The other day I was remembering my application process to get onto the LAPD. One of the things they had you do was the ‘stylus’. This was a metal ring on a pedestal which was connected to a battery. If a piece of metal touched the stylus in any way the damned thing would buzz. They had you run a bunch of laps around the academy track and then they handed you a 6 inch unloaded revolver, placed the barrel through the stylus ring and press the trigger 6 times double action only. If memory serves me the diameter of the ring was about 4 inches. Should the barrel touch the ring the electric connection was completed, the damned thing buzzed and you were packed off to look for a new career. I remember a number of applicants trudging down the hill to their cars never to be seen again.

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For years I have been perplexed when shooters have determined which class they will take based on the number of rounds they will fire during a given period of time. For instance, some classes have advertised that they will shoot 1,000 rounds a day or 700 rounds a day and so forth. First, in order to accomplish this you are more than likely simply emptying magazines into a target and firing downrange at such an incessant rate that little or no thought process could realistically go into it, other than to get rounds out. You cannot be problem solving to any effective degree and you are simply wearing out the weapon system for no good reason. You cannot be changing evolutions to any appreciable degree as it takes time to re-configure a range so that it mirrors realistic scenarios. Not to mention that it is also very costly in this day and age and ammunition is not as easily acquired.

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The holidays seem to engender a certain degree of mental instability.  I am clearly not a psychologist yet I have observed firsthand, the symptoms exhibited by individuals who might have benefited from such professions.

While on probation, we had an unknown trouble call at a residence and responded accordingly.  We entered the location and saw that the table was set with the typical Thanksgiving fare.  A number of individuals were eating.  Things seemed normal until we observed the individual at the head and far end of the table.  He was face down in his plate with lots of cranberry sauce surrounding his head.  Upon closer observation we further observed that it was not in fact cranberry sauce, but blood.  It seems the elder gentleman had turned on the TV for a football game though wife disagreed with this less than genteel action in the presence of their esteemed guests.  The wife then proceeded to turn off the TV followed by the husband turning the TV back on.  Seeing that this course of action would prove futile, the wife excused herself from the table, left the room, and returned with a handgun with which she promptly resolved the TV issue by firing one, well aimed shot into the head of the Emily Post (etiquette expert if you are unaware of such matters) offender.  This ended the dispute and apparently the dinner continued on in some form until our arrival.  Not a Happy Thanksgiving.

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Often, before training even commences, I am asked by individuals to provide information on various equipment, models and makes of numerous weapons and associated items that I would recommend they buy for the weapons platforms with which we train.  Herein lays the problem. Different equipment suits different individuals and much of the determination must to be made on the range, and must be based on one’s unique needs.

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Quite a lot of current Officers on the job relate to me that they wished they existed during my era.  Everything has changed.  The LAPD used to be a tight family when everyone worked a normal 5 day work week.  Nowadays with 4-10’s and 3-12’s otherwise known as compressed work schedules, entire sections of the LAPD never come across other sectors of Officers on the job.  Whether this is a good or bad thing I really don’t know.  I do know one thing however – there was a ‘tightness’ and a real sense of family and togetherness during my time.  We were also less than half the size of the force today.  It truly was – the thin Blue Line.

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