[Tackleberry1]

Originally Posted by orangello

DZscubie, is that vest OK'd for deer hunting too?


As a non-LEO, that sounds like an interesting idea to increase officer safety. It also sounds like there could be some confusion regarding the differences in how an MP is legally allowed to treat a soldier versus how a LEO is legally allowed to handle a regular civilian citizen. Do MP's receive the level of training in civilian law & such that most LEO's for civilian populations do? Example, aren't there a few differences in the 4th amendment protections afforded a deployed soldier versus those afforded a citizen walking their dog & is this explained/enforced in the MP training?

I'm not a soldier & would prefer LEO's trained specifically to work with civilians. No offense Tackleberry, just my opinion. It certainly would be nice if we could discourage LEO applicants with gun safety issues.

I'm non LEO as well and was not an MP either. Just a simple former Light Infantry Sergeant who knows from first hand experience that both soldiers and MP's spend far more time training with firearms that any civil police department. As for your question on the 4the amendment, there is no expectation of privacy on a military base and your belonging can be searched at any time by not only MP's but your own chain of command as well. This however is a non issue because no civil department is going to slap a badge on vet without training them first. I'm not suggesting that officer training in general is bad, only that they do not receive nearly enouth trigger time, so why not start with people who already know how to both follow orders and handle guns safely?

[orangello]

Originally Posted by Tackleberry1

This however is a non issue because no civil department is going to slap a badge on vet without training them first. I'm not suggesting that officer training in general is bad, only that they do not receive nearly enouth trigger time, so why not start with people who already know how to both follow orders and handle guns safely?

I have absolutely no problem with LEO's getting extra firearms training. Knowing how to handle a firearm would certainly seem to be a VERY important PART of their job. Perhaps, starting with vets would allow police departments to spend more time in the other parts of LEO training like people handling skills & knowledge of the laws they are going to be enforceing. The only problem in my mind is the difficulty in overcoming the in-depth training & environmental reinforcement of the non-firearms parts of military training and military life. If a soldier has been trained not to expect certain civilian rights & that training has been reinforced through several years of experience in a military seting, will a trip through their local police academy training program be as influetial enough to overcome that? Let us not forget that those academies and departments will be suffering budget constraints in the next few years that could impact training greatly.

We need LEO's who can defend themselves and the public firearms-wise, but that isn't all we need in a LEO. I would imagine firearms skills aren't used as much in an LEO's average day as their people-handling skills or their knowledge of the law.

[Tackleberry1]

Originally Posted by orangello

I have absolutely no problem with LEO's getting extra firearms training. Knowing how to handle a firearm would certainly seem to be a VERY important PART of their job. Perhaps, starting with vets would allow police departments to spend more time in the other parts of LEO training like people handling skills & knowledge of the laws they are going to be enforceing. The only problem in my mind is the difficulty in overcoming the in-depth training & environmental reinforcement of the non-firearms parts of military training and military life. If a soldier has been trained not to expect certain civilian rights & that training has been reinforced through several years of experience in a military seting, will a trip through their local police academy training program be as influetial enough to overcome that? Let us not forget that those academies and departments will be suffering budget constraints in the next few years that could impact training greatly.

We need LEO's who can defend themselves and the public firearms-wise, but that isn't all we need in a LEO. I would imagine firearms skills aren't used as much in an LEO's average day as their people-handling skills or their knowledge of the law.

Soldiers are retrained constantly, adjusting to new training on updated equipment, changes in the chain of command, changes in the rules of engagement, ect, ect, ect...The success or failure rate of vet's in any police academy would not be any higher or lower than that that of the public at large. Your starting with the same raw material, but with vets, they are already familliar with the chain of command, folowing orders, dealing with stress, and on the topic of safe gun handling, could probably teach LEO instructors a thing or too. I'm not saying every vet would make a great COP, only that training them to be cops would result in more proficient finished product with those that succesfully meet the LEO training standards.