What the heck is the agents deal on Spike's "DEA"

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I saw the show. You would think they would be proud to show off all the heavy artillery that the criminals are packing. The criminals do have deadly weapons. However, those DEA guys make it sound as if they're coming against a well-stocked military operation. I didn't see it.
 
One of those (spike TV) "DEA" clowns was talking about the ever present danger he faces from RPG's. Yeah, right, but only if RPG stands for "role playing game" (he gets killed in Warcraft all the time.)

I don't know any actual DEA agents, never actually met one, but the guys on that show are shockingly dimwitted, thuggish, inarticulate, and amateurish. They remind me of the "professional"-ism of the famous youtube "glock fo-tay" DEA jerk who shoots himself in the leg in front of that classroom. I seriously hope that the majority of DEA agents are more intelligent than this collection of apes.

PS I bet they don't let Stacy Keach anywhere near the evidence room...
 
Motor City Madness...

Detroit MI must have something in the water...:uhoh:. I saw one Spike TV/DEA and the DEA agents reminded me of the Detroit PD/SWAT yo-yos on A&E's SWAT.

The DEA I watched had many scenes of the DEA agents "gearing up" and explained how several agents were former military/local-state LEOs. None of the DEA agents could clearly explain what type of firearms/ammo they had or provide any background other than the standard macho TV bull#$%& TV viewers have seen on 100s of other "reality" series. :mad:

I've used weapons and worked in armed jobs/military service for nearly 20 yrs. It's not hard to watch videos, read related books/magazines and research firearms. I've worked with some real hammerheads like these DEA guys but I still don't get it.
Rusty
 
"One agent was very anti AK-47 calling it "America's new pistol" HUH???"

I took his comment to mean that among the criminal element they deal with:

With bad guys, pistols were/are ubiquitous.
Now AK47s are.
Therefore, AK47 are the new pistol.

It a play on words, not a defintion.

Which... is why many LEOs view them in a negative light. They see them as the bad guys rifles, after all.
 
The DEA folks I've encountered have always been professional, not nearly the cowboys they are painted to be, and worth working with.
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That's good to hear. But I understood that this show presents real DEA agents. If so, it's they who are painting themselves to be cowboys.

Why would they want to do that? And why would the DEA want them to look like incompetents? I think my theory is sound: that either Lee Paige trained them or that he and they have been given the same training program. It is undoubtedly a remarkably effective program.

By the way, I am the only one here professional enough to handle powerful words. Please don't try this at home.
 
The problem we need to worry about (in regard to this television program) is not that they make incorrect references to firearms. The problem is that they portray firearms as being a bad thing in any hands other than the hands of law enforcement.
 
Well, ill tell you now from someone who lives and often works in Detroit, it isnt pretty. In fact its often pretty scary especially when you drive in a white panel-van full of white people, the absolute worst idea since we all look like a survallence team or what have you. That being said, it doesn't explain some of their comments but I will have to say that im not at all surprised if some people collect some serious firepower.
 
First off let me say it's a SLOW night at work
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What? Like that's a bad thing? I am GLAD to hear about a slow night in your line of work... Considering.
 
My take is to simply ask what people expect from the Hollywood-ized version of an illegitimate step child organization presented as the solution to yet another problem created of and by the government for the people?

Every slack jawed mo-**** in that organization needs to go the way of the dinosaur, and bring the ATF with them as well.

I recently read a bumper sticker that stated, "Our problems will not be solved by the same minds that created them."

The DEA and the ATF are both excellent examples.
 
This and that. . .

1. We were not weapons experts. Never was our job. Probably over half of us didn't always carry so much as an ankle gun during our day to day operations. First thing that happens when you go to meet "Tico" to set up a buy or do a meet & greet, is you get frisked. When you're surrounded by a dozen or more guys carrying fully automatic, imported weapons, loaded and at the ready, not a real good idea to brandish your little Colt Detective.

In that business, you survive by your wits, flourish by your courage, and often times survive by sheer will alone.

I worked alone in the military. That was bad enough, but you haven't felt all alone until you go deep cover--you're separated from your wife and family, often in a city halfway across the country, or the world. You have a handler and a cutout--usually only two people who know what you're doing.

In the military, you come home to the States. Bad guys don't usually try to follow you home. Not always the case in domestic law enforcement--not in a trade that produces billions of dollars annually.

2. There are cowboys in the DEA, same as there are in ATF, FBI, US Marshals, Customs, Border Patrol or any other organization. I knew cowboys in the military--from Delta Operators to Marine Corps MPs to Air Force fighter pilots. Sometimes you have to be a cowboy just to get the job done.

But the professionals who occasionally have to take the cowboy way damn sure don't put their face on TV and make an ass of themselves.

In fact, the professional, effective agents don't have the time--or inclination--to pose for TV cameras. For certain not a piece of garbage sensationalized abberation that Fox would produce.

3. It's been said that being a DEA agent is a lot like having herpes--it scars you, it endangers loved ones if you're careless (and sometimes even if you're as careful as humanly possible), and it never goes away.

You never know who you might have pissed off in some drug organization that vowed revenge--no matter how long the wait. Sounds like good TV material, but unlike the staged shows, having to look over your shoulder most of the time for the rest of your life IS reality.

4. SAMs and RPGs? I've seen 'em. Not in the way this idiotic show portrays, but they're out there. The organized gangs steal them from weekend warrior armories--blatantly. Most of America would probably have a collective bowel movement if they knew just HOW MUCH weaponry is lost/stolen from national guard and reservist armories every year.

A good frend of mine retired from NIS and now works for DIA--what he tells me from time to time in regards to stolen weaponry will make the hair on the back of your neck stand up.

The street gangs sell these weapons. The proceeds fund more of their "imports." It's a great way to jack up your profit margins. Steal stuff that is in high demand, sell it and use the cash to invest in your drug trade.

5. Most criminal organizations that traffic in narcotics also traffic stolen/illegal firearms. That's something else that is dealt with on a regular basis.

I'm not defending the characters on this show. I have hard time believing these guys are seasoned agents. Maybe so.

But sure as hell, you'd never catch me or any of the agents I partered with working with them.

Jeff
 
It's TV, just about everyone hams it up for the camera.

Although, if those DEA guys really act like that then perhaps there is something really wrong.
 
Well I understand it's TV but unless it is a complete 100% staged fake (doubtful, would cost way too much) I still find it unacceptable for people to make such crazy statements.

I'm not a cop, I ride in a big red truck every third day though so I understand the whole "writing a blank check" to the public thing. The city I work in was once a top meth city in the USA. The specific formula of meth produced there was often asked for by name in other states, etc.

If someone wanted to have us as a TV show however I would refrain from being a moron. You wouldn't hear me say things like "the jaws of life are so powerful the can rip a bank vault open" or "that can of spray paint in the garage could have exploded and took the whole house down!".

I'm not an "expert" in my tools, nor are the DEA. I can't tell you off the top of my head what the range of a 7/8" solid bore stream at the end of 200' of 1-3/4" line running at 140 PSI is, but I can sure as hell tell you that a 2-1/2" handline will put more water on a fire then the 1-3/4" at the same PSI. I think someone who uses and is around weapons as part of the job should be able to know that a handgun caliber weapon is weaker than an M-4.

Them being an expert would mean memorizing ballistics tables and being able to repair the weapons themselves, etc. Knowing that an 7.62 can go though your vest because of the energey and not the "teflon tip" is NOT expertise.

I still call BS on the SAMs. If in fact SAMs are stolen from the gov people sure are sitting on them. Only SAM attack that was not normal warfare I can recall in my life was the DHL jet that got hit, in IRAQ... Also, seeing as in how things like a B-52 with live nukes flying over the US or unknowingly shipping fuses for missiles to Tawian become media sensations, I find it very hard to believe theft of advanced military weaponry inside the US borders go unreported.

I think it's a sad state of affairs when the primary source (who is considered the authority) is just as off base as the media. I'm glad they do the job they do. I'll stick with burning buildings and HAZ-MAT rather then no knock warrents in Detroit however. I just wish since they are in a position where the public is listening to them on a large scale, that if they don't know what they are talking about, they would shut up.

FFMedic

P.S. thoot, a slow night is a welcome relief from 9 runs a shift :D
 
DEA-LEOs/real world conditions

I want to address some of the points made in the last few posts and make clear some of my views about the DEA and other sworn LEOs who work in these conditions.
I am not insulting or bad-mouthing the undercover or field agents of the DEA or an other sworn LEOs who work in narcotics enforcement. I worked in military law enforcement(US Army) and I know how difficult/dangerous it is. I wanted to work as a ICE agent but couldn't due to poor uncorrected vision in my right eye.
I do say that the sworn LEOs/federal agents should learn what type weapons they are working with and act in a professional way.
I doubt that many sworn LEOs could sit down and explain in detail what type of weapons/ammo they use or what type of weapons/ammo they take off of street criminals. I'd say this information would be useful but from the TV/documentaries that US law enforcement shows the general public it seems that it's not the case.
Rusty
 
While it may be hard for us to believe most law enforcement officers have zero interest in guns. It's just a tool of the job like their squad car or two way radio. All they know about are the weapons that are issued to them. DEA agents often do undercover work so the unshaven, goatee look helps them blend in. A bunch of guys with crew cuts wearing business suits would stick out. My real beef is that they only show about 20 minutes of footage per episode.When they go to a commercial they show you what is next. They repeat the same clip when they come back for the commercial. And they they show it to you again. You end up seeing the same scenes of the loading their guns and racking the slides at least 4 times.
 
Whether they know the terminology or not I will be willing to bet that they carry and use their weapons more than MOST (Don't need facts about personal training for the people who want to prove they train more) people here .. They storm houses trying to keep drugs off of the street .. They are trying to better society.. Why nitpick about the words they have used that even in this thread are subjective.. :banghead:
 
I think all public servents should know about the "tools' in that agencies toolbox to an extent that they do not make false statements.

x100 if you are going to be on TV.

Would it be OK for a doctor on a factual show to say "this drug is so powerful it can kill ANY bacteria" or a firefighter to say "I have seen arsonists with thermite plasma!". No, public officials should operate in the truth, not wild speculation and exaggeration. That's my main beef, the fact that the subject matter is guns and the fact that guns are inexorably a part or street level law enforcement just drives my point home.

FFMedic
 
I still call BS on the SAMs. If in fact SAMs are stolen from the gov people sure are sitting on them. Only SAM attack that was not normal warfare I can recall in my life was the DHL jet that got hit, in IRAQ... Also, seeing as in how things like a B-52 with live nukes flying over the US or unknowingly shipping fuses for missiles to Tawian become media sensations, I find it very hard to believe theft of advanced military weaponry inside the US borders go unreported.
Click to expand...

Call it BS all you want.

The weapons are called Stingers--shoulder-fired missiles that are child's play to operate. Almost as easy as RPGs--which are also growing legs and walking out of armories.

Never said the thefts weren't reported, so don't put words in my mouth. The thefts ARE reported and a whole slew of alphabet soup agencies get all over it. Most are quietly recovered. Some are not. Those that are not make their way to real touristy destinations like Somalia, Columbia, Bolivia, Qatar, et al--not to mention the warring factions of the former Soviet Union.

I'm not defending idiotic agents or cops--or even firemen--from ANY agency. All I'm saying is before some local internet "experts" who've never even pointed a gun at someone--or had one pointed at them--start wanting to armchair quarterback and Monday morning critique an entire agency based upon the loony-tunes of a handful of doubtful street "agents," maybe there oughta be a little research into the truth.

But, nah. Who needs the truth? Some of y'all figure you'd make better cops simply because you know the difference between a 124 grain LRN bullet and a 147 subsonic HP--and any cop/deputy/trooper/agent that doesn't shouldn't be a cop.

I'm not particularly pro-law enforcement anymore, but reading drivel like this further explains the widening rift between the citizenry and those who try to keep the bad guys from preying on the citizenry.

Jeff
 
I've seen about 30 minutes of the show and don't watch it anymore. The way they portray these agents is NOT professional at all, and I think that it degrades the perception of DEA agents everywhere.

On another note, I watched the DEA agent shoot himself in the leg on Youtube, and while it was bad, I do think it was good how he pointed out that he made a mistake, and kids shouldn't play with guns. That was sure a real lesson to those kids.
 
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