Cop Attackers

[Christopher Valen]

In a recent blog post I wrote about studies in New York and Los Angeles, which showed that police officers involved in shootings had a hit ratio of about 33%. I concluded that either police officers in New York and Los Angeles, despite extensive training, were lousy shots, or perhaps it was very difficult to hit a target with a handgun, even when the target wasn’t returning fire.

A five-year study released by the FBI entitled “Violent Encounters: A Study of Felonious Assaults on Our Nation’s Law Enforcement Officers,” gives credence to possibly a third conclusion.

FBI researchers selected 40 incidents, involving 43 offenders (13 of them admitted gangbangers-drug traffickers) and 50 officers, for in-depth exploration. They visited crime scenes and extensively interviewed surviving officers and attackers alike, most of the latter in prison.

Their data revealed that nearly 40% of the offenders had some type of formal firearms training, primarily from the military. More than 80% regularly practiced with handguns, averaging 23 practice sessions a year, usually in informal settings. While gangbangers thought that police officers practiced on the range two or three times a week, in reality officers in the study averaged just 14 hours of sidearm training and 2.5 qualifications per year. Only 6 of the 50 officers reported practicing regularly with handguns apart from what their department required, and that was mostly in competitive shooting.

State law here in Minnesota only requires police officers to qualify twice a year with a handgun and shotgun. I would guess it’s not much different elsewhere. Also, the war has driven up the cost of ammunition, and most departments can’t afford to supply officers with fresh bullets more than twice a year.

Regular practice appeared to pay off for the gangbangers. More often than the officers they attacked, offenders delivered at least some rounds on target in their encounters. Nearly 70% of assailants were successful in that regard with handguns, compared to about 40% of the victim officers. Researchers speculated that the offenders might have had an advantage because in all but 3 cases they fired first, usually catching the officer by surprise. In fact, 10 of the total victim officers had been wounded, and thus impaired, before they returned gunfire at their attackers.

Still, one might conclude that police officers should at least have as much practice with a handgun as the gangbangers they face in gunfights.

[Christopher Valen]

Dana,
Your statistic about the troops illustrates why bullets have become so expensive for police departments. Thus, handgun qualification training has been cut way back. My friends on the St. Paul PD told me they used to practice about a dozen times a year. Now, as I stated, it's only twice. Unless cops want to shoot on a private range and pay for their bullets, they won't get much practice. The FBI study also revealed that gangbangers had been in far more gunfights than cops, which isn't surprising.

[Dana King]

I agree completely with your idea that officers should prectice more. Reading your post got me to thinking about another factor that could contribute to the lack of accuracy: shooting while taking action not to get shot yourself. I read a mind blowing statistic a couple of years ago: American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan fire approximately 250,000 rounds for every insurgent killed. I have heard similar stats for previous wars.