Interesting article on LEO encounters with armed street thugs.
Top 5 Most Disturbing Gangsta Tactics
The five most disturbing discoveries of the FBI’s study are that these ganstas:
Have no hesitation whatsoever about pulling the trigger.
Have more experience using deadly force in “street combat” than most police.
Practice with firearms more often and shoot more accurately than the average police although tend to “Shoot for effect” without aiming in actual encounters.
Nearly 70% of gangstas were successful (In getting rounds on target) with handguns, compared to about 40% of the victim officers, the study found.
The street combat veterans (Gangstas) survived by developing a shoot-first mentality.
Thanks for posting this. It helps me correct some misconceptions I had about this topic. It also contradicts popular misconceptions perpetuated by the media…
Weapon Choice
Handguns, obtained illegally in street transactions or thefts.
In contrast to media myth, none of the firearms in the study was obtained from gun shows.
What was available “was the overriding factor in weapon choice”.
None of the attackers interviewed was "hindered by any law–federal, state or local–that has ever been established to prevent gun ownership.
The gangsta’s in the study “just laughed at gun laws”.
So I guess now the media can stop lying about how criminals obtain their guns? Right? :rolleyes:
For anyone who’s interested Here’s the link to the PDF documenting the study results in their entirety. The article presents a great summary, though.
In some of the larger cities where crime is more prevalent there have been cases in which gang members will join the military and after leaving the military they return home and teach weapons and tactics to their fellow members.
indeed… i guess that’s the free route. but if some of these higher rolling ballers just want the skills without the time, seems like the logical thing to do would be to sign up for a tactical carbine and pistol class or three. i’m sure being on the range and ready by 7:30am would be the hardest part, but that can be easily facilitated by staying up on 'yo all night.
Actually, the ‘real’ guys are capable of a shocking level of motivation and discipline. Check out 50 Cent’s “Get Rich or Die Trying.” He covers this in some detail. The first “Belly” also gives a good insight on how ‘real niggaz’ role. If you don’t know much about this culture these two movies provide some good cultural awareness. Also check out HBO’s “The Wire” series.
Latino gangs like MS13 have received very good training as a by product of the paramilitaries that grew out of ‘little wars’ in Latin America in the 80’s.
In any fight, the worst thing you can do is underestimate your opponent. Case in point, the above article and dead LEO’s.
Well said as someone who has grown up and seen the aftermath of what becomes of childhood friends who have taken this path. I fully understand and am aware of the ability of others despite their apperance. Like my mom always said don’t judge a book by it’s cover
I know this movie is slightly old but Training Day provides some fairly good insight as well. The problem with movies is they only skim the surface of what actually occurs in such areas. You have a very good point in mentioning the worst thing you can do is to underestimate your enemy which I think is fairly common among LEO’s. The intelligence level of some of these criminals easily surpasses what LEO’s are taught at the academy.
A lot of the hesitation on LEOs part comes from the hours and hours of liability instruction we get in the academy. How many times did you hear, “Pull the trigger and there goes your savings, pull it again and there goes your house…” State legislatures need to enact strict laws protecting LEO involved in justified shoots from civil action and the monday morning quarterbacking that the press, politicians, and general cop haters are allowed to do. The end results of a clean shoot should mean an accomadation, time off, and nothing more.
Generally speaking the department should indemnify officers who act within the boundaries of policy. I’d think long and hard before working for a department that doesn’t.
I completely agree. But try finding a dept. in super litigious CA that will take that stance though. There are some, but in the majprity of the urban dept. it’s tough. I spent three years in Berkeley of all places, it was a pain anytime you used any force.
Very good read. As someone that spends a lot of time with these guys (criminal defense attorney) there is a distinction from the real deal guys and wannabes. However, as previously stated neither should be underestimated as either can equally kill you.
I will go out on a limb and say ‘it depends.’ If the guy has some range time and a combat mindset, I am pretty sure he could get it done most of the time at close range.
Again, in other cases LEO’s are running up against more professional guys who are not high, have a combat mindset and some training.
Personally, I believe that most of these killings stem from a certain degree of over confidence/ complacency and the LEO getting caught unaware that a deadly encounter is about to begin. Action beats reaction.
Seriously, if you are an LEO think about this - how many officers do you know that truly possess a warrior mentality?
A few years ago the FBI had a similar study showing that most of the guys killed in the line of duty were considered ‘nice guy cops’ by their peers.
I am pretty damn sure that one of the best soldiers from my rifle platoon was at least an ex-gang banger. He was 31 when he joined, and shaped up to be a good guy.
