Shotgun or Sidearm (sound)

Shotgun or sidearm. Come on. Make it fast. I am. I am. 221 2L21 211 Silent Alarm 630 East Colorado 630 East Colorado Gold Stewarts 2S20 2201 North Los Robo 101 North Los Robo possibly a zone involved [Applause] Washington. Any description on possible suspect? 2S20. Suspect described as a male negro. 62180. 2S25. 2S25. Back the unit at 630 East Colorado 630 East Gold Jewelry Store on a robbery alarm. 2S25. Copy. You're rolling from Los Rel. Look out. Oh no. Hey, is he the only one? Yeah. Look, that guy in the corner has been shot. I don't know. What do you think? [Applause] My god. Steven Goldberg, 42, truck driver, shot in the left shoulder. Rosemary Fenner, 37, secretary, shot in the left knee. Katherine Vulkar, 29, part-time teacher, forehead grazed. Three innocent civilians were wounded by a good, conscientious police officer. The explanation is simple. He had the wrong weapon with him. A shotgun is the wrong weapon in just about any situation where you can expect innocent people to be nearby. In a busy area like this, there are too many elements you can't control and may not even notice. 230 230 respond to 630 East Colorado. Supervision required and shots fired. I'll be responding to When a suspect shoots at you, you shoot back by instinct with any weapon you've got. The officer made his mistake in taking the shotgun out of his car in a situation where there were people everywhere, indoors and out. Most cops get a fair amount of practice with their sidearms, but they don't fire a shotgun very often. Unless they're hunters, they don't know much about what happens after they pull the trigger. And just as important, they don't know when to take the shotgun out of the police car. A double A shell has nine pellets, each about the size of a 32 caliber projectile. The Forbuck has 27 pellets, about the size of a 22. Many other types of shells are available, but these are the most common multiple pellet shells in police use. A shell with a single rifled slug is also used where very great penetrating power is called for. Every time you fire a multiple pellet shell, you've got to keep in mind you're firing more than one bullet. And each bullet has its own individual trajectory. They're all going generally toward the target, but the only time they're all together is when they're still in the gun. Once they leave the muzzle, they keep separating farther and farther apart. Next time you take a shower, notice how the water sprays. That's pretty much the same idea. And that's why officer Don Forester, a good shot, wounded three people besides the suspect he aimed at. These four targets are set up to duplicate the positions of the people who were hit at the jewelry store. When the same kind of shell double, is fired at them from the same distance, about 50 yards, the results are exactly what a spray of bullets would cause. The spray or pattern is never exactly the same in any two shots. In this test, Rosemary Fenner's target wasn't hit at all. With his 38, Don would have hit only the suspect. One shot. But a shotgun can't give you anything like that accuracy, even at close range. The suspect's target here is 50 ft from the officer, a third of Dawn's range. Even that close, only four pellets out of nine hit the silhouette. At a greater range than Dawn's, this is 100 yard. Not one of the silhouettes was hit, and the pellets missed two of the targets completely. As any ski shooter will tell you, missing even a close target isn't always a matter of skill and range. Sometimes the shotgun blast can scatter all around the target, maybe nicking it, maybe not touching it at all. Well, then if a shotgun is such an inaccurate weapon, why would an officer want to take it with him? Many cops will grab the shotgun when they get out of their car because it gives them a feeling of greater security. They think it's a superior weapon in almost any situation. It's a lot more powerful than a sidearm. You've got a lot of bullets going for you instead of just one. And a shotgun doesn't have to be aimed carefully. When there's no time to aim, you can whirl, fire, and blow the guy away. The better you understand the weapons available to you, the better equipped you'll be to do your job. For example, not one officer in 10 has a clear idea of how bullets ricochet. This applies both to your 38 and to shotgun pellets. Most people think that a bullet will ricochet off a surface at about the same angle at which it hit the surface, sort of like a billyard ball, but it doesn't. After it hits the surface, the pavement in this demonstration, the bullet or group of pellets tend to follow pretty close to the surface they hit. The pellets followed the pavement. Even though they hit it at a fairly wide angle, not one struck the car. Sometimes your choice of weapon has nothing to do with ballistics. Once you leave your car with a shotgun in your hand, you got it for good or bad. You're not committed to fire it, of course, but you're sure as hell committed to hang on to it. Your only alternatives are to hand it to a brother officer or put it back in your car if you can. In this situation, the officer's car is on the other side of the shopping center. The suspect is resisting arrest. He knows the cop won't fire the shotgun with so many people around. The guy who's got the shotgun can't put it down, and he can't effectively help his buddy. What can he do? Turn to the nearest little old lady and say, "Hold this for me, will you?" No, he's simply stuck with a weapon. He should have realized before he left the car that a shotgun would be of no value at all in a busy shopping area. Colorado 171 the campus children down freeze in a deserted alley a shotgun might have seemed like the perfect weapon, but it's the middle of the afternoon and no one can guarantee that the alley is going to stay deserted. What's the matter? Can't you climb the fence? He could without the shotgun, kid, but not with it. And he's got no place to put it. Pretty plainly, these are cases where the shotgun was worse than useless. It kept the officers from doing their jobs. So where and when is it the right weapon? 2S25 2S25 assist the unit 189 North Morango 189 North Morango the Brookore Hotel in rear suspect in some tactical situations it might be wise for one officer to carry a shotgun. It would be used only if events developed. So that's the best way to act. A shotgun and sidearms. Two different weapons with two different uses are ready. And there are situations where a shotgun is the best possible weapon for a cop to have. 12:30 like a 28 to 29 on Norah William Frank 977. 230 10 230 are you 1035 wanted armed and dangerous. I'm northbound on the Mount Wilson Road at Palmdale Cutoff. I have three male suspects in the vehicle. I'm going to make a stop. 2K23 respond to code to assist unit. Stay in your car and put your hands on your head. This is a classic case for choosing a shotgun. The officer is in a relatively isolated area and there's little traffic. He's dealing with more than one suspect and was told they're armed and dangerous. Only the suspects are within range in his line of [Music] fire. The psychological effect of the heavier weapon can often be a big advantage. Unit 18 to Air1. We have located an open door on the south side of the warehouse. We will be entering the building at this time. Air1 to responding units to 3600 East Foothill. You have four officers 1097 at the scene. Two at the north, two at the south. You have a POE at the south side. Two officers are in the building. Air1 request a supervisor to coordinate. The most important single point to keep in mind when you think about taking a shotgun out of your car is always the same. Will there be innocent people around? That's not likely in deserted areas or in stores or factories that are closed. The greater your range, the wider the spread of pellets. You can fire a shotgun fast, pointing instead of aiming it. And at close range, you can blast the hell out of almost anything. Don't shoot. Okay, here's my gun. Hands on your head. Come out slow. The psychological effects of the shotgun and the wallop it packs have helped in many captures. But when it's only a cop, his gun, and an armed suspect, it damn well better be the right gun. Unit 18 to Air1, advised control. It's code for the air logistics warehouse. Suspect is in custody.