Alas, poor Bob. I knew him, Detective…
I had another Citizen’s police academy today, and while I’m not going into everything at the moment, I will share my simulator incident.
WashCo uses a use of force simulator that places you into videotaped simulation situations where there is a potential perpetrator, and you have to decide when it is appropriate to use force against them (and, in some cases, if).
Well, I stepped up, and my perp was Bob. Bob had a restraining order he was in violation of. This was an “Arrest on Sight” and I was approaching him. So I approach Bob, and call out at him, “Bob, you’re not supposed to be here. I’m with the Washington County Sheriff, you’re going to have to come with me.
“Who called you?”
“Sir, put your hands where I can see them.”
“This is ridiculous.”
“Sir, put your hands where I can see them, NOW.”
his hands go up, he turns around, “What do you want?”
End of simulation. I ended things without using force. This, admittedly, was disappointing to me, but he said after interviewing me about the action, “Bob gets out of jail, you see him in the same spot again, and you have to approach him.”
“Bob, you can’t be here, you’re going to have to come with me.”
“Who called you?” Didn’t I just do this one?
“Bob, put your hands where I can see them, NOW.”
“This is crap.” His hands start to go up, but as he turns I notice his right arm dip towards the truck bed. Was he…
As his right hand comes into view, I see a .38 special that he just grabbed. Without so much as blinking, I pull up on target and squeezed the trigger three times. Bob drops to the ground, presumably dead.
End action review –
4 shots fired (Bob squeezed off one before I shot him, I squeezed off three)
My first shot – Right hip. Hardly a killing shot, but I’ll take it.
Second shot – Left shoulder, near the heart (closer to on target)
Third shot – about 1 inch above Bob’s head, buried into the side of his truck (He was falling down, so it wasn’t likely to hit).
Result – Bob is dead, rest his soul. And all in the blink of an eye.
So, FYI, before you judge the “violent cops” for overreacting in a situation, I highly recommend finding out if there’s a Citizen’s Police Academy or place that’ll let you use a simulator like this to see how well you would’ve reacted. If you don’t react fast enough, you’re the one going home in a body bag. :-p
Jack Thompson said I already have a CP Academy sim – it’s called a First Person Shooter!