MFR From: Undaunted, and the rest of us
To: Seattle Police Department
Subject: Officer Survival
This morning I stopped in a SODO coffee shop. As I approached, I saw five (5) SPD marked patrol cars parked in the adjacent lot. Opening the door to the shop, I saw five (5) SPD officers and one man in civilian clothing ~ perhaps a detective ~ all sitting at one table; not one of them in a good tactical position. If you don't know what a good tactical position is, you should.
One pimple-faced officer looked my way as I came in, but if I'd come in with Maurice Clemmons-like intent, that officer simply would have been the first to die. I was to his half-left, he was a right-hand shooter, seated against a wall with two or three other officers packed in to his right. Had I come in shooting or ready to do so, that pimply officer could not possibly have drawn and fired at me before I put at least three (3) rounds into him. In the mayhem immediately following those shots, I could have easily gunned down every other cop in the place.
MAURICE CLEMMONS. NOT THE ONLY COP-KILLER IN THE WORLD.
Good thing I had not then and will never have that kind of intent.
You know about this guy here, pictured below?
For the officers at the shop, I was the M/C in the jeans and boots, blue 5.11 jacket and tan MaxPedition bag. I came in at 0515, Friday, 9 April 2010, ordered a thermos-full of drip and a blueberry scone, of which I took one bite before I walked out, putting the scone bag in the trash can on the way out the door.
And you all fucked up. If you don't know how, you need to read here. And then tell me exactly how you got to be bullet-proof.
You backed your patrol cars into the parking stalls ~ all nice and tactical-like, just like they taught you at the academy ~ and then sat your butts down in shooting-gallery fashion and any shooter with even a minimum of skill could have slaughtered each and every one of you.
I understand about breaks; that they're both permitted within your CBA and necessary. I worked the street and supervised, both motorized and foot patrols, for six years. My CV is posted here. Did you guys learn a single thing about officer survival by way of the Lakewood Four? Even though you have a right to a break, and need one from time to time, you need to put survival ahead of camaraderie-building, especially if that chit-chat is done in a place where one grenade ~ or pipe bomb ~ could kill you all.
Below are rules we followed in the Army Military Police Corps, Of the troops, for the troops was once our motto...
1. No more than 20% of the total of on-duty officers in any AO should be on break at any given time. The other 80% needs to be on the bricks.
2. Officers on break will not congregate in one single location either to eat, drink, or write reports unless that location is an official SPD facility.
3. In the early morning hours, as they make their way to and fro along the dark and often damp streets of Seattle, citizens you are paid well to protect expect a smidgen of concern on your part viz their safety. That concern is not at all displayed when at least five (5) patrol officers and one (1) detective sit all cozy and nice, sipping coffee, yukking it up while those gentle citizens, paying for your coffee, walk out their doors to work. You just keep the cop-donut paradigm alive.
There are bad men and women out there hunting you, as this story here informs us.
You are the warriors. Then be the warriors.
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