During the week I work in Corrections, but on Saturdays I usually work as a security guard at a motel. Had an interesting experience this past weekend. The motel was having some problems with a man and wife who were obvious drug addicts. We chucked him out for making noise, trashing his room and giving the wife a beating. I spent the better part of the evening keeping the crazed man from the motel grounds. We finally had to call the police because the motel manager saw him sneak back into his room. Two cops I knew responded and I shepherded them upstairs to throw the nut out and possibly arrest the guy for defiant trespass. We knocked on the door and no one answered. We found that the door was unlocked and after the police announced themselves, we went in. What surprised me a little was that the lead cop cleared leather and used his flashlight equipped Smith and Wesson M&P to look inside the dimly lit room. Well, both man and wife apparently took a powder before the police arrived. There was no one there.
My question is:do you think police may inappropriately pull out their guns, not because the situation is dangerous but because they want to use the flashlight attached to it? I didn’t want to ask the cop, because he’s a nice fellow and I didn’t want to seem critical.
Given the circumstances he doesn’t know if a threat exists or not. Clearly you called them out because the situation was getting out of hand and you felt the need for additional resources. They responded and took over, handling the situation as it needed to be handled.
I think it’s incorrect for you to say that his actions were inappropriate. Instead of asking a board of people that weren’t there, maybe it would have been wiser to simply ask the officer, especially since you have had previous interactions with him/her.
Speaking as a graveyard cop…we can’t wait until a situation becomes dangerous before we draw. We don’t have that luxury. You have to be a step ahead whenever possible (OODA Loop). Based on the information you provided, they demonstrated good judgement and good tactics. After making a call out you always search with lethal cover. That’s academy 101 and basic officer safety.
I understand that from your perspective/training, their actions may seem “extreme”. But you need to remember that security and LE have different operating procedures/policies and a different end goal.
Would you willingly stand in the cone of death without covering yourself? What makes a motel room doorway to a room that’s potentially harboring violent drug abusers safer than a doorway at a drug house? It seems to me that not covering a potential threat is inviting peril unnecessarily. A’course it’s up to prevailing procedure, but it seems reasonable to allow the officer to meet any anticipated threat to his life, in-kind.
Using a weapon mounted light to search for a potential threat, good. Using a weapon mounted light to examine a driver’s license, bad. When in doubt, get it out.
The chief of police of my agency thought the same way. He was very resistant to weapon mounted lights (WML) for the line patrol force. When asked why his only fear was exactly what
…BBossman said. We are slowly starting to intergrate WML’s into the patrol division but its been a slow procedure. I’m hoping the chief will crawl out of his lair one day and notice how everyone has a WML and just accept it.
I think you might have missed his point. My read on the OP is a concern for searching with a weapon light, not having the weapon out. Some people take searching with a weapon mounted light too far and point it at things that they shouldn’t. People need to be careful where they point it since there’s a muzzle attached and some people aren’t. I certainly believe in weapon lights but I also understand the great responsibility and skills needed to safely use one. Weather the officer is guilty of such, I do not know. That’s why the OP is here asking.
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I’m sure he is asking just to get a general feel on what some of us feel since he thought it was not proper. It seems like it was adequately explained.
As for misunderstanding, I’m sure the only thing that caused his concern was the fact that the weapons were out. Which is the most common concern when it comes to searching with a WML.
I your searching for a possible bad guy, no problem. If your searching for a missing 4 year old, problem.
Doesn’t sound like there was anything wrong in this particular incident, but the concern that officers will use their weapon mounted lights as general purpose lights is a valid one. We had this happen with a taser once. As a result our policy is that you can’t have a weapon mounted light unless you also have a handheld light constantly affixed to your belt or vest carrier. A flashlight ring with a Maglite in the car doesn’t count. This has worked well so far.
Yes, I guess I didn’t see anything done wrong by the policeman. I just thought it was interesting and I didn’t expect it. After 28 years working in various areas of the justice system as a probation officer, child protection agent and in corrections, I find this little security side gig to be a pretty wild ride some nights. Makes my current corrections job seem tame!
As an active police officer I’ve had my fair share of wild rides yet the hairiest I’ve been involved with usually occur when I’m working a side gig doing security. There’s a certain amount of comfort when your using force while on the job versus while doing security for a little extra cash to pay your kids tuition. Either way you want to go home at night.
Drugs, domestic battery, criminal trespass…all crimes in Indiana (my AO) and while searching for a suspect and clearing a room, it’s prudent to have your weapon out, light or no light attached. I clear every house (I’m on our warrant team, so that’s a lot of houses) with my G22/TLR-2 combo each and every time.