22Aug04

Training in SA. The same problems exist everywhere:

"I Just finished a three-day course with officers from other precinc ts. As usual, most arrived with leather holsters that were so worn out as to be nonfunctional. The cut on some exposed the trigger completely. I know you would stop a course right there and get this kind of inexcusable junk replaced on

the spot, but here we just have to soldier on or get no training done at al l.

Two officers arrived with the Taurus PT99 (Beretta clone). As you know, these firearms are fitted with a three-position safety/decocking lever, abou t which you have written many ill opinions. It functions as a manual safety when pushed up and as decocker when pressed down. Neither of these two officers , who had been carrying this pistol for several years, knew it was fitted wit h a decocker. They had never received training and had been decocking manuall y all this time! They had both had several NDs during the process but didn't

know how to do it any differently.

Another officer arrived with an old, eight-shot Star that he had been carrying for quite some time. When we started live fire, this weapon refused to fire. Closer inspection revealed that it was minus the front half of its fir ing pin!

There were numerous, similar gaffs that I won't bore you with. The crux of the matter is the lack of concern shown towards these problems, by the offic ers themselves or their departments. When training civilians, I find them arriving with the best they can afford and, if not, they go out and buy wha t is needed. Not so with law enforcement officers here. The old, 'If m anagement won't supply, why should we bother?' attitude is so prevailing, I h ave great difficulty convincing them that they need to tack direct, personal responsibility for their own safety."

Comment: It is the height of naivete for anyone to believe that someone els e cares about them more than they care about themselves. Prudent people neve r wait for someone else to supply them with what they need.

/John

22Aug04

On motorcycling and gun carrying:

David Hough is an authority on motorcycle riding. He persuaded the Motorcycle Safety Foundation to hold a conference of motorcycling veterans i n an effort to codify the secrets of riding safely. He concludes:

"The MSF tried to focus on maneuver skills such as swerving and braking, bu t veterans kept suggesting that such evasive actions are largely unimportant and usually unsuccessful. Instead, they kept insisting that the key is to avoid riding blindly into dangerous situations.

They brought up a mystical 'sixth sense' that warns them of an impending accident. It really isn't mysterious. The pearl of wisdom hidden in all t hose discussions is that motorcycling requires continuous observing and analyzing. Veteran riders are seldom compelled to execute sudden, evasive m aneuvers, because they recognize 'trouble in the making.' They are able to s ee trouble in its formative stages and then make small adjustments in order to stay ou t of harm's way.

The 'sixth sense' is not magic at all but simply being aware of clues that less experienced riders see but don't recognize."

Comment: Identical to our first rule of potential lethal encounters: =9C Arrange to be somewhere else."

/John