better than they have ever been (LE as a whole), and we aren't "going soft," we are just facing new weaponry that wasn't in the arsenal a decade ago.
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Doesn't this type of thing have to do with escalation? Back in the day criminals started carrying revolvers, so the police started to. Then the criminals started carrying semiautos, so the police did. The criminals then moved to higher caliber weapons, so the police wear body armor. Now the criminals have automatic weapons, so the police now carry assault rifles.
IMO, it's not the police that need to change tactics, it's the courts and the lawyers that allow these people to get off for minor things. Example: They arrested a guy a few weeks back in Miami for exposing himself to a minor. Turns out he had been arrested somewhere around 60 times before that for the same thing. How is he still allowed to walk around free?
Also I believe the politicians need to keep their hands out of police work just like they need to keep their hands out of the military. I think a lot of police departments are hindered not by their officers, but by the policies inflicted on them due to people outside trying to control things and worrying about re-elections and playing nice.
As far as the guy in the OP, I agree with most, he was stupid and should be locked up for it.