Shooting proficiency of the average police officer

[Ehtereon11B]

You must have been in before Bush years. Before I transferred units my company went through about 7000 rounds a month for less than 70 people. When we did BN fire we would get 17000 rounds.

 

[Queen_of_Thunder]

One reason for poor shooting accuracy by police officers is most local governments dont have the funds for ammo that would allow their officers to train to the level that some of us civilians do. Also such training will take them from their regular duties creating a shortage of officers for duty. So with these restraints I doubt we can expect better performance.

 

[Certaindeaf]

^
Right. Not.

 

[Ehtereon11B]

One reason for poor shooting accuracy by police officers is most local governments dont have the funds for ammo that would allow their officers to train to the level that some of us civilians do. Also such training will take them from their regular duties creating a shortage of officers for duty. So with these restraints I doubt we can expect better performance.

I am not sure how things run in police departments around you, but my department has our own outdoor range that we can visit off duty. The budget is a concern. Some departments can only provide so many rounds to LEOs for practice.

 

[k_dawg]

It really is not a question of money, but of priorities.

There is a massive amount of money being spent by gov't at all levels. They simply choose to spend it in other areas. Such as the U.S. Agency for International Development spending over $10 million in 2011 on making Sesame Street for Pakistani audiences.

In any event, it has been my experience that LEO's are not inherently 'into' firearms any more than any other population sample. You have many who practice weekly. Others, only twice a year. The idea that all cops are highly trained marksmen, who hone their skills weekly is a myth fostered by the 'gun grabbers'.

 

[Roadking Rider]

"highly trained police officers". That in itself is pretty darned funny. I'd be willing to bet I go to the range and practice more then they do.

 

[Old Dog]

Yeah, it's only funny to those who have absolutely zero idea of what cops actually do 99.9% of the time on the job.

It's not about the gun. Most officers are highly trained; a twenty-week or so academy, lots of continuing education and in-service training -- and the purpose of police training is not to make cops the best gunfighters in town, but rather, to make them the best in town for dealing with the situations cops deal with on a daily basis. Which most of you have no clue about.

If one desires to believe that most cops are not highly trainined just because one thinks he shoots better than a cop, that's simply displaying ignorance.

 

[Jim Watson]

I can offer a few observations and anecdotes.

I am, for some reason, one of the few "civilians" invited to a monthly shoot directed at law enforcers and conducted under IDPA procedures. We get FBI, military, city, county, private security, and even a couple of mercenaries headed to Points East. It is the rare LE who can keep up with an IDPA Expert or even Sharpshooter. As our host, lawyer for the police union and the range operator, says to the LE, "These guys may not know much about investigating crimes, but they can SHOOT."
Of course we are all self selected, not average. And the cops are showing significant improvement in marksmanship because they are motivated to get out and work on it.

A deputy here once asked the sheriff if he could count an IPSC match as training time. The boss said yes, he could take two hours of paid time to shoot a scheduled match. So we would run him through the stages first so he could get done in two hours on the clock. He talked it up at the department but nobody else thought it worth his time. Too bad, he is now on city SWAT and can get a gun out of a Level III holster faster than I thought possible. But he worked at it.

A town PD dispatcher asked if he could use the department range to hold IDPA matches. The chief oked it. Some of the LE hung around to watch us in action the first time out. The second time out a number of them participated, even providing a patrol car with lights running to liven up an evening shoot. The next time or two, we got almost the whole department, everybody not actually on duty at the time. Shooting skills ran from quite good to scary bad. But not THAT good. One of our guy's 13 year old daughter beat the whole department. Part of that was on equipment, the better shooters in the department did great until their guns ran dry. Those horizontal magazine pouches with long Velcro flaps are made for security and comfort in the patrol car or swivel chair, not a fast reload and digging ammo out of them put them way down in elapsed time.
For some reason we didn't get invited back after that.

I once had a course at M.I.S.S. Besides me and an airline pilot, the rest of the class was military or LE. Or both, we had an MP who was using his leave to work on his shooting. He hoped to get on the Border Patrol upon discharge from the Army.
I learned that the sidearm is definitely secondary for the military, those troops needed the work. I also learned that New Orleans PD supports marksmanship. One NOPD was an excellent shot and the other was working hard to improve. They do have a crime rate in NO, I understand; even before Katrina.

 

[Roadking Rider]

I'm afraid you might have misunderstood where I was coming from. I was not trashing Leo's on there professionalism in general. I was just talking about there proficency with there service pistols.

 

[wrs840]

I guess I'm just lucky to live where I do. Most of the LEOs I know shoot quite well. Some of them very, very well. Fine and dedicated men and women too.

I suppose where PC has overtaken the hiring and retention process it may be different.

 

[Al Thompson]

This horse is about done.