Look Ma, no bullets!

From News24:

"Three policemen. One service pistol. No clip for the firearm ... and no bullets! That's how police had to patrol the town on Friday night. Their worst fears were realised in the early hours of Saturday morning when robbers opened fire on them."

Patrolling with an unloaded pistol anywhere in the world is stupidity, but in South Africa it's suicide. Surely the police's standard operating procedures should not allow it to happen? A pistol with no magazine is a single shot weapon, with no cartridges (bullets) it becomes an inefficient and dangerous baton.

South Africa has some of the best and most experienced "gunfighter" police officers. The story is told of a top American police trainer who came to train flying squad officers (an elite unit) in South Africa. He had never been in actual combat. He asked his trainees whether any of them had ever been involved in a gunfight. He was dumbfounded to find that many had lost count of the number of times they had been in gunfights.

How then for these capable and experienced police officers to transfer their expertise to their less capable colleagues, such as those who went to a gunfight with an empty pistol?

Basic target shooting training and participation in practical shooting exercises are of course prerequisites before any higher lever tactical training can be done. The problem is that even the best training do not necessarily transfer to real life situations.

Interestingly, the opposite also sometimes applies. Jim Cirillo, while on stakeout duty for the NYPD, was involved in a much spoken about shootout. During the incident he shot and hit three armed robbers, firing six shots, three of which were head shots. Cirillo was never able to repeat this feat on the shooting range.

"Gunfghter" police officers are few and far between, even in very professional police forces. It is unrealistic to expect that level of expertise from the majority of officers. On the other hand, the level of incompetence shown by the officers described in the "look Ma, no bullets" incident, is unacceptable.

Good basic training is non-negotiable. For the rest, the use of competent "gunfighter" police officers as mentors to especially younger officers seems a good idea. The use of narrative in auditory format could also work, especially in a country where the majority of police officers have English only as a second or third language. The use of story telling and narrative as learning tools also feature strongly in traditional African culture and can therefore be especially effective.

These measures, however, will have to be followed up by scenario based training under realistic circumstances.

Just for interest sake, see below what shooting feats are possible!



These feats were performed by Jerry Miculek, the current revolver World Practical Shooting champion.